Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter 8

Stoick slammed his fist on the table, making some of his guards jump back a bit. They were all standing in front and around a large wooden table, with a large map of the city spread across it.

At least twenty guards stood in the room, watching as their king stood slightly hunched over the table, mumbling to himself.

"Everyone!" Stoick bellowed. "There is a big problem in Berk that I've been putting off for a while, but it has come to the point where we must do something. There is this group of thieves who have been causing trouble around the city, and we must put a stop to it immediately."

Some of the guards looked around at each other, whispering about how the King was overreacting about a petty group of thieves.

"This is serious!" Stoick yelled, and the guards immediately stopped talking and looked at him.

"This group has broken into our castle, numerous banks, and many houses. It's either we get them, or they get us!" He slammed the table again for effect. "Now, who's with me?"

The guards once again averted their eyes from him, saying things about how they were busy that week.

Stoick grumbled, listening to his men making up their excuses.

"Alright, whoever stays will have an extra three hours overtime onto their shift for the next month." Stoick informed them, and all of their hands immediately shot up, all of them agreeing to go help him.

"That's what I thought." Stoick triumphantly said, crossing his arms and nodding, smirking.

Once the guards had filed out of the room, Stoick sat down at a table where Gobber was sitting.

"Great! When do we set off?" Gobber asked.

"Not you, Gobber. You have to stay and train the new guards." Stoick replied, receiving an upset look from Gobber.

"What about Henry? You're just going to leave him alone? Not like we ever see him, though."

Stoick groaned, thinking about his son.

"Oh, what am I going to do with the boy?" He moaned, thinking.

"Put him in training with the others." Gobber suggested, as though it would be normal.

"What? You can't be serious. He'd be killed before he held the first sword." Stoick argued.

It was somewhat true, as whenever Hiccup held a sword and try to swing it, it moved in all of the wrong directions. His left hand could never hold the shield up properly, and if against a real enemy, Hiccup would be dead in a matter of seconds.

"You don't know that." Gobber argued, but Stoick remained unconvinced.

"Yes I do." Stoick stubbornly said, sticking to his resolve.

"No, you don't!" Gobber repeated. "Look, the kid always wanted to train to be a knight when he was younger, why not let him train for it now? I'll keep him safe, promise."

Stoick reluctantly nodded, giving in to Gobber's idea.

"Ok, let him train with the others. Maybe he'll learn a thing or two." Stoick stood up and left the room, leaving Gobber still sitting down, surprised that he had convinced Stoick to let Henry train.

Hiccup kicked a stray rock which was on the side of the road, frustrated at himself. He was searching for the Red Thieves again, remembering hearing a strange noise as he ran away the previous time. He hadn't thought much of it then, but it piqued his curiosity when he thought of it later.

He ran his fingers against the cool cement wall, feeling as his fingers hit all of the little ridges. He had been looking for over an hour near the thieve's hideout, not finding a single thing. Scowling, Hiccup was about to give up and go home, when he heard a small scuffling noise around the corner.

Holding his breath and creeping around the corner, Hiccup quickly ducked his head around the corner when he saw what was there.

Slowly peeking his head back around, Hiccup gasped at what he saw.

Laying on the ground was a boy of similar age to Hiccup, not moving. His hair was jet black, cut mid length. He was wearing a black leather jacket, with black jeans. On the back of his jacket though, there was a red dragon in a circle shape, covering most of his back.

Hiccup looked at the symbol, thinking that he had seen it somewhere before. Searching his brain, he suddenly remembered seeing it spray painted onto one of the hallways in the warehouse, when he was running for his life.

So this boy is part of the band of thieves? Hiccup thought, still keeping a watchful eye on him.

But then why is he alone, and seemingly hurt? Not being able to think of a reason, Hiccup inched closer to the boy.

Looking at him closer, Hiccup saw that the boy was lying unconscious with his back turned to Hiccup.

Hiccup leaned over to see his face more clearly, seeing his sharp facial features. The boy's ears were slightly pointed, and his mouth was slightly agape. Looking at his teeth, Hiccup could see a set of straight and sharp teeth inside, which were stunningly bright.

His eyes were closed, and Hiccup walked around to the other side of the body to see the front of him.

Once Hiccup moved to see his front, he saw that the boy had now awakened, and was watching Hiccup intently, his vivid green eyes piercing into his own.

Staring into each others eyes for a few seconds, Hiccup felt anger bubbling inside of him, making him angry. He was one of the thieves. He had hurt people, and stole. This boy in front of him had to pay for what his group did and Hiccup would be the one to punish him.

Pulling out the small knife that Hiccup always kept hidden in his waistband under his jacket, Hiccup held the knife over his head, looking at the boy threateningly.

"I'm going to kill you, boy. I'm going to cut out your heart, and give it to my father." He raised his voice, almost yelling at the defenceless boy on the concrete ground.

Hiccup had heard his father talking about the thieves before, and how much he hated them, and had even said that he suspected them of killing his mother. Hiccup was going to show his father that he had avenged his mother, and would finally make his father proud of him.

Just before Hiccup was about to bring the blade down, he stopped. He saw the boy close his eyes and slightly roll over, defeated. The strange boy hadn't said a word this whole time, and only had made small moaning noises. Trying not to think about it, Hiccup brought the blade back up, ready to strike.

"Ok, Hiccup. Ok, you've got this." He quietly told himself, taking deep breaths. He tried to bring his arms down, but he just couldn't. He couldn't kill this poor boy, who looked no older than Hiccup himself.

Looking at the knife in his hand, Hiccup felt disgusted with himself. He was just about to kill this boy, and even though he was one of the enemies, Hiccup couldn't harm this boy.

Stumbling back until he hit the side of the nearest building, he slid down until he was sitting on the floor, shocked at what he was just about to do.

As he was sitting there, the boy slowly got up, and crept up to Hiccup on all fours. Hiccup braced himself for the boy to hurt or even kill him for what he almost did, but when the boy was so close that Hiccup could hear his breath, the other boy just yelled at him, almost a roar. He then ran off, still on his hands and feet, though he was limping.

Shocked and dazed, Hiccup watched as the boy turned around a corner and fainted.

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