Even though my parents were dead, I still had to keep some coins coming so I continued to go out early in the morning (besides, it kept their memories with me). Unfortunately, every time I pulled up my lines, it looked like they were all bitten off. Considering that dragons could also be in those waters, sharks were the least of my worries. After hours of rebating and re-hooking my ropes, with little fish (Figuratively and some literally), I sadly rowed back home and opened up shop to a long line of hungry vikings.

"We-" I winced "I… couldn't catch much today, so it's first-come, first-serve, and only one fish per-family."

That day… wasn't the greatest. I managed to sell all the ones I wasn't going to eat but I still didn't get a whole lot of money. The next few days showed the same pattern, little fish to sell (much less to eat), which meant that I didn't have a whole lot of money for my weekly needs. I was worried that I would be more skin and bones than Hiccup.

I didn't really go out too much, and if I did, it was only to buy and/ or barter for things that I needed, such as other food or warmer clothing. For most of the time inside, I didn't do a whole lot either. I either just lied on the floor, ate, or just stared at the belongings of my parents such as my dad's sword I took from his corpse. It may have been selfish but I imagined he would get a better sword in Valhalla than the one he had here, besides, I wanted as many things to remember them by.

One day, I received a knock at my door, nothing like that ever happened since they died. I wanted to be left alone to grieve but after about a week of doing the same routine over and over, it was nice to have a conversation other than trying to bargain down the prices.

I slowly dragged my feet to the door and opened a slight crack just so I could peek out.

"What?..." I uttered in a groggy tone.

"Hey, Arne," greeted Hiccup "Gobber gave me the day off so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today, you know, like before?"

I sighed "No offense Hiccup, but I don't really feel up to it. Maybe some other day." Sometimes we went out to look for trolls, skipped stones by the docks, and other kid things.

"Are you sure?" He asked, "It's a great day outside, the sun's shining, it's not too cold, no hail or anything like that."

"Listen. Hiccup, I appreciate what you're trying to do but, it's not gonna work. I feel safer inside here, you don't fully know what I'm going through. At least you have a dad with you, I don't have my mom or my own father."

"Okay." Said Hiccup as he rose his hands "I'll leave you alone, but if you ever feel bored, my offer's always open."

"...I'll take that into consideration…" I said as I closed the door. Not thirty minutes later, I heard another knock at my door. What now!? I thought as I stood up from my wooden chair. I stomped to the door and opened it with full force "Hiccup, I told you-" instead of him, it was a very surprised Gobber.

"Well, at least I know you're lively." He said.

"I'm so sorry" I sighed, "I thought you were someone else and- Do you need to buy any fish?".

"Oh, I'm not here to spend money. In fact, I'm here to give you some, instead." He reached for a bag by his side and placed it at my feet.

I slowly knelt down and opened it, a bag full of coins, more than enough to keep me fed for the next few weeks.

"I know Frode never took any handouts, but I insist you take it" He smiled.

"I- I don't know how to thank you." I stuttered.

"No need to. However, I would also like to ask you if you would like to learn to fight dragons? Join us in dragon training?"

I looked at the bag"...If I do join, wouldn't I have to pay you this then?"

"Oh, no-no-no that will defeat the purpose of giving it to you in the first place. I'll cover everything for you."

"And who is, 'us'?"

"Oh, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, the Nut twins, and Signe, oddly enough."

"Why Signe, wasn't she already initiated?"

"Yeah, well, she wanted to refine her training so she thought this would be the best way, according to her parents."

I thought about the events of the week before. I wanted to avenge my dead parents so badly but I was also scared of losing my own life. "Can you give me some time to think it over?"

"Of course, this is a big commitment. Take all the time you need, you may want to get some food in you though. You seem to look thinner."

I gave a slight nod "Thank you Gobber." and closed the door.

Once I had some bread with yak butter and safely stored the money Gobber gave me, I went fishing for the second time, mainly so I could think about his proposition. I grabbed my lines and other equipment, along with my spear for extra protection.

That day, I decided that I'd fish in a different area of the water because, for some reason, I thought that I would get more fish in the place where my lines kept bitten off before.

I bated my hooks, cast them out along with my net, and waited. About thirty minutes later, I checked on my nets and… success! Finally, the nets felt heavy and when I finally pulled them up, it was loaded with fish. In my excitement, I almost didn't see that one of my lines was acting funny. Once I grabbed it, I felt a strong tug and tried my hardest to pull whatever was on the end, inside the boat. This felt like no other fish I ever had before, I expected it to be a shark and thought I was in several hours of a fight. However, after several minutes of pulling to barely any avail, the line went slack. I was extremely disappointed that I lost such a massive catch. Just then, I felt a giant tug that flung me from the safety of my boat into the frigid waters of the ocean. As soon as I hit the water, I let go of the line. Better to lose a hook and line than my life!

Desperately, I clung onto the rim of my boat, trying to pull myself up, and then something rose from the water. Towering at least twenty feet high, the long neck of an angry scauldron was behind me, from its bulbous blue mouth, the line hung. It then rose even higher, exposing half its chest over the water and part of its wings. I managed to scramble onto my boat, nearly tipping it over, only to see what looked like the dragon loading up a deadly spray. My mind immediately thought about my spear and as I stumbled on the deck, nearly tripping from the fish, I managed to find my weapon. Right before it fired, I threw my spear which managed to penetrate its scales stuck deeply in its chest, the entire blade sunken in. The scauldron shrieked an earsplitting shriek and sprayed scalding upward as if it was rain.

It then dove right into the water, while I was slightly relieved, I pulled up my lines and rowed as quickly as I could back home. Once I arrived, I salted the fish and used other preservative measures, I tossed on some dry clothes, and then knocked on Gobber's door.

"Arne? Have you decided what you're going to do?"

I gave a nod "I'll do the dragon training."