5 years later

Jaiden's POV

I woke up to screaming. Not the kind of horrified screaming. It was more of a frantic yelling as people screamed directions at each other.

I got up and dressed quickly. This kind of screaming only meant one thing.

I opened the door and jumped when a pair of yellow eyes stared directly into mine.

Dragon attack!

I slammed the door shut as a wave of fire was blasted at me. I could feel the heat through the door as the wood caught fire. Luckily for me, the dragon didn't burst through so I could quickly escape through the window.

Buildings burning down was quite common with all the dragons around. Building repairs occurred weekly to repair all the fire damage.

Dragon attacks had gotten worse about 5 years ago. Everyone blamed it on our warriors coming close to finding the nest.

I knew it was because they did find the nest, but I didn't tell them that.

Paul and Reggie would need my help if there was an attack going on. I ran towards their workshop, ignoring all the comments I was getting thrown at me.

Paul was only as old as I was, 18, but he was a well respected blacksmith and warrior. He and his brother Reggie lost their parents while Paul was in his younger teens. They quickly learnt how to fend for themselves.

Reggie was missing a leg. There was a wooden stump where it had once been.

Paul has lost an arm. All his replacement limbs screwed into his stump so he could change them as he needed them. A few of them included a clamp, a hook, a huge mallet and an axe. He seemed to get along fine how he was so I don't really know if he missed his proper hand.

I ended up as their apprentice; mostly because I wasn't as strong as some of the other men and women in our village.

I jumped back suddenly to avoid a dragon's breath and bumped into someone.

I turned and looked up to a stocky, well-built man with auburn brown hair and icy blue eyes.

"What are you doing outside?" he snapped instantly.

He grabbed my collar and less-than-gently pushed me towards Paul's workshop.

That was Allen the Great. He was chief of the village. He was known for performing outrageous acts of strength and skill.

Like picking up a table and throwing it at a dragon's head, something he'd only just done.

Next to him, I was a weakling.

Many may wonder why we didn't use what little Pokémon we had to fight the dragons. That was because dragons were killers. They had already killed some and dragged them off. Pokémon couldn't stand up to the ruthless power of the dragons.

"Oh, nice of you to join the party," Reggie said, laughing as I entered the workshop where he was already working on mending a sword, "I thought you'd been carried off."

Reggie seemed to always be cheerful, no matter what and he didn't mind joking with me.

I laughed as I tied a work apron over my body. "Who me? No way, I'm way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all this." I gestured to my weaker body and attempted to flex.

"They need toothpicks don't they?" Paul said flatly.

Paul was the complete opposite to Reggie. He was cold and reserved and didn't really joke.

I opened the window and grabbed a few of the weapons that needed repairing. Another bent sword, an axe and a scythe like weapon that could double as a hammer.

They were heavy, so I heaved them in for repairs chucking them on the hot embers as I struggled to bring the heat up so I could mould them back into shape.

A fire exploded nearby and I leaned out the window to watch as a few young adults like me ran past. They called themselves a 'fire brigade'. They went and helped to put out as much fire as quickly as they could.

Many others, mostly the weaker men and women also helped to do this.

First was Harley. He was rather strange. He dressed as a Pokémon and had rather…feminine habits. Many thought him to go insane after the death of someone important to him, but I didn't think he was insane. He was just trying to cope, like me, with missing someone dear to him.

Ash and May were next. They were mainly known for their denseness and ravenous appetites. They were fraternal twins and it really showed. They were similar, right down to not being able to tell when other people showed romantic interest in them. Both of the warriors that did have feeling for the twins were missing now. Ash felt the loss of a friend harshly and May denied having any sort of regretful feelings towards the boy she called 'rival', but everyone knew she felt it too.

Gary went next, heaving his larger bucket as a few girls sighed amorously at his muscles he was obviously trying to show with his sleeveless shirt. He was known as the local flirt. Not quite a player since he never actually dated them, but he was a charmer and most girls fell for it. Except for the one girl he would like…Which was…

A fist swung and hit him on the head as the person walked past, reprimanding him for flirting while there were fires to put out.

…Leaf.

She threw her bucket and the fire finally sizzled out.

She was a feisty, small tomboy who seemed to take pleasure in making Gary suffer. They had been forced to grow up together and Leaf saw it as her personal duty to keep Gary in line. So unfortunately for him, she was completely immune to his charms.

To be honest, I'd never spoken to them. I had only even needed Mina, who accepted my weaker self. By the time Mina was gone, they'd already formed friendships and so I was left out. They had adopted everyone else's view that I was useless. Sometimes they would poke fun at me, but I only replied sarcastically.

I guessed it didn't matter much though. I still believed Mina would come back one day.

But even so…it would've been nice to have a friend…

I hadn't even realised that I was leaning out the window until I felt Paul's clamp grab my collar to stop me tumbling out and he dragged me back in.

"Let me out," I complained, "I need to kill a dragon, I need to make a mark!"

"Like a dog," Paul sniggered as he let me go.

Reggie sighed. "You've made plenty of marks in the wrong places."

"I just want to kill a dragon," I said.

I'd feel a whole lot better if I could just take revenge for Mina.

"How?" Paul asked, "You can't lift a hammer. You can't throw an axe. You can't even throw one of these."

He lifted a piles of iron balls connected with ropes known as a bola. He paused as someone else took it from his hands and threw it at a dragon.

Ok, maybe he had a point, but I don't know why it was such a big deal not being able to throw a bola. Those iron balls made it very heavy. Even if I could lift it, there was a certain technique to throwing one without tangling it that I couldn't master.

And that was why I'd invented the bola launcher.

I moved back to show Reggie and Paul my invention. "Fine, but this with throw it for me." I pat it and then jumped as it flung up and launched out.

With quick reactions, Paul side stepped and the bola flew out the window and hit someone else in the head.

Paul shook his head at me.

Reggie prodded my chest as he forced me to back up more. "That's what I'm talking about."

"It's just a calibration issue," I muttered.

"Listen, Jaiden, if you ever want to go out there." Reggie swept a hand to the window. "And fight dragons, you need to stop all…this…" He awkwardly gestured to all of me.

I rolled my eyes. "But you just pointed to all of me."

"Then stop being all of you," Paul quipped.

"Oh, I see how it is. You're playing a dangerous game you know, keeping all this raw warrior-ness contained." I jabbed a finger in his direction. "There will be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances," Paul said flatly.

Reggie tossed me the sword he'd just finished straightening. "Sharpen that would you?"

I sighed and dragged it over to sharpen it.

One day, I would get out and kill a dragon. Killing a dragon was everything around here.

A Deadly Nadder would be enough to improve my social status. I wouldn't be the weak boy anymore. I'd be noticed and maybe someone would recognise me.

Gronckles were tough. If I took down one of those, I'd be the tough guy. I'd probably have girls fawning over me there like they do for Gary.

A Zippleback was great. Twice the heads meant it was twice as hard to kill. That meant I'd probably get twice the social standing for it.

Then there were Monstrous Nightmares. Only the best warriors went after those. They had a nasty habit of lighting their exterior on fire. If I got one of those, I'd be seen as a great warrior.

Then there was the dragon that no-one had ever seen. They called it a…

"Night Fury!"

A sharp whistling noise, signature to the Night Fury, pierced through the night air and a few minutes later a catapult was blasted. I watched as everyone jumped off to land.

The Night Fury was a dragon that appeared five years ago. Everyone blames the attacks to the nest. I knew they were right. The dragons seem to have gotten more vicious since then so it seemed to make sense they'd bring out a big shot like the Night Fury to defend themselves.

No-one had ever seen the Night Fury. It was strange. It never stole food, never showed itself and never missed.

I watched as the catapult was blasted again into pieces.

The Night Fury only ever attacked.

No-one had ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I was going to be the first. I was going to kill this monster for Mina.

I walked towards Paul and Reggie, intending to tell them that I was going to go out to kill it, but they were busy. Paul was screwing his axe into place on his arm and Reggie past him one to hold it the other hand. Then Reggie took two more for himself.

They were skilled axe users. They could managed to use two double bladed axes and not hurt themselves or anyone around them.

"Man the fort, Jaiden," Reggie said to me.

"They need us out there," Paul explained.

"Stay," Reggie said as he and his slightly younger brother headed out, "Put. There…You know what I mean."

With those last words, they both charged out into the crisp darkness.

And with that…I saw my chance.

Me: See, I promised you'd get more without having to wait :D

Paul: Hnn, why do I lose an arm?

Me: Well, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to replace Gobber with Paul or Reggie, so I decided to use both!

Harley: I'm in this! I'm so excited!

Me: Well, you're a replacement for Fishlegs, but I thought including Harley would be amusing.

Ash: May! We're twins!

May: We'd make great twins, Ash. As long as you don't eat my food.

Me: Ash and May are obviously Ruffnut and Tuffnut

Leaf: It's me!

Gary: And me.

Me: Yes, Leaf is Astrid. And Gary is Snotlout. In terms of replacement characters. There will be Gary and Leaf stuff.

Leaf: Ew!

Me: Ah, deal with it.