The Prince of Dragons
Chapter 10: Lesson 2: Learning on the Job
BERK, CHIEF'S HUT
Valka was cleaning the chief's hut, and all though she was trained for combat, and could even best much of the village in a sword fight. Her job was to mostly maintain the house. She hated it, it just wasn't what she wanted in life. Not that she was particularly awful at looking after a house. It's just that it was tiresome and repetitive. Often she dreamed of going to isle of the Bog Burglars that place sounded exciting from a woman's perspective.
When she was a child she often wished of just being able to grow wings like a dragon and fly away. Truth be told, Valka had a soft-spot for the winged beasts, they may have been dragons, but they were like anything else in her mind, they could be tamed. Nobody just knew how to train a dragon. When she was maybe twenty years younger,Valka often dreamed of being alone on an island left to her own devices. The island could have had dragons for all she cared, Valka still would have been happy. But then she met the love of her life, Stoic who was a bit embarrassing in his attempts to 'woe' her, especially when he accidentally lit twenty flowers and gave them to her.
It came off as odd to Valka all those years ago, especially considering Valka wasn't particularly Viking like. There were several women who would have been more qualified. But Stoic choose her, out of love of all things and in the end his attempts worked. Stoic had won her over. They were happily married for three years then Hiccup was born. Valka sighed; she always got into a slight state of depression when just the thought of Hiccup crossed her mind. She tried to take her mind off of Hiccup by cleaning the back room. The Haddock residence happened to have a small room in the back where Stoic kept many of his tokens from war, Valka' s old boots, dragon's fangs, old jugs of milk, nik naks, and family portraits. Valka was cleaning the back when she came across an old family portrait. She looked at one portrait in particular, again to fell into a slight depression .
"Oh…Hiccup." She murmured miserably.
Valka pulled the painting out behind a few old shields and other portrait's. This portrait was very similar to the one Old Wrinkly had in his hut. Only this shield portrait was a bit dustier. With a quick breathe she blew off some of the dust. She got a better look at it, in the portrait she was holding her child in her arms, fragile as can be. Even though there time together was short, it was some of the best time in Valka 's life. Then something odd popped into her head, that boy, that drifter from earlier today.
"Well I best be off, I got someplace to be."
There was something familiar about him, something distinctly familiar. She brushed it off as her just missing her son. Valka went onto clean the backroom, with that unknown boy still scratching at the back of her mind.
THE ARENA
Hiccup got up in the early hours of the morning yet again for another day of training. After yesterday's fiasco. Hiccup just wanted to lay low for a little while, he didn't want to cause any waves. He needed to focus on Toothless, and finally get started on the dragon's new tail. Hiccup carried a knapsack with a few meal worms that Old Wrinkly had cooked up for them. Hiccup was still on Limpet Rations and the old man had told him meal worms were a bit more tolerable. He also carried a flash-point sword at his side, only it wasn't all that decorated, and the blade needed to be sharpened, but then again Hiccup had found it at very short notice. You see Gobber was cleaning a few swords in the back and when the Blacksmith wasn't looking. Hiccup swiped one from behind his back.
Anyway, the Prince arrived at where Gobber had told him, most of his 'training' would take place, if you can even call Dragon Killing training. Oddly enough Astrid was already there, fiddling with her ax. She seemed slightly happy to see Hiccup, but the Prince tried not to notice. A few minutes later, everyone else arrived. Gobber oddly enough was the latest to arrive, but seemingly the most enthusiastic about this whole thing.
"Now, today is when we began you're real training, you will kill dragons like the Sons and Daughters of Thor, since anyone can
remember and this is where the magic begins. " Gobber raises a massive iron gate at the entrance of a vast stone area.
"Welcome to Dragon Training!"
Hiccup was actually awestruck for once in his life, by accomplishments made by humans. He was a bit intimidated to step forward and enter the stadium. It was your typical steel caged Viking arena, the steel cage was so no dragons could escape. The Stadium itself was a large circle that was were the young recruits would be practicing. There was what appeared to be cages in the back that housed Odin knows what horrifying dragons. The walls were covered in scorched silhouettes of blasted Vikings. It was a grim but all inspiring place, like a battlefield. The Prince and Astrid stepped forward as the rest of the recruits piled in. Astrid, while she was proud and excited, did look a whee bit nervous as she said to herself. "No turning back. "
The terrible twins looked around gleefully.
"I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut said with a sadistic grin.
"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back." Ruffnut slyly replied.
Wartihog replied. "I wanta get my arm blasted off, get a hook, I've always wanted a hook. "
Speedyfist looked a bit squeamish as he asked. "What's with you lot, always wanting to always lose a limb, I would die on the spot if I lost an arm."
Dogsbreath the Duhbrain and Snotlout stepped forward. Snotlout then responded .
"Battle scars, they show just how much of a Viking you are."
Astrid looked back, seemingly wanting a horrible gaping wound.
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it… "
The Hofferson girl then looked to the Prince, who seemed to be just trying to not listen to this conversation. He seemed on edge, put off by this conversation. Hiccup had enough scars in battle to know that getting a cut here or a shattered arm wasn't honorable. Astrid was about to put an arm on Hiccup, when he turned around and simultaneously grabbed Astrid' s petite Viking hand.
"Yeah, no kidding right? Pain. " He smiled with a sadistic grin, as he let go of Astrid' s hand. "Love it…"
Astrid rubbed her hand and narrowed her eyes at Hiccup. She then balled her fists, before taking a deep breath. Gobber stood in front of the recruits and announced in his thunderous voice.
"Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of
killing his first dragon in front of the entire village..."
Snotlout snickered, seeing an opportunity to be well, Snotlout.
"Seeing how the useless, woke up the dragons the other day does that disqualify him or?"
Snotface Snotlout 's gang laughed and cheered a bit, Ruffnut and Tuffnut joined in just for the fun of it. Dogsbreath raised his hand and asked.
"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?"
Hiccup only smiled as he unsheathed his flashpoint sword and examined the blade. He seemed to be debating whether or not to humiliate Snotlout by slicing his belt off of his trousers. But before he could decide, Gobber threw a supportive arm around Hiccup and ushers him along. With cheery confidence he said.
"Don't worry, you're small and weak looking, no offensive. That'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking-like teens instead."
The Prince rolled his eyes, he just wasn't sure if it was because Gobber called him small and weak looking. Or if he referred to the dragons in the 3rd person, Gobber then stuck the Hooligan Recruits in line with the others right next to Astrid and Fishlegs. He then continued toward eight massive reinforced doors. Terrible roars and bellows issue from within.
"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight . "
Hiccup glanced over to Fishlegs, he had never seen him this happy before, the other day he was hunched over like a sea-slug caught in a fish trap but now he was happier than a mollusk. Fishlegs bounced and laughed with excitement, barely able to contain himself. Gobber motioned to the first door.
"The Deadly Nadder."
Under his breathe Fishlegs muttered. "Speed Eight. Armor Sixteen."
Fishlegs did this every time Gobber motioned to another door with a dragon sealed behind it. It was like watching two tradesmen announcing a product together.
"The Hideous Zippleback."
"Plus Eleven Stealth. Times two."
"The Electrifying Skrill."
"Attack Twenty. Armor Seven."
"The Raptor Tongue Stealth Dragon."
"Plus Twenty Stealth. Attack Ten."
"The Monstrous Nightmare."
"Firepower Fifteen."
"The Terrible Terror."
"Attack Eight. Venom Twelve."
"CAN YOU STOP THAT!?" Gobber yelled annoyed with what Eishlegs was doing, immediately Fishlegs became silent.
He then motioned to the last door.
"And… the Gronckle."
Eishlegs couldn't resist the urge so he quietly said to himself.
"Jaw Strength, Eight."
Gobber then pulled a nearby lever, raising the cross beam on the last of the doors. The recruits including Hiccup turned pale. Hiccup would have been happy to see another dragon, but this was a dragon caged, and locked away. Imagine being locked away, starved, no room to move, let alone fly and then you're let out back into the world. But still you were practically chained down to that cage, it was enough to get anyone angry, especially a dragon. A dragon would turned into nothing more than pure concentrated aggression. But maybe, just maybe he could reason with it. Speedyfist raised his voice expressing the general concern.
"What are you doing?"
"Setting the Gronckle free…" Gobber murmured as he loosened more locks.
Snotlout continued the general concern.
"Whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?"
Gobber smiled his slack-jawed grin.
"I believe in learning on the job…"
With a few loud thuds at the door, the Gronckle thundered out of its prison. Charging into the ring like a raging bull. Reasoning with this irate dragon was the last thing on Hiccup's mind. He and the rest of the recruits scrambled away in every direction. Except for Ruffnut and Tuffnut who rush toward it, like pumped up lunatics, Gobber watched from the sidelines of the arena. Gobber the Belch seemed uncharacteristically calm about this whole situation. He went on with his 'Lesson'.
"Today is about survival. If you get blasted you're dead. Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?" Gobber asked, there seemed to be hint of gleeful malice in his voice.
Wartihog with a panicked look on his face said.
"A Doctor?"
Fishlegs stood petrified for a second as he muttered out.
"Plus five speed?"
Astrid finally came to the right answer.
"A shield."
Gobber smiled from the sidelines.
"Shields. Go."
The recruits then scrambled for shields, finding them scattered on racks around the ring. Gobber went on as the dragon hovered diligently over the recruits. Hiccup looked upwards; the Gronckle was studying them, picking them off one by one. The only question was who was going to be picked off first.
"Now, you're most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield. "
The Prince chuckled a bit, shield's where a coward's way out of a fight as far as he was concerned. But nonetheless he got one... just to be safe. Wartihog struggled to lift his shield, Gobber helped him and sent him running off to join Snotlout 's gang who were starring the Gronckle down. Everyone pretty much had a shield already, excluding the terrible twins. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut stood amidst with a few dozen shields. But only a skull painted one stood out to the two of them. They both grab it. Tuffnut pulled on his end.
"Get your hands off my shield!"
Ruffnut gestured to the scattered shields littered about.
"There are like a million shields!"
"Take that one; it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers."
After hearing Tuffnut's comment, Ruffnut uses the shield to BASH, her brother violently in the face. But Tuffnut doesn't let go.
"Oooops, now this one has blood on it."Ruffnut said annoyed, more than anything else.
The Gronckle still hovering over the arena, eyes Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and takes aim at the distracted twins. Lava charged in the dragon's mouth, it fired away. The lava hit the shield and is blasted out of both the twins' hands. Tuff and Ruff spun around like tops before falling down disoriented. Gobber sighed; he didn't have much hope for the twins.
"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!"
They both got up covered in a little bit of ash. With a confused
dazed look on both of their faces, Tuffnut asked.
"What?!"
Ruffnut followed.
"What?!"
The Gronckle scooped up a pile of nearby rocks and swallowed them. Rocks were part of a Gronckle ' s diet and the poor dragon hardly got any while it was in it's confinement. The teens gather on the far side of the ring. They stared down the large reptilian beast as it flew menacingly over them. Gobber then from a safe distance instructed his students.
"Those shields are good for another thing. Noises. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."
With their various weapons, the recruits began to pound on their weapons. From the dragons perspective the Vikings became blurry targets. The noise began to make the dragon almost sickly. Everyone was doing this, except for Hiccup. Hiccup would have been an easy target for the dragon but the noise caused such a confusion in the dragons eyes that it could hardly focus at all. The remaining seven Vikings began to circle the dragon, the noise starting to take its toll on the beast.
"All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have? "
Snotlout thought about the answer for a moment and came to a quick response.
"Five?"
Fishlegs corrected him.
"No, six."
As Fishlegs celebrated for a moment, he failed to notice the Gronckle target him, its yellow eyes narrowed. Gobber then yelled from afar.
"Correct that's one for almost all of you!"
As Fishlegs held up his shield for a moment, the Gronckle blasted out of his hands. Fishlegs then began to run away with his hands in the air, screaming like a girl. Hiccup didn't seem all that concerned after a while, he had gotten over the pure shock that he had to fight a dragon, and now just wanted this to end. Oddly enough, even though Hiccup was standing there without a care in the world, the Gronckle didn't even try to attack him. Hiccup had spent the majority of his life with dragons, the scent or presence of dragons probably came off him like it would any other dragon. A dragon would never attack another dragon, unless it absolutely has to, so Hiccup did not even register as a threat to the hovering Gronckle. Gobber the Belch, obviously not knowing, this spotted Hiccup and shouted.
"Boyo, get in there!"
Hiccup made a few weak sounding bangs with his shield. The dragon began to hover around looking for a new target. It eyed Snotlout and his gang; they were in an army like formation trying to make as much noise as possible. While the vision of the dragon blurred it fired off one shot. Snotlout jumped out of the way as the shot hit Wartihog, Speedyfist and Dogsbreath, knocking there shields to the ground.
"Wartihog, Speedyfist, Dogsbreath, you're all out." Gobber said with grin and a fire in his eyes.
The Gronckle then moved onto another target. It eyed Astrid menacingly. Snotlout, who had not been hit by the Gronckle ' s blasted felt like he had overcome a great threat. He felt invincible for a moment, and what do you do when you feel invincible for a moment? You try and hit on a beautiful girl. Astrid was on her heals, bouncing, ready to dodge a blast. Snotlout then appeared and tried to hit on the Hofferson Girl.
"So anyway, I'm moving into my parents' basement. You should come by
sometime to work out. You look like you work out-
Astrid cartwheeled out of the dragon's way as the Gronckle fired another molten blast. This allowed a shot to shoot past her and hit Snotlout 's shield. The Jorgenson is blasted onto his back. With that the Gronckle was down to its last two shots.
"Snotlout! You're done." Gobber said with a hint of happiness in his voice.
Astrid rolled beside Hiccup, who just stood there, not taking any of this seriously .
"Looks like it's just you and me, huh?"
"No…just you " Astrid replied and rolled away, not a split second later, a lava-slug from the Gronckle knocks Hiccup's shield clear off of his arms. He didn't even see it coming. Hiccup is exposed. Gobber then said with a loud booming voice.
"One shot left! "
Hiccup tried not to panic, he knew the worst thing to do in this situation is panic. The Prince sheathed his sword, trying to be calm and not slice and dice the nearest thing in two. So, The Prince stood there for a second, dragon's sensed movement, if he moved then the dragon would follow. Hiccup looked over at Astrid who had now began to swing her ax in defiance. The Gronckle only got more aggressive, as Astrid actually got a good swing on the beast with the top of her ax. While it did nothing to the heavily armored beast. Hiccup stood there terrified. Past experiences flashed before his eyes, of dragons being horrendously killed with such weapons. He remembered the time when he was eight years old and dozens of dragons died before him on Lava-lout Island. Without thinking. Hiccup knew he had to get the dragon's attention. So he chased after his shield trying desperately to reclaim it as it rolled across the ring. The sudden movement sent the Gronckle chasing after him, leaving Astrid in the clear. With a worried expression Gobber yelled.
"What are you doing!?"
The Gronckle drives straight toward Hiccup, pinning him against the wall. It opens its mouth and cocks its tail, ready to fire point
blank. In Dragonese Hiccup managed to say. "Please don't, I'm on your side."
The dragon seemed to die down a bit as it's aggression decreased. But just then Gobber the Belch lunged in front of the Gronckle and looks its mouth at the last second. Causing the Gronckle ' s head to jerk back and fire against the stone wall above Hiccup's head. The Gronckle and Gobber wrested for a moment as the Blacksmith forced it back into its pen.
"And that's six!"
Forcing it back into its prison and sealing it back in, Gobber annoying said to the beast.
"Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage! You'll get your chance, don't you worry . " Gobber then turned back to the recruits who all looked terrified, some of them might have been scarred psychologically by this fight with the Gronckle. Not to be confused with the kind of scars you get in battle. The Blacksmith then raised one fat finger and said. "Remember a dragon will always…" Gobber the Belch turned toward Hiccup. "Always go in for the kill."
The blacksmith tried to hoist Hiccup to his feet, but the Prince took those words harshly. In his mind it was 'humans always, go in for the kill.' Hiccup without turning, walked out of the arena, not saying a word as Gobber tried to stop him. But he didn't listen. Hiccup wasn't about to be told that his family were a much of Nightmare killing machines .
Author's Note: Okay, I'm updating this to inform you that there may not be regular updates. I have a life and a book I am writing. I'm so close to finishing it. I don't know if I'll do anything with it. But its a book and it's mine. I always get burned out because I think to myself. I could be writing something with my characters, my creations, yet here I am writing for a fanfiction website. Is that really something to be proud off?