How a Girl Became a Woman (with the help of a dragon) Chapter 13: How to Choose Your Dragon, a how to train your dragon fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. All credits go to Dreamworks.

Despite the Changewing incident earlier, the lightning brought dragons and Vikings even closer. The villagers got wary of Mildew after Hanna's speech. No one listens to the old coot anymore.

And now, after weeks of training…

"Whoo, hoo, YEAH!"

The Dragon Riders were taking the Warriors of Berk to get their own dragons.

"I can't believe we're getting our own dragons!" Fishlegs gushed, sitting on the back of Sea-King while Brant stood on his dragon's head.

"Remember what I taught you. Show you're harmless, approach gently, hold out your hand and wait the dragon to trust you, blah-blah-blah." Hanna reminded.

Alaric, who was riding behind Hanna on Toothless, had his arms wrapped under the swell of her breasts to hold on or else fall overboard. She noticed, tried not to react to his touch, even though her face was sweating red and her breathing was labored. He was looking at the ocean to his right, desperate to distract himself.

"There it is!" Heather called out, with Ruffnut behind her on Loptr. "Dragon Island, dead ahead!"

"Dive down!" Hanna commanded.

The dragons took a sharp nose dive down, either scaring or exciting the Vikings through the rush of air.

"This is awesome and scary!" Tuffnut cheered behind Hildr on Boltstriker.

When they made it to the forest, Vipermei made Zhou zip through the trees agilely, make flips and dives and ups and downs, much to the fear of Snotlout and the joy of Gustav and Kerstin with her. Gustav and Kerstin were cheering, laughing, whooping, as they were actually enjoying the wild ride.

"Watch it! You're leaning too much on your side! Slow down! No! Speed up! Now slow down!"

Snotlout, on the other hand…

"I could've died back there, you beautiful manic! Hey, Mei! Hellooo? I think you missed a branch back there!"

Vipermei scowled, getting irritated his backseat driving, then an idea dinged in her mind.

"Oh really?"

Taking his remark as a challenge, she leaned and made Zhou dived again. A moment, they were back up with Snotlout covered with twigs in uncomfortable places.

"You got it." He moaned, his voice hoarse with twigs in his nose.

The riders landed in the center of the island.

"I have a good idea of what kind of dragon to pair you each up with." Hanna said as she got off Toothless. "The first thing to do…is find a dragon."

"No need. They found us!" Snotlout shrieked, pointing to a dragon jumping out from the bushes. He and his fellow Warriors jumped and clutched their hands out of instinct.

Hanna, on the other hand, was calm. "Oh good. A Gronckle. Fishlegs, you're up."

The large Viking squeaked.

"Go ahead. Do what I've taught ya."

"Oh Thor, oh Thor, oh Thor…!" Fishlegs chanted to himself as he timidly approached the brown Gronckle, hand out. "Hi, Mr. Gronckle."

The Gronckle growled as if insulted.

"Sorry! Mrs. Gronckle! Please don't eat me. I want to be your friend. Please?"

His hand stayed out, this time he gestured more prominently, and looked away.

The Gronckle sniffed his hand, the pupils of her once dangerous eyes grew wide and round, like a pussycat. Then she leaned in, pressing her rough-skinned snout against the large man's palm.

Fishlegs jumped in surprise. Seeing this creature, after being told and reading that dragons are vicious and kill on sight, he felt…touched.

"Aw, aren't you the sweetest thing?" He started gushing over the Gronckle with baby talk. "Yes, you are, yes you are!"

Hanna, though a little sick by the scene, smiled of pride. "Alright, what's next?"

"Ahh!" Snotlout screamed, bursting out of the trees, an angry Monstrous Nightmare trailing right behind him. "This island is CRAWLING with DRAGONS!"

Heather scoffed. "Yeah. It's called 'Dragon Island' for good reason."

As predicted, Snotlout ignored Hanna's advice and instead used his limited knowledge of dragon slaying by grasping sleeping Monstrous Nightmare's jaw shut to subdue it, however, he wasn't strong enough it keeps it down. The dragon looked smug as it trashed and threw Snotlout about like a ragdoll, and then chomped on him. Snotlout managed to break free, though baring scars and teeth marks, and ran away, with the dragon in pursuit.

Hanna to the rescue.

"Snotlout!"

She came up to his aid.

"It's trying to eat me!"

"Let him!" Vipermei chortled.

"Vipermei, shut it! Snotlout, just follow my lead. I'm gonna guide you through it, ok?"

Snotlout nodded.

With a determined look on her, Hanna stood in the Monstrous Nightmare, making it stop right in front of her.

"First, you bow, to show him respect just as you would to a Viking if you want to earn his trust. Got it?"

Again, Snotlout nodded.

Cousins bowed before the Monstrous Nightmare and, surprisingly, it bowed back.

Hanna approached the dragon and she set her hand gently on its snout. Snotlout watched her with wide, amazed eyes but that amazement vanished into fear and panic when she grabbed his hand.

"Hey, what are-"

"Sh! Relax, Snotlout."

She then placed his hand in place of hers and walked away, leaving him to deal with the dragon.

At first, Snotlout froze, scared that the snout will changed swiftly into teeth and take him in a chomp. But the Monstrous Nightmare only purred, much like a satisfied pussycat. Snotlout begun to laugh, overwhelmed with feelings of shock and wonder.

The next pairing was more eventful.

Gustav took it upon himself to find himself his own dragon, hoping impress Hanna (and Kerstin. He'd begged Hanna to let her come along.)

He found another Monstrous Nightmare, smaller than Snotlout's and a different color scheme.

He offered it a fish, humble and nervous and excited all in his tinier body. The young Monstrous Nightmare stared down at him, then begun to sniff the food. Its tongue pulled the fish into its mouth and then, quite fast, took Gustav as well in its mouth.

Gustav let out a yell as he was clamped between sharp jaws but none of the teeth were piercing him. He laughed as the tongue rhythmically licked him.

Hanna freaked out. Gustav was just like a little brother to her and watching him practically getting eaten alive gave her a triple heart attack.

"NO! BAD DRAGON! PUT HIM DOWN! HE'S NOT LUNCH!"

"I think that's his way of saying 'hello' or 'thank you'." Brant suggested with a chortle.

Hanna pulled the younger boy out, clothed in a light sheet of slobber.

"That was so cool! Let's try that again!"

"Gustav, no!"

Fortunately for Hanna, the next pairing was less trouble.

However, the choice of dragon caused a stir.

A purple Whispering Death popped out of the ground, scaring away the Gronckle Hanna picked out for Kerstin.

The girl of that name stood in its way.

"Kerstin. Don't. Move." Hanna hissed cautiously.

Kerstin nodded, scared stiff. Then she noticed a tree root stuck between its teeth, most likely the reason of its blind rage. With no hint of fear, she grabbed onto to the root and yanked it out fast. The dragon screamed but Kerstin didn't move. She held out her hand, palm out and looked straight at the Whispering Death intently. Bulging white eyes studied her, noting her bold kindness and bravery, and then closed as it leaned forward, bumping its forehead against her palm.

Kerstin then removed her armwarmers, using the items to rub the dragon's teeth, making it purr. Apparently Whispering Deaths loves getting its teeth brushed.

This made Hanna very impressed, the best she'd seen all day.

In agreement, Gustav sighed dreamily.

The Hideous Zippleback was a perfect choice for the twins.

The twins both went to approach the dragon Hanna picked for them but ended up fighting over gets to do it first. Wrestling in the dirt, rolling in the grass, arguing in their faces.

"Me first!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

Hanna groaned in annoyance. "For the love of Thor! Really?"

But before she could even think of stopping them, the heads of the Zippleback swiftly bite down on the twins and lifted them apart, heads in mouths. But even that didn't stop the siblings from fighting in midair.

Hanna wasn't sure if this was good or bad.

Definitely weird.

"Ok…"

And last but not least, Alaric's turn.

Hanna thought long and hard for the perfect dragon for him. Something fast, something fierce, something smart, something gorgeous…

The Deadly Nadder.

She found one, a nimble female.

She attempted to remind Alaric of the but he brushed her off, already going off to do this on his own.

First, he came up from behind the Deadly Nadder. But she noticed him in the corner of her eyes, squawked and spines came flying. He jumped away just in time to dodge the poisonous spines, not a scratch on him, moving agilely with spikes launching at high and low, swirls and straight lines, like arrows coming from an enemy line. He laughed, enjoying that little workout. The Nadder was just as spiritedly as him, so energetic and prepared for battle. Perfect for training. Another reason why the chief's daughter picked that specific out for him.

He laid down his hands in a calming gesture. "Easy, girl…"

He approached her from behind again, moving slowly, showing he was not a threat. He even didn't bring his axe along for the ride.

The Deadly Nadder studied him intensely, taking in his surrender. Then, her eyes lost its slits to round pupils. She let down her tail, beckoning him to touch it. He gently smoothed down her spines on her tail. He loved the touch of her unexpected suave skin. One single touch gave him the same feeling he'd got from flying with Hanna on Toothless.

He did it.

He tamed a dragon.

With a shy smile, he glanced over his shoulder to witness Hanna standing, a look of impressment upon her. A big, wide grin beaming off her face. Now he was the only feeling proud.

Until Snotlout ruined it.

"Hey, Hanna, did you know that when Alaric tried to train dragons before you came back, he tried do that with Terrible Terrors and ended up in Gothi's with two black eyes?"

POW! POW!

"Ow…"

"Now you have them too."

"Should we really be doing this?"

"What better way to bond with your dragon with a little trust exercise."

"This isn't a little trust exercise! You fell off your dragon! OVER THE FREAKING OCEAN!"

"Correction, I voluntarily fell off my dragon and trusted him to catch me over the ocean."

"And it was awesome!"

"You are so damn cocky."

"Relax, guys. Try to get least bond with your dragon."

"Uh, my idea of bonding with my dragon is to bring her home and feeding her the finest rocks Berk has to offer." Fishlegs admitted, earning a lick from his Gronckle, christened Meatlug. In less than an hour, he was already pampering his dragon and she was spoiling him right back.

"Suck it up, Fishface! Get a load of this!" Snotlout gave out a hearty whoop before slipping off his Monstrous Nightmare, which he proclaimed as Hookfang, slipped off.

However, Hookfang kept on flying, not even noticing the lack of weight on his back.

"Uh, should we tell Hookfang that his rider is falling to his death?" Tuffnut asked.

"Nah. Let him sleep on it." Ruffnut answered nonchalantly.

The twins sat on the heads of their Zippleback. Ruffnut got the right head that releases gas, dubbed Barf, and Tuffnut got the left that sparks the fire, dubbed Belch.

They were the perfect match, both pranksters.

Before they left the island, they managed to set a lake on fire.

Don't ask.

Hanna rolled her eyes and had to ask. "Uh, Hookfang? Missing something?"

Hookfang glanced to her, snapping out of his daydream, and looked down, seeing the human man she got partnered with rocketing downward with an expression of both anger and irritation.

"NOT FEELING THE TRUST!"

Hookfang wasted no time in flying down and catching him though.

"Whoo-ho-hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Gustav's smaller Monstrous Nightmare, named Fanghook, flew right pass Hanna, the young boy waving his arms in the air, throwing safety lesson into the wind. Hanna shook her head at his act, smiling.

Zhao passed her next. Kerstin's new Whispiering Death, appropriately named 'Helhiss', curled up in a ball, shielding its eyes from the sun, Kerstin right beside him.

Stormfly flew in the air, fast and graceful at the same time, much to the enjoyment of her new rider. Alaric grasped the handle of dragon riding so well. It made her heart swell with pride. And something else.

"Hey, Hanna, are you losing your touch? Looking pretty slow back there!"

Vipermei rocketed straight pass the Nightfury.

"Just taking a breather, Mei." Hanna said before she picked up speed, soaring right to the front of the flock.

Heading home.

No. Berk.

…

Right?