Hiccup was heading back, he decided to create a weapon where it's most effective with range where it utilizes precision and accuracy but fast. Hiccup secretly got a book of marksmen-ship from Trader Johann but never chose to open it because Berkians never thought highly of marksmen, they claim it's for cowards hiding from a fight, Hiccup recently decided he was done trying to please them.
Hiccup then opened his Marksmen book different holds, stances, trick shots for more advance levels, stick figures holding bows, arrows and crossbows, the book showed how to make sturdy bows and arrows so the young viking got to work. Hiccup made cuts outs of arrows some were arrowheads, blunt arrows, broad heads, and dome shaped, then some for practice in a branch.
3 hours later he made a Nordic style bow made with loki wood it was light and strong both right and left hand users can use it, so since he found long ago he could use both arms not that he told anyone since it was rare to ambidextrous, the string was made of flax string, he set some wood targets on the trunks of trees, then got to work he grunted pulling the string and let a practice arrow fly it fly but it bounced off a wooden target, it was a little harder to use a bow with like of strength so, setting some rocks in the baskets and ropes he hung them from trees and grunted pulled them off the ground.
He set a longer rope to a basket and stepped back grabbed it with a hand and stood a stance and pulled his arm to the side 12 times, then turned around and pushed his arm out and held it.
several hours later he pushed his muscles in his arms, chest and back to get use to pulling a bow string. Hiccup did several sets of 15 each time he put more weight in the baskets with both arms, Hiccup tried shooting again then tried it again this time the arrow pierced the wood but still fell out, then he tried again then exhaled as he let the string go the arrow sunk deep into the target, Hiccup nodded.
Hiccup shot the targets in the chest area, then 2 hours later Hiccup improved dramatically, he alternated shooting with both hands as he made a bow for ambidextrous hands, he had turned his hand into a quiver quickly drawing a arrow and letting it fly.
Then it started to rain but Hiccup remained focused, not stopping til he shot all practice arrows and picked his things up dried them off and headed for the Greathall it was dark and raining heavily.
Gobber was going over what happened at the Ring earlier "Alright where did Astrid done wrong in the Arena?" he questioned.
"I missed my timing on my somersault it threw off my reverse tumble" Astrid explained.
"I noticed" Ruffnut teased.
"No that was so Astrid" Snotlout tried wooing her.
"No she's right you have to be hard on yourself it will help you improve" Gobber cut in.
"I'm not ashamed to admit I panicked and hesitated" Heather admitted.
"There you go, remember Fear is healthy it will keep you alive while panic is deadly and can get you killed" Gobber nodded with approval, then looked at Hiccup who was coming over to join them But Snotlout blocked him with a smug grin.
"I wasn't going to sit there, like I'd want to sit with you people" Hiccup told Snotlout as he sent a frown at them but smirked friendly at Heather who smiled and waved back and he sat on a empty table.
"Alright where'd Hiccup go wrong?" Gobber glancing at the young viking.
"He showed up" Ruffnut sneered.
"He didn't get eaten" Tuffnut joked making Heather glare at the two.
"He is never where he should be" Astrid stated with a low scolding tone with a glare "And pushing Heather so he can grab the glory for himself" she narrowed her eyes making Hiccup turned his head with a angry expression, he then stood up and to their surprise he stormed over to the table and looked deep into Astrid's eyes.
"Let me clear things up for you" Hiccup stated with steel in his voice "all of you" he looked at the other teens and looked at the twins "You two were once again quarreling like an old married couple even the Gronkle was annoyed and fired at you" then locked eyes with Snotlout "You were flirting when you should've been looking at the Dragon" and glanced at Fishlegs his steely gaze softened "and sorry to say Fishlegs you got to cut up in dragon facts you got distracted, I like hearing the facts like you do but that wasn't the time" And looked at Heather "unlike the other's you knew your mistake so I won't repeat out of respect" he pointed out the wrongs that happened.
His steely gaze returned tenfold as he gazed at Astrid "As for you, you only looked after yourself and didn't even warn Heather that a Gronkle was firing and hastily dove out of the way when you could have tackled her out of the way you didn't say 'duck' and I admit I had some problems like recklessly jumping in front of a dragon blast" "And another thing I won't tolerate of being accused for pushing people out of the way to get them out of danger as 'Grabbing' Glory, let that sink into your head And you lot left before hearing what Gobber said that was crucial" as his gaze deepened at the end and he headed back to his table.
"Thanks Hiccup, as Hiccup said after you left with yer tails between yer legs I stated: the key to survival always better when everyone works together, and it's really important against Dragons" Gobber said sternly.
"Thats the way for cowards" Snotlout complained.
"I agree, Gobber divided we are stronger when we stand alone" Astrid agreed.
"Well Actually when Hiccup and Heather looked after each other their chances of survival increased by 15%" Fishlegs cut in.
"Hey Guppylegs stop talking" Snotlout ordered threateningly.
"He has a point" Heather said firmly "Besides it was Gobber who said it" she said.
"No point in trying to convince those four pinheads, they want to get themselves maimed or killed let them learn on their own but you and Fishlegs know what works" Hiccup cutting in while looking up from his dinner with a frown.
"Whos a pinhead?" Tuffnut asked clueless.
"The four pinheads are you, Ruffnut, Snotlout and surprisingly one of the two high regarded teen vikings in the village, Astrid" Hiccup replied in a steely and piercing gaze and frown the four glared at him.
"What did you say?" Astrid questioned menacingly.
"You heard me or didn't you wash your ears yet?" Hiccup replied, Astrid got up but Heather pulled her back down.
"Leave it alone, it's not worth it" Heather stated.
"Moving on you guys need to read, eat, sleep, and crap dragon killing, heres the book of how knowledge of Dragons will help you in the ring and life" Gobber said dropping a book on the teens table titled: The Book of Dragons.
"Oh I read this one many times theres this dragon that sprays Scalding hot water, hot enough to melt the flesh off your face" Fishlegs said excitedly Getting weird looks from the other teens "And another the burrows and attacks from the ground" he started.
"Hey Hey, thats awesome I was going to read that" Tuffnut interrupted.
"But now?" Ruffnut finished boredly, then thunder was heard.
"Whoop, no attacks tonight so study up" Gobber said stepping towards the doors.
"You guys read I'll go hunt things" Snotlout bragged and headed out, the twins and Astrid glared at Hiccup for his words where he just gave a piercing stare and they huffed headed out, Heather just followed them and looked back at Hiccup who turned his head back to the front, he would see that Heather was surprised and stunned where Hiccup spoke up for himself and even had a piercing and steeled gaze, dare she'd admit was impressed even told off the twins, Snotlout, and Astrid with no hint of fear and headed off Fishlegs joined them.
"Well that was festinating" Gobber smirked with a hidden proud smirk.
"What how well we did in the ring" Snotlout said stupidly.
"Hiccup was right you are a Pinhead, you were terrible Lasted Hiccup and Heather longer than you" Gobber glowered at him "I'm talking about the lad's sudden increase in courage" he said.
"His courage level did go from 0 and rapidly to 30%" Fishlegs stated.
"Aye Lad, He's finally growing a backbone" Gobber smirked.
"A backbone that I'll break if he mouths off again" Astrid stated in a low voice.
with Hiccup everyone had left and had a candle looking at the book,
"Stoker Class, Fear Class, Tidel Class, Mysterious and Sharp Class, and Strike Class" Hiccup read.
"Terrible Terror: Small but not harmless, sprays hot piping hot steams of fire and venom in it's bite can cause numbness" he said looking at the facts about the Terrible Terror "Monstrous Nightmare: Temper just as volatile as it's name, these brutes can light themselves on fire, never jump and try to wrestle it" "Scauldron: shoots steaming scalding water at it's victims, extremely Dangerous kill on sight" "Thunderdrum: when startled produces a blaring concussive blast that can kill a viking at close range, Kill on sight" He read the pages, then the was a loud crash of thunder making him pause and frown at the noise, it was raining and lightning was flickering.
"Sigh" Hiccup exhaled annoyed from the interruption, then turned back to the book "Gronkle, Nadder, Razorwhip: Sharp Class; prehensile tail used for grabbing and slashing, Razor sharp spines can slice through a full grown mans body neatly or can squeeze them to death, Armored metallic plates, Lethal poison in their tears" Hiccup read "The like mudslugs" he added "Burnt's his victims, chokes victims, stomps victims, Barry's and turns victims inside out, blah blah blacksheep" He said then turned to what he was looking for, The Skrill: Strike Class; this dragon is aggressive and powerful, And unpredictable as Lightning strikes, capable of hitting several targets at once, Sharp Metallic Spines sharp enough to cut with the slightest abrasion and channels lightning through them to unleash It's incredible and unique firepower" He read to himself "Metallic spine dependency in order to use it's power" "Favorite foods Mutton and electric eels" "A powerful feared by both Dragons and vikings, you hear it's roar along with a storm your best bet is to take cover til the storm has long past" he translated.
"Hmm not Everything is true, it never harmed me when it could've can't tell if he thought I wasn't worth it or out of mutual respect" Hiccup pondered, heck it even protected him from the boars like he did with the Dragon.
Hiccup left the Greathall When it stopped raining, he carefully got a basket of Mutton and made it to the Cove making it down "Hey you here Skrill?" he asked "It's me again" he added then heard clumsy padder of feet and claw, he looked and pulled out a torch stick and lit it and saw the Skrill coming over never leaving the Vikings eye
Hiccup then pushed over the basket and warm mutton fell out before the Skrill it licked it's teeth and lips digging it "Yup a fresh hot meal is what the Doctor ordered" he smirked "Sorry you had to sleep out in the rain, I'll work on something tomorrow" he promised "Here keep warm around the Torch, the grass is wet so it wont set the forrest on fire" he said gently and stabbed a torch in the ground and picked up three more and touched them together setting them on fire.
"Hmm not bad, it's warm" Hiccup held out his hands to the fire, then headed off going the wrong way it was so dark, which the Skrill noticed and grabbed the back of Hiccup's fur vest picking him up with a turn and pushed him forward with it's head, to the right direction.
"Right thats the way out" Hiccup said sheepishly and headed out and headed home going to sleep.
Later he got up at 6am and class didn't start til noon, Hiccup decided to work on his archery skills. So he got his things and headed to the woods as he made a quiver out of leather and placed it on his back full of arrows and picked up his bow went over his lessons, he went over what he learned yesterday remembering everything, he went over his exercise to condition so he can get better with being an archer exhaling and trusting his skill and shot his first arrow it hit a wooden target dead on.
The Young viking changed his hands with a turn shot a target on his left, then held two arrows and quickly shot them one hitting the same target on the left and rapidly nocking his second arrow and shot a target behind him as he snapped around.
"Lets spread out the targets and do something more challenging to increase my archery skills quicker" Hiccup told himself minutes later, he had placed the targets 50 yards and 70 yards the farthest was 90 yards. The young marksman then held four arrows in his hand and moved quietly like he was hunting, He looked saw the first target and stepped in a stance striking it 4 inches from the center but then he knocked another exhaling letting another arrow go hitting it in the center this time then moved on.
2 minutes later he shot every target, then now he wanted to See how fast he can push himself to shoot and move. Hiccup then narrowed his eyes and was off remembering to stay relaxed and breath, he finished his task and took him once 30 seconds and his best 12 seconds, he learned to shoot 2 arrows in 1 second "Okay thats not bad, for a new marksman" he said "Good thing I have time to improve" he added.
Hiccup saw something moving 100 yards, he climbed up a tree with many branches looked with his telescope and looked and saw a boar grazing, so he put his skill to the test, he pinned the telescope between a branch and looking into it he then climbed up and sat on a branch with his back to the trunk nocking a broadhead aiming it at the moving spec, then a breeze came through so aimed a little higher above the spec and release a steady breath letting the arrow fly, time seemed to slow down.
Hiccup's arrow fired away flying through the air and the arrow slowly drove into behind it's front leg plunging into it's heart piercing both sides and dropping it, then timed moved in normal time and the arrow struck the boar and he went down, tHe Viking looked and saw it down.
"Yeah!" Hiccup cheered softly and climbed down, headed to the boar "Well boar for breakfast" he then harvested the boar dragging on a sled he made from woven string put some large basket of mutton, with fire wood, fire starters.
Then arriving carefully getting down to The Cove, he made a fire roasting the boar and gave the Skrill his mutton the two ate in silence just the sound of chewing was heard.
the two fished and Hiccup found his exercise for archery and dragging all the things here made him really hungry and ate the whole boar, the Skrill was done aswell
"It's around 11:30 I should get going" Hiccup frowned "Once we get you back to full strength we can part" he said to the dragon Hiccup arrived at the Arena 5 minutes before noon and entered seeing Gobber setting up a large wooden maze, he used his skills from moving around as a marksman and tread lightly with hardly any sound stepped 12 feet behind the veteran "Hmhm" Hiccup cleared his throat making him spin around a little spooked from the sudden noise.
"Hiccup don't do that, you nearly scared the shite out of me!" Gobber frowned "But not bad I didn't hear you coming" he smirked.
"Well Dragon's do have good ears, so what doesn't make noise they can't hear" Hiccup said.
"They can still smell you coming" Gobber joked "Whats with that?" he asked pointing at the bow and arrows on his back.
"Lets say I found a way to use precision and accuracy" Hiccup simply replied.
"Do you even know how to use that thing?" Gobber raised a brow.
"Just wait and see" Hiccup smirked, then his two days walking through the woods at night his hearing had sharpened and could hear feet padding down the ramp to the arena "The other teens have arrived" he looked at the gate Gobber turned and saw the teens walking in.
"Huh? your right" Gobber said "You all arrived, but you lads and lassies showed up late it's 5 minutes past noon" he told them.
"Surprisingly to see Hiccup before us , what is that on his back?" Fishlegs asked pointing at the bow and quiver.
"The Talking Fishbone was giving a weapon of a coward" Snotlout replied "Gobber probably" he scoffed.
"Actually I made the bow and the arrows" Hiccup corrected.
"Yeah right like a runt like you knows anything about using that thing" Tuffnut sneered.
"Like Hiccup just told me: "Just wait and see"" Gobber butted in, Heather got closer inspecting the quiver and bow.
"I know what your thinking, just save comments til after class" Hiccup informed.
"I'll hold you to that" Heather nodded respecting his words but Astrid butted in.
"Just give us the stupid bow" Astrid demanded.
"No" Hiccup responded in a clear voice with steely eyes "I was talking to Heather not you, so back off" he sent a piercing stare into her eyes "Besides I wouldn't give it to you even if you were a general" He glared.
"Alright time for class" Gobber ordered cutting in where Hiccup and Astrid locked eyes and she huffed and walked where Hiccup just looked at her walking away with a steely expression.
Then Gobber freed the Nadder "Today is about attack, Nadders or light and fast on their feet your job is to move faster and be light on your feet" he instructed as the Teens were moving through the maze as The Nadder was hopping on the top then raised it's spikes and fired them at Fishlegs.
"Aahhh!, I'm starting to question your method to your madness when it comes to training!" Fishlegs yelled as he blocked the Spikes with his shield as ran past.
Heather was going through a trail, when a stone got her attention she stopped and saw Hiccup with his bow at the ready, he held is finger to his lips and pointed from his side, Heather hid looking and saw the Nadder looking around to the side, Hiccup nocked an arrow and sent it flying under it's legs and struck her spike tail with a glance to get it's attention, it turned around to look behind it and Hiccup made a gesture to move and then the two hurried forward and into another path.
The Raven black haired female patted his shoulder slowly as a silent "good plan" Hiccup just nodded a thank you. The two snuck quietly passed the Nadder.
"What are you two doing?, the Nadders over there" Astrid spoke up making them stiffen as the Nadder perked it's head up.
"Shh!" Hiccup and Heather hissed, they Nadder squawked and charged forward and the three broke away in different directions.
"Look for a blindspot every dragon has one!" Gobber told everyone, Tuffnut and Ruffnut turned a corner and found them face to face with the Nadder, finding it's blindspot under it's beak and nose but was ruined.
Ruffnut who was behind Tuffnut then smiled something pungent and gross sniffed her twin and recoiled "Oh do you ever bath?" she questioned with disgust Tuffnut elbowed her back.
"Marinade in it sister don't like get your own blindspot" he shot back but Ruffnut pushed back "How about I give you one?" she threatened but they draw'ed attention of the Nadder who squawked getting their attention they dove out of the way as a pipping hot blast of fire was fired at them.
"Blindspot yes but deaf, not a chance" Gobber facepalmed, Hiccup was sneaking around stealthily where he came to a vacant spot with no teens and no Nadder, so he looked up on to of the maze walls, he then shot some practice shots three of them from each like a stair step, then climbed up them close to the wall where it was the sturdiest, then queitly went across and fired four high and a leg way length under them, he got his shield ready and saw the Nadder moving towards where Heather was going, so He nocked a arrow with a dome shaped head and shot at it's horn where it bounced off it's nose horn getting it's attention it hopped on the wall to look where the shot came from, but Hiccup used his shield to hand the shield where he hung on the straps for the arm and stood on the arrows under him when it looked away and moved on towards his direction, he carefully made it out of there and was gone when it looked at his previous spot seeing no one there and Hiccup made it to Heather's spot giving her a start.
"Gee don't sneak up on me like that" Heather whispered.
"Sorry" Hiccup whispered back, then Heather went to a path Hiccup heard the clicking of Talons on top of the maze but Hiccup stopped her made a gesture with his hands saying: "the Nadder is coming back and is on the Maze walls"
"Okay lets be smart and wait for it to pass" she did motions back, the Nadder looked through the pathways and Hiccup and Heather snuck past, Hiccup going first.
"Don't worry babe I got this!" a annoying bragging voice called, it was Snotlout who pushed past Astrid and threw a bludgeon at the Nadder.
"Duck!" Hiccup yelled at Heather as the weapon was heading towards them, the two dove to the sides as the Nadder looked at the yelling and saw the two teens since Hiccup and Heather dove to hide behind a wall, the Nadder looked at the poor attack as it landed at it's feet and let out a dragon laugh.
Astrid glared at Snotlout unimpressed making him embarrassed he missed "The sun was in my Eyes Astrid!, I can't block out the sun" he defended himself, then the two ran as the Nadder charged at them blowing fire at them.
The Nadder jumped at the two, Astrid came barreling out blindingly crashing into Hiccup's back knocking him forward crashing into Heather by accident sending the two on the ground, but Hiccup reversed where she would have a softer landing, as she landed on top of him.
"Oh love on the Battlefield" Tuffnut stated.
"Astrid's going to get in a tizzy from Fishbone making a move" Ruffnut joked
The Nadder noticed the two and raised it's tail and swung, sending out spikes at them, Natsu slid from under Heather standing in a stance knocking three broadheads and let them fly where the three blocked three spikes, Heather and Hiccup brought their shields up blocking the rest Heather on her knees protecting Hiccup's lowerbody and Hiccup covering Heather's upper body and face nocked two blunt arrowheads and fired them hitting it's eye making it squawk in discomfort, then Hiccup trusting his instincts got on a Knee fired a dome shaped arrowhead at the side of it's neck dropping it.
"Whoa good shot!" Heather cheered as she couldn't help but hugged Hiccup tightly who was surprised As he never gotten a hug from someone in his age, but patted her back.
"HICCUP!" Astrid's voice yelled from on top of a maze wall as she lost her footing, he threw his shield at last 5 feet and fired three arrows at the ends and the middle catching the shield and Astrid fell seat first on the shield stopping the falling viking.
"Good work Heather and Hiccup!" Gobber called coming over after securing the Nadder in it's pen "You showed impressive teamwork, watched each other's back, even covered each other" he counted off "Fishlegs there was some improvement from you" he looked at the husky teen Viking.
"Before I forget, Nice shooting precise and deadly" Heather commented "Do know how to use it" she smiled.
"Of course, important rule: you bring a weapon you better know how to use it" Hiccup replied.
"Is this some joke to you!?" A angry voice stated, the three saw Astrid coming over "You walk in front of a dragon twice, you hid at a time, then you dragged Heather into danger, when are you going to stop treating this as one big game!?" Astrid scolded angrily "Then you have the gull to make a move on my friend" she hissed.
"SHUT UP ASTRID!" Hiccup raised his voice and gave her a cold and stony gaze, first time Hiccup has ever raised his voice like that "I came across Heather at a time where she was about to step in front I distracted the Nadder and told her to follow me, you gave us away by yelling at us" "The second time I noticed the Nadder coming back and even stepped out first Heather behind me, we would've been fine, If That Muttonhead didn't throw a bludgeon" referring to Snotlout.
"You draw'ed the Nadder's attention!" Astrid yelled at him.
"Are you deaf?, Snotlout threw a bludgeon in our direction so yes I instinctively Yelled "Duck!" But honestly you drew it's attention the most, then you barreled into me like a wild yak knocking me into Heather, Heather was the one who hugged me when it was over" Hiccup listed with a cold and steeled expression.
"It's I saw the whole thing" Gobber spoke up "Hiccup and Heather showed teamwork, watched each other's back, even covered each other when the Nadder shot spikes at them" he said.
"And Hiccup's accuracy and Precision with the bow was 100%" Fishlegs said.
"Thats it you give me that bow, if your not going to bring a proper viking weapon then you shouldn't have one" Astrid demanded angrily.
"Like everyone in your group, I'm not apart of your gang, so I don't have to take orders from you" Hiccup replied meaning "No"
"I said give me that accursed Bow" Astrid stated in threatening voice.
"Yeah and I said No" Hiccup replied standing resolute with a cold and steely tone.
"Another thing, this sudden attitude is getting insufferable really fast" Astrid stated.
"Why is that?, is it because It's me standing up and speaking or the fact your not use to people talking back to you?" Hiccup questioned "You ever wondered why?, Because you throw a tantrum when things don't go your way and no one wants to listen to you go on about how things should've gone" he stated "Besides recklessly confronting a dragon with no plan is suicide, just ask the vikings who lost their limbs" he said "No offense Gobber" he glanced at the Blacksmith/ Dragon Trainer.
"No your right, Vikings have lost limbs and their lives having no plan" Gobber waved off and stated.
"See?, If you ever want to fight and by luck slay a dragon in your age Hofferson" Hiccup stated giving her a serious stare "Then actually for once listen to Gobber, after all me and Heather knocked down a dragon on our second day" he said.
"Well how you recon my friends and me are ever confronted with multiple dragons, run, hide, sneak and cowardly strike when it's guard is down?" Astrid questioned in a nasty tone.
"If Needs to be but with the one true weapon that you and the tribe all lack" Hiccup answered and stated "Ingenuity" he said.
"Ingenuity?" Astrid pondered.
"I'll use simpler words: Creativity and actually using your head" Hiccup stated in a serious manner and walked away from the blonde who was steaming angry.
"Just ignore him he doesn't know what he's saying" Ruffnut stared at Hiccup's retreating form, Astrid fuming turned for a second then grabbed Heather's dagger to her shock pinched the blade with her fingers ready to throw.
"Look Out!" Heather yelled to Hiccup, Hiccup walking his right hand snapped to his quiver and nocked an arrow and whipped around all ready pulling the string back and let the arrow fly forward.
'splinch' sounded as the arrow went between Astrid's ring finger and middle finger where they meet top of the palm, sinking through the flesh stopping 4 inches through, a very hard spot to get. the arrow made Astrid drop Heather's dagger and hold her hand.
"No one hurts my Valkyrie!" Snotlout yelled charging at Hiccup.
Hiccup then pulled out a blunt shaped and 2 dome arrowheads, nocking it sent it slamming into Astrid's forehead leaving a bruise on contact and knocking her out, then fired the dome shaped arrows at Snotlout one hit him in the face and his thick head knocking him out, he then sent a sharp glance at the other teens to see if they want to test him.
"Alright since you two are acting like two dragons fighting over a stolen good, you 2 are banned from class for the next three weeks" Gobber came into the scene "For malicious and willful harm" he said.
"Fine with me, can't stand the twins and tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber" Hiccup shrugged and headed out then said over his shoulder.
"One more thing you call a bow a cowards weapon, I call it a weapon of a Marksman!" Hiccup called strongly with confidence in his words.