Once we entered the village, I was about to head to Hiccup's house but he stopped me and reminded me that we have a meeting for dragon training. "Matt, we have a meeting with Gobber and the others, remember?" Hiccup said while I groaned in exhaustion. "I just want to sleep." I whined getting a smirk from Hiccup and taking my hand to the hall.
Once we were inside I was able to hear Gobber talking to the teens about what they did wrong. "Alright. Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber asked while Astrid answered her own question. "I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble." She said while she gave me a strange glance. What? 'She knows something is wrong with us. I would be careful around her.' Wolf told me cautiously knowing what Astrid is capable of finding out the truth. 'It's been three years since I came here and she hasn't figured out that I'm one of her dragonic enemies.' I said conforting Wolf that we were safe. 'Yet' I heard. "No, no, you were great. That was so… 'Astrid'. Snotlout said dreamily while I gave a groaned of disgust. "She's right, you have to be tough on yourselves." Gobber said before looking at Hiccup and me. "Where did Hiccup and Matt do wrong?"
I narrowed my eyes at Gobber, who gave me a nervous smile then to the teens who avoided my eyes and looked elsewhere. I sighed and answered. "I lost focus when we were hitting our shields to disorientate the gronickle which made me vulnerable for attack." I sighed and was about to answer Hiccup's. "As for Hiccup-" "He's never where he should be." Astrid interrupted me and made Hiccup feel hurt inside.
I glared at Astrid but surprisingly she glared back. I was shocked but I didn't show it and continued to glare. 'She would never glared back at me. She's too aware of me to even try.' I thought to Wolf who I felt his glare at the blonde viking girl. 'She has the audacity to glare at US! But you are right, perhaps because Hiccup joining dragon training cause it. 'Dragon Training'? More like 'Dragon Killing.' Wolf thought with a growl before stopping all together when Gobber got our attention back. "Thank you, Astrid." Yeah, no thank you. "You need to live and breathe this stuff." Trust me, I do it everyday. I love knowledge. "The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of." Gobber said while I mentally snorted at that. 'If that is true, you would have known about my kind, the shifters.' I thought to myself getting a mental nod from Wolf in agreement. We then heard the roar of thunder outside of the hall and I replied, "No attacks tonight. You want us to read?" Gobber gave a thumbs up and said, "Study up." before leaving.
Tuffnut looked confused and looked at me. "Wait, he means read?" Tuffnut replied while I gave an affirmative nod earning a groan. Ruffnut gave a stupid comment of 'while we're still alive?' and I rolled my eyes then Snotlout spoke. "Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" I gave him a blank look and replied, "Because without knowledge you won't know the weaknesses of each dragon. What if you meet one and you have no idea how to kill it. What would you do?" I waited for an answer but Fishlegs started listing down how many times he read the book. "Oh! I've read it like, seven times. There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face. And-And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week-" Fishlegs said before I interrupted him. "No offense, Fishlegs, but no one likes a nerd thinking they know everything." I calmly said earning a saddened nod from Fishlegs then Tuffnut joined our conversation. "Yeah, that sounds great. See, there was a chance I was going to read that…'' Tuffnut said before I replied with confusion. "Since when do you ever read?" Ruffnut then finished her brother's sentence. "But now…"
The teens then started leaving saying that they have more important stuff to do while the ones that were left in the hall was me, Hiccup, and… Astrid. Hiccup got up from his table and walked over to Astrid and sat by her. "So I guess we'll share?" He said but Astrid turned him down. "Read it." She says before walking away. "All mine and Matt's then. Wow, okay. So, I'll see you, uh…" The door slams close and we were finally alone. "Tomorrow." Hiccup sighs before grabbing the book and opening it with me by his side.
"Dragon classifications. Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class." I read and wondered what my kind class is perhaps its a mix of both Mystery Class and what our forms are. Hiccup continued reading. "Thunderdrum: This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." I growled at that sentence but didn't say anything else and continued reading but I swear the book is becoming alive because of the moving pictures. "Scauldron: Sprays scalding water at it's victim. Extremely dangerous. Changewing: Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on site." We passed through more dragons and I even saw the whispering death. Thank Noctis I resisted destroying the book. We kept going saying extremely dangerous and kill on sight throughout the book until we got to the last page of the book. The Night Fury. "Night Fury: Speed, unknown. Size, unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: Hide and pray it does not find you." Hiccup read before putting the picture of my brother by the title. I glanced at Hiccup and smirked knowing he wants to learn more about Night furies. But of course he has to wait until tomorrow.
I got up while patting Hiccup's shoulder and left but not before Hiccup turned to the next page and uttered something. "Shifter." I turned quickly and headed straight for Hiccup and saw the page of my species like the Night Fury it was blank. 'Hey they do know about us. I thought viking were too dumb to see any signs of us.' Wolf said but I didn't pay attention and started reading. "Shifter: Speed, unknown. Firepower, unknown. The unholy offspring of human and dragon itself. Has the ability to shift to dragon and human. Never, never engage this dragon. Your only chance: Hide and pray it shows you mercy." Hiccup looked bewildered by the description and looked at me. "I haven't even heard about this type of dragon. And 'unholy offspring of human and dragon itself' that's impossible. There is no such thing as a human dragon." Hiccup said with a hint of fear and I smiled softly. "Shifters may seem dangerous but they are actually protectors of dragon AND human. They're just feared by many and like to isolate themselves from humans." I explained getting a confused look from Hiccup. "If they're truly protectors why aren't they helping us with the dragon problem?" I gave a knowing smirk and simply replied, "What if they already are?" Hiccup still looked confused but I just left letting him think about it but gave him an idea of what I am. I'm still afraid he'll reject me but like Wolf said if he figures it out himself, I'll lose his trust and possibly my brother's flight. I can't let that happen I won't. 'Wonder what tomorrow brings.' Wolf replied before falling asleep.
It was morning and we were dealing with a deadly nadder this time but Hiccup wanted to ask questions about the night fury. Is that really a good time! "You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet? WOAH!" Hiccup yelped when the deadly nadder fired at his weapon. "Surprise friend of the shifter!" I heard the nadder squawked while Gobber explained the point of the training. "Today is all about ATTACK! Nadders are quick and light on their feet!" "Why thank you I am always quick and light on my feet. Now where is that Shifter?" "Your job is to be quicker and lighter!" Gobber continued then the nadder saw Fishlegs running and unleashed her spines on him. "Don't worry! I made sure the poison wasn't in them! Just tell me where the shifter is!" Fishlegs yelled and lifted his shield up letting the spines pierced his shield. "AAAAAH! I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" "Look for it's blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find it. Hide in it, and strike!" I was with the twins and turned to the corner finding the dragon in front of us in her blind spot. "Uh oh." I whispered trying to not give our location away. "Ugh! Do you ever bathe?" Ruffnut sneered at her brother. "If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot!" Tuffnut argued getting the nadders attention. "Somebody in my blind spot, aren't they?" The nadder squawked blankly while I tried to keep the twins quiet. "Shut it both of you!" I whispered but it was all in vain when Ruffnut yelled, "How about I give you one!" The nadder squawked in anger and roared before firing. "Shut it! You're so loud!" We dodged the fire but I got split up from the twins and got the dragon's attention. "Perfect!" I grumbled in dragon but all that did was excited the dragon. "AAAAH! YOUR THE SHIFTER!" She squawked like a dragon meeting her idol. I nervously stared at her and walked back slowly and uttered, "Uh yes." She just stared at me for a long time before she pounced. "AAAAH!" I screamed and rolled underneath her making her crash into the wooden maze. "Aww why won't you let me mate with ya!" I froze and dumbly stared at her. 'What the hel!? 'Ah, she's in heat. And she's a fan of the shifters. Good thing you have a lot of stamina, 'cause you're going to be busy all day!' Wolf laughed loudly before calmly saying, 'Yeah, I would run if I were you.' And run I did. Right in front of Snotlout and Astrid. "Hey! Watch it you-HM!?" I covered Snotlout's mouth and pushed him and Astrid to cover out the nadder's sight who came a second later. I was about to go to the other side but when I caught sight of Hiccup I motioned him to cover. "Get down." I whispered loud enough for him to hear and ducking back to cover.
The nadder was smelling the area and saying, "Where are you, love?" And I was rolling on the other side followed by Astrid, Snotlout, and Hiccup but he didn't make it and caught the nadder's attention. "Hey friend of shifter! Where are you going!?" She said chasing Hiccup but turned in another direction and caught sight of me and Astrid. Astrid was about to throw her axe until Snotlout pushed her way. "Hey!" Astrid yelled in annoyance while I glared at Snotlout "Watch out, Babe. I'll take care of this." He said before tossing his hammer at the nadder and missed by two feet. "Haha! Was that supposed to impress me!" The deadly nadder chuckled. Astrid and I gave Snotlout a blank look and Snotlout gave a pathetic excuse. "The son was in my eyes, Astrid! What do you want to do, block out the sun? I could do that but I don't have time right now!" Snotlout said while we were running but the nadder was starting to catch up so climbed the wooden walls with relative ease with Astrid following and we started leaping from wall to wall but the dragon was right behind us, causing the walls to collapse. "Stop chasing us, you stubborn reptile!" I screamed jumping off the last collapsing wall and saw Hiccup standing by like he was having a conversation. Which he was!
"INCOMING!" I yelled before impacting right by Hiccup, who was speaking to Gobber. "They probably take the daytime off. You know, like a cat. Has anyone ever seen one napping." I heard Hiccup say before I heard the screaming of Astrid. "HICCUP!" Out of reflex, Hiccup lifted his shield in time for Astrid's axe to impede it and knock Hiccup down with Astrid. "Oooh! Love on the battlefield!" I heard Tuffnut joked then Ruffnut saying, "She could do better." I was confused why they said those things but when I looked at Hiccup and Astrid, I blushed. Astrid was on top of Hiccup and got a comment from Wolf. 'Oooh! They going to mate?' 'SHUT IT WOLF!' I yelled mentally but was taken out of my embarrassing state when the deadly nadder escaped from the collapsed walls and glared at me. "THAT WAS NOT NICE!" She roared before charging towards me at great speeds. I got back up quickly and reached for my sword but I tensed when I didn't feel the familiar wood of my blade. I looked around and spotted my sword at least ten feet away from my reach. How did it go so far away!? I turned back to the nadder and saw she was only a few feet away before Astrid came out nowhere and smashed her axe...shield? Axeshild? Shieldaxe? Doesn't matter but that she probably saved my life.
"Well done, Astrid!" Gobber congratulated before leaving the area. I was about to thank Astrid but she turned to Hiccup and snarled. "Is this some kind of a joke to you!?" She aggressively said, causing me to stop and growled at her. "Our parents' war is about to become ours! Figure out which side you're on." I then thought she was about to walk away but she stalked towards me and pointed while glaring at me. "And as for you! You're a coward!" She said causing me and Wolf, mentally, to growl. "You used to be a warrior. But like Useless, you're nothing now. A freak!" She snarled the last word causing me to snap for the first time. I gave Astrid a nice hard punch right in the face knocking her down to the ground. Fishlegs gasped while the Twins and Snotlout had their jaws to the ground. I looked at Astrid and saw the shock in her eyes and saw that I gave her a nasty bruise on her left cheek and some tears. But I wasn't done yet. I stalked towards Astrid and leaned closely to her bruised face. "Don't you dare, call me a freak again." I snarled before walking away.
After a few seconds, I heard someone approaching me very quickly from behind and turned around to find an angry Astrid about to punch me. I ducked from her punch and gave her my own punch right in her stomach followed by an uppercut to her chin. She backed up from the blow but quickly set herself in position and kicked me in the shin and face. I growled in anger and tackled her to the ground starting a rough wrestling match. We rolled around for a few minutes but Astrid got on top of me and slammed her fist at my face causing me to grimace but when she went for another punch I grabbed her fist and twisted, causing her to scream in pain before kicking her away. I got back up as well as Astrid and she charged me but I sweeped her legs off the ground while grabbing her arm and pulled the opposite direction. "AAAAAH!" Astrid screamed when she landed on the ground and holded her now broken arm. I was still not done and got on top of her and punched her causing her to cough out some blood. 'NIGHTSHIFT STOP! THAT'S ENOUGH!' I heard Wolf plead but I didn't listen and punched Astrid again. "Matt! Stop it!" "Come on bro! That's enough!" "Matt! Please, you're not a monster!" The last sentence stopped me from hitting Astrid again a third time. Astrid wasn't bad but her face was swollen from bruises and she had a cracked lip with blood flowing and her eyes… OH GODS HER EYES! When I looked at her eyes I saw the fear they held. The great Astrid Hofferson was afraid. She was afraid of me. I instantly let go of her and backed up quickly looking at my blood covered hands. "Oh gods, w-what have I d-done?" I whispered in fear before running away passing a stunned Gobber. "Matt!? Where are you going!?" Gobber yelled in confusion but I didn't pay no mind. I ran in the forest and shifted into my night fury form and flew towards the cove where my brother will be.
Zyrus was resting but when he heard my approach he got up quickly in excitement before he saw my fear and started to become concerned. "Nightshift? What's wrong? What happened?" He asked in concern before I broke down and hugged him in desperation. Zyrus instantly unfolded his wings and covered me to protect me from the outside but all it did was make me cry more. "OH ZYRUS! SHE'S RIGHT! I'M A FREAK! A MONSTER! I HURT HER! MY PAWS ARE COVERED IN BLOOD! AAAAAH!" I cried hugging tightly. Zyrus froze and instantly tightened his hold on me to whisper comforting words. "Nightshift? You are not a freak nor a monster. Do you understand? You are a special dragon gifted by Noctis herself to our parents and that we love you very much. You are also the kindest and friendliest shifter in the world." I calmed down a bit but I still felt guilty about what I did. "But look at my p-paws. They're covered in b-blood." I said getting a concerned look from my brother once he looked at my blood covered paws. "Are they..." "NO! THEY'RE NOT DEAD!" I exclaimed realizing what Zyrus was indicating at. He sighed in relief and looked at me carefully.
"Have you been hearing anything?" He asked cautiously while I give a confused look and shook my head slowly. "N-No unless you're talking about the voice." I said earning a widen gaze from Zyrus. "Was it… her?" Zyrus asked, looking around for anyone listening. I nodded my head and spoke, "She always says to take what's mine and that I have the power to punish those that would dare insult me. But I didn't listen." "Just because you didn't listen doesn't mean she isn't influencing you, Nightshift. She probably amplified your anger to attack causing more harm than needed." Zyrus explained causing me to whimper in fear knowing that the queen is controlling me more and more by every passing day. Zyrus hugged me for a while before he spoke again. "Do you want to go back or do you want to stay here?" He said looking at me gently. I didn't say anything because I fell asleep causing my brother to chuckle and went to sleep too. Who knew crying can be so tiring.