Okay, the first official chapter is up! This of course is still effectively an introduction, but never mind. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the prologue, it inspired me to continue working on this story. I have a basic plan on what I wish to write in the next three chapters.

Note: This story is written in British English and will also be set in the United Kingdom, which has a very different education system to the United States.

Disclaimer: 'How To Train Your Dragon' is owned by Dreamworks Animation and Cressida Cowell.

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The Escaped Wolf: Chapter 1

Monday 6th September 1999

'And then I called her an obnoxious cow, and Hiccup got the blame for it!'

The hall was small, just slightly wider than the size of a 7-a-side football (soccer) pitch. The roof was low, standard for 'modern' 1990s grammar schools. The walls were mostly white, although they had tinted a yellowish-green colour throughout the years. The lights were bright, although mostly made irrelevant by the strong sunlight beaming in through the windows.

All the students were wearing the same thing, a navy blue blazer with the Coat of Arms of Berk Grammar School stitched onto it. They all wore white shirts under it, and they all wore black trousers to compliment the rest. Their palms were sweaty and the smell of sweat overruled that of the tasteless food being produced by the canteen staff.

Snotlout sat down, along with Toby, Rachel and two other students on one of the central tables; recalling the visit to Hong Kong two years prior. All of them were roughly his age, about 15. The oldest, a female, stared at Snotlout angrily. However, unlike most angry-stares, this one was potent. So potent, in fact, that a large boy sitting next to her almost shuddered with the thought of what was about to come.

Astrid was a well brought up girl, she lived in the rich outskirts of Berkford and had a rather wealthy family. She passed her 11+ easily, and was gladly welcomed into Berk Grammar School. She was polite and respectful to those who earned it, and vicious and nasty to those that haven't. If you gave her respect and stayed out of her way, there would be no trouble. However, if you deliberately dared get in her way, or do pretty much anything she doesn't like… You're doomed.

'You what?' she whispered in a dangerous tone, secretly proud of how Snotlout's face suddenly lost colour. He had never told her that part of the story.

'I uh ... Never mind, it doesn't matter,' Snotlout muttered. He remembered how much Astrid resembled the former and only female Prime Minister.

'Snotlout, did you really just tell me that you called Margaret Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher an obnoxious cow?' Her blood was beginning to boil. It wasn't that she didn't like Snotlout, or Scott Jorgenson, she did; she just hated how much of a brainless idiot he could be.

'It was just a joke!' he insisted. 'I didn't mean for her to actually get offended!'

'That's not the point Snotlout. You're on one of the most important trips of your life, meeting both British and Chinese delegates; and you do that!' She stood up, brushed off non-existent dust from her school uniform, and walked away with her fists in balls.

Snotlout looked back down at the table, his face pale. 'I really shouldn't have said that near her…' he muttered.

'So did you go on Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia?' exclaimed Joshua Ingerman, more commonly known as Fishlegs the Shiplegs. He had short light-blond hair and a broad, muscular chest that was the result of years of mixing McDonalds with sailing.

Snotlout glanced up at him, looking very confused. 'What?'

'You know… The Queen's ship…' Fishlegs immediately began to get nervous, he didn't need two of his friends mad.

'I thought I told you we were at an airport?' Snotlout questioned.

Fishlegs shook his head. 'Uh, no actually… You didn't.'

Rachel began laughing, patting Fishlegs on the shoulder. 'Just be quiet Fishy, I'll explain it all later. She grinned slightly, sitting back down when Fishlegs' faced flushed bright pink.

Toby stared at her dumbfounded, scratching his head. 'Fishy? Did you really just call him Fishy?'

'What's it to you, butt elf?' Rachel snapped back.

'Well may–' Toby was about to retort, but he was interrupted by Snotlout.

'Well, well, well, look who it is! Mr Thatcher is a cow!' Snotlout laughed, pointing his fat finger at Hiccup. Toby and Rachel snickered, while Fishlegs remained silent.

Hiccup looked down at the ground, embarrassed. He really didn't want to deal with them right now, so he sped up away from them; desperately trying to avoid becoming the centre of the entire school's attention.

'Hey you! I'm talking to you!' Snotlout stood up, glaring at Hiccup. Suddenly, all heads in the lunch hall turned their way.

Hiccup looked back at Snotlout, gulping quietly. 'Really? I thought you were talking to your gold fish,' he replied sarcastically.

There was a faint sound of chuckling coming from somewhere in the room, angering Snotlout greatly. 'Don't get sarcastic with me, Hiccy,' he snarled, his fists clenching together tightly

Hiccup backed away, completely losing his appetite. He managed to escape through the opposite door from the one he had just entered, scurrying over to the school library. This had become a common theme recently, more so since they returned to school after the trip to Hong Kong.

As Hiccup pushed his way through the crowds to the library, he bumped into a still-glaring Astrid.

'Oh hi Astrid...Hi Astrid...Hi Astrid…' Hiccup stuttered out as he tried to move away from her potential wrath.

Astrid ignored him, making Hiccup release a huge sigh. He hid his face from the rest of the crowd, not that anyone was paying any attention to him, before entering the library.

The library was packed to the brink with students, all wanting access to the limited school computers. They were perhaps the only 'new' thing the school had, and they were one of the only schools to have forked out so much for the multicoloured iMac G3s.

He managed to find a place in the far corner of the library, by the bookshelf with all the old history and geography textbooks. He was studying History, Spanish, Biology, additional Maths and was taking an extracurricular course in Norse Mythology. In addition to all the standard subjects; standard Maths, English, standard Science, Citizenship, RE and PE.

He opened up one of the many old history books, this one focusing on the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolf Hitler. While modern history wasn't his favourite cup of tea, and Hiccup really loved tea, he still became engrossed in the textbook in front of him.

It wasn't until the bell rang directly above him did he realise lunch was over. He sighed, disappointed with the lack of time he had to read, and slowly trudged outside towards his English class. He didn't really like English, he much preferred mathematics or science where everything was just simple equations and facts. Who cares what JB Priestly thought about socialism and capitalism? It's obvious he'd be better off writing his books in China.

He sat down in his usual seat, right at the front to the left. Joined on his table was Fishlegs, while on the table to their right was Astrid and another girl, called Camicazi. She also had blond hair, although it was a lot longer than Astrid's. The two appeared to get on reasonably well, aside from their casual debate they have over why the author chose to use blue curtains as opposed to red ones. If anything, Camicazi was probably the only student in all of Berk Grammar School that didn't look down on Hiccup.

'Okay guys, today we're going to be focusing on how JB Priestly used dramatic irony in his book An Inspector Calls. Who can point out one piece of dramatic irony?'

Fishlegs' arm shot up, nearly punching Hiccup in the face. The teacher immediately looked in his direction. 'He said the uh, the uh...Titanic! He said the Titanic was unsinkable but we knew it wasn't!'

The teacher did this happy-face thing, Hiccup never understood what made her so fascinated in English. He was about to return to focusing on the answers when Fishlegs nudged him with his elbow.

'Hey toothpick?' he whispered, glancing around to make sure no one could actually see him talking to Hiccup. 'Did you hear about those wolves?'

Hiccup frowned, what on earth was he on about? Sure, there are plenty of wolves, but not here; not in Britain. 'What are you talking about? What wolves?' His voice was just as quiet as Fishlegs' had been.

'On the news this morning, they said that the government are introducing wolves to part of Kent. About 12 miles away from Berkford, near Bogend. They're introducing about 12 of them, weird thing is, they are all black. Or mostly black, anyway.'

Hiccup's frown deepened, why would Fishlegs want to engage with him about wolves… In an English lesson! 'Okay Josh, why are you talking to me abou-'

'Hiccup! Fishlegs! Stop talking!' the teacher snapped, followed by a quiet sniggering coming from Snotlout at the back. After a quick apology to the teacher, they started the task that had been set on the board. The two of them remained quiet for the rest of the lesson, and didn't speak to each other for the rest of the day.

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Okay, that's chapter 1 done. Hooray!

I've kinda proofread it, although considering this was mostly written at about 4am I haven't really had the willpower to do so.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and offered suggestions, I hope you like the way the story has started to develop. If not, please say so. Although please offer constructive criticism and not just a direct insult. For others, even if you find the tiniest grammar error, please tell me. And of course, if you have a positive review; please post it! :D

Aside from that, I think I'm done for now. I'll see you again… Sometime soon. Goodbye!

-CGJ