Lost Opportunity

Once I'm inside the house, the Night Fury is all I could think about. I'm positive I hit it. Or, at least I'm pretty sure I did. Surely I hadn't been imagining the distressed sound it made and the way it sort of crashed into the trees. I have to go find it. And once I do, I'm going to kill it. No viking has ever killed, or even caught a Night Fury, and I'm going to be the first. Doing that will definitely gain me some popularity points on this island.

I didn't stay in the house for long obviously. I know I hit that dragon. Pausing only to pick up my journal from where I dropped it by the hearth I make my way through the house and out the back door. I hurry into the woods, just in case someone sees me and decides to tell my dad. That's the last thing I would need right now. I try to push him from my thoughts as I push farther into the woods towards Raven Point.

-
Nothing.

Zilch.

Zippo.

Nada.

I've been looking for this dragon for more than four hours now and I have absolutely nothing to show for it. Not even a small piece of rope from the bola.

Pulling out my journal, I scratch the area I just checked off the map I had sketched. And then I scratch out the place right next to that. And the one right next to that. Then I cross out the entire page with my charcoal pencil out of frustration.

"This is just great," I say out loud as I snap my book close and stick it back in my fur vest. "Some people lose their knives or their helmet and I manage to lose an entire dragon?" I turn to the nearest tree and kick it with my left foot frustratedly. It was a pretty stupid idea on my part and I stubbed my toe.

"Ow ow ow ow.." I hop on one foot as I rub the other, trying to ease the pain. And of course, with my bad luck and terrible coordination, I end up losing my balance and falling on my rear.

Why the gods decided to give me all these problems, I had no idea.

I look up and scowl at the tree as if it wasn't an inanimate object and was capable of blame for my stubbed toe and sore butt. Getting a better look at the tree I notice that there's something wrong with it. The tree's trunk had snapped and its branches we're on the ground. Beyond the tree was what seemed like a trench in the ground, as if something heavy had been dragged upon it.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I decided to investigate. Picking my way through the broken branches and pieces of wood I come across… a claw mark? Definitely a claw mark, a dragon claw more likely than not. I keep making my way through the trench, going slightly uphill. Reaching the end of the trench, I pull myself up to look over the edge into a small clearing in the trees. What I see makes me crouch down so fast I almost lose my balance.

The Night Fury

I slowly straighten up the slightest bit to peer over the edge. Grabbing at the pocket on the inside of my vest, I manage to pull out my pathetically small knife with shaking hands. The dragon is wrapped up in the rope I shot at it, not moving a muscle. Still standing with my knife out in front of me, I cautiously step forward to take a closer look. It still doesn't move, lying motionless in the the clearing. I did it?

"I did it! Oh gods, this changes everything." I exclaimed. Disbelief was an understatement, I actually shot down a dragon that no one has ever seen and some don't even believe exists. The fact that it was me of all people… I can't wait to tell Dad.

In my excitement, I walk up to the Night Fury's body and set my foot on the motionless dragon's arm. "I have brought down this mighty beas-" I'm cut short when the presumably dead dragon moves its arm and groans in pain. I stumble back, holding my knife out in front of me once again. Oh great. As I inch closer, the Night Fury opens its eyes. It stares me down with its vibrant green eyes, its pupils like slits. I freeze and come to a realization.

I have to kill him. I have to kill this dragon.

Taking a deep breath, I tighten my grip on the knife. "I'm going to kill you, dragon," I say, more as an order to myself then to the dragon. "I'm going to cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a viking." I speak softly at first, then get louder as I psych myself into viking-mode. "I am a viking!" I say loudly while looking at the dragon in the eyes. The dragon looks back at me. His eyes almost seem… sad. Yup definitely sad. I turn away and raise the knife over my head, closing my eyes. You have to do this, Hiccup, I think to myself. Think of how proud Dad will be.

Despite myself, I open my eyes slightly and look down at the dragon once again. Its eyes are still watching me sadly. I look away and take a deep breath. I hear a soft thud and from the corner of my eye see the dragon closing its eyes and laying his head down with a sad sort of humming noise, as if he was accepting his fate. Shaking my head I try to remove the image of his sad eyes from my mind. I raise my knife again, but I can't bring myself to kill the dragon. I can't take a life like this, even from a monster.

I back away slowly from the Night Fury. Looking at him, I can see marks on his pitch black scales, from crashing through trees on his way down or trying to get out of the ropes I don't know. He was in pain, and it was my fault.

"I did this," I say softly.

What I do next surprises me, I start cutting the ropes holding down the dragon. I shot him down and hurt him, I couldn't just leave him there to die. The dragon's eyes are still closed, if I cut the ropes quickly, I can run away from here without him noticing. Crazy, I know, but I have to do something. Oh gods I hope Night Furies don't hold grudges.

*snap*

I cut through the first rope, moving my knife back and forth against the second piece of rope as fast as I possibly can.

*snap*

Almost as soon as the rope is cut, the dragon pounces. Before I know it, I'm on the floor, pinned between a rock and the claws of an angry Night Fury. My eyes are wide with fear in contrast with the narrowed eyes of the angry dragon in front of me. A growl emits from its throat as it brings its head back and opens its mouth. I close my eyes, expecting the worst. But the worst never came. Instead, the Night Fury roared loudly in my face before turning and flying off, leaving me too stunned to move. I release a breath I hadn't noticed I was holding.

Well that was fun.

But seriously, it wasn't. Feeling lightheaded, I picked up my dropped knife while tried to catch my breath. I can't believe I'm still alive. I rise shakingly to my feet. I take one step forward and… "Nope." My knees give out and I'm blacked out before I hit the floor.

By the time I wake up the sun is setting. It takes me a while to remember why I'm waking up in the middle of the woods. The afternoon's events come flooding back within seconds, though. The downed dragon, me freeing it after almost killing it, the freed dragon roaring in my face, me fainting. Yeah I guess it was an eventful day.

I get up, dusting the grass and leaves off my shirtfront and my pants. Using the last light of the sun I'm able to find my way back to the edge of the village. It's not unusual for me to be getting home this late. Dad is used to my wandering off and "chasing butterflies and senseless dreams" (as so kindly put by the ever honest Gobber). I still don't want to face him though. I haven't seen Dad since my latest screw-up early this morning. It's almost like I did two things the prove that I will never be viking material.

I sigh as I make my way through the village and back to the house. I really don't want to go home, but I haven't eaten anything but a few berries all day and I'm really tired even though I was passed out for quite a while. Maybe that's what near-death experiences are supposed to be like. I should ask Gobber, he's bound to have more than a few experiences with almost dying.

Maybe if I walk into the house super quietly and quickly he won't notice me, I think to myself. Not the best plan, but it'll have to do for now. By now I'm walking up the steps to the front door of my house. Cracking the door open just a bit, I peek inside. Dad is standing in front of the hearth in the middle of the house, stoking the fire. His back is to the door. I take a breath and open the door just enough so I can slip in. It's times like these when I'm sneaking in the house, and only these times, that I'm thankful for my tiny body. I close the door as quietly as possible and head towards the stairs leading up to my room. I'm halfway up the stairs when -

"Hiccup."

Well isn't this just great?

"Uh, hi Dad," I say slowly while coming back down the stairs. Earlier during the raid I told him that killing dragons was in my blood. After what happened just a few hours later, that was the most invalid thing I have ever said in my fifteen years of living. And I've said some crazy things, believe me. Now, I had to somehow tell my dad that I didn't want to go to Dragon Training, where every able-bodied teen goes to learn how to kill dragons. It's sort of a right of passage and initiation into vikingness and whatnot. This is going to be fun. "I, um, have to talk to you, Dad."

"I have to talk to you too," he said, turning away from the fire to face me at the bottom of the steps. We both speak at the same time.

"I think it's- I don't- you learn how- fight dragons. What?"

"Sorry, you go first," I say. Maybe now isn't the right time to tell him anyways, it's not like I'm going to begin training any time soon.

"Alright," he begins. "You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."

My heart drops. Gods this is not happening.

"Ah man I should have gone first," I blurt out quickly, bringing a hand up and tugging on my auburn braid. "Because you know, Dad, we seem to have a surplus of dragon fighting vikings. But do we have enough-" I pause and try to think of the right words- "Bread making vikings. Or clothing repair vikings-"

"You'll be needing this." I'm cut off by my dad dropping an axe almost as heavy as I am into my arms. The weight of it causes my knees to buckle slightly, making me almost fall down the rest of the steps. I hold the axe awkwardly, trying my best not to drop it.

"Dad, I don't want to fight dragons," I plead. What my dad does next surprises me. He laughs. "Oh Hiccup, yes you do," he says while still laughing.

"Rephrase, I can't kill a dragon." I'm physically incapable of killing dragons too, I add in my thoughts. But it's like he's not even listening to me. "You can and you will, daughter."

"Can you not hear me?"

"It's time, Hiccup," he says sternly, all traces of a smile gone from his face. "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you," he explains while readjusting the axe in my arms so it's facing the right direction. "That means you walk like us, you talk like us-" he taps the side of my head with his forefinger- "You think like us. No more of"- he stops and gestures to me- "this."

I roll my eyes. "But you just gestured to all of me!" Again, he doesn't seem to want to listen to what I have to say.

"Do we have a deal?"

I scowl up at him. "This conversation is feeling very one-sided."

"Deal?" He says a little more loudly. Even if I say no, he won't accept it. And it will add only another reason to the long list of reasons for me being a disappointment.

Looking down at the ground in defeat I give him my answer. "Deal," I sigh. Dad nods his head in approval. "Good." He picks up a traveling basket from behind him. He must be going on another trip to attempt to find the dragons' nest.

"Train hard," he says while placing a hand on my shoulder. Removing his hand he walks to the door and looks back at me. "I'll be back, probably."

I look up at him. "And I'll be here… maybe," I say quietly.

He walks out the door and closes it behind him, leaving me alone at the bottom of the stairs with an axe in my arms and no goodbye.

Well there's chapter 2 for you guys, I hope you liked it! I'm sorry it took a while to update, I had finals last week and hardly had any free time. But I'm off on vacation now so I'll be able to update more frequently. Thanks to everyone that has read so far. And now to answer some reviews:

To MMM (guest): I'm still trying to decide whether or not I want to follow that specific part of the movie. There will be parts of this story that will closely relate to the movie, like this chapter and the first, and there will be times later on when it will be a little different. I kind of have an idea as to how I'm going to write that scene out, but that's further down the line so we'll see what happens. And yes, there is a male version of Astrid mentioned in the first chapter, Asher.

To RiverRunsDeep: First of all, thanks for giving this story a chance. Hopefully I'll be able to write what you mentioned in your review.

Don't forget to review! I love hearing any thoughts, suggestions, or questions you might have. Until next time!

With love,

Estelle