As the morning came, Hiccup had decided to show Raven around the village and what has been going on lately. Raven smiled at the village that has been living there for seven generations despite every house being new because of the many dragon raids they got. It saddened the girl somewhat that they had to fight dragons, they are such amazing creatures once you knew of their true nature. After all, she had a dragon friend which she had a sisterly bond with. The last place Hiccup showed was the arena, since he had Dragon Training in the morning and he was carrying an axe that seemed too heavy for him.

"I'm sooo going to regret this." Hiccup thought out loud. Raven gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Just do your best." Raven said in comfort to try getting him less nervous. "Like I said last night, be yourself."

"Yeh, thanks for encouragement." Hiccup replied a bit sarcastic as he walked into the arena, though he smiled a bit as the only other person he knew that say those words to him was Gobber, who is their teacher for the Dragon training.

"Welcome to Dragon training!" Gobber announced as they all walked in and Raven stood by the bars that overlooked the inside of the arena.

She was a bit anxious but she remembered what Hiccup had told her about the one legged, one armed Viking with the other teenagers. Gobber was the Dragon expert of Berk and she knew they were safe with them, after all, he wouldn't want his only apprentice to die under training. The teens were talking about the injuries they would be getting and hoped to get a scar out of it. All except Hiccup. Raven could easily identify all the teens in the group from Hiccup's small descriptions of them. All she could say was that their names were awful except a few.

The girl with blond hair and blue eyes with a warrior's aura was definitely Astrid. The other blond girl with a boy next to her must be the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. The only black head of the group was Snotlout, the main bully of Hiccup's and also his cousin. Stupid, if you asked her. Then the last one, who was the bigger one out of the group, is Fishlegs. That was a name that actually fit the boy to some degree thanks to his short legs.

Gobber approached the teens, ignoring the teens complains about Hiccup. "Let's get started! The recruit who does the best at dragon training will win the honor of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village."

"Um, Hiccup already killed a Night Fury," Snotlout said mockingly, not noticing the nervous look on Hiccup's face. "So does that disqualify him, or…?" The twins burst out laughing as the main bully snickered before they turned to the cages. "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Hiccup looked up at Raven, seeing the sad expression on her shadowed face and the young Viking felt guilty for some strange reason he couldn't describe.

"Now, Hiccup," Gobber said, breaking his thoughts and leading him to the centre of the ring with the other kids, "Don't worry, you'll do fine. You're small, and weak, so you have an advantage! They'll see you as sick or insane, and go after the more Viking-like teens. Heh, heh," He laughed at his own joke, Hiccup didn't think it as funny.

Hiccup got in line with the other kids, next to Fishlegs. Then they all faced Gobber, who was pacing in front of a door in the side of the arena that was barred off. Something on the inside rammed against the door and roared, causing all of them except Astrid to take a step back. "Now, inside these doors are only a few of the dragons you'll get to meet," Gobber started. "The Deadly Nadder—"

Fishlegs whispered some stats to himself. "Speed, 8, armour, 16."

"—the Hideous Zippleback—"

"Plus eleven stealth, times two..." Fishlegs murmured.

"—the Monstrous Nightmare—"

"Firepower fifteen..."

"—the Terrible Terror—"

"Attack eight, venom twelve..."

"WILL YOU STOP THAT?" Gobber yelled at Fishlegs. "And the Gronkle."

"Jaw strength eight," Fishlegs whispered to Hiccup as Gobber placed a hand on the bar of the door. Snotlout suddenly stepped forward, looking panicked.

"Wait, aren't you gonna teach us something first?" he cried, sounding genuinely scared.

"I believe in learning on the job," said Gobber matter-of-factly and he unbarred the door.

Not half a second later the doors flew open and a huge brown Gronkle shot out, growling deep in its throat, its wings buzzing like a bumblebee's. Everyone scattered, looking for a place to run. The Gronkle wasn't very good at manoeuvring through the air, and it crashed into the wall, dislodging a few rocks. It scooped one up in its mouth and prepared to shoot it out at one of them.

"Today is about survival," Gobber yelled as they screamed in terror. "If you get blasted, you're dead! Quick, what's the first thing you'll need?"

"A doctor?" Hiccup cried.

"Plus five speed?" pleaded Fishlegs.

"A shield!" Astrid exclaimed, not taking her eyes off the hovering Gronkle.

"Shields! Go!" said Gobber, pointing toward a large plank of wood off to the side that was laden with shields. Hiccup and Raven hadn't even noticed it before.

Hiccup race to the shields along with everyone else. Most of them grabbed the first one they saw and got back into the battle, but the twins immediately started quarrelling. Hiccup was searching for a handle to hold onto when Gobber picked up the shield, shoved it into his chest and pushed Hiccup back into the centre of the arena, "The most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield."

"Let go of my shield!" yelled Tuffnut, who was having a tug-of-war with Ruffnut over a shield with two skulls and orange flames.

"There's like a million shields!" Ruffnut yelled back, tugging harder on her side.

"Take that one. It has a flower on it," Tuffnut said, gesturing to the side towards another shield, "Girls like flowers." Ruffnut yanked the shield out of her brother's hands and with one strong blow whacked him over the head with it. Tuffnut swayed on the spot, slightly dazed, as Ruffnut made an innocent face.

"Oops! Now this one has blood on it." Ruffnut said.

They were so busy arguing that they didn't notice the Gronkle's shot blasting toward them until it had hit the shield in question and shattered it, sending them both tumbling to the side.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!" Gobber shouted, sounding happy. The twins groggily raised their heads off the stone floor, "Huh?"

"Those shields are good for another thing: noise!" Gobber told us. "Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."

The remaining four immediately began knocking our axes against our shields, emitting a hollow clanking noise and Raven quickly put her hands over her ears, she doesn't like that sound much. Astrid backed away from the Gronkle slowly, still making noise. Snotlout danced over to its left. Fishlegs and Hiccup went to its right. Hiccup tried to hide behind the empty shield stand.

"Every dragon has a limited amount of shots," Gobber said. "Can anybody tell me how many shots the Gronkle has?"

"Five?" guessed Snotlout, running with his shield above his head.

Fishlegs turned to Gobber and dropped his shield. "No, six!" The Gronkle buzzed up behind him and blasted the ground near his heels.

"Correct! Six! That's one for each of you!" Gobber cheered as Fishlegs dropped his shield and took off screaming with his arms in the air. The Gronkle buzzed after him, firing at him once more. "Fishlegs, out."

Snotlout and Astrid were standing off to the side. Astrid was standing in a slight crouch, ready to spring at any second, while Snotlout stood casually behind her and talked.

"So I just moved into my parent's basement," Snotlout said, trying to be suave while he and Astrid avoided the Gronkle. Astrid cartwheeled away from him and he called after her, "You should come over sometime to work out! You look like you work out!" He was blasted by the Gronkle as soon as he words left his mouth.

"Snotlout, you're done," Gobber said.

Astrid executed another cartwheel and landed with a grunt beside Hiccup. He bravely took a shot at conversation. "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?" Hiccup asked.

"Nope, just you," Astrid replied, cartwheeling away again. Hiccup looked after her in confusion.

"Huh?" Just then the Gronkle took a shot at me. It whizzed right over Hiccup's head, and he yelped and dropped his shield. Raven started to get worried as she had just observed the events unfolding.

"One shot left!" Gobber called. The Gronkle chased after Hiccup as he chased after his shield. The shield hit the wall of the arena and bounced off. Hiccup tried to go after it, but the Gronkle knocked him to the floor and Hiccup found himself pinned down by a dragon for the second time in less than twenty four hours.

"HICCUP!" Gobber cried, sounding genuinely scared for him. Hiccup stared in fear at the Gronkle. He could see a ball of fire welling up in the back of it throat. As Hiccup was about to accept his horrible fate, Gobber suddenly appeared and knocked the Gronkle's head away. The shot exploded about three feet above his head. "And that's six," Gobber said, grabbing the Gronkle by the lower jaw and wrestling it away. "Go back to bed, you overgrown sausage!"

The class regrouped, panting and rubbing the places where they had fallen on. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry," Gobber said, locking eyes with the smaller Viking. "Remember, a dragon will always, always go for the kill." Gobber walked away as Hiccup looked at the mark made by the Gronkle in realization. Raven took her chance and slide herself under the bars, jumping into the arena next her new friend.

"You okay, Hiccup?" Raven asked concerned.

"Yeah." Hiccup replied turning to the hooded girl. "It could have gotten better."

"But for a first timer in actual battle, you did great." Raven reassured him with light punch on his arm. Hiccup managed a small smile for the support of someone he barely knew unlike everyone else except Gobber.

"Just, who are you?" The two turned to the rest of the teens, who was looking very skeptical at Raven. Gobber had raised an eyebrow in question over the stranger with Hiccup.

"It's not what you think." Hiccup said in defense. "Raven and I met each other yesterday, we just became friends quickly."

"Pfft, who would want to be friends with you of all people?" Snotlout asked as he was about to walk out of the arena.

"Says the guy who thought it was a good idea to start flirting when a Gronkle was on the loose in here." Raven pointed out with a grin and the twins snickered at the comment.

"Excuse me?" Snotlout replied slightly annoyed.

"You heard me," Raven retarded with her arms crossed, "a warrior, such as yourself, would have the second nature to not be overwhelmed with their emotions as they cause distractions to themselves that can lead to more harm because they are not paying attention to the lines of battle." Everyone else tried to sniffle laughs that a complete stranger managed to get Snotlout acting like the idiot he is.

"Watch it! Good thing you're a girl, or else you would be in a world of hurt." Snotlout threatened.

"Oh~, I'm so scared." The hooded girl replied unfaced, her eyes slightly glowed at the mention and Hiccup sensed something unnatural in the air but noticed that nobody reacted like he did.

'What is this energy?' Hiccup thought in wonder as he felt his mark burning slightly, but it didn't hurt, it was just there.

"Gale." Raven barely whispered.

Suddenly, a gust of wind came into the arena with a few leaves and pulled Snotlout into the air, causing the black haired Viking to roll around in panic around the arena. Everyone was laughing at the scene, especially Hiccup and Raven. Hiccup didn't understand the situation but hearing his cousin scream in panic in the air with no way of getting down, it was hilarious. Hiccup looked at his new friend and grabbed her hand, getting Raven's attention and nodded his head towards the exit. The two quickly ran away as the others were occupied with watching Snotlout, towards Hiccup's house and quickly got inside before laughing loudly over what just happened.

"I can't believe that just happened!" Hiccup exclaimed after calming down. "What you said to him was great but when he was flung into the air, that was amazing."

"I think Gale thinks so too." Raven mumbled to Hiccup's curiosity.

'Gale?' Hiccup asked himself in his head until he remembered what Gobber had said to him in the arena, "I'll be back soon, I have to check on something."

"Huh?" Raven replied in confusion.

"I'll be back, probably tonight. I'll be at the Great Hall if you need anything." Hiccup told her quickly before running outside.

As Hiccup quickly navigates through the forest, Raven sneakily followed him. Her black cloak seemed to blend into the shadows, making her seem to vanish into thin air. Raven had always known since their meeting the night before and now having seen it under the dragon training, Hiccup had a secret and one about dragons. She noticed it right away. His eyes had a special spark to it, that of a dragon that slept deep inside that is starting to awake but having trouble to do so. That sign made Raven follow Hiccup through the woods, she had a hunch that he was as special as herself yet not having the same 'gifts' she has.

Raven was like Hiccup. She was an outcast. A person everyone believed to be the opposite of who they truly were and was treated badly because of this, treated as if they were vermin to their different societies. That's how she felt before she ran away from home. And Raven knew Hiccup feels the same way with the way he talked to her about dragon training the night they met. And with her encounter with Snotlout, treating his cousin as if he was worthless to everyone, her hunch was proved correct.

Following her new friend without being noticed was not easy, especially when you're walking with high heeled boots. Luckily, Raven's cloak was special and helped out a lot. Hiccup stopped at a small clearing with bolas laying on the ground, Raven looked confused around the hill over the massive damage taken to the area. A tree was broken in a strange angle and a deep crash mark on the ground made by something big. Raven watched as the auburn haired boy get down to pick up one of the stones of the bola.

"So why didn't you?" Hiccup asked out loud, not knowing that Raven was nearby to hear him. She watched as he walked away and got to the bola on the ground.

"Why would Hiccup go here of all places?" Raven whispered as she took down her hood. "There might be a way to find out, if this works."

Raven brought her hand up and purple wisps/flames appeared around it, aiming for the bola and a ball of purple magic onto them. Purple clouds started swirling around, making the bola move around into an instinct pattern and a dark purple silhouette. A silhouette of a dragon that she can't recognize, but as she observed the dragon from all angles while walking around it and she was in shock.

"A… Night Fury?!" Raven exclaimed in extreme shock. "I thought they didn't exist anymore." Suddenly, the bola burst into flames as the silhouette disappeared and the bola disintegrated into ashes in a few seconds, Raven yelped in fear before grunting and placing a hand on her forehead in annoyance, "It lasted longer than last time. Note to self: Practice more with my magic when I reunite with Nevermore. But still, this doesn't make any sense. A dragon captured by a bola can't really get themselves out without entangling them even more. Did Hiccup actually…" Raven turned to the path the Viking went minutes ago, "...free the Night Fury? By himself?"

Raven was eating as she listened to the crackling of the fire and the thunderstorm outside the Viking house she's staying at. She had taken off her cloak to let it dry, showing the beautiful clothes made of foregin fabric and metal pieces. The young sorceress felt pretty calm despite the shocking discovery in the woods, the storm might be really bad but it felt nice hearing it outside the Viking house. However, her mind quickly shifted to her dragon. Nevermore was probably terrified outside in the storm and taking shelter in the forest.

But her thoughts were interrupted when Hiccup came through the front door, soaking wet from being in the rain from the walking from the Great hall. He seemed to be in thoughts himself before noticing Raven in the room, jumping in surprise and the purple eyed girl giggled at the reaction.

"Sorry, I kinda forgot you were here." Hiccup replied sheepishly as he walked further inside, placing a second chair next to his new friend.

"Don't worry about it." Raven said with a smile.

"I-I like your outfit." Hiccup stammered slightly with slight blush on his pale cheeks. "I get it why you're having your cloak on all the time."

"Thank you." Raven replied. "Some friends of mine made these for me. To protect me from dragons if they attack."

"R-right, the dragons." Hiccup repeated a bit nervous. There was some quiet between them before the Viking broke the peace, "Raven. What do you know about Night Furies?"

Raven was slightly surprised over the sudden question, "Well, where I'm from, Night Furies aren't exactly the 'Unholy offspring of lightning and death itself'." The girl laughed slightly to Hiccup's shock. "To us, Night Furies are creatures of mystery and freedom. Dragons who master the night sky, blacking out the many stars as it fly pass. No one has seen one up close to actually know how it looks like but I know they're born to be in those skies." The auburn haired boy smiled a bit over the girl's passion as she talked about the dragon. "I've always been attracted to dragons my whole life. I guess I've always seen dragons are beautiful and majestic if you put it into perspective."

"Wow. I never thought that they were like that where you came from. I've always known Night Furies to be the most dangerous dragon under the raid but never takes any food and never misses."

"That's what happens when you don't know and consumed by hatred and burdened by your ancestors and villagers." Raven sighed in annoyance. "Because of that, this war will never end until either the last dragon is killed or making peace with them."

Hiccup looked at her in disbelief, "Making peace? What gave you that idea?!"

"It isn't as far fetched as it sounds like. We humans use aggression a lot as a means to deal with things we can neither control or understand. Doesn't that sound like deja vu?"

Hiccup gasped slightly at what she had just said and quickly understood what she meant. Soon enough the two went to bed without much conversation but left Hiccup with more questions. Not only about the Night Fury and its inability to fly, but about Raven as well. From her sudden appearance to her strange but beautiful clothing that seemed to be flexible and supposedly protective against dragons despite it having about four pieces of armor. Something about her made him feel like she was almost as different as him, if not more. Hiccup didn't know but he couldn't help trying to make a great friend with her. He has to think about how to actually talk to her without being so nervous, after all, he hasn't really talked to a girl before except Astrid, who's more into physical approach than talking. That'll be a challenge in itself.