Here I am, almost a month after the last update when I should really be doing the six essays I have for history homework. But who cares about that right? So here's the long overdue chapter 8! Hope you guys enjoy it :)

Chapter 8: A Change in the Norm

A few hours later Hicca stands holding a bucket of water with her back against Fishlegs' as they wait for the day's training to begin. As Gobber releases the next dragon and the doors to its cave open, a thick, green gas spills out and fills the arena. Soon it's impossible for Hicca to see anything a foot away from where she and Fishlegs are standing. The other recruits are in the same situation. Snotlout was paired with Tuffnut while Asher was paired with Ruffnut. Hicca was slightly upset with the arrangement, but it's not like she minded not being paired with Asher. Or, at least, that's what she was trying to convince herself of. But those thoughts would have to wait.

"Today's all about teamwork." Gobber's loud voice cut through the fog even though Hicca couldn't see him. He continued to explain that in order to fight a Hideous Zippleback, a two-headed dragon, they had to figure out which of its heads was the one that lit the gas on fire and douse it with water. Because a wet dragon can't light it's fire, blah blah blah, and all that stuff. The young Haddock girl wasn't exactly paying attention to Gobber and was more preoccupied with worrying about whether or not her plan would work.

"Razor-sharp serrated teeth, that inject venom for predigestion. First ambush attack, crushing its victims-"

"Will you stop that?" Hicca whisper-yells to stop Fishlegs' rambling about the many ways this specific dragon could kill them. And because it was getting annoying.

They continued to stand back to back while moving in slow circles, keeping an eye on every angle in case the dragon appeared through the fog.

In the distance, Hicca could hear the commotion the other teens were making. The smoke hadn't completely cleared yet, but had thinned to the point where she and Fishlegs could see the silhouettes of their friends. After a moment of silence, the other teens were swept off their feet by the Zippleback's tail. Tuffnut had apparently gotten the brunt of the sneak attack though. He came out of the fog barreling towards the still-standing duo screaming.

Fishlegs leaned over to Hicca slightly. "Chances of survival are dwindling in the single digits now." Hicca gulped. Not just because of what he said, but because it was probably true.

By then the fog had cleared and one of the dragon heads became visible and moved towards Fishlegs. He backed up while making surprised noises, trying to get away from the dragon. After a few more steps he threw the water in his bucket onto the dragon's head. Instead of retreating, the dragon opened its mouth and released the same gas that had previously filled the arena.

"Oh," Fishlegs laughed nervously. "Wrong head." The Zippleback chased him away from where Hicca was standing with its green gas.

"Fishlegs!" Gobber yelled to get his attention. At the same time, Hicca had her own problem. The two heads of the Zippleback were right in front of her as she took a few steps back, holding the bucket of water to her chest.

"Now, Hicca!" Gobber yelled at her to throw the bucket of water on the other head that had just come. It would have gone well, if the dragon was not positioned four feet above the small girl's head and she had more arm strength. With a small grunt, Hicca threw the water in the wooden bucket only about a foot above her head, not nearly far enough to have reached the dragon.

"Oh, come on," she said, exasperated. The Zippleback hissed and lunged forward at her, making her drop her bucket and fall back on the floor, backing up on her hands and feet.

Gobber and the recruits were about to intervene when the unthinkable happened. Hicca had put up her hands, and the Zippleback was taking steps backward with scared expressions on both of its faces. They could only stand and stare as the scene played out.

"That's it. Back! N-now don't you make me tell you again!" Hicca had risen her voice as she stood up and moved closer to the large dragon, all the while ushering it further back and closer to its cave in the arena's wall with her arms. Soon she had cornered it back into its stone cage.

"That's right," she said as she glanced back before reaching into her fur vest. She pulled out the same eel that had scared Toothless. "Now, think about what you've done." She smiled as she tossed the eel in front of the Zippleback. It hissed again and squeezed itself as close to the corner of the room as it possibly could.

Hicca stepped out of the cage and closed its large double doors. When she turned around while wiping the slimy residue of the eel off her hands, she was met with the utterly shocked and confused faces of her peers and Gobber. Asher and Snotlout both had tight grips on their weapons. The empty bucket Fishlegs was holding slipped from its place in his arms and clattered to the floor, but he made absolutely no move to pick it up because he was still gaping at Hicca.

"Okay, so are we done? 'Cuz I got something I have to… Yeah, um, I gotta go." Hicca made small, awkward movements with her arms before sprinting off, yelling "See you tomorrow!" as the rest of the group watched her run out of the arena with mixed expressions on their faces.

Asher and the other teens gaped at Hicca's retreating form as she ran across the bridge to get back to the village.

"Did she just-?" Snotlout began.

"Yup." Gobber responded, still completely shocked.

"T-the dragon?"

"Yup."

"And Hicca-"

"It would seem so." The blacksmith was ready to jump in and help Hicca like he had on the first day of training. And Asher, still holding tightly to his axe, was ready to do the same. At the thought of this, the Hofferson loosened his grip and let out a small huff of air. Saving Hicca he could handle. But watching Hicca save herself was as bizarre as it could be. Never in a million years would anyone there, or in the entire village for that matter, believe what had just happened. But there they were, rooted to the spot as they saw Hicca become a small dot in the distance.

"She just got a dragon back in its cage without even touching it." Ruffnut's revelation made everyone's eyes widen. Tuffnut was the last to catch on, as usual.

"Woah, that's like, never been done before," his eyes widen even more. "Right, Gobber?"

"Aye, it hasn't." Gobber slowly nodded. Surely this wasn't the tiny little girl that had sung in his shop and braided flowers into whoever's hair she managed to get her small hands on. He could either believe what he just saw, or deny that Hicca had gained an impossible amount of dragon fighting talent overnight. Now, after what had happened, it seemed the latter wasn't even an option.

A smile broke out on Gobber's face. "It sure hasn't."

Hicca ran straight to the forge after leaving the stunned recruits at the arena. She was giddy with excitement at what had just happened. Her plan with the eel had worked and the looks on the others' faces were absolutely priceless.

Once at the forge, she grabbed a large piece of leather and her journal. After her flight with Toothless the previous day, she decided that she would need a saddle in order to fly comfortably. Using the measurements she had from making the prosthetic tail, she was able to make a saddle that would fit Toothless.

In her excitement, it had only taken her a few hours to make, and then she was off to the cove to see if it fit her dragon companion.

"Hey Toothless, I've got a surprise for you!" Hicca shouted out into the cove as she jumped off one of the rocks onto the soft green grass. Toothless sauntered over to where she was and sat on his haunches and stared at her with wide eyes. Hicca smiled and held up the saddle so he could see. The dragon must have thought she was playing a game, judging by the look on the girl's face, and sprang onto his forepaws before bounding away playfully.

After giggling, Hicca took off after the Night Fury, the saddle held above her head. The two continued this little game until the young viking girl sat down to rest. Toothless, seeing that the human wasn't chasing him anymore, decided to go over to her and see what she was holding.

As Hicca lay on her back on the ground, Toothless padded over and sniffed at the saddle. He then started to push it back towards the girl with his wide snout and then pawed at it. Hicca smiled and sat up, scratching Toothless's head.

"That's a saddle, bud. Now let's see if it fits." She stood up and lifted the saddle. Toothless was still for the most part while she was adjusting the straps. He occasionally wiggled with anticipations about every thirty seconds. When the saddle was secure, Hicca strapped the prosthetic onto Toothless's tail. She then attached a piece of rope on to the prosthetic and held it in her left hand as she went to sit on the saddle.

"That should do it," she said while climbing on to Toothless. "Alright, you ready?" The dragon responded by spreading its wings. After a beat the Night Fury leaped into the air and Hicca pulled the rope in her hand, opening the canvas wing. The two were able to soar smoothly for a few seconds before Hicca pulled a little too hard on the rope. The wing threw them off-balance and sent both of them tumbling down, right into the same small lake they fell into earlier that day. Only this time, getting wet slightly annoyed Hicca.

Three days later the town was buzzing. Hicca had miraculously become a dragon training prodigy in a matter of days. Now, people would come to watch the recruits train, specifically Hicca, who was now very conscious of all the eyes constantly watching her.

Having Toothless around had definitely her learn more tricks to use in training. First there was the eel, then there was this type of grass that dragons went crazy for. Hicca named the grass "dragon nip" for fun. Then while working on Toothless's wing, she realized that dragons light to chase the small circle of light reflected off of any shiny object. In short, Hicca had learned a few secrets about dragons.

Things were very different than they had been a week ago. No longer was she the screw-up everyone avoided, she was the person everyone wanted to be friends with. Ruffnut offered to braid her hair multiple times, Tuffnut always seemed to be flexing when she passed him, Snotlout sat next to her at meals, and Fishlegs had repeatedly asked if she wanted to look at the Dragon Manual with him. Everyone but Asher seemed to treat her differently.

Asher was very conflicted on how he felt about Hicca. He would think about her more than he cared to admit. Mostly, he would think about how he never saw her outside the arena or the Great Hall during meals. It was almost as if she would vanish during the day. That is, until he saw her walking through the woods one day.

He was doing some working out of his own in the woods, throwing his axe into random trees as if they were dragons. He turned and was about to throw his axe again when he was met with wide green eyes. Asher froze as he and Hicca stared at each other. Only then did he noticed the absence of a shirt on his own torso. It was warmer than usual today and he seldom wore a shirt while working out on his own.

After a short while, Hicca averted her eyes downward, a slight blush covering her cheeks. She mumbled something about being sorry before turning and heading further into the forest. As she walked away, Asher noticed she was holding something made of leather in her arms. He took a step to follow her, then decided against it. Following her would be stalkerish, and he definitely did not want to come off that way.

Nonetheless, Asher definitely wanted to know what the young Haddock girl was up to. No one just gets as good as she did. He also wanted to know why she was hiding away during the middle of the day. He missed seeing her auburn braid trail behind her as she wandered through town…

Oh gods, I did not just think that, the Hofferson boy thought to himself. With a small frown on his face, he yanked on his shirt before trudging back to the village.

Hopefully all the attention won't change Hicca.

Well this pretty much took the entire day to write. Now to do my six history essays! -_- I really had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it's definitely my favorite chapter thus far. Again, I'm so sorry it took so long to update. Life is very busy right now, if you could believe it. My birthday passed just this week and I went to Disneyland and Universal Studios, which was great because I hardly ever go :p Hopefully you guys won't have to wait as long for the next update. I really am trying my best x)

Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! I love to hear feedback so don't forget to review! Goodbye for now :)