"Hey, wake up! We gotta long day ahead of us!"
Hiccup sat up groggily and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. Toothless was sleeping on a stone slab in a sort of lean to outside, or he was until Razorre woke him up.
"Don't you remember? We're starting training today! The other teens are getting a bit impatient."
Hiccup snapped to full awareness in an instant. He hoped he hadn't slept in. If past expirience with the other teens said anything, it was that they don't like to be kept waiting. He jumped out of bed, pulled his riding gear on, and hurried out the door.
"Sorry I'm late! I had a rough night."
Hiccup met the rest of the group at the docks. They all looked quite bored. the previous day, Stoick and the other teens requested that they learn to ride dragons too. However, they didn't have any dragons to ride here besides Toothless and Thresher. So, they decided to go back to Berk and use the arena dragons.
"Well, better late than never. Now, lets get out to sea. I'm quite interested in what your going to show us."
Hiccup smiled.
Fishlegs and Razorre were deep in conversation about Thresher.
"How can you ride him if he uses lightning to attack from a distance?"
Razorre took off his gauntlets and showed them to Fishlegs.
"This armor redirects the lightning around my body, and straight to Thresher. My sword also uses a similar mechanic, allowing me to temporarily store lightning in it for an extra edge in combat."
This got Snotlout and Astrid interested. They were both warriors at heart, so the thought of a deadly weapon made even deadlier was something of interest to them. So, Razorre told them about how the unique weapons that he and Hiccup had designed and forged. Hiccup was glad to see his friend connecting with the other teens, but at the same time, he felt left out. Stoick noticed of course.
"I still can't believe that you were there for five years. Did you ever think about coming back?"
Hiccup stared at the ocean.
"Plenty of times. I missed Berk alot. I did intend to come back at some point, hopefully when things had calmed down. Never thought I would end up being asked to train dragons by my former chief."
Stoick could hardly believe it either. But this may be the answer to the dragon raids that constantly plagued Berk. If it meant not having long nights spent sending oversized lizards packing, he was welcome to it.
It took roughly three weeks to return to Berk, and Hiccup was surprised that it appeared to have undergone little or no change in the five years that he was gone. Razorre whistled, and Thresher came plummeting out of the sky, while Razorre jumped overboard. Thresher pulled up and had Razorre aboard for a spin through the sky. Hiccup facepalmed hard. Razorre seemed to have forgotten that they weren't in the Speartooth village.
"Dragon attack! Everyone get to arms!"
Stoick shook his head.
"Hold up everyone! As insane as it sounds, that dragon is not our enemy!"
Everyone stopped dead, weapons held above their heads, jaws in the dirt. Then someone stepped out of the crowd.
"Is that so Stoick? I think we all know that dragons are among the most unholy creatures on earth!"
Stoick groaned. It had to be Mildew. Of course it was Mildew. The crowd began to murmur in agreement.
"Well, I believe that we can prove it."
Razorre nodded in agreement.
"Okay Thresher. Lets touch down in the square."
The two did just that, and everyone turned to see a boy sitting atop the dragon's back. Razorre nimbly hopped to the ground, and placed a hand on Thresher's wing.
"Everyone put your weapons on the ground behind you. He's not going to attack."
They looked apprehensively at Thresher, but did as they were told.
"Anyone got some mutton?"
One viking stepped forward. He threw it from a distance, and Thresher caught it in mid ark. After a moments thought, he swallowed it whole. The crowd was amazed. This normally ferocious beast was accepting meat from them!
"He's not as bad as you would think. just don't make him mad when I'm not around."
Stoick smiled as the vikings took in his words.
"I think that your dragon training will be very helpfull around town."
Hiccup grinned.
"I hope so."
The crowd stopped. They had not seen Hiccup yet, or had any knowledge that he had accompanied the group home. Mildew looked furious.
"You brought this traitor here?! He turned his back on everyone here! I can't believe this!"
Razorre gave Mildew a look that would make a Monstrous Nightmare bury itself in a landslide to escape it.
"Was it him who turned his back on you, or you that turned your back on him? He left to protect his friend, and in the end, he made a good choice. Nothing happens for no reason."
Mildew kept his mouth shut. Saying that the gods had nothing to do with this would only get him thrown head first into the ocean.
"Now that we've cleared that up, I believe that Stoick has an announcement."
Stoick nodded, then addressed the crowd.
"Hiccup is going to teach us how to train dragons ourselves! This may be the end of our dragon problem for good!"
The crowd cheered. Hiccup looked uncomfortable with all this attention.
"I'm going to start with the group that brought me back. We only have so many dragons to work with."
This caught the teens by surprise. They hadn't heard the details of the plans that Hiccup and Razorre had been making for a training program.
"I also intend to start immediately!"
That was the cherry on top. they wouldn't have to wait until the next day to begin! They were ready to roll.
"C'mon then! We gotta roll!" Shouted Snotlout. He began to run up the hill to the arena.
I think that he's a bit too exited about this. Especially since he has no idea of whats ahead.
Razorre rolled his eyes in Hiccup's direction.
"He is in way too much of a rush."
Steering Thresher into the air, He steered him into a dive and flipped Fishlegs into the saddle behind Razorre. He then had Thresher grab Ruffnut and Tuffnut in his talons. Astrid climbed into Toothless' saddle behind Hiccup, and the two swiftly followed. By the time Snotlout had reached the top, Razorre had just finished sharpening his sword.
"Like I said. Your in way too much of a rush. If you were more patient, you would have gotten a free lift as well"
Snotlout was too exhausted to argue. He just got to the wall, and collapsed.
"Well, how shall we get him back on his toes?"
Astrid smiled.
"Give him a scare. something to JOLT him awake."
Razorre took the hint well. He motioned to Thresher for a small spark to his helm. That certainly did the trick.
"Who, what, where ,when, why!?"
Snotlout was on his feet before he realized it. Everyone laughed so hard, they nearly fell over.
"Okay, enough of that. lets get to the first part of dragon training. Getting a dragon!"
Hiccup opened the pen for the Monstous Nightmare first. After he convinced it that there was no threat in the immediate area, he moved on to the Gronkle and repeated the process. Once every dragon was calm, he called for Astrid to step forward and choose a dragon.
"Lets see... I'll go with the Nadder."
Hiccup nodded, then began to walk her through the steps.
"Okay, the first thing you have to do is be calm. If the dragon senses stress or fear, it will get nervous itself. Then you have to reach your hand out, and let the dragon come to you."
Astrid followed his instructions to the letter. The Nadder seemed to be quite fond of Astrid.
"Okay... Fishlegs, you next."
Fishlegs stepped forward. he began to look over the remaining dragons.
"Okay, I'll have the Gronkle!"
Hiccup walked Fishlegs through the process the same way he had shown Astrid. In no time, Fishlegs was befriending the Gronkle. That left the twins, and Snotlout.
"Okay Snotlout, your next."
Snotlout walked forward with confidence.
"You shoulda gone for you the big guns when had the chance suckers! I'm going with the Monstrous Nightmare!"
He walked forward with his hand outstretched.
"This bad boy was made for me!"
At the exact moment, the Nightmare decided to show Snotlout who's boss. It launched a fireball at Snotlout who wasn't even paying attention. It was only Razorre's lightning fast reflexes that prevented Snotlout from being cooked alive. He dove forward and knocked him to the ground milliseconds before the fireball reached the exact spot where Snotlout had been.
"Okay, perhaps I ought to listen to you more."
"Oh you think? Now lets try that again."
This time, Snotlout was able to gain the dragon's trust. Now it was the twins' turn. All that was left was the Zippleback. However, they were able to gain it's trust without help from the others. Hiccup had an idea why. The twins loved to blow stuff up as much as possible, so this dragon was made for them. They quickly began to attempt to have it blow up parts of the arena. They had no luck thankfully.
"Okay! Now we're ready for flying!"
After they managed to ensure that the teens wouldn't fall off their dragons when they performed a complex manuveur, Hiccup and Toothless lead the group into the skies. Razorre and Thresher flew at the back in case of emergencies. Hiccup had the other teens steer their dragons through the sea stacks to improve their trust of each other. It all went well exept for Snotlout and the twins
. The twins couldn't agree on which direction to go in, and Snotlout was just being bossy. Something that the Nightmare did not like one bit. It did the exact opposite of what Snotlout told it to do, and in the end, it kept them both alive. Snotlout didn't take this so well.
"Your supposed to listen to me! How can I ride a dragon that doesn't give a yak pie about what I tell it to do?!"
So the group had to listen to Snotlout ranting on and on about this. They decided to avoid him for the rest of the day, and go flying. Razorre declined saying:
"I have something to do first. I'll catch up with you all later."
Once everyone had left, Razorre decided to go for a little walk in the woods. He was just entering a clearing when he called:
"You do realize that I knew you snuck aboard right? I wonder what your father is doing at this point."
From behind a tree, Rowana emerged from the shadows with a frustrated look.
"When am I going to do something that your not aware of?!"
Razorre shook his head.
"When you start doing the unexpected. Even if your as silent as a shadow ans as still as a rock, I'll be able to anticipate what you are going to do. Spending my entire childhood around you gives me hints so to speak. I see things that other people don't look for. Patterns. you have to pull something off outside your patterns."
Rowana shrugged.
"When are you going to ship me home?"
"Probably when I'm going home. I trust these people and you, but not to the point of stupidity. So get ready to be introduced to the village. You can't stay hidden forever."
"You can say that again."
So, the two began walking back to town. After they got back, Razorre introduced her to everyone else. Snotlout seemed to take interest in her, but as soon as he decided to "turn on the Snotlout charm" she disappeared. It was like that every time. soon, it was established that they were done training, and that mean't that Razorre and Rowana were heading home. Everyone was sad to see them go, but in the end, there was nothing left to take care of.
"Hey, its not like this is goodbye forever. We'll come visit, and you can do the same."
Hiccup decided it was time to tell everyone his big announcement.
"I've decided to go back with Razorre and Rowana."
Everyone was in shock.
"Why? You helped us train dragons! this is your home."
Hiccup shook his head.
"It was my home. To be honest, I've become more of the Hiccup you found in Speartooth. I don't belong here. I belong there."
The other teens regretfully accepted this.
"Besides, like he said, you have your dragons now. you can come and visit any time! just remember what direction to go in."
His friends nodded. Rowana hopped onto the back of Toothless' saddle since she didn't have the protective armor needed to ride Thresher. They said their goodbyes and took off for home. Hiccup smiled despite himself. He was expecting a visitor soon. and only time would tell if his expectations were right.