The Dragon Boy - Part 11 - Sky Dragons
Frostcup fanfic

Authors note: well here's the next one- last one in the arena I promise hehe hope you enjoy it anyway and please leave a review because they're what makes all the hard work worth it^^ expect the next update tommorow as always. Laters ^^

Jack chuckled at their gaping expressions, but, at the same time, looked nervous, like he didn't want them to think he was some kind of freak. Hiccup was the last to break out of the stupor, the others gathered round Jack
"Wow, that was incredible!"
" I've never seen anything like that before!"
"He was so scared!"
" How did you do it?" The riders all clustered around the newest member, begging to know his secret. All except Snotlout, who was skulking in the corner.

Jack explained.
"Nightmares are big babies when it comes to things bigger and stronger than them. The slightest sign of something becoming more powerful than they are, and they become pussies." Hiccup thought about that. It made sense. When his dad saved him from that Nightmare, the night he shot down Toothless, the moment it had run out of fire it had run off, and when Toothless showed the Nightmare in the arena who was boss, it had quickly scuttled away.

Knowing how he did it put Hiccup's mind a little at ease, but he could forget that moment of sudden panic he'd felt, when Jack had become that temporary predator. He shuddered at the memory.

To settle his thoughts, he went and wrote down the new information in the Book of Dragons.

When he was finished, he looked up at the sun.
"Alright guys, morning session's over. Time for some lunch." The kids enjoyed some steak sandwiches, while their dragons chowed down on fish.

Hiccup read through the Book of Dragons to calm his wild thoughts. The twins soon got bored and started throwing ice for Meatlug to target with her fire. The other dragons soon joining in, along with their riders, until only Hiccup- still absorbed in the book- wasn't joining in. Well, him and one other.

"Hiccup?" Jack said, quietly, as he crouched down beside him. Hiccup noticed he'd left his bread but thought nothing of it- if he was used to living in the wilderness, bread must be foreign to him. Hiccup also noted the look of worry in his eyes.
"You're not scared or anything, are you?" he continued. How had he known that?! Hiccup went through great lengths to hide his fear, so he wouldn't get seen as a sissy. But, looking at Jack, he could see his fear was unfounded. The pale haired boy looked lost, even a little afraid himself. That big, scary act he put on earlier was just for show, that wasn't really him.

Hiccup smiled, reassuringly, at him. Wondering how, what he thought of him, could make Jack so terrified.
"Naa, I'm fine. Just seeing if there's anything else I could add in here." The fear vanished, to be replaced by relief, and, suddenly, Hiccup understood.

He was afraid of being alone.

He wondered what it must be like to be alone, wandering the world, struggling to survive. To have no-one, not even a friend, by your side, to share the joys and sadness of life. It must be horrible, he thought: he'd lived his whole life in a village, surrounded by people- granted not many of them liked him for a long time, but at least they were there. Jack had no one for goodness knows how long.

Moving on from these thoughts, Jack having made it clear earlier he wasn't one to talk about his past, he carried on flicking through the yellowed pages. He looked up and saw Ruffnut pestering Hookfang- no doubt trying to scare him like Jack did. The rider narrowly avoided getting burnt to a crisp. Rolling his eyes, he returned to turning through the book- he was used to the twins antics by now. He carried on flicking through it, until Jack reached out a hand and stopped it at a certain page.

He was staring at the illustration of a large, slender dragon, with wings far larger than the rest of it's body. The writing at the top labelled the page as "Sky Dragons". Jack had a strange look on his face, as looked at the drawing. Hiccup decided to explain.
"That's a picture of a dragon we rescued, a few days back. There was a snowstorm, I dunno if you saw it, but the next day, we found the area covered in blasts of ice and bits of black. We investigated and found that dragon, pinned to the ground with a boulder. We freed it and it flew off. I've not seen it since." The look on Jack's face prompted him to ask.
"Do you know it?" Jack jumped, as though suddenly jarred from his thoughts.
"Huh?- oh, yeah... I guess you could say that." he replied oddly defensively. "Do you think you could tell us anything about it?" Hiccup asked, excited at the prospect of finding out more about the dragon, that had enthralled him so. Jack grinned.
"Sure." Hiccup snatched up the pencil, in eagerness to write.
"First things first, though, you need to fix that picture: the horns are more curved, the spikes on the back are smaller, the snout's not that long and it's wings are bigger." Jack pointed out.

By the time they were finished, Hiccup found the picture looked a lot more like the Sky Dragon, even down to the human-like eyes. Once they were both satisfied with the result, Jack started rattling off random facts about it; how it prefered to fly at heights of about three times the height of Berk's peak; that it can fly backwards and upside down, and go faster than most dragons as it can use the wind to aid it; that as well as breathing ice, it can also cause snowfall, even blizzards- when it's angry or needs to make a quick escape; that it travels around to the cold areas, migrating to where it's winter, as it prefers the icy weather.

Hiccup had no idea how he knew so much, but he didn't complain, he was too busy writing it down to care much.

By the time they were finished, Astrid was shouting over.
"Hiccup, come on! Lunch is over! Are we going, or not?" Thankfully, Astrid was on the ball, and had already prepared all the equipment for the afternoon session. Hiccup blushed at having lost track of time.
"Right." he muttered, "Ok, everyone, out of the arena. We're going to The Woods That Howled, like we agreed."

Jack had gotten up and followed Hiccup towards the entrance, but stopped, suddenly.
"Arena?" he asked, suspiciously. Hiccup realised it was the first time he'd heard the academy called that.
"Yeah... before we made peace with the dragons, we used to... fight, them... here." he explained, uncomfortably. Jack looked, uneasily, at the the stone walls.

I thought I smelled something strange- woah, what?! Hiccup thought, where did that come from? Jack hadn't said anything, neither had the others, so what was that?...and what was with the "smelled"?

Hiccup had no idea what to think, but he couldnt tell the others- they'd just tie him to a mast and ship him off for going mad.

Questions still bouncing around his skull, he left the arena to find Jack and Toothless already waiting for them, Astrid leading the others away, into the distance.
"Come on! They're leaving us behind!" Jack shouted, impatiently, as Toothless roared his agreement.

Hiccup climbed onto the dragon's back. He had no idea what just happened, but, hopefully, if he carried like it had never happened, he'd forget all about it.
"No tricks this time." Hiccup warned.
"No..." Jack agreed, before breaking into a grin. "...just a bit of speed." He amended, as Toothless shot off; following the other riders, to the Woods That Howled.