Gobber had kept Hiccup in the forge until after sundown, there was so much that needed to be done. Swords restraightened, ax blades unstraightened, and thousands of nails to be made. The nails were the worst part. Boring tedious, and entirely vital to any sort of rebuilding. Eventually, Gobber let him leave.

Hiccup didn't care about appearances, he immediately headed back into the forest and went as far as he could before it got too dark to see. Toothless ran the rest of the way to him, and they flew out to sea to make up for the fact that the Fury hadn't eaten since the previous morning. Hiccup knew they needed another way to get Toothless food on the days the village claimed all of his time. But for a dragon, who really only ate fresh fish, storing fish ahead of time just wouldn't work, even in the short-term. It didn't help that Berk was experiencing one of the hottest autumns on record. Although, that really just meant it hadn't snowed yet. Still, Toothless and Hiccup eventually agreed that what they were doing now would have to work.

Toothless dropped off Hiccup at the edge of the village once they were done. The tradeoff to this was that he would have to keep the saddle on until Hiccup could visit in the day. Not the worst fate, though Toothless did say it itched to wear for too long.

Hiccup slept deeply the remainder of the night and was at the armory by the time the sun rose. He needed to get to the arena, but he wanted to figure something out first. "Toothless?"

'Yes?' The Night Fury was already awake in anticipation of the extended training beginning today.

"How does a small and fast dragon fight?" Hiccup was working off of his running theory. Toothless was able to teach him how dragons did things, like run, and he adapted these teachings to fit Hiccup. So, if Hiccup wanted help with fighting and self-defense in general, he needed to know which weapon would best be able to mimic how a dragon fought.

'Assuming you mean on the ground? With teeth and claws, lunging forward, hitting, and moving out of range, as fast as possible. Sharp claws do the most damage. Then, once they wear their opponent down, they go all out and stop retreating. That's when the teeth come out. Why?'

Well, that ruled out hammer, maces, and the large two-handed swords bigger than Hiccup was. Thankfully. "I want to pick a weapon that can do that."

'Good idea. I would say your dagger, but it's a bit small, and you probably don't want to fight with one in each hand.'

Hiccup pictured that. It might look impressive, but it would be horribly outmatched by pretty much any other weapon. "Not an option. I think I need something with range too. So fast, long, and sharp." He picked up a spear. "This might work."

'That can only pierce, not really cut. You'll be limited in what you can do. and only on one end. You would probably be using both ends, but one is blunt.'

Hiccup shrugged. This was the closest thing to what he wanted. Even though it wasn't that close. Toothless was right, he had seen the rare Viking who could use a staff. They fought with both ends. He had an idea.

"Right now it isn't perfect. I can fix it later, after training today!" If he couldn't find exactly what he needed, he would make it. A staff with a cutting blade on both ends. Something their armory didn't even have. It would be unique, and something no Viking would have experience fighting against. He just hoped Gobber knew enough about the staff and the spear to teach him the basics. Toothless could teach him strategy and he would develop a style from that.

Hiccup had a few motives for all of this. A dagger and shield would no longer cut it. Gobber would force him to pick another weapon if he showed up with a dagger and carrying an ax would only sentence him to more time with Stoick in training how to swing it.

The weapon he had in mind could avoid that and provide yet another excuse for time spent in the forest to practice with his new weapon. His final version of this weapon would also be something of a statement. He'd learn to fight, but he'd do it his way. The village just wasn't aware that his way involved a dragon in his head, advising him on tactics suited to combat as something small and fast.

Another reason for this was that he did need to know how to defend himself. Astrid's threats had driven that home. He couldn't rely on Toothless and running every time. By the time he did whatever he did with the Nightmare they would capture, he needed to be capable of self-defense. Because that was when something was guaranteed to go wrong. And if he survived that and didn't leave the village, Astrid was going to try to kill him. He needed to be ready to defend himself, likely against a crazy shieldmaiden with an ax.

But there was one more motivation, one that Hiccup was barely aware of. It was mostly subconscious. Toothless's protective nature was starting to rub off on him, at least a little. He wanted to someday be able to return the favor. And for that, he needed a weapon.

He took the spear, hefted his shield, and made his way to the arena. The other teens were already there, though Gobber was not yet present. Astrid had her double-bladed ax, Fishlegs a hammer, Snotlout a rather large sword, Tuffnut a mace, and Ruffnut...

"Hey, are you copying me Hiccup?" Ruffnut also had a spear.

Hiccup grinned. "Today. I haven't made any modifications yet."

Ruffnut was taken aback. "You think you can improve the spear? One of the best weapons ever?" She sounded legitimately confused and a little insulted.

Hiccup tried to clarify. "No, I'm going to turn it into something different. You'll see next time. It won't even be a spear anymore." That was something to consider. He was going to make a weapon of a new kind. What in the world was he going to call it? Double-spear-sword didn't really roll off the tongue. He'd need to think about that.

Fishlegs looked intrigued. "Why would you make a totally new weapon? I might have to redo my stats for weapon types if you do that."

That was weird. Hiccup knew Fishlegs kept stats for dragon types, and people, which was weird enough, but weapon types? He had to have all of this written down somewhere. There was no way this was all in his head.

"What will you call it?"

Hiccup sighed. "I don't know yet. I'll be sure to tell you when I do." This was getting out of hand. He wished he hadn't said anything until he had actually made the thing.

Gobber ended the conversation by finally showing up. He had Fishlegs and Snotlout help him in dragging the blunted weapon racks and one empty weapon rack into the arena. ONce that was done, the two-limbed blacksmith turned to face them. "Alright, let's get started! We're gonna work on fightin' against other Vikings, and we're gonna practice on..."

Hiccup had one hope. That Gobber's next words would be anything other than 'each other'.

"...Each other! Eventually. Today, I'm just gonna see how good ya'll are with yer weapons o' choice." He took in the group, eyes settling on Hiccup. "Speakin' o' which, you gonna take up the spear Hiccup?"

Hiccup laughed nervously. "Uh, actually no. It's a placeholder. I don't have my weapon just yet. I will next time."

Gobber stared dubiously. "Bu' whatever it is, I'm gonna bet ye'll have no idea how to use it, am I righ'?"

Hiccup nodded. That was a guarantee, at least at first. Toothless was a good teacher, even if he didn't know the weapon itself. He was sure he'd learn quickly.

"Ach, fine. Anything's better than a dagger, even if ye'll have to start from scratch." He examined the rest of the line. "Good, good, good, wait... Snotlout, are ye sure you can use tha' sword properly? It's a bit... big."

Snotlout was proving Gobber right. The overconfident teen could barely hold the oversized sword steady. And that was impressive because if Snotlout was one thing, it was strong. "It's my dad's. He's gonna teach me how to use it. He said he couldn't even lift it when he started learning!"

Gobber nodded, a sly smile on his face. "Aye, I remember that. Spitelout's dad told him to carry it with him at all times until he could use it properly. Thing is, that was a punishment, for Spitelout braggin' he could use any weapon. Tha' thing has weights in the hilt."

Snotlout looked dumbstruck by the information. He fiddled with the hilt, and two chunks of a dense purple-black metal Hiccup had never seen before dropped out of the undersides. Snotlout instantly jerked the sword up, it was so much lighter now.

Gobber smiled. "He must'a never told Spitelout that. Oy, and don't mess with that metal. There's somethin' off abou' that stuff. I'll get it back to Spitelout."

Hiccup was pretty sure he knew what metal that was. It was lead. He had heard from Johann the Romans used it, for strange things like pipes. Johann had also said that it was poisonous, slowly killing you if you interacted with it on a daily basis. he wasn't sure if that was true. The Romans would probably have figured it out by now if that was the case. Either way, he wanted nothing to do with it.

'That stuff smells wrong. Don't mess with it.' And there was another of Johann's weird stories confirmed. He really should start listening more when the trader showed up.

"Alrighty then. We're gonna do two things. Who here has the best endurance?" This was a strange question. They all probably now knew it was Hiccup, but Gobber didn't and the competitive nature of the teens ensured that Snotlout and Astrid raised their hands.

Hiccup felt it was best not to volunteer. Besides, the way Gobber did things...

"Okay, Astrid and Snotlout. Now, out of Fishlegs and Tuffnut, who has better endurance?" Tuffnut immediately stepped forward. "Got it. Everyone but Hiccup and Ruffnut, start runnin' laps around the arena. I'll see where the spear-users are in skill first. Then they can join the runners, and Fishlegs and Tuffnut will be tested, and then they can keep running. Lastly, Astrid and Snotlout will be tested. Then we can really get started!" They all stared at Gobber, in various states of dread and surprise.

Toothless laughed in Hiccup's head. 'That's what they get for volunteering.' Astrid and Snotlout would already be tired when Gobber tested their skills. It was a trick, designed to make things hard even for the best in the class. Hiccup expected that this would be a running theme, and thanks to the competitive nature of Vikings Astrid and Snotlout would keep falling for it, over and over.

All of the teens except Ruffnut and Hiccup began slowly jogging around the inside edge of the circular stone arena.

"Speed it up, ya'll are barely movin'!" Gobber cleared his throat and turned to Ruffnut and Hiccup. He proceeded to stare at them. "Well, what're ye waitin' for? I need to see ya both fight, have at it!"

Ruffnut grinned unsettlingly. The next few minutes were an exercise in humiliation for Hiccup. Ruffnut was adept in the use of a spear, and he had picked up his first spear literally half an hour ago.

Gobber finally intervened after she defeated him in under ten seconds... for the seventh time. "Ruffnut, you're not bad, though you could use some refinement. Hiccup..."

Hiccup interrupted. "I'm terrible, I know. This is just for today. But I'm probably gonna be just as bad with my real weapon."

Gobber sighed. "Ye know I'll teach ya. Ye'd better be prepared to take a beatin' in training against the other teens until ye learn though. I won't let you not participate, 'cause that would leave me with five trainees. I need an even number. And Vikings aren't gentle."

Gobber didn't need to remind Hiccup of that. He knew all too well. He and Ruffnut joined the runners. The other four skill tests went as Hiccup expected. Everyone else was fairly adept with their weapons of choice, even Fishlegs. Now that he could swing it, Snotlout did well with his large sword, though Astrid was in a class of her own with her ax. Even Gobber was impressed by her skill.

Finally, Gobber had everyone gather in the center. Hiccup was the only one not panting, or even breathing very heavily. The speed they had been running at was one he could keep up indefinitely, especially on level, unobstructed terrain.

Gobber eyed him oddly. "Well. Looks like some of ye overestimated yerselves. The one with the most endurance here is... Hiccup, it would seem. Somehow." Gobber noted the not-so-surprised reactions of the other teens. That was odd. They seemed to be expecting that. Although Astrid looked furious, as was normal lately when Hiccup was involved. "Well, That's all for today. We'll meet back here in two days ta get started with the real trainin'. Oh, and if yer tired right now, ye better get used to it."

Hiccup left the arena hastily. He had so many things he needed to do. First on the list was get to the forest before anything could interrupt him. He made it to the woods, and by extension the cave, with no issues. As they went fishing, Toothless and Hiccup discussed the weapons training.

'I don't like it. You have no scales or protection, and you still swing weapons at each other to train.' Toothless punctuated that with a plasma blast into the sea beneath them. They circled.

"Well, I don't have a choice. Hopefully, with my weapon, Gobber can teach me the basics of how to use it, and you..."

Toothless took up the thread of thought. '...Can show you how to fight effectively with it without getting killed. Yeah, I can do that. I've fought a few Vikings. The Queen would sometimes have me attack the tops of watchtowers in person if there were more towers than I had shots.'

Hiccup tried to remember a time that had happened. He couldn't. "Was this on other islands?"

'Yes, ones that have more time to prepare because the Queen doesn't raid anywhere as often as here.'

Hiccup was actually thankful for that. It meant that the Queen was likely to attack again soon. And that meant they would soon have their chance. Speaking of which... He brought it up after they had caught their fish and eaten them. They were sitting in the mouth of the tunnel that let out to the ocean. "Bud, the Queen could raid anytime. We need a plan for when she does."

Toothless growled. 'Yes, we do.'

"Alright, let's make one. How did I free you? I knocked you out of the sky with my bola launcher. But that thing is not a good idea. I got in a lucky shot. There's no guarantee I could do it again, and I can't control where she would land even if I did get lucky again. It's too risky." Plus it had been crushed, but that wouldn't have been a big problem. Hiccup could just rebuild it if they needed it.

'How about we fly up there, and hit her from above? We just need to make the Queen think she's gonna die. Without actually killing her...' Toothless trailed off as he realized what they would have to do, and how little room for error they had. 'I can fire a plasma blast just strong enough to knock her out of the sky if I can get a clean shot. It'll be risky, but I don't see any other way.'

Hiccup didn't like that plan. There was a too big a chance Toothless might hit her too hard. "Wait, why did the Queen release her hold on the arena dragons? Maybe we just need to knock her out, not get the Queen to voluntarily pull out. That would be easier. But the problem of not killing her in the process still remains."

'So we have two separate issues. We need some way to knock out a Night Fury, and we need a way to either do it on the ground or a way to do it in the sky where a fall wouldn't hurt her too badly. That's gonna be tricky.'

Hiccup started scratching Toothless's nose, to lighten the mood, which had become dark as they plotted. "We'll figure it out. Hey, what about the pond in the cove? If we can bait the Queen over it and the knock her out, she'll fall in and you can fish her out. The cove might not be safe, but no one will be there in the middle of a raid. And then you can just get her to follow you to the cave when she wakes up. Or maybe carry her, if she isn't too heavy."

Toothless liked that idea. 'So now we just need a safe way to knock her out. Can we drop something onto her head? I can fly steady above her if she doesn't know I'm there. I could drop something like a rock. Or maybe you should, so that I could concentrate on flying.'

Hiccup wanted to laugh. Not because it was a bad idea, but because he would probably be the one dropping it. He would be the only human in history to knock the most elusive dragon in the world out of the sky by dropping a rock. "That should work. Night Furies have hard heads, right?"

Toothless nodded. He knew that from personal experience.

"Then that shouldn't be too risky. We'll use a smooth rock, so it doesn't hit her with a jagged edge." They immediately set out to find suitable rocks. They decided on three mostly spherical, about eight-pound stones. Hiccup would only be able to carry one at a time, but they needed all three for what he had in mind.

They were both understandably quite worried that a raid would occur when they were separate, which was quite likely. But not guaranteed. So, to save time no matter where they were when a raid occurred, Hiccup and Toothless put each of the three stones in a specific place. One was set in the cave, in the event that they were together when the raid occurred. The second rock was set in the forest, at about the halfway point between the cave and the village. Hiccup set the third just inside the forest edge by the village. Now, no matter where they were, they could get to a rock and into the air as fast as possible, no detours.

They both felt much better now that they had a plan. They had returned to the cave when they realized the next problem.

'Hiccup, don't take the saddle off.'

"Why?"

'Because I need to be ready for the raid. If you take it off at night, it won't matter where the nearest rock is, we'll still have to go back to the cave. It's too big for me to carry in my mouth and still run fast.'

Hiccup considered this. "Okay, but I'll take it off every day so it doesn't aggravate your back too much. It'll still irritate you over time, so hopefully, the raid happens soon."

'Agreed.'

Hiccup made the trip back to Berk before sundown. He spent the rest of the day drawing plans for how he would rebuild the spear. He eventually decided that he would just make this new weapon from scratch, and made a quick trip to a Viking skilled in woodcarving, to request a staff. After a few minutes spent shifting through a pile of different staves, he eventually decided on one somewhat longer than he was tall, but only slightly. What he had in mind would need some extra length. He then returned to his house (as the son of the chief, he got most common supplies for free) and went to sleep, prepared for a day of forging and flying.

The next day, he immediately went to the forge, because Gobber would be expecting him, given the blacksmith still had an overload of work. After Hiccup had spent a few hours working on official assignments, he got to work on his weapon. Toothless had been a huge help in perfecting a lethal design, one that would be able to emulate a dragon in combat style, if not specific moves.

He forged a set of two curved blades, pounding the bars of raw metal into a curve before tapering one edge with careful strokes of a smaller hammer. That part took a while, as he had to taper while keeping a mostly flat edge. They were high quality iron, but even so curved blades were difficult. After he had finished the shape and tempered them as well as he could, he set the two nearly identical blades aside. Sharpening could come later.

Next came preparing the staff. He smoothed it down as well as he could manage. Afterwards, he wrapped red-dyed leather straps around two likely spots, creating handholds that wouldn't rub quite so raw with overuse, spaced equally distant from the center of the stave.

Then he went to work grafting the blades to it. One went on each end of the stave, pointing in opposite directions. He had thought long and hard about whether they should point the same way or opposite directions, or even at right angles to each other. This weapon did have a downside. It was entirely capable of injuring the user if used incorrectly. Hiccup was confident that with practice that wouldn't be an issue, and the same design that made it dangerous to him also would allow him to excel at fighting multiple enemies at once. If he angled both blades the same direction, it would be a little less likely he would cut himself with one while attacking with the other end. But that would hinder his weapon permanently, and he didn't want to have to make another. Angling the blades at right angles might work, but it also wouldn't be quite as dangerous. Besides, that would make the weapon unsymmetrical and might throw off the balance. So, he angled the blades in opposite directions.

In a moment of prudence, he also decided to make himself leather armor for his torso. It would protect him from cutting himself on his sides and back as he learned how to use this thing. That didn't take too long. He did it while he waited for the metal to cool. It took him several hours in total, but he had built it.. And he still had no idea what to call it.

He considered sharpening both blades, before realizing that might not be a good idea until he knew enough not to injure himself with them.

'That thing looks really dangerous now that I can look at it. Both to enemies, and you.'

"I know. It won't be dangerous for me once I learn how to use it. But I built some leather armor just in case."

'Good thinking.'

Hiccup heard a clang and looked up. Gobber was staring at him. More specifically, his weapon.

That sound had been Gobber had dropping a mace. "Wha' in Thor's name is tha'?" He sounded slightly awed.

Hiccup smiled. He must have looked quite interesting at the moment, a skinny teenager with a very menacing-looking weapon no one had ever seen before. "I don't know what I'm going to call it yet. I did tell you I wasn't sticking with a spear. This will be what I use."

Gobber stared at Hiccup as though he just grew a second head, then went back to studying the new thing he supposed was a weapon. "Is that a… scythe?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Sorta. More a weapon than a tool for cutting stalks. You've seen how gracelessly I've handled warhammers and axes. I need something light and quick, but a spear just doesn't quite cut it, so I figured I'd make this. And look, it has a blade on the other side so I can strike from different angles and be less predictable. I rotated the blades at either end to point opposite directions to give me more options in defending or attacking."

Hiccup pantomimed some parrying motions, arcing stabs, and disarming an imaginary opponent by hooking their imaginary weapon with one of the scythe blades, but yelped as the point of one blade - thankfully not sharpened yet - poked his ribcage.

"When I get more proficient with it, of course," he sheepishly said as he rubbed his newly-formed bruise.

'Good thing you didn't sharpen it. That would have been even more embarrassing.'

"Oh, shut it," Hiccup muttered with a half grin.

"Eh?" Gobber asked.

"Oh,"Hiccup stammered out, realizing he just responded to a dragon the blacksmith couldn't hear. Thinking fast, he said, "I knew you were coming up with a snide remark, so I thought I'd head you off at the pass." A moment of silence passed.

Gobber had serious reservations about a clumsy boy wielding an unknown weapon that looked very dangerous in the wrong hands... and in the right ones. He blinked. If Hiccup could really learn to fight with this, it would be impressive. And he had to admit a weapon that relied on intelligence, strategy, and speed was right up Hiccup's alley. "Fine, ye can try to learn how ta use it. I assume that armor is so ya don't kill yerself in the process?"

"Yup. Don't want to risk injuring all of... this." Hiccup gestured to himself as he spoke for sarcastic emphasis.

Gobber ignored that. "Good. I really don' wanna be the one to explain to Stoick how his son managed ta kill 'imself with 'is own weapon during trainin'."

Hiccup laughed. "That wouldn't be my problem Gobber, it would be yours. I'll be fine." He realized that he was done with everything he needed to do here. "Can I go now? I have some other things I need to do."

Gobber shrugged. "Sure." His face hardened. "Bu' don't try to use that thing withou' someone to make sure ya don' hurt yerself."

"Deal." Hiccup counted Toothless as 'someone'. And Toothless wanted to see the weapon in person. He would bring it with him to the cave.

That reminded him, how would he carry it?

"Actually..." Hiccup looked around the forge. His view settled on his corner, specifically on an old quiver of his. He walked over and picked it up. He had made this quiver a few months ago, as an experiment. It was built specifically so that it could be unfolded, and had a latch to keep it in shape.

"What are ye up to now?" Gobber looked on in bemusement.

Hiccup cut the bottom out of the quiver and removed the metal frame that held the circular shape. He proceeded to wrap the quiver around the center of his pole-arm and used the latch to tighten it on. It wasn't by any means perfectly secure, but it held the weapon firm enough. He slung the quiver on, slowly to avoid cutting himself by accident. It looked like the next project would involve building a special back-holster for this thing, but this would do for now. He grinned, turning to address Gobber. "Temporary holster. I'll make a good one later."

Gobber nodded. "See you tomorrow. Try not to cut yerself until then!" He waved his hook in exaggerated farewell.

Hiccup left the forge and ran to the forest, noting flaws in his temporary holster to address when making a more permanent one. It would need to stop the weapon from turning or else the blades could end up pointed forwards and back. He was going to have to get used to having this thing with him, but it would be worth it. This was self-sufficient protection. He could run. He could hide. Now he needed to get used to what came with being able to fight. He just hoped learning how to use this thing wouldn't be too hard.

Toothless met him at the large land entrance to the caves. The dragon stopped a few feet short and eyed his new weapon with awe.

Hiccup didn't know that Toothless wasn't really looking at the weapon, but at Hiccup with the weapon. Right now, the boy didn't fit the weapon. Toothless had seen a lot of human warriors, and it could be seen when they understood how their weapon was used, how to fight with it. There was a certain way in which they carried themselves that separated adept and inept. Right now, Hiccup didn't have that. He looked like what he was, a boy with a weapon he didn't understand. Toothless knew that would change. So he tried to see what Hiccup would look like when he did understand this thing. He knew it would be intimidating. The dragon also knew that weapons were an extension of the user's personality, to an extent. This applied to dragons as well as humans, the use of claws and fire mirroring personality. Hiccup's weapon was foreign, tall and thin, and undoubtedly intimidatingly sharp. 'It fits you. Or, it will.'

Hiccup was confused by this. "It will?"

'Once you can use it.'

Hiccup smiled. "I don't want to wait, but I probably should let Gobber show me how to swing it without cutting myself first. Then we can figure out how to fight with it."

Toothless took offense at that. 'This is something no human has ever used before. What makes Gobber any more qualified than you or me to teach you how it works?'

"He's a warrior and a blacksmith. He makes and uses weapons of all sorts. He has experience, and we don't. Besides, he knows how to use spears and how to use a staff, the two closest equivalents."

Toothless couldn't argue with that. 'Let's go do something we know how to do, then. Flying, maybe?'

Hiccup laughed. "Sure. But I think I need to leave this thing behind, for now at least." He frowned. He might need to make covers for the blades, for when it was on his back. That way they wouldn't cut anything while he was flying with Toothless. But they would have to be really easy to take off, in case he needed his weapon ready quickly. This thing was needing a lot of additional design work. And it didn't even have a proper name yet. He left the holster and weapon in the cave, and they spent the next few hours fishing and flying, as per usual. They spent some time discussing what to call the weapon.

'Spear-staff.' Toothless didn't have a lot to work with.

"No. No combo names." Hiccup had a thought. "It really does look like a scythe, but at both ends. We don't really have any around here, but Trader Johann has some sometimes. They aren't weapons, they're for harvesting wheat."

'What's wheat?'

"Never mind. Scythe is close, but not quite right. I should ask Trader Johann next time he comes to Berk." That wasn't going to be until after the freeze, and by extension winter. Things were moving so fast, who knew what would be going on by then?

Toothless didn't really care what it looked like, the weapon needed to have an intimidating name. Hiccup designed it, with input from a Night Fury. It should be as intimidating as possible, to reflect that. A combination of scary intelligence and a scary dragon. 'How about... Scythe Fury?'

Hiccup coughed, completely taken by surprise. "Did you just take my suggestion... and name the weapon after yourself?"

'No! Well, yes. But it makes sense!'

"How is that?" Hiccup was actually interested, because Toothless sounded entirely serious, and not at all vain.

Toothless tried to explain his reasoning. 'Well, you said it was like a scythe, so scythe. And the way it's built, it looks like an offensive weapon, not defensive. It looks really well suited to attacking nonstop or fighting multiple enemies. Fury feels like it embodies that. And it almost rhymes! Night Fury, Scythe Fury!'

Hiccup considered that. As a name for a weapon type, it was unusual. That was for sure. But he was pretty sure he would be the only one who used this particular weapon type. He was the only one who knew exactly how to make one. And he wasn't sure he would make one for someone else if they asked. That felt wrong to think about. So if he was the only one to use it, why couldn't he call it that? "You know what, you're right. Unless we come up with something better, Scythe Fury it is."

Toothless set down at the cave an hour before sundown. Hiccup removed the saddle, and Toothless proceeded to roll around in the stream outside the cave exit. Hiccup had suggested that, as a way to clean his back quickly in order to lessen the annoyance of constantly wearing the saddle. Once he had dried off, Toothless had Hiccup put the saddle back on. Then it was time for Hiccup to head back.

He had time, so Hiccup decided to just run back. It took him a few minutes to adjust to running with the Scythe Fury on his back. That name felt like it might be a little long-winded to say, unlike ax or spear. "Hey, Toothless. I think I'll just call the weapon type Scythe, even though that name is kind of already taken. No one will care. The name of my weapon can be Fury. That way they both have short names."

Toothless mentally snorted. 'That works. Calling your weapon "Fury" sounds pretty awesome too.'

Hiccup agreed with that. He ran into the village and jogged to his house. He got a few stares as he made his way there.

'What is that?'

'I dunno, looks dangerous.'

Hiccup wanted to laugh. Toothless was using his superior hearing to relay comments from the villagers that they were saying too quietly for him to hear. It was like eavesdropping out in the open. "Don't do that. My ego might not be able to handle having an invention of mine complimented so much."

'I can always sit on you until it deflates again.' Toothless was being entirely serious.

Hiccup made it to his house and walked inside. To find Stoick, which was rare. Usually, he spent as much time out of the house as possible. Hiccup realized that he now did the same, but for very different reasons. Stoick was sitting at the table, sharpening his ax. Seriously, what was it with people sharpening stuff in their spare time? First Astrid, now Stoick. Didn't they have anything else to do?

"What is that?" Stoick sounded confused and slightly disapproving.

Hiccup felt the need to really sell this one. "This is only the newest and greatest weapon not available!"

Stoick's eyebrows rose. "Not available? What is that supposed to mean? Is it something Gobber is testing? It doesn't look like something you should have."

That hurt. "No, it is the weapon I designed and built. For myself. So it is definitely something I should have."

Stoick held his hands out, silent. Hiccup undid the holster and placed the weapon in his hands.

Stoick turned it over, examined the blades, and stood. He started spinning it, then stopped. Held it in two hands, and mimed a chopping motion, spike end cutting downward. He abruptly spun the weapon the opposite direction, raising the curved blade on the other end to attack the air in front of him from below. Then he tried to hold and swing it horizontally. The spike end facing him impacted his side. It didn't pierce the chainmail, because Stoick wasn't swinging it at all hard, just fast.

Hiccup felt he had to speak. "It's sized for me. One for you would be larger, so that wouldn't happen." He neglected to say that because of Stoick's girth, he wouldn't be able to use horizontal attacks very well anyway because his arms weren't long enough to compensate for his size.

Stoick set the scythe on the table, between them. "It's a strange one. A weapon like this requires the user to think while fighting. To hit weak points. And it isn't the weapon of a team player. Too risky to use in a line of defense." He stared at Hiccup. "Son, this isn't the weapon of a Viking, of a chief. A chief is supposed to lead his people. This is a weapon for a rogue or a loner. Someone who has to defend his own flanks, because no one else will."

"Well, the weapons of a Viking all involve strength and single-minded stubbornness." That came out way harsher than Hiccup intended, but he pressed on. "And I didn't exactly win dragon training purely by the massive muscles I so obviously possess."

Hiccup flexed his wiry arm dramatically before continuing. "So I'm working with what I have. I built this to take advantage of what I can do. I'm fast and can think in battle. This scythe lets me take advantage of that. Once I get used to how to move it, I can attack three times for every swing of an ax, six for every swing of a hammer. I can attack in four different ways, one slicing and one piercing from each side. Fighting someone good with this would be like fighting two or even four warriors at once."

He was moving into pure speculation now, but he didn't care. "You wanna say this isn't the weapon of a chief? A chief needs to be a good fighter. With this, I'll be able to fight really well, in time. But I'm never going to be good with the weapons that need you to be stronger than the opponent to win."

Stoick was silent, living up to his name. Then he spoke. "Has Gobber agreed to teach you how to use this?"

"Yes, he has."

"Then I'll let you try. But if you can't defeat anyone with it in training, by the time we catch a Nightmare for you, you'll drop it and learn something else. Something more Viking-like."

Hiccup supposed that was the best he could hope for. He picked up the scythe and headed towards the stairs.

"Oh, and Hiccup. I wanted to ask you something. Where do you go all the time?"

Hiccup stopped. He turned back to look at Stoick. This wasn't a question he wanted to answer. "The woods. I mostly just train in the woods." That was just specific enough that hopefully, Stoick would drop it.

"Well, you need to be in the village more. Train in the arena. I don't want you disappearing at random anymore."

That was where Hiccup drew the line. He would not agree to stop going into the woods, because he couldn't. The idea physically hurt to think about. "I can't. I train alone, to avoid distractions. The woods are perfect for that." He hoped that would be a good enough excuse.

"That right there is why you need to train here. Distractions and other people are what you'll be dealing with in combat. You'll train here in the village." That was Stoick's no-nonsense voice.

Hiccup didn't answer. He couldn't straight up defy the chief, but he could refuse to agree to stay in the village. Or, he could at least try. He walked away, and up the stairs. Stoick must have thought he agreed because he didn't object to Hiccup ending the conversation. Now Hiccup had a new goal. Avoid Stoick entirely, until the next raid, where they would capture a Nightmare. Then he would have no choice. He would have to do something then. Whatever that ended up being.

'You aren't going to do what he says.' It wasn't a question or command, but a statement of truth. They both knew it was the truth.

"Nope. If it wasn't for your mom and the Nightmare they're going to capture for me to kill, I would just suggest we leave now. But those are two good reasons to stay."

'What are you going to do once they put you in the ring with a new Nightmare?'

Hiccup sighed. There really wasn't any way around it, if he wanted to keep that dragon alive. "That'll have to be when I convince the village dragons aren't the enemy. I'll earn the trust of the Nightmare, and show them. I would like to do this after we killed the Queen, but that isn't an option."

'That's almost certain to fail.'

"I know. If we fail, I'll have you trash the arena roof, and we can leave Berk. We'll have freed your mother the night before, so there won't be anything keeping us here."

'Why not just rescue the Nightmare the night before and leave then? Why risk yourself to almost certainly fail to convince them?'

"Because I can't leave without having tried." Hiccup sat on his bed, placing the scythe against the wall. Everything he was doing now was just extra preparation. He was ready for a raid. So that all this could end. One way or another, he wanted the uncertainty and anticipation to end.

Author's Note: If anyone can't picture the scythe, look no further than the thumbnail for a rough sketch.

In response to a review by Youyou098, which I feel I might as well repeat here, while a super long-game plan to get Hiccup back with Astrid would be quite the story, it's not gonna happen here. Figured I'd make that official. The good ship Hiccstrid has sailed off the edge of the world. And burned, for good measure. It is an interesting plot idea, though as Romance is not my forte, probably not one that will be written by me.