Disclaimer- The only things I own in this are Shelby Reenberg and her fellow Dragon Riders-in-training. How to train your dragon was not made by me. It belongs to Dreamworks (at least, I'm pretty sure it belongs to Dreamworks).

I have already planned out a lot of the plot, so I hope I don't get about a million reviews telling me it's terrible. That would not be good.

(If you didn't get the hint: please don't leave nasty reviews. Constructive critisism only).

Chapter 1- the start of the plan.

Soon after the discovery of the Dragon Hunters, the Dragon Riders concluded that they would need re-enforcements.

They toyed with the idea of having the A-team on Dragon's Edge, since Berk hadn't been involved in the conflict for a while, but they realised that it would leave their home island too undefended and open to attack. It was still nearly a day's flight away, and was an obvious target for the Dragon Hunters.

No, they would need an entirely new set of Dragon Riders ready to train specifically for this war.

And that was how Plan Apprentices was born. At first, it was just a hypothetical. But soon, with the latest plots from their enemy, it became a solid plan.

And Fishlegs found himself to be the one to take the news to Berk.

Armed with only a dragon and a scroll of instructions which he had begged Hiccup to write down in case he forgot, the Dragon Rider arrived at Berk in the early evening. He quickly landed, thinking furiously about how much better it would have been if Astrid had been sent, and scurried as fast as his legs could carry him over to the Great Hall.

"S-Stoick," he called over to the chief, who was talking to a couple of villagers about something to do with sheep.

Stoick turned in bemused surprise, "Fishlegs! Is everything alright?"

Fishlegs looked around at the other Vikings present. It would not do to get people excited before he actually broke the news to them, "I-I need to speak with the council," he said.

It did not take long before Berk's small decision-making team was gathered in the Great Hall.

Stoick, who had looked curious throughout the endeavour, but had not pressed Fishlegs for answers, said, "why did you call us here, Fishlegs?"

Fishelgs took a deep breath, "We were attacked by the Dragon Hunters. We defeated them and escaped, but Hiccup's worried that they may strike again. We need back-up dragon riders if we're going to stand a chance."

"You mean you're going to take the Auxiliary team?" presumed Stoick, raising an eyebrow.

Before Fishlegs could reply, Gobber put in, "that's ridiculous! You'll be leaving Berk almost completely undefended! And just after we've made a new enemy!"

"We've defended this island without dragons before," Stoick pointed out, stroking his beard thoughtfully, "we can surely do it again."

"We're not going to take the Auxiliary team," Fishlegs interrupted.

"Oh?" was Stoicks only reply.

Gobber laughed, "really? How many other teams of trained Dragon Riders are there in the Archipelago?"

"None," Fishegs replied, "we're going to train a new one."

This was met with silence.

After a lot of dubious looking around, Spitelout decided to add his opinion into the mix, "you can't just train more Dragon Riders every time you have a problem, boyo," he pointed out, "there's only a certain amount of Vikings brave enough to do it. Sooner or later we're going to run out."

"I hate to admit it, but Spitelout's right. How many would we be talking?" Gobber asked.

Fishlegs fiddled with his hands nervously, "Hiccup said about 5-10 initially. He said that if that goes well, we could always visit our allies and see if they have any Vikings willing to go through training."

"It sounds like you've thought this out," Stoick admitted.

"Say you did get some people willing to take it on," Gobber began, "what would you do then? Train them here in relative safety but leave your base a Rider down, or take them over to the Edge?"

"We were going train them for a few weeks here, enough to get them flying, then take them to Dragons Edge to get more experience. Hiccup doesn't want untrained Riders at risk, of course," Fishlegs answered.

"Ok," Stoick said. He turned to the other members of the council, "all in favour of more Dragon Riders being trained and sent to the Edge, raise your hands."

The vote was decisive. Excluding Spitelout, no council member had any objections to a few more Vikings being trained to ride dragons. Snotlout's father huffed and rolled his eyes when this was expressed, "well, what do we have to lose?"

No-one responded, but Fishlegs could almost hear everyone thinking at once, 'well, quite a lot, actually'.

…

Crrrreeaak

"Shelby, time to get up!"

Shelby Reenberg groaned and turned over. Her mother slid the door further open, causing the creaking noise to continue. She felt a weight on the end of her bed.

Grrrrrrr.

Shelby sighed, "mornin', Rascal," she said, addressing the small Terrible Terror who was the culprit of both the growl and the unwanted weight.

"How come only the family pet gets a proper greeting?" Lin Reenberg, otherwise known as Shelby's constantly exasperated mother, questioned as she finally shoved the door fully open.

The room was flooded with light. Shelby closed her eyes tighter and curled into herself.

"Shelby, answer your mother."

Oh, great. Her father was part of the uninvited awakening party.

"I like Rascal more," she quipped, reaching out to pet her Terror. She still didn't open her eyes, however.

"Come on," Lin said, "you have a big day today."

Shelby knew that her mother couldn't see her, but she furrowed her brows in confusion anyway, "a big day? Since when? Why am I never told about these things?"

She heard the sound of drawers being opened and knew that her mother was pulling out a suitable outfit for her. "It was sort of a… last minute revelation for us, too," Lin assured her.

Lin may have patience (a questionable fact in itself), but her father, Dag Reenberg, did not.

"Shelby, you heard your mother. Get out of that bed, now," he said.

Shelby sighed and forced her eyes open, "I'm coming, I'm coming."

"Hurry, we're going to be late," were Dag's parting words as he exited the room.

"Late for what?" Shelby asked. She was curious enough that she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Blinking bleary-eyed at her mother, Shelby noticed that there was a cheerful glimmer in Lin's eyes as she rummaged through her daughter's belongings. This was… unusual for Lin. And also worrying, as what made Dag and Lin happy was often not even close to what made Shelby happy, "would you mind telling me why you dragged me up at," she checked the small sun dial which was in the garden in view of her window and widened her eyes, "6 am?"

"Trust me, Shel," Lin said, and the rare use of the nickname made Shelby's eyebrows raise, "it would be better for everyone if we filled you in on the way."

Shelby sighed again. She had long ago realised that Lin gave answers when she wanted to, and not before, "is it something I can bring a book to?" she asked.

"No," came the answer, causing her shoulders to slump in disappointment, "now, get up properly and put on the clothes by your bed."

Shelby waited until her mother and Rascal had gone, then pulled on the tunic and skirt she had been instructed to wear. She noticed with annoyance that it was one of the skirts with spikes on. The ones her mother knew she hated.

Huffing in irritation, Shelby stomped into the main room of her family's hut.

...

"Either of you mind filling me in?" Shelby asked grumpily.

"The chief delivered some exciting news yesterday," began Lin.

"Yes," Dag agreed, "one of the Dragon Riders returned from the Edge to ask for more riders to train to re-enforce their base."

"You have got to be kidding me," Shelby cried, stopping in her tracks.

"Shelby, this is the opportunity of a lifetime," Lin reasoned.

"I can't be a Dragon Rider," Shelby cried, "I just can't. You guys would remember, if you put your exceedingly small minds to it, that I am terrified of heights."

It was true. Shelby couldn't climb on objects the height of her waist without getting dizzy.

"You'll get used to it," Dag said dismissively before continuing to walk. Lin gave her daughter a pointed look, which clearly meant 'follow us or you'll regret the day you were born', and turned around. Soon both her parents were walking away from her. Shelby sighed, well, it's not as if I'm likely to be accepted, and did as her mother silently asked.

She had seen the Dragon Training Arena before, but she had never been in it. Her mother had said that it had once belonged to the Dragon Riders while they were defeating Dagur the Deranged. Her father had then replied gruffly that it had been put to far better use during the 'dragon hunting days'. Shelby had lost focus on the conversation long before he began to explain his reasoning.

Nevertheless, it was a strange feeling, walking into something that was part of your history. It was already filled with Vikings, who were undoubtably her new 'competitors'.

"Hello," a high voice said from the side. The family of three turned to see one of the Dragon Riders, Fishlegs Ingerman, standing with a small piece of paper ready to take her name.

"Hi," Shelby greeted when her parents made it clear they were leaving it up to her.

"I assume you're here for the auditions," he said.

"Yes."

"What's your name?" he asked, charcoal at the ready to record it.

"Reenberg. Shelby Reenberg," Shelby answered.

"Shelby Reenberg," he said slowly as he dragged the charcoal over the paper, "And I've been asking people who come in for some things they're good at so I can organise the tests better. Tracking. Fighting. Reading. Anything, really, so long as it could come in handy."

Shelby was tempted to say, 'I'm not really good at anything,' but her parents must have seen this coming because Lin cut in, "she's not much of a fighter, but she knows more about dragons than I would have thought possible for her age."

A little optimistic, Shelby thought, but not far off. If she starts rattling on about how good an archer I am, though, I might have to intervene.

Lin continued, "she's read pretty much every book she can get her hands on. She can draw quite well, too."

Shelby noticed that while her mother was all too pleased to exaggerate greatly on her, admittedly few talents, the issue of being afraid of heights did not come up at all in Lin's speech.

Fishlegs, none the wiser, had a grin on his face that was growing wider and wider with each book-related skill mentioned, "excellent. We haven't had many smart Vikings come here yet. I'm sure you'll have plenty of chance of being chosen, Shelby."

Shelby forced herself to smile warmly, "I'll do my best," she promised.

Inside, she was thinking, please don't let me be chosen for the simple reason that I can recite the alphabet.

"You'd better," Dag's rough voice broke her from her thoughts, "or you will regret it."

"Uh," she started.

"I'm serious," Dag didn't seem to care that Fishlegs was watching him make the threats, "fail me, and I will drop you off on Changewing island to be eaten by the wild dragons."

Shelby felt a pang of fear run through her. Although she doubted her father would actually leave her to be eaten by wild dragons, he had beaten her in the past. Quite a lot.

Shelby backed away from her parents, "I'll see you later, then."

Lin narrowed her eyes slightly, but gave what Shelby thought was supposed to be an encouraging nod. And with that, Dag and Lin walked away, leaving Shelby staring after them.

"Sooo," Fishlegs said, "your parents are pretty intense."

Shelby nodded absently, "I think they want me to be a Rider just to get me out from under their feet."

"Do you want to be a Dragon Rider?"

The question surprised her. What was she supposed to say? Was she supposed to lie and say she hoped that she would be able to train for the honour, or tell the truth and maybe get him to not choose her?

"Not really," she admitted, "I'm scared of heights, scared of most dragons, and scared of combat. I'll be no help at all on dragonback. But I kind of do want to get away from my parents, especially my father."

"I was afraid of heights too when I started out," Fishlegs admitted.

"Really?" Shelby asked, raising her head.

"Yeah. None of us were particularly cut out for the job. You should have seen Snotlout when he first started out. He could barely fly for 10 seconds without setting something on fire. He still is like that, actually," Fishlegs said, "but we got better, and look at us now."

Shelby shrugged. She really didn't want to be put anywhere near a large dragon.

"It really is worth it, Shelby," Fishlegs urged, "you should do your best on the tests, at least. You may not be enthusiastic now, but after you've met your dragon, and flown for a bit, you'll see that it isn't so scary after all. None of you will be put into combat before you're ready."

Shelby looked at her feet, "I'll try," she promised. And this time, she didn't feel as though she was setting herself up for disaster.

...

Thanks for reading!

The updates on this story might be slow at first as I'm kind of on the bit I don't want to be writing right now, but I promise they will speed up.