Me- (Insert facepalm here) I… totally changed the name of the Fishlegs character… In the first chapter, he was Fred, now he's Frank. I'll just keep it as such. Thanks a ton for the reviews guys! Keep it up! P.S. I had a better name for the twins Zippleback, but totally forgot it. GRRR! And "Fireworm" is the name of Snotlout's dragon in the books.

Understanding

He had been sitting there for hours, patiently waiting. He glimpsed back at the huge creature he had accidentally handicapped hanging from a tree, asleep. He sighed and picked up a stick, scratching random lines into the dirt. Soon, they began to form something… the dragon! The dragon he decided to call Toothless. A shadow fell over his shoulder. He knew who it was and finished the picture of him. The shadow disappeared as he added just a few more tweaks… Then he heard a loud crack and swiveled his head around. Toothless had broken off a tree and was now dragging it in the dirt! He went this way, that way, made a squiggle here… all very careful as to not disrupt his drawing. Toothless glanced back at him as if to say "What do you think so far?" and added a dot. He made some more swirls and squiggles, accidentally hitting him in the head with the tree before tossing it aside to admire his work. He was astounded; Toothless had drawn him a picture! He had no idea what it was, but just the fact he had done this little thing was so amazing. He moved to get a better look. Suddenly, Toothless growled and he froze and looked down. Oh, he was on a line! Was that what was upsetting him? He lifted his foot, and Toothless purred. He tried it again, foot down, growl, foot up, purr, down, growl, up, purr… but this time he stepped over the line and smiled at his friend. He took another step, careful of any lines, and another and another. Here, there, once more, he smiled to himself. It was as though he was dancing. Another step and he felt Toothless behind him. He stopped and looked up at him, slowly putting his hand up. Toothless growled slightly, still unsure. He withdrew, but just for a moment, before turning his head away and extending his hand. "It's okay…" He whispered "I'm not gonna hurt you."

What seemed like an eternity passed, a moment of silence… until Toothless gently pressed his nose into his hand. He trusted Toothless… and Toothless trusted him back.

Haddock lay awake that morning, mulling over his most recent dream. He felt it as a crushing pain on his chest. To think Toothless had lost that! The thought was too much to bear! He pinched his eyes shut, but all he saw was himself… or was it Hiccup? He felt a tingle in his nose, his eyes well up, but quickly wiped it away. He wouldn't let Toothless see him like this. He took a deep breath which helped, changed his clothes and headed outside. The day previous, they all had spent the day getting to know their dragons. They'd even named them. The twins had, by some miracle of Odin, agreed on Grindstone. Frank decided on Boneater for his Gronckle. Amanda had taken her sweet time on deciding on a name but finally settled on Sharpwing. Mr. Gob had gone for Fizzle. As Haddock left the house, he heard Toothless sneak up behind him. "Hey bud." He smiled and scratched Toothless's neck. The dragon began purring and he scratched just below the chin, causing Toothless to fall into a purring heap.

Haddock raised his eyebrows and glanced at his fingers, a sense of déjà vu washing over him. "Huh." He muttered. "Didn't know dragons had a sweet spot." He gave Toothless a light shove.

Toothless stirred and opened his eyes. He got up to his feet and gave Haddock a lick on the face. Haddock let out a little laugh. "Okay, Toothless, let's see what everyone else is up to."

They headed towards the great hall and entered. Everyone was there, as were their dragons, who had just enough room to move around freely. They were all chatting about their dragons.

"Turns out Fizzle here heats up when he's asleep! Makes a gre' hot wa'er bottle!"

"So, yeah… I think Fireworm's a girl…"

"Boneater almost fell through the floor last night, Poor guy had to sleep outside."

"Alright, since you won at rock-paper-scissors, Grindstone gets to sleep at my house this time!"

"Alright, but don't come crying to me if he gasses you in the middle of the night!"

"Sharpwing's got pretty soft scales, probably from a coating of fur on them or something, I'll have to look into it."

They all fell silent when Haddock entered the room… then started right up again. "Haddock! Sit next to me!"

"Haddock, why don't ya sit here lad?"

"He's sitting by me!"

"No, me!"

"C'mon man, over here!"

Amber didn't say anything, but smiled when she caught his eye. He blushed and smiled back, making his way over to her. "So what's the plan for today?" She asked once he made himself comfortable.

"Um… well, I figured, maybe… we could start on flying lessons, or something." Haddock shrugged.

"That's probably a good idea." Amanda nodded. "I really can't wait to get back into the air." Her eyes glazed over slightly, recalling yesterday's adventures.

Haddock chuckled, inhaled his breakfast and said, just loud enough, "Who wants to learn how to fly?" Everyone but Mr. Gob shot their hands up.

Haddock couldn't help but grin. "Alright, lemmee just think of a place we can practice…" He sat and thought a moment, closing his eyes.

"Welcome to dragon training!" Gobber greeted the new recruits as he opened the gate into an arena, fairly large in size, circular and covered by a steel net so the dragons couldn't escape. "No turning back" He heard Astrid murmur. They all entered and Tuffnut spoke. "I'm hope I get some serious burns!" Ruffnut shrugged "I'm hoping for some mauling, like, on my shoulder… or lower back." "Yeah" Astrid said casually, "It's only fun if you get a scar out of it." "I know, right?" They all turned to face him as he continued sarcastically, "Pain… love it." "Oh great, who let him in?" Tuffnut moaned. "Let's ge' started!" Gobber said, redirecting their attention. "the recruit who does best, will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village!" Snotlout interjected, "Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so… is he disqualified, or…?" The rest of the kids, save Astrid, laughed. Someone said "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" "Don't worry." Gobber said, steering him towards the rest of the group, "You're small and weak, tha makes you less of a target! They'll see you as beein' sick or insane an' go after the more vikin'-like teens." He stepped away and raised his voice. "Behind these doors are just a few species of dragon you will learn to fight! The Deadly Nadder!" "Speed eight, armor sixteen…" "The Hideous Zippleback!" "Plus eleven stealth, times two…" "The Monstrous Nightmare!" "Body armor fifteen…" "The Terrible Terror!" "Attack eight, venom twelve…!" "WILL YOU STOP THAT?" Gobber hollered at Fishlegs before grasping a lever and saying "And finally, the Gronckle." Fishlegs whispered to him "Jaw strength eight." Realizing what was going on, Snotlout stepped foreword, saying, slightly panicked, "Wait, aren't you gonna teach us first?" Gobber grinned, "I believe in learning on the job." and pulled.

Haddock snapped his eyes open. Amanda had a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" She asked, sounding concerned. "You were gone for a while there…"

Haddock then noticed a slight pain on his arm. "Did you… did you pinch me?" He asked.

Amanda shrugged sheepishly. "Like I said…"

Haddock waved it off, "It's fine, besides," He stood up and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I know a place we can practice!"

He rushed out the door, Toothless and the rest of the crew close behind. After a short hike to another part of the village, they came across the very arena Haddock had seen in his "dream". He wet his lips and smiled. "Welcome to dragon training."

The group headed into the arena, the gate had been removed some years ago. They headed in, dragons following at their heels. Haddock noticed a hole blown in the metal cover. He saw that the edges were slightly bent inward, as though something had tried to get in. He closed his eyes, just for a moment.

It hadn't worked. He was running for his life around the arena, his father screaming for him to get through the door, away from the startled Monstrous Nightmare. Suddenly, he heard a sound, almost like the beginnings of a sonic boom. Then there was a blast, smoke filled the area, but he knew, Toothless had somehow clawed his way out of the canyon to save him. His fear was confirmed when he heard someone say "Night Fury!"

Haddock forced his eyes open and looked back at his classmates. They were still looking around in awe at the dome so they hadn't seen him standing there like an idiot. Toothless, however, was not so easily swayed. He nudged Haddock slightly and let out a questioning sound. Haddock smiled and patted his flank. "I'm alright buddy." He turned to his classmates and Mr. Gob who had tagged along and spoke. "Alright, um, first thing's first. There are a few things you should know about dragons. First off, if you threaten them, they will attack. So remain calm at all times." He put his hand up just as Hiccup had done. "Second, let them know you trust them." Toothless pressed his nose into his palm. "They'll trust you back." He gave Toothless a scratch and turned. "Now you guys give it a shot, Ruff, Tuff, no fighting!"

Each kid stood in front if their respective dragons and mimicked Haddocks motions. Thankfully, the kids remained calm and the dragons sensed that so they each did their own thing to show they trusted them. Grindstone nuzzled the twins hands, Fizzle simply climbed up Mr. Gobs' arm and began purring. Sharpwing bypassed Amanda's hand completely and gently bumped its nose to her cheek. Boneater bumped Franks shins softly and curled up at he feet. Fireworm simply walked around Sam and sat down next to him. Haddock smiled and nodded. "Good, good… Now, please board your dragons!"

This part, he wasn't entirely sure about, but everything seemed alright. Mr. Gob planted himself against the wall, petting a sleeping Fizzle. Each kid took a moment figuring out where a good place to sit would be. Frank slipped off a few times and the twins gave each other bruises trying to sit where the necks met the body before deciding it would be better to sit by the heads. Soon enough, everyone, Haddock included, was comfortably seated on their dragon. "Alright," Haddock began, "we'll take it slow at first, just fly around the arena a little."

Sure enough, they slowly lifted off the ground, the humans making sounds of surprise, and began moving. After a while, the humans got used to leaning and turning to tell the dragons where to go, but Haddock, who had stayed grounded, sensed Toothless getting restless. "Alright bud." He called to his friends. "Now fly out through the hole! I think you're ready for some real flying!" He grinned and said "Go Toothless, go!" And they went.

Me- Hopefully, next chapter will be about the actual flight. I couldn't figure out a good place to stop, so this seemed good. This chapter is dedicated to my little sister who wanted them to visit the arena for some reason. Sorry there are so many "Dream sequences" I'll try to keep them to a minimum from now on, I just felt they were appropriate. Also, for the second one, I had to look up the stats Fishlegs rattles off. I may be good, but I'm not that good. Please enjoy and review!