Author's Note:

Hello everyone and welcome to chapter two. This one deviates more from my original version and I hope you like it. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

I own nothing.

Gronckles and Books

He'd gone up to bed a while after his cousin since he'd been wondering about his sudden change in attitude towards Dragon Training, Hiccup was already asleep when he finally made his way to their shared room so he'd simply turned in as well.

As usual the older cousin awoke first in the morning and was already set for the day when he finally shook Snotlout awake, he greeted him with a smile before speaking, "You're finally awake."

The younger teen gave a sleepy grunt in response and he then heard Hiccup heading down the stairs calling as he went, "See you downstairs."

Snotlout groggily got up and put on his normal clothes yawning as he went, he then made his way downstairs almost walking into Hiccup's bed due to tiredness on his way. When he got there Hiccup was in the kitchen area sorting breakfast and the other teen gestured to an empty bucket, "It's your turn to get the water."

Giving another huge yawn, Snotlout grabbed the bucket and headed for the well.

The day was clear and bright with few people about to interrupt the early morning stillness and Snotlout enjoyed the peaceful amble down to the well. As he approached he suddenly stopped when he saw the people who were already at it, Borik Ingerman and Fishlegs.

Fishlegs was probably the one Snotlout least disliked out of the other teens, unlike the twins he didn't actively look for opportunities to bully him and Hiccup but he was definitely not a friend. He had been until they were eight but then he turned his back on them like the others and if they were going for Snotlout or Hiccup and he was around then he'd often join in even if it was with a sense of reluctance. Apart from that Fishlegs ignored Snotlout the same way most of the village ignored him and Snotlout was more than happy to ignore the older boy in return.

Borik Ingerman was a different story, he was Fishlegs' uncle and for some reason he'd absolutely hated Spitelout and since Snotlout was Spitelout's son Borik hated him just as much. No one seemed to know where this hatred had come from but they all knew it was there because the man had no qualms about vocalising it as long as Stoick wasn't around to hear him. The only person that came to Snotlout's defence when he did was Hiccup but that achieved very little as Borik just ignored him so Snotlout tried to avoid the man as much as possible. Unfortunately that wasn't going to be possible this time so he just gritted his teeth and continued on towards the well even as Borik noticed him coming and sneered at him, "What are you doing here boy?"

Snotlout fought hard to keep his voice polite, "Fetching some water."

"You mean you're actually doing some work for once, I find that hard to believe."

Though remaining completely calm on the outside Snotlout was churning with annoyance inside, this is not what he wanted to deal with first thing in the morning but Borik certainly didn't care about that as he kept speaking, "I don't know what you do with yourself but it's obvious you're as lazy as your father was."

Since he was facing away from the man as he drew water from the well, Snotlout let a dark glower cross his face and began attempting to tune the man out. It wasn't that hard as Borik's words were actually fairly mild compared to what he could and had said before, Fishlegs just stood silently, pointedly not looking at Snotlout nor showing any sort of support at all and Snotlout treated him the same way.

He'd just finished filling up the bucket when Borik finally decided to leave with a loud remark to his nephew, "You did the right thing ditching that boy years ago Fishlegs. He's never going to come to anything good."

"You're right uncle, he's not."

Snotlout rolled his eyes at Fishlegs predictable answer and began trudging back up to the house with the bucket of water.

Breakfast passed largely in silence as Hiccup didn't seem in the mood for talking and Snotlout wasn't that eager for conversation either and it wasn't long before he was heading off to the arena with his new mace. Hiccup had said he 'needed to do something' and had stayed behind while Snotlout went ahead of him.

Astrid was already there when he arrived and was tending to her axe; she gave him a cursory glance when he arrived before returning her attention to her task, apparently saying 'Good morning' to him wasn't worth the time and effort.

Astrid was probably the one he disliked most, she didn't actively bully him like the twins nor did she do so for the sake of the people around her like Fishlegs but she'd been the first one to turn her back on him and Hiccup. She had become absorbed in her training after she lost her uncle to the Flightmare and had made it very clear that she considered the others to be nothing more than a nuisance. They'd once played together a lot and the three of them had really enjoyed their time together but once she started training she'd started calling the games they used to love 'stupid' and 'pointless'. Her abrupt casting them aside had hurt a lot and both he and Hiccup had tried desperately to regain her friendship but she'd remained cold to them both no matter what they did. He knew Hiccup had a thing for her but it seemed unlikely she'd spare his cousin or indeed Snotlout himself anything more than an irritated glance.

He was hoping he and Hiccup could get one up on her in dragon training to prove that they were not as useless as she thought. She was also the one everyone said was going to come out on top this year and get to kill her first dragon in front of the village, she seemed to be the best at everything and Snotlout had to admit he'd get a lot of pleasure out of someone knocking her off her oh so perfect pedestal.

They waited in silence for a short while until Gobber arrived with Fishlegs and the twins following him. With a dramatic flourish the blacksmith threw open the gate into the arena announcing as he did so, "Welcome to Dragon Training."

Gobber led the five teens into the arena who looked around in awe.

"I'm hoping for some serious burns." Tuffnut said.

"I'm looking for some mauling, maybe on the back or my sides." That was Ruffnut.

Astrid then spoke herself, "Yeah, its only fun if you get a scar out of it.

"No kidding right. Pain, love it."

Everyone turned round at the sarcastic voice behind them to see Hiccup holding an axe that Snotlout was slightly surprised he could even lift. Tuffnut snorted, "Great, who let him in?"

He turned away again with a sniggering Fishlegs and Ruffnut as he called out mockingly, "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?"

Snotlout glared after them before giving Hiccup an encouraging smile as he joined the line of teens at the opposite end from his cousin.

Anticipation thrummed through him as Gobber began walking down the row of iron doors holding the dragons at bay speaking as he went.

"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you'll learn to fight." He gestured to the first door, "The Deadly Nadder."

"Speed eight, armour sixteen."

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"Plus eleven stealth, times two."

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Firepower fifteen."

"The Terrible Terror."

"Attack eight, venom twelve."

"CAN YOU STOP THAT!" Gobber finally yelled at Fishlegs who'd been spouting the dragon stats and then continued, "And…the Gronckle."

"Jaw strength eight."

Snotlout could barely hear Fishlegs whispering that but he shot a glare at the large teen anyway. Gobber placed a hand on the lever which controlled the large beam that kept the door sealed, seeing this Snotlout stepped forward feeling pretty certain that there was a stage they had to go through before that, "Wait! Aren't you going to teach us first?"

The man kept his hand on the lever, "I believe in learning on the job."

With that he pulled the lever allowing the Gronckle to explode from its pen causing the teens to scatter.

Snotlout could hear Gobber speaking over the commotion and he tried desperately to listen to what the older Viking was saying, "Quick what's the first thing you need?"

"A doctor!"

Real helpful Hiccup.

"Plus five speed!"

Seriously Fishlegs.

"A shield." Astrid called.

Gobber pointed to a pile of shields on the arena floor, "Shields. Go."

As he joined the scramble for a shield, Snotlout dimly heard Gobber saying how a shield was the most important bit of equipment. He scrambled back with a shield just in time to see the twins sent spinning as the Gronckle blasted the shield they were fighting over.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut you're out!"

The twins looked around dazedly as Gobber continued his 'teaching'.

"Shields are good for another thing. Noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."

Snotlout instantly began hammering his shield with his mace as the others did the same around him and soon the dragon was obviously suffering the affects. Gobber was soon speaking again,

"All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronkle have?"

Snotlout thought he'd heard the answer somewhere before and he yelled it out, "Five!"

Fishlegs instantly waved his arm in the air jumping up and down as he did so, "No, six."

"Correct, six. That's one for each of you."

Fishlegs began calling something else to Gobber but was interrupted by a Gronckle blast taking out his shield.

"Fishlegs, out," Gobber turned and Snotlout noticed him looking at Hiccup who was hiding behind a handy wooden frame as the man called out, "Hiccup, get in there!"

Distracted by his cousin Snotlout suddenly felt Astrid roll into him and he snapped at her, "Hey! Watch where you're…!" He was cut off when Astrid cart wheeled away and the dragon blasted his shield knocking him on his back.

"Snotlout, you're done."

He lay on his back in a daze until a sudden shout from Gobber caught his attention, "HICCUP!"

Snotlout rapidly sat up just in time to see the Gronckle right next to his cousin preparing to blast him. His breath caught in his throat as Gobber hooked the beast's mouth at the last second causing it to blast the wall above instead of Hiccup. Gobber wrestled the creature back into its pen as Snotlout tiredly hauled himself up while visually checking that his cousin was all right. The teens all looked to Gobber as he sealed the Gronckle pen and turned to them.

"Remember…a dragon will always," he looked pointedly at Hiccup, "always go for the kill."

With that the older Viking made his way out of the arena and they guessed that meant that class was finished. Astrid gave him and Hiccup a hard look before leaving as well and Snotlout walked over to his cousin who, ignoring the jeers from the twins as they left, was staring at where the Gronckle had blasted the wall thoughtfully.

"Hiccup?"

The other teen jumped and turned away from the wall.

"You okay?"

His cousin seemed confused at Snotlout's question before he answered, "Yeah, you know I'm fine considering I almost died."

Snotlout was concerned at his almost careless way of talking about his near miss but before he could say anything Hiccup was heading for the arena exit.

"There's something I've got to do so I'll see you at dinner."

Before he could give an answer Hiccup was gone leaving him alone in the arena, "Okay…bye."

It was dinner before he saw Hiccup again and Gobber was in the middle of discussing their performance in the arena. Fortunately the man had just told Snotlout to pay close attention during a fight and that was about it and he'd now moved onto Astrid.

"Alright, where did Astrid go wrong today?"

"I mistimed my summersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble."

Snotlout rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Yeah, we noticed." It seemed Ruffnut didn't really like the other girl's 'perfect' reputation either.

They heard the Great Hall door open and he smiled slightly as he saw Hiccup enter. Gobber breifly glared at the late teen before speaking again, "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

The twins were of course quick to answer blocking him from sitting down as they did so.

"He showed up."

"He didn't get eaten."

He saw Hiccup roll his eyes as he sat down just as Astrid answered.

"He's never where he should be."

"Thank you Astrid."

Snotlout glared at her before getting up and sitting with his cousin, true or not she didn't have to make it sound like such a terrible fault. Gobber continued, "You need to live and breathe this stuff." He dropped a familiar book in the centre of the table, "The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of." There was a crash of thunder outside and Gobber looked up thoughtfully before speaking again, "No attacks tonight. Study up."

With that the man left and it took a few seconds for what he said to click before Tuffnut exclaimed, "Wait you mean read?"

Ruffnut soon added to his dismayed opinion, "While we're still alive?"

"Oh! I've read it like, seven times." Fishlegs cut in excitedly, "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face. And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week…"

Tuffnut interrupted him, "Yeah there was a chance I was going to read that…"

Ruffnut finished for him, "…but now…"

The twins quickly got up and headed for the door with Fishlegs trailing after them babbling away again, "Oh and there's this other one with spines like trees…"

The sounds of the other teens faded away as Snotlout looked at the book and then at Astrid and Hiccup feeling very awkward, "I guess we're sharing then?"

Astrid quickly got up and left, "Read it."

He looked back at Hiccup who just shrugged, Snotlout sighed then pulled the book towards him in an attempt to at least try and learn something from it. It was a fairly futile attempt and he was just about to give up when Hiccup sat next to him.

"You need a hand?"

Snotlout was initially going to refuse his cousin due to pride but then remembered that Hiccup was about the only one apart from his uncle who knew that reading was a seemingly unsolvable problem for him. He'd been taught to like everyone else but he just couldn't get the hang of it and his writing wasn't much better, in fact he was barely literate but they'd both endeavoured to keep that fact from everyone else.

"Yeah."

Hiccup took the book and began reading off the pages moving his finger along the words as he did so for Snotlout's benefit, "Okay, Dragon Classifications. Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class." He turned a few pages, "Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled it produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range." Hiccup pulled a face at the rather graphic picture of a man being killed this way, "Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight."

"Good advice." Snotlout commented.

Hiccup made a humming sound and turned a few more pages, "Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees…extremely dangerous. Kill on sight."

"I think there's a pattern developing here."

Hiccup tilted his head in acknowledgement of Snotlout's words and moved on to another dragon, "Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victims. Extremely dangerous…"

Thunder boomed outside causing both boys to jump, they gave each other slightly embarrassed grins before Hiccup pressed on, "Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight."

"There's definitely a pattern here."

Hiccup began leafing through the pages faster and faster as both boys became absorbed in its words, "Gronckle. Zippleback. The Skrill. Boneknapper. Whispering Death. Burns its victims. Buries its victims, chokes its victims. Turns its victims inside-out. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight…" Hiccup suddenly stopped at a page devoid of any illustrations and read its meagre contents, "Night Fury. Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you."

There was silence until Snotlout finally spoke nervously, "Well that's one dragon I really wouldn't like to meet." He quickly stood, "I'm going to head back to the house and rest up for tomorrow. I'll see you there right?"

Hiccup nodded distractedly still staring at the page, "Yeah, I'll be there soon."

"Okay."

Snotlout walked off and as he left he briefly looked back and saw Hiccup place his sketchbook on top of the Book of Dragons and sit back thoughtfully.

PS-So a far more in-depth explanation of Snotlout's relationships with the others. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.