The Dragon Boy - Part 10 - Zipplebacks and Nightmares
Frostcup fanfic

Authors note: hey guys! New chapter ^^ hope you enjoy it (you know I never really noticed until someone pointed it out to me but Jack really shows off quite a lot in this- and it's not over by a long shot) anyways please leave a review cos I love hearing what people think^^ next chapter tommorow as always:-D enjoy!

Hiccup went through his mental contents of the book of dragons. The next dragon, that was present in the arena, was the Zippleback.
"How about we do the Zippleback, next?" he suggested, "Know anything about them?" he challenged Jack. A broad elfish grin lit up his face.
"Oh Zipplebacks are awesome! They make the best pranks." he smirked, "Hey, do you have a fish on you?" Hiccup raised a curious eyebrow, but fished a cod out his pocket and threw it to Jack. A mischievous glint appeared in his eye as he caught it, and turned to the two-headed dragon.

"Hey!" he called, catching it's dual attention. "Here!" he shouted, and threw it directly between the two waiting heads. They both snapped at it, and grabbed a hold, at either end. Their eyes narrowed at each other. Barf pulled, to try and steal the fish from Belch, who likewise pulled, to take it off Barf. It fed the same dragon, so there was no point to their fight. Jack watched the tug of war, he created. Chuckling, as the fish was tugged, this way and that. The pointlessness and stupidity of it was pretty funny, Hiccup had to admit. But, there was a slight problem.
"Err..." Hiccup said, "What does this prove, exactly?"
"Nothing." Jack answered. "It's just fun to watch." Hiccup rolled his eyes.
"Do you think you could show us anything useful?" he asked. Jack tapped his chin, thoughtfully.
"Hmmm... Oh yeah! This one's the best!" he remembered.
"Yeah, but is it useful?" Hiccup muttered, under his breath.

Jack walked up to Barf and Belch, who had torn the fish in two and eaten their respective halves.
"So..." he called out to the dragon, "Which of you is taller?" The dragon looked baffled at the unusual question. "Only, they say, the bigger dragons are the better looking ones, so I was wondering, which of you was taller." Jack continued. The two heads glared at each other, before they craned their necks upwards. Each head straining to be taller than their opponent. Hiccup couldn't help but giggle at the ridiculous sight, as the massive dragon tottered about on it's hind legs.

"But they're the same height." Hiccup thought out loud, as Jack sat back down with an air of "my work here is done" about him. Hiccup opened his mouth, to repeat the earlier question.
"Competitive to the point of stupidity. Especially with each other." Jack answered, before the question had even been voiced. A wry smile spread across Hiccup's face, as he wrote down the new knowledge in the book, glancing up at Barf and Belch. It looked like they were attempting an odd form of waltz, as they circled the arena, fighting for height.

"So that leaves the Nightmare." he said, looking at Jack. He read out the passage, already written, about the Monstrous Nightmare. Jack shook his head slowly, like: "I don't know. What am I going to do with you guys?".
"Yeah, yeah. Heavily armed, ferocious, can set themselves on fire, blah blah blah, but they're just big wimps." he stated. Snotlout, who had come over to see what cool secrets would be discovered about his dragon, looked a little angry.
"A wi- you did not just call my dragon a wimp!" he growled, angrily.
"I did and I can prove it." Jack said, cooly, "How much meat says I can scare him?" Snotlout laughed.
"Yeah, right. If you scared Hookfang, I'd give you all the meat in my house." Snotlout said, confident he wouldn't lose.
"Alright, it's a deal." Jack accepted, standing up. He paced to the side of the arena opposite to Hookfang.
"Hey, everyone!" Snotlout shouted, smirking pre-victoriously. "This skinny, little wimp thinks he's gonna scare, my Monstrous Nightmare." he clearly wanted an audience for the humiliation. All eyes turned to Jack, who, unfazed, turned to face the Nightmare.

Hiccup had to admit, it was quite ridiculous. How could Jack; trussed up in so many bandages he almost looked to be made of them; and wearing Hiccup's stupidly-too-small clothes; scare a dragon at least twice his size, not to mention armed to the teeth. But, as Hiccup watched, a change came over him.

He held himself differently: back straight, shoulders back and head held high. He stalked forwards, striding with strength and purpose- even the way he swung his arms, seemed controlled, deliberate. His movements bespoke power and strength-the movements of a predator, and his target: Hookfang.

The dragon seemed to think little of the boy approaching him, at first, but soon found himself glancing, more and more frequently at him. Jack had his head held in such a way, that, although he had to look up to meet the dragon's gaze, he seemed look down on it. His eyes held a hidden fury, but he kept his face a mask of darkness. An auror of power seemed to shine about him, and the self belief and confidence he projected was so strong, Hiccup found himself believing that this boy- this stalking predator- could take down the dragon, without a struggle.

Jack slowed, as he reached the Nightmare. By now, Hookfang was watching him, fearfully. Leaning away from him, only to find himself backed up against a wall. Jack slowly raised his arms, his whole body slowly tensing, fingers curved, ever so slightly, in a way which resembled claws. He finally came to a halt, broadening his stance and settling into a slight crouch. The look in his eyes became hardened, formidable. Hiccup suddenly became fearful, they didn't know this boy, who knew what he was capable of? In that moment, Jack seemed to pose a, very real, danger to the dragon in front of him.

He paused in his crouch, every muscle tense. A hunter, ready to spring. Hookfang was trying, and failing, to break his gaze with the boy. Poised between fight and flight, and Hiccup could tell which one he was heading towards. Everyone held their breath.

Without warning, Jack lunged. In the second before he did- there was something else there. Something definitely not human. A flash in his eyes. Gone so soon it left Hiccup doubting whether he saw it... but he didn't like it. It was something abnormal that didn't belong in a regular person's eyes. Whatever it was, he wasn't the only one who was left terrified by it.

Hookfang, crying out in fear, raced towards the other side of the arena- as far from Jack as possible. Scared? Definitely. Jack's features relaxed, the signature smirk back on his face, as though nothing had ever happened. In a single second, he was just a regular, ordinary kid again.

"Well. Jack noted, casually. "I think I'd consider that Nightmare, pretty scared, myself."