Chapter 3
Dragon Class Arts!
Hiccup was actually glad he accepted Astrid's invitation to The Dragon's Den, he was having a good time with other people for once. He was sitting between her and Fishlegs while listening to the twins bicker about which of them had their spirit ignite first(Astrid had kindly explained they'd ignited at the same time upon seeing the confusion on Hiccup's face.) and taking a long draw from his milkshake. Fishlegs had spent half the walk to their vehicles in the school parking lot explaining ways to keep his DSE under control without having to be constantly thinking about it in situations where it's use was required and spent most of their time at the restaurant sharing fun facts about the dragon spirits they all had. "Actually, you had to manifest your spirit into a dragon back in the arena Hiccup. What was it?" The blonde boy asked, effectively silencing the twin's bickering and drawing everyone's attention to him.
Hiccup chuckled and nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry Fishlegs, but I wasn't really thinking about it at the time. I was more worried about you and Astrid getting charbroiled so I didn't pay attention to what dragon I manifested at the time."
Astrid placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and offered a smile, "Don't worry Hiccup, there'll be plenty of other chances for you to figure it out. After all we're learning dragon class arts next week and you have to know your dragon spirit in order to use them. I personally can't wait to start throwing around Nadder spines when Snotlout tries hitting on me." The others laughed and began talking about what they look forward to doing with their dragon abilities once they've learned how to use them properly and only Astrid noticed Hiccup keeping quiet, she opened her mouth to say something when her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a reminder she set earlier to get ready for work. "Damn, Ruff we need to head into the back and get changed, out shifts start in twenty minutes."
The girls waved and left, the boys sat a little longer and talked a little more, Hiccup found Fishlegs and Tuffnut both enjoyed reading comics, Tuff being a casual reader whereas Fish was a bit more immersed in it, he wondered aloud why no one had used their dragon spirit to fight evil before. That spawned a discussion of the military using their spirits to fight in wars since guns have proven less than effective against dragon spirits and those wielding them, at best they injury the person but killing them was incredibly difficult, Tuff even read about a man with a Rumblehorn spirit being shot in the head at point blank range and having a mild itch where the bullet hit. "Well I hear that the Treacher Corporation has been developing a weapon to channel and increase the power of someone's DSE for the military, so maybe that will help someday." Fishlegs piped up, Hiccup cringed slightly at that. Most people tend to forget that in addition to being the governor his father also was the founder and CEO of Vast Enterprises and was Treacher Corps biggest competitor, of course most people forget that that Governor Gerald Haddock is Hiccup's father.
About a half hour later Hiccup checked the time on his phone and decided he had to leave, when Toothless didn't get a steak he became less than pleasant to be around. He bid the other boys farewell and made for the door, thinking that maybe he could even eat lunch with them at school if things kept going the way they were, these thoughts were interrupted however when he was walking by the ally behind The Dragon's Den and someone yanked him by the back of his hoodie.
Astrid was always a hard worker and always had a smile on her face when interacting with customers, but today she was distracted. Despite never really spending time with Hiccup before, he seemed to meld with everyone in their group rather easily, he knew comics and video games like other guys to connect with Tuff and Fish enough to talk for who knows how long, and even told Ruffnut how he accidentally caused an explosion with enough clarity that Astrid wondered if it was in fact an accident. As for Astrid herself, he wasn't really into sports or martial arts so they seemed didn't have anything definitive to connect over, but she still felt as if he belonged in her circle of friends and after she and Ruff left the boys the taller girl revealed she thought the same. These things were mulling around in her brain when the manager of the restaurant, known as Mulch called out to her. "Astrid, would you mind taking the garbage out to the dumpster in the back? You look like you could use a little fresh air." She smiled and went to gather the trash, she always liked that Mulch cared about his employees like family, even his lifelong best friend after he was in an accident before she was born and rendered partially brain dead, Mulch gave him a job working the grill and didn't fuss over the bucket the man chose to wear on his head, earning him the name Bucket from the rest of the crew.
As she approached the back door that lead to the alley where the dumpster was, she heard a rather loud crashing sound, one usually coincided with something or someone being thrown into the dumpster instead of inside it. Knowing Mulch has a strict policy against violence, Astrid cracked the door opening in order to see what was going on outside so she'd know if she could throw out the trash or wait until whatever was going on to pass. She did not expect to see Hiccup leaning against the metal dumpster rubbing the back of his head.
Before she could open the door someone stepped into her line of sight, a boy she recognized from the day before when Hiccup took the younger boy's place and let Snotlout beat him. "Come on Hiccup, you got lucky back at school when you were taken by dragon mind, I won't be taken by surprise this time so light it up." Snotlout's voice came from somewhere behind the metal door, Astrid swore internally, of course he would do something this stupid after nearly getting killed. She saw Hiccup stand back up and dust off his hoodie before looking at where she guessed his cousin was standing.
"Snotlout, I really don't want to do this right now; can't you wait til tomorrow when you've actually recovered? That limp isn't doing you any favors." Hiccup tried to reason, Astrid snorted knowing it was fruitless but had to respect his willingness to try and talk his way out of the situation. Had she been in his position she'd have ignited and wailed on Snotlout and his backup by now, but Hiccup was cut from a different cloth and seemed to prefer the diplomatic route, he should consider a career in politics.
"No can do cuz, you embarrassed me in front of the entire class and even Astrid-"
"Whom you almost killed before I did anything." Hiccup cut him off sarcastically, had Astrid not basically been eavesdropping she would have laughed.
"And now I have to repay you in kind." Astrid heard three sudden ignitions of DSE, which meant Snot had brought at least two other boys with him. "Now ignite you're spirit or we're going to beat you until you do or have to go to the hospital, maybe make your right leg match you left. Then maybe I'll go tell everyone how you lost-"
The sudden DSE blast that sent the other two boys flying out of the alleyway left Hiccup's hands so quickly Astrid barely had time to process that Hiccup's spirit was now burning around him and was now aiming a third blast at Snotlout. "You may know how I lost my foot Samuel, but if you ever dream of telling anyone then I will see to it that video of you dressing up like Britney Spears and dancing to her songs in your room when we were 8 finds its way onto the school website. I think the school paper would love to get a quote about that wouldn't they?" Hiccup threatened, his voice dripping with seriousness. Astrid couldn't stop the snort of laughter this time but luckily both boys in the alley were too busy glaring at each other to notice. The sound of a dragon spirit extinguishing was heard followed by Hiccup lowering his left hand, but keeping his spirit burning until she guessed Snotlout left. To her great surprise he seemed to do so without a word. Hiccup readjusted his clothes and patted himself down to get rid of any excess dust or filth and left as well, once she felt he was gone she threw the trash and went to find Ruff, she would love to hear about Snot's hobby as a kid.
Hiccup walked back to the school where he had left his mood of transportation, the others had all piled into two cars, Astrid's and Tuffnut's, and insisted he ride with them. As he entered the school parking lot and made his way behind the auto shop class he couldn't shake the feeling someone had been watching him in the alley behind The Dragon's Den, and even though he had left and the feeling was gone now it still bothered him. He had used his spirit and Snotlout had almost blurted one of his most closely guarded secrets, thankfully Hiccup was smart enough to have hung onto that video file all this time, just in case.
Pulling the tarp revealed the motorcycle Hiccup had built over the course of a year while working in Gobber's shop, he'd found the frame for it when he accompanied the large man to a dump and had bought it cheap since he'd have to build the engine and everything else for it over time. He and Gobber had even designed a stirrup for his fake leg to hook into, the familiar click let him know he was secure; he put on his black helmet and jacket then revved the engine to life before pulling out into empty parking lot and towards his home. His mother would start to worry if it got dark before he got home and even though it was the truth, saying he was out with friends wouldn't be believed even if he had a dragon spirit now. There was also the matter of sneaking off to visit Toothless in the small cove located in the woods behind his family's house, his best friend would probably get two steaks for having to wait longer than usual to see him today.
Astrid looked around the arena while the students waited for Gobber to show up with the other dragon class experts who were to help teach them how to use their dragon class arts today, but Astrid noticed the distinct lack of one auburn haired lanky teen who has yet to tell her what dragon his spirit is. Things had been good since that first trip the The Dragon's Den together with the others; Hiccup had even started joining them at lunch, after Astrid dragged him over to their table on Monday. But Hiccup was nowhere to be seen and no that they were getting to know each other that was suddenly very odd to Astrid, barring the previous week when he was afraid she was going to beat him up. Astrid was roused from her thought when Gobber and the experts came in and their teacher began barking instructions.
"Alrite class, today we're learnin' dragon class arts. The school has arranged to have experts in each class of dragon come in to help yeh learn since each class differs, find the person hold the class of your dragon spirit and join them, they will then take yeh to a place suited to train." Gobber held up a sign with the Boulder class symbol on it, and students began to file towards the different experts and form groups. Astrid spotted her 'expert' holding up the Tracker class symbol but made her way to Gobber, she learned he and Hiccup were close outside of the school and Hiccup's part time job at his auto shop and figured he'd know why her new friend wasn't here.
He turned around when she tapped his shoulder and offered her a smile showing off the stone he had in place of one of his teeth, Hiccup had said it was a Scottish thing and she didn't question it. "Hey Gobber, I was wondering if you knew where Hiccup was. It's not really like him to skip a class and dragon training is mandatory so…" she trailed off when he raised a bushy eyebrow and grinned in a way that seemed more like a proud family member than a teacher.
"I'm afraid he won't be here today lass. Hiccup admitted to using his dragon spirit outside of class and you know the rules: no using your dragon spirit unless absolutely necessary. He'll be sitting out today and have to make it up on Friday when he comes back. But I believe he's putting in extra time in the shop if ye wan' to stop by after training." He winked at her and she immediately felt heat rise to her face and nodded stiffly before quickly leaving to join the Tracker class group. She caught up to them as they entered a small wooded area where targets were hanging from the trees and the instructor was just introducing himself.
"Hello everyone..." He started in a British accent, "I am Eret, Son of Eret. I know it sounds strange to you all but its quite common where I come from." The students had a laugh and Heather tossed her hair back in a flirty manner, "Anyway I'll be helping you all with your Tracker class dragon spirits. If I'm not mistaken you all have Deadly Nadder spirits which will make this a pretty quick lesson." Eret scanned the group as if he were looking for someone in particular, his eyes settled on Astrid for a split second longer than the rest but ultimately moved on without finding whatever or whoever he was looking for.
"Alright, using your dragon class art is rather simple actually, you simply need to call out your class, your dragon, and finally you'll know the dragon ability you'll use. Observe." He turned towards a wooden target hanging about twenty feet away. "Tracker class. Rumblehorn. Fireball shot!" He cried as a fireball formed in his hands and flew at the practice dummy which erupted in flames as it swung back from the force of the impact. All the students, Astrid included, started talking animatedly as their excitement to use their only dragon ability bubbled to the surface, but Eret turned to them and held his hands in order to recall their attention. "Now after you've used your dragon class art for the first time you will receive your class mark," He tugged his shirt by the collar to reveal a green Tracker class symbol on his left pectoral muscle, "You'll feel a slight warming sensation somewhere on your body as it appears, we have no idea where it will appear until it does, but it's normally nowhere inappropriate. Now lets get started shall we?"
The students in Astrid's group formed up quickly and started using their class art which was the basic fire ability called Magnesium Burn, so far Heather had done the best managing to hit the furthest target on her first try, but Astrid hadn't gone yet and knew she was going to do better. Those who had already gone were currently showing off their new class marks, most being somewhere on their torso, but Heather's had appeared on the outer side of her left thigh just below her short shorts. Astrid finally came to the front of the line they'd formed and stood beside Eret, upon the closer space between them she could tell her was only about four or five years older then the rest of them, to be considered an expert at his age meant he had to be extremely talented with his spirit. "Alright, Astrid is it? You need me to go over anything again before you give this a try?" He asked looking her up and down in a way that Astrid recognized, he was checking her out, he instantly became an older Snotlout in her eyes and she scoffed.
"I can handle it, thanks." She said and turned to the group of targets, "Tracker class. Deadley Nadder…" she was about to call out 'Magnesium Burn' like all the other students before her, but she felt something inside her that urged her to say something else. "… Spine Shot!" instantly her arms were cover in thick spines that fired off when she swung them in the direction of the targets, impaling every single target with at least two spines. Everyone in the Tracker class group fell silent and looked from Astrid, to the targets and back again, Astrid merely shrugged with a smile and joined those who had gone while rubbing her left hand. The itch continued to annoy her until she looked at the offending appendage and found a light azure blue Tracker class mark there for all to see.
"Well then, I believe that's all of you…" Eret said finally seeming to have recovered from Astrid using the more difficult of the Nadder's class art. "You're all free to go, remember to practice your dragon class art but do so wisely and away from others who could get hurt." The students gathered themselves and left, Astrid herself gathered her things and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Eret was still checking her out and started walking towards her causing her to hurry off to her car and drive off in the direction of Gobber's auto shop, she was in no mood to have another Snotlout in her life.
Hiccup was grateful for two things this afternoon, the first was that Gobber's auto shop was located on the outskirts of town near the woods and the second was that he was the only one in the shop for the next few hours. Because of these Hiccup was able to let Toothless lounge in the back with him for a change, his furry best friend was happily dozing at his feet while he was changing the oil for his bike with his metal leg pinned under two large black paws. Hiccup had missed dragon training today because he had come clean to Gobber about the incident with Snotlout after the previous lesson and as a result spent his afternoon in the company of his secret pet.
After he finished working on his motorcycle and convinced Toothless to let him up with a promise of an extra steak, Hiccup cleaned his hands enough so the oil wouldn't smudge his home work but left dark streaks on his arms, he liked the feeling of having accomplished something that accompanied his hands being dirty. Toothless stalked off around the back of the shop outside lay in the sun for a bit while Hiccup did his homework and wasn't able to be used as a comfortable pillow, just as he was wrapping up the last of his math work the bell at the front desk was rung. "I'll be right up!" He called poking his head out the back door to find Toothless sleeping lazily lying in the grass; he turned back and went up front. The familiar blonde hair tied in its ever present braid was all he needed to recognize the girl leaning on her back against the counter, "Astrid? What brings you by, your car need a tune up or something?"
The girl in question turned around and flashed him a small smile that made Hiccup feel invincible, "No nothing like that, I just noticed you weren't in dragon training today and thought I come offer to help you catch up a bit if you'd like." Hiccup smiled back at her and motioned for her to follow him into the back, where they sat and she told him the basics of what he needed to know and then showed off her new class mark on her left hand which he found very interesting. The two had been chatting for nearly twenty minutes when suddenly Astird's eyes widened in panic and her body stiffened, "Hiccup…" she said in a small voice as if he would run or attack if she spoke any louder, "Don't freak out but there is a panther standing in the back doorway. If we time it right I might be able to scare it off with my dragon class art."
To her complete and utter shock Hiccup stood up and turned to the big cat and calmly approached it. "Actually he's a black leopard," he reached his hand out and scratched the creature behind the ear and it leaned into his hand and started purring loudly, "Astird this is Toothless, Toothless… Astrid." Hiccup gestured to each as he performed the introductions; the leopard spared the girl a glance before nuzzling his large head in Hiccup's hand once again. "He probably just heard us talking and got curious; he was napping out back when you came in." Astrid still hadn't moved from the chair Hiccup had kindly cleared for her and was staring at them with her jaw agape, here was this scrawny boy she was just getting to know and he was petting a predator like it was a common house cat, a house cat that had a red bandage around it's left hind leg, she noticed.
"What happened to his leg?" Hiccup followed her gaze to the bright red cloth wrapped around his friend's leg and smiled softly to himself as Toothless stalked towards and sniffed at Astrid who recoiled slightly in her chair as he got close.
"Relax Astrid, he isn't going to hurt you, he just wants to get to know you a bit. Try letting him sniff your hand, if he likes you then he'll push his nose against it, if not he'll just ignore you." Astrid closed her eyes and held her hand out and after a few second left a cold wet nose pressed into her palm, when she opened her eyes she was amazed to see that Hiccup was right and the big cat currently starting to rub his head in her hand like any normal cat would. "I found him in the woods behind my house; he was caught in bear trap and was lashing out at everything for while. It took me a while to get near him and even longer until he would let me close enough to his leg to examine the trap but I eventually brought him a few raw steaks and got the trap off him while he ate them. After that he was too injured to really go anywhere on his own so I made him a splint in my family's garage and wrapped his leg in the only thing I had which was my red shirt, after that we bonded and now he's rather fond of just having it around his leg even though he doesn't need it." Astrid was so enraptured by his story that she had stopped paying attention to Toothless who chose that moment to put his front paws on her lap and nuzzle her head with his own.
"Why Toothless though? From where I'm sitting he seems to have rather sharp teeth."
"Oh well that comes from when I got him free, he cornered me against a rock and bit at my arm. But he did it gently I didn't feel any of his teeth, and the thought sorta stuck as his name. Besides he seems to like it don't you bud?" The jet black feline let out another loud purr before Hiccup pulled a steak out of a cooler under his desk and tossed it to Toothless who caught it in his mouth and slunk outside to eat it happily. Hiccup smiled at where his friend had just left and then frowned to himself, "Astrid, can I trust you not to tell anyone about Toothless? If anyone found out about him he'd likely be put down living so close to people." Astrid was slightly taken aback by his sudden change in tone, until he asked her he had been happy and more confident than she had seen him since the day Dagur had shown up in dragon training, but she nodded and promised to keep Toothless a secret as long as he didn't mind her visiting him occasionally.
The sound of Toothless roaring interrupted the smiles they were sharing followed quickly by a heavy thud. The teens quickly ran outside to see a large man in an animal control uniform dragging an unconscious Toothless towards a large white van. "Toothless!" Hiccup cried as the man shut the doors and climbed in the driver's side door and drove off without bothering to address the young adults, Hiccup would've tried to run the van down had Astrid not grabbed his arm.
"Hiccup, you'll never catch them like that. Come on we'll take my car and follow them, maybe we can explain that he isn't dangerous."
Hiccup shook his head and hurriedly walked back into the garage, "No we can't Astrid, Toothless is the same black leopard that escaped from the local zoo just over two years ago, he's already considered dangerous and they'll euthanize him as soon as they get there." He picked up his black jacket and a helmet, putting them on before he grabbed his keys. "The only way for me to help Toothless right now is to stop that van and get him out of there." Astrid gave him an incredulous look.
"Hiccup that's illegal, you're talking about breaking the law to what? To protect your pet leopard are you serious?" Astrid tried to reason with him, sure Toothless was not what she had first thought and was even friendly and adorable but he wasn't worth going to jail for was he?
Hiccup turned to face her, the same look of determination that he held on the first day of dragon training returned and he looked her dead in the eyes. "Yes." He turned back around and threw a carp off a sleek black motorcycle with red streaks on the sides, it was custom built and looked rather fast, Astrid however was still recovering from the shock of what he was willing to do for the large cat.
"Ok…" She started, "So what do we do?" She looked around and found another helmet and put it on as she joined Hiccup beside the bike, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she offered a small smile, "I can't let you do something this stupid without some back up can I?"
Hiccup gave her a lopsided grin that seemed like his trademark and swung his left leg over motorcycle and clipped his leg into place before offering her his hand, "Well I was planning to forego stupid and head straight for something crazy, but I'll gladly take the help if you're still offering." Years later Astrid would know why, but in the moment she had no idea what drove her to take his hand and swing her leg over and join him on the motorcycle. "Hang on tight." Hiccup said before slapping the visor on his helmet down and revving the engine to life, speeding out of the shop prompting Astrid to wrap her arms tightly around his midsection.
Despite his lanky build and thing frame, Astrid couldn't help but admire the small barely defined muscle that was present under Hiccup's shirt that she was currently clinging to. She and Ruffnut had discussed whether or not he could drive a vehicle without his left foot, but they hadn't even considered the idea of him riding a motorcycle, so she was understandably surprised when she found herself on the back of one with him and even more surprised that he could drive it so skillfully. They were weaving in and out between cars as they closed the distance the animal control van just as they reached downtown when Hiccup spoke to her again, she had to lean close to hear him through his helmet and over the wind whipping at their faces. "I'm gonna whip around front of him and then you'll need to either melt the engine, or pierce it with that spine shot you were bragging about earlier, ok?" she nodded her understanding as he shifted his left leg and they put on another burst of speed. Astrid was going to have to use a class art, which meant using her hands, so fighting the heat that rose to her face she wrapped her legs around him even tighter than her arms had been and prepared to stop the van without harming the driver.
Just as he said Hiccup sped just past the van and then turned sharply, giving her line of sight to fire. "Tracker class. Deadly Nadder. Magnesium burn!" she called out and her hands fired a bright shower of flame that hit the grill of the van dead center and caused smoke to emanate from beneath the hood. The van slowed and pulled to the side of the road, and Hiccup followed ahead of it, all the while Astrid was thankful the helmets had visors covering their faces so no one could identify them for their criminal acts. Through the smoke they could hear the van's door open and slam shut and coughing coming from the man who had been driving.
"You damn kids and your animal rights movements; this creature is dangerous and needs to be put down!" He yelled waving his hand in front of his face in a poor attempt to clear the air for him to breathe. Hiccup dismounted his bike and walked over towards the back of the van, ignoring the driver entirely until he reached the doors in the back where Toothless was being held. "Hey, you keep the hell away from there!" The man yelled again but this time back it up with a small controlled DSE blast near Hiccup's feet, "If you try that again I won't bother with a warning shot." Hiccup's head turned towards the man whose spirit burned a lime green around him with a hand poised and ready to fire another blast, even through his helmet Astrid could feel the glare coming from the boy.
"That creature in there is my friend and I'm not about to let you kill him just because he scares you. Try and stop me and I'll be forced to incapacitate you." Hiccup threatened in a cool tone that gave no hint that he wouldn't follow through.
"Fine then kid, you brought this on yourself. Stoker class. Hobblegrunt. Mood fire!" The man released a stream of flames so quickly even Hiccup was caught off guard by how quickly he switched from talking to attacking and it cost him. The flames hit him on his upper right side, burning through his black windbreaker and and shirt, sending him hurtling backwards several feet and his helmet left his head. Astrid quickly shot more of her own flames but the man was ready and met her fire with his own causing them to cancel each other out, he was getting ready to fire again when a soft laughing was heard from Hiccup.
He stood slowly, his upper right chest and shoulder exposed from the fire but otherwise unhurt. "You take grouchy old man to a new level, only other guy I know like that used to work for my old man; a guy called Mildew." Hiccup brushed his shoulder and gravel from the street fell back to the ground, people who had been walking the sidewalks were now standing around and watching the scene unfold while others poked their heads out from the various stores and shops. "But that doesn't really matter right now, what does is my best friend is in the back of your van and I'm not letting you go any further with him." As if to agree with the teen a muffled roar came from the back of the van, indicating Toothless was now awake and unhappy with his current predicament, causing the people on the sidewalk to start muttering to each other. Hiccup either didn't notice or didn't care as his eye never left the man standing between him and his pet. "And since you were so quick to use your dragon class art against me and my friend behind you, I guess you just enjoy a good fight. So I'll up the ante too."
Astrid's eyebrows rose at this statement, did Hiccup intent to use his spirit against the man? The answer came in the form of his spirit igniting around him and his feet parting in a firm stance. The older man's was still burning around him, but in comparison to the pressure coming off Hiccup's it seemed like a pointless endeavor. Hiccup eyes briefly flickered to Astrid before returning to the man, "Strike class…" Astrid's breath froze and she was sure she wasn't the only one, the animal control guy stiffened visibly; strike class spirits were so rare and powerful that just saying them the name caused people tense up, and Hiccup was currently trying to bluff about having one. "… Night Fury…" now Astrid knew he was bluffing, nobody had a Night Fury Spirit, hell even when dragons were flesh and blood creatures only one Viking ever had one, but in the countless centuries not a single person had ever had a Night Fury spirit. Hiccup's hands became engulfed in blue flame as he spoke the third part of performing a dragon class art, "… Plasma blast." He stated calmly and thrust his left hand forward and the ball of purple-blue light flew so quickly that no one had time to register it leaving Hiccup's hand until the man blocking his way took a small explosion and thrown into the side of his van leaving a large dent in it.
Everyone who had been within earshot of stood in frozen silence as Hiccup released Toothless from the van receiving a big cat hug and it ran off towards the woods heading to the place he and Hiccup would normally spend time together. Astrid still didn't believe it, not until a solid black Strike class symbol settled where his right arm met his shoulder for all to see. Hiccup seemed unfazed as he lead her back to the motorcycle, eased her on and drove back to the auto shop, she didn't speak a word until she had returned home and was lying on her bed.
"He has a Night Fury spirit…"