Hey everyone, it's me. I just had a quick question. Do you feel like I'm moving to fast? I was rereading it, because I know I need to go through and fix some grammatical errors, and I was wondering if I needed to slow down and put more thoughts from the characters into this, or if it was sounding good.

Thank you so much for reading and please comment.

Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon, or its characters. I only own my OCs, and some parts of the plot that I have changed, and the ones you don't recognize.

CHAPTER 3

*Hiccup's POV*

The gate slammed shut behind me with a bang, and I scrambled to follow the other teens faster.

Gobber stood in the center of the ring, smile wide across his face. "Welcome to dragon training!"

Stone walls were covered with blood stains and scorch marks. Both human and dragon bones were littered around the edges, and I skittered around them, disgusted. It was apparent that viking cleanliness applied to the killing ring as well, going by the rotting smell coming from the cages. I almost felt bad for the dragons.

In front of me, Astrid led the group. "No turning back."

"I hope I get some serious burns." Ruffnut hopped from foot to foot in anticipation.

"I'm hoping for some mauling." Her twin motioned to his back. "Like on my shoulder or lower back."

"Yeah, its only fun if you get a scar out of it." Astrid agreed, axe slung over her shoulder casually.

Not for the first time, I was mildly shocked at how brazen vikings were. I was nothing like them, and I wondered if that was what Liv was always referring to. Regardless, I needed to make my dad happy, or else any trips into the forest after the Night Fury would be discovered. "Yeah, no kidding." My words sounded strange to my own ears. "Pain, love it."

Gods, that sounded so fake.

The others turned to look at me, disappointment present on their faces. Tuffnut rolled his eyes and jabbed a thumb in my direction. "Oh great, who let him in?"

"Let's get started!" Gobber called. "The recruit who does the best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village." He was practically vibrating with excitement, but I couldn't share his delight.

Snotlout snorted. "Hiccup can't lift any of the weapons." The rest of the teens giggled at my expense and my face grew warm. "Shouldn't he be disqualified before we're stuck cleaning his guts off the wall?"

"Can I transfer to the class with the cool vikings?" Whined Tuffnut.

Liv's voice spoke from above us. "That omits you, Tuffnut." The red head was sitting on the edge of the cage, feet dangling, hair braided back into a tail like her mother's. "And, Snotlout?" She grabbed the cage bars with both hands and swung down into the cage, landing softly. "There are ways of taking down dragons without weapons. The only real reason you feel the need to carry one is because you lack the confidence, or the ability."

Snotlout's face bloomed red as he stammered a reply. I smiled at my friend in thanks, and she just patted me on the shoulder in response. Unfortunately for him, Gobber placed an arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry. Yer small and yer weak."

What usually would have felt like a punch in the gut, only made me roll my eyes. "Wow, thanks, Gobber."

He glared at me. "I was saying, that yer not a typical viking, and that'll make you seem less of a target."

Liv snickered and I swung to glare at her, before she spoke. "Let them go after the others instead." She laughed again, catching the attention of the others. "Go with it, Ren. I want to see Snotlout scream like a girl."

I smiled at the mental image, and I heard the Thorston twins agree in the background. Tuffnut even went so far as to say, "He does have a rather feminine scream."

"Hey!" The Jorgenson in question yelled. "I have a very manly scream, thank you very much." He wagged his eyebrows at Astrid and she recoiled. "Don't you think?"

"Gross," Ruffnut and Astrid exclaimed in unison.

My mentor shook his head in exasperation, and walked in front of the cage doors. I shivered at the roars and rattled from the dragons inside.

I felt a heavy weight settle over my shoulders, and I glanced over to see Liv. I mouthed a thank you and she nodded back as Gobber spoke. "Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight."

Fishlegs shuffled, barely containing his excitement, bumping into Liv and I by accident. "Sorry."

"The Deadly Nadder."

"Speed eight. Armor sixteen." Fish muttered under his breath.

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"Plus eleven stealth. Times two." I saw Liv glance at the bigger boy in confusion.

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Firepower fifteen."

Liv rubbed her bicep tenderly, and I saw a bandage wrapped around it. "Yeah, no kidding."

"The Terrible Terror," Gobber continued, trying to ignore the pair.

"Attack eight. Venom twelve."

Gobber exploded on the poor boy. "Will you stop that!" Liv giggled. "Now, the Gronkle."

Fishlegs leaned over and whispered, "Jaw strength, eight."

Liv pushed me slightly behind her in preparation. As his apprentices we had learned that tone of voice usually meant we were going to 'learn on the job'. And with dragons, it would never end good.

The blacksmith grabbed the lever, startling the others. Snotlout suddenly looked nervous. "Wait, aren't you gonna teach us first?"

Gobber smiled, a grin I knew all too well, and pulled down. "I believe in learning on the job."

The Gronkle burst forward out of the cage, large round body barreling towards me and the others. Liv jostled me back and reached for her sword, before freezing, and grabbing the spear next to it instead.

For the moment, the dragon seemed to ignore us, and I followed Liv against the wall, making ourselves seem small. Gobber continued the lesson. "Today is about survival. If you get blasted, yer dead." Glancing around at all seven of us, he asked, "Quick, what's the first thing yer going to need?"

My mouth opened before I could stop me. "A doctor?"

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs' voice shook, most likely from his sudden close proximity to the dragon.

Liv snorted from beside me. "An exit and two brain cells?"

Astrid glared at her and hefted her axe confidently. "A shield."

"Exactly!" Gobber congratulated. "Shields. Go." The others all scattered, and I grabbed the closest shield. Liv just kept her spear balanced in her right hand. "Yer most important piece of equipment is yer shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield." He grabbed Liv's spear from her hands and handed her a shield, then pushed us both into the fray.

She was fuming. "You can't just take my weapon." My friend looked awkward holding the shield, and dropped it within moments. "Only cowards choose armor over tactics."

My mind once again picked up on the differences between her and the average viking, and filed it away for later. I pressed up against the weapons rack as Liv reached for another spear.

"It's flimsy, but it'll do, I suppose." She rolled her shoulders in aggravation. "I still can't believe he took mine. He's gonna regret that later, when he's stuck in the forge with me."

I chuckled softly at the thought. There had been many times that Gobber had gotten on her nerves, and she always managed to be so annoying, or come up with the perfect retaliation.

Across the ring, the twins were blasted, the shield they were fighting over exploded into pieces.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, yer out." Our trainer declared. "Those shields are good another thing – noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."

Everyone grabbed a weapon, Astrid using her axe and the others grabbing hammers, and we began banging on our shields.

Doesn't this just make it angrier?

I couldn't help but question Gobber. If I were making a dragon mad, I would rather have some way to predict where it'll shoot. Regardless, I copied the others, banging on my shield with a small knife I snagged from the weapons rack.

"All dragons have a limited number of shots –" I could have sworn I saw Liv disagree with Gobber, but I was too busy moving out the way of the Gronkle to be certain. "How many does a Gronkle have?"

"Five!" Snotlout blurted.

Fishlegs quickly contradicted that. "No, six."

"Correct, six." Gobber praised. "One person with be our winner today."

Oh, great. One more way for someone to have bragging rights over Hiccup.

"I really don't think my parents –" Fishlegs was interrupted by a shot to his shield.

"Fishlegs, out!" Gobber hand grabbed my shirt collar and I yelped as he shoved me into the fray. "Get in there, Hiccup."

My heart jumped, but quickly realized the dragon was still focused on the other teens by the gate. When I looked back over for Liv, I saw Gobber try to reach for the spear in Liv's hands, and she took the opportunity to snag her's back in exchange. The corners of my mouth twitched up briefly as I watched the pair.

Gobber finally gave up the fight and tossed the kill ring spear to the side. "Snotlout, yer done!"

Snotlout pouted, and glanced over at Astrid. He probably tried to flirt with her again, and lost track of the Gronkle.

Astrid was still bouncing around, avoiding the dragon at all costs. She was light and quick on her feet, and she didn't even look like she was tiring. Gods, she was amazing.

"Ren!" I felt a hand grab me again, and pull me out the way.

I shot Liv a sheepish glance. "Sorry."

"Yer good." She smiled. "Just try not to make a habit of it. Focus on his eyes, and avoid the places he's looking." She backed up a few feet, and Gronkle barreled between us suddenly. I jumped, and clamped my mouth shut to keep from screaming in surprise. "Their wings too. You can tell when their getting ready to turn or speed up."

Where did she learn this? I started to say her parents, but she avoided talking to them at all costs. Besides, if they knew this kind of information, they would have shared it with Gobber and others.

I was shaken from my thoughts when Astrid rose from a roll beside me, and I smiled awkwardly. "So its just you and me, huh?"

"Nope, just you."

"Ren!" I heard Liv shout before my shield flew off my arm. The heat from the lava blast made my hair stand on end.

Gobber called out, "One shot left!"

Shield. I needed my shield.

I raced after it as it rolled across the ground. Liv called me again and I spun around, pinned against the wall. The Gronkle's mouth opened wide, throat glowing from the rising lava blast. Chest pounding, I felt the same sense of helplessness from yesterday, but I didn't think this dragon would be as merciful.

"Hiccup!" Gobber shouted, but he sounded far away.

Just before the dragon released the blast, Liv jumped in front of me and spun her spear. She timed the spin just right, and the strange black metal batted the lava blast away, with only a few small pieces landing at our feet.

"And that's six." Gobber's hook caught the dragon by the mouth and swung it back into its cage. "Go back to bed ya overgrown sausage!"

"…woah." Tuffnut whispered. "That was amazing. I want to try that."

Ruffnut agreed. "Me too. Can we try it?"

Liv shot Gobber a superior look, "What was that about shields being better."

"Oh, shut it you," Gobber waved. "Before I have you shoveling coals for your shift."

"I let ya off easy this time." Liv shifted her spear to her other hand and away from the twins grabby fingers. "Don't touch me weapons again."

"Message received loud and clear, girl." Gobber looked away from the redhead and laid a hand on my shoulder. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." Glancing up, he spoke to the group as a whole. "Remember, a dragon will always," his eyes bored into me. "go for the kill."

I peered over at the pile of rapidly cooling lava, thoughts racing through my head.

"You okay?"

Liv watched me, concern burning in her eyes.

My line of sight drifted back to the pile, and a crazy idea started forming in my head. And somewhere in it – I wasn't sure where yet – but somewhere in it, Liv fit into it.

Something didn't add up, and I was beginning to wonder if we were wrong. Or if there was another aspect to the story that we were missing.

I pressed my lips tight together, resolved to find the answer, wherever it took me.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

When you have eliminated all

which is impossible, then whatever

remains, however improbable,

must be the truth.

Arthur Conan Doyle