16. Dragons

The sun was already in the sky when the trainees reached the academy. The academy was empty and that greatly confused the group, normally the male dragon rider would already be there setting up for the day's training. The group made their way inside, looking around for their absent teacher. Suddenly a loud clanking sound was heard and the metal chain 'roof' of the arena was lifted.

"HA!" Hiccup cried looking down at the arena from the observation platforms where the lever was located. "I told you it would work!"

The gang was confused, thinking that he was talking to them. Fishlegs was about to ask him what he meant when a voice coming from behind them made them jump.

"That you did Chief, now go. I'll stay here and get the updates on our students here." Storm said, smirking a little at how easily the group was startled, but of course all they saw was her standing with her arms crossed and no expression could be determined from her helmet covered face.

"Okay, please stand in a line I want to see all of you." She continued not missing a beat. "I want a progress report from all of you. Astrid, as you are the non-official official leader of the group, why don't you start. Tell me what I missed in the three days I was gone."

"Your friend-"

"Brother, he's my brother."

"– Your brother had us doing stamina and accuracy training for the past few days. Running laps with heavy sacks, and yesterday he had us try to get five bullseyes in a row." Astrid finished, not letting the interruption throw her off.

"Did you all move onto accuracy?" Storm asked, clearly skeptical. She watched as Snotlout shifted uneasily, the twins trying to act casual next to him. She snorted. "Clearly not all of you, looks like some of you thought slacking off was a good idea. Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't slack off anymore. But that's not for today, today we have something else planned for you."

As if on cue Hiccup announced his return by landing in the arena. He was riding the Nadder and the rest of the dragons were right behind him. The gang stared in wonder not having had seen dragons so close for a long time.

"Wow," Fishlegs breathed quietly.

"Today you will need to gain your dragon's trust," Hiccup started, dismounting the Nadder. "Now it won't be easy, they let us ride them because they know us and trust us, they don't know you. We have picked these dragons out for you beforehand."

"Astrid, you'll be bonding with the Nadder. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, the Zippleback –"

"- Fishlegs with the Gronckle. Snotlout, the Nightmare –"

"- and Eret, we thought the Rumblehorn would suit you best." The pair finished talking and the gang started to snap out of their wonderstruck.

The pair went about helping their trainees ear their dragon's trust. They started with Astrid and Fishlegs, having them both show the dragons that they meant no harm by feeding them. Then while Storm was showing Fishlegs the best places to scratch his dragon, Hiccup was showing Astrid how to properly appeal to the Nadder's vanity.

They moved on the help the twins with no problem. Even though they weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, they understood that this was no time for goofing off. They managed to train their dragon without any mistakes. The only ones left for the task were Eret and Snotlout.

They needed less help than the other on account of them witnessing the process thrice before. The pair mostly watched from the sidelines, Storm next to Eret and Hiccup next to Snotlout, both closer to the dragons than the humans in case the dragons needed to be calmed down.

Eret was petting the Rumblehorn when it happened. Hiccup didn't see what happened exactly, all he knew is that the Nightmare's tail harshly smashed into him, sending him flying into the stone wall of the academy.

"HI-CHIEF!" he heard Storm shout in worry. She ran to his slumped form, her creaking prosthetic and dragon growls were the only sounds in the arena.

"Calm down your dragons! NOW!" She ordered.

The gang sprang from their shocked states. They did a surprisingly good job at calming the distressed dragons and Storm would've congratulated them if she wasn't concerned for Hiccup. She kneeled next to him, lifting his slumped head.

"You need to oil that thing," He whispered, his head lolling to the side, he was dazed.

"Hiccup," she whispered. "I-I need to take off your helmet, I need to check your head, now."

"No-no, S-Storm-"

"Please, Hiccup. You could be seriously injured. Listen, I'll take mine off too, we'll both show them our faces. If-if they say anything to you, if they f-figure out, I'll help you, please…" She trailed off.

"Fine," Hiccup forced out, his head was killing him and he rather be found out than die because of stubbornness. Storm breathed a sigh of relief and took her helmet off first, to show Hiccup that she wasn't lying to him. Then she removed his helmet and didn't hesitate in checking his head. She breathed another sigh of relief. His head wasn't bleeding.

"Okay, follow my finger," she said and slowly moved her finger in front of his eyes. Seeing him do that without trouble and not flinch at the sun light, her worries melted away. "You don't have a concussion, that's good."

"Is he alright?" At Eret's question Storm snapped to the gang that were standing near their dragons looking at the pair in worry. She nodded.

"You're not bald." Snotlout stated.

"Should I be?!" She yelped, for the first time the group could see the annoyance on her face.

"No, no, you shouldn't," Fishlegs was quick to assure her. "It's just we thought th-that you might be disfigured to wear the helmets all the time…" he trailed off, shrinking into himself afraid of what she would do after hearing that. He and the rest of the group were surprised when they heard the pair laugh.

"Yeah, no." Hiccup chuckled, taking Storm's hand and getting up from the ground. "We're not disfigured, of scarred or half-dragon, we just like our privacy"

He watched their faced for any sign of recognition, but when he found none he was both relieved and insulted. Had they really forgotten about him? He supposed it didn't matter, at least he didn't have to explain himself then and there.

"You're hot." The twins said simultaneously. The pair shared a look.

"Thank you. Anyway it seems that today's training will be cut short. Tomorrow you'll need to name your dragons, so be prepared," Hiccup said, handing Storm her helmet and taking his own. He mounted the Nadder and went to put on his helmet.

"Get well, dragon boy," Astrid said somewhat hesitantly. He paused looking her in the eyes without any interferences for the first time. He nodded as Storm chuckled.

"Dragon boy, I like that," she said, pointing at Astrid from her place on the Rumblehorn. She also put on her helmet and took off, Hiccup and the other dragons following her lead.

"Those eyes," Astrid whispered to herself. "They're so familiar."