Chapter 5 - Dragon Training
(Third-Person POV)
Hiccup ran from the Terror that was Terrorizing the other vikings. It was biting their ears, scratching their legs, and occasionally jumping on their shoulders, and biting their hair. They were all having problems with it, but it came after Hiccup one time, and when it came to attack him, Hiccup didn't attempt to attack it. In fact, he held his hand out to it. The little dragon was confused with this human's kindness, but he didn't care. The only reason he didn't attack him is because he smelled like a Night Fury. And that scared the Terror, so it avoided him, and chased the other vikings around.
Hiccup stood there, watching the little thing run around in circles, chasing the other vikings, and after a few minutes of this, Hiccup decided to end it. He picked up a shield, and used the sun to make a 'laser' on the ground, which the Terror took a liking to. It chased the light around, trying to catch it, as Hiccup directed it back into it's cage. Once inside, Hiccup held the door shut with his foot, and smiled at everyone else, who was looking at him with complete shock. They were all wondering how HE of all people could of done it, but yet, he did. . .
After Gobber closed the cage tightly, Hiccup walked off, and headed for home. It was already dusk.
(Hiccup's POV)
Once there, I was greeted by my father who asked,
"Hiccup! How was Dragon Training?"
"I won." I replied.
"Great job son! I knew you could do it!" He added.
"Thanks dad. I'm going to go upstairs, it's already 8:00 and I'm whooped from Dragon Training." I replied.
Dad stared into the fire for a second or two, then turned to me and said,
"Well alright. You have training tomorrow again at dawn."
"Yeah dad, I know." I reassured him.
He smiled at me, and focused on the fire that was burning fiercely in front of him.
I walked upstairs, sat at my table, and started to draw. I drew until it was about 11:00-ish. I looked down at my drawing, and it was a drawing of Toothless. And better yet, it was the best that I've ever drawn. I smiled proudly at my drawing, and hid it away in my desk so that my father wouldn't go off on me. Because if he found that drawing, I could be banished, and I don't want that. So, after putting it away, I stretched, and blew my desk candle out. I shuffled over to my bed, and collapsed in it, falling asleep moments later. . .
I woke up the next morning from the sunlight hitting my eyes. I cringed from the sunlight, and allowed my eyes to adjust. I noticed that I still had my regular clothes on, and I was slightly happy about that.
"One less thing to do." I thought.
I stood up, walked downstairs, and ran out the door, rushing to the Training ring. Once there, Gobber smiled at me and said,
"Hiccup me lad! Early as usual! Ya' ready for today?"
I caught my breath and replied,
"Yeah Gobber. Let's go with that. . ."
He laughed, and patted my back.
"Ya' always were the funny one. . ." he said.
I smiled at him, and noticed the other teens walking across the bridge to the ring.
And once they did, we all walked in like yesterday, and stood in the middle of the ring. Fishlegs was mumbling something, but I couldn't make out what it was. The only thing I heard him say was,
"Dragon" and "Winner".
My focus was now on Gobber, who was walking over to the Zippleback's cage lever.
"Today," he started. "you will learn how to put out a Zippleback's fire."
He opened the door, and a big plume of smoke erupted from the cage, along with the dragon. There was low growling, but that was drowned out by Gobber's voice.
"There are two heads. One for gas, and one for fire. Your job is to throw that water on the fire, or spark head, in order to keep the dragon from roasting ya'."
Everyone got the memo, and we were all strafing around the ring, with vigilant eyes. I rolled my eyes when I heard Snotlout say,
"Hey Astrid, you want to come to my place later on tonight, huh?"
And I laughed when I heard a 'Thwack' which meant that Astrid punched Snotlout. She did that occasionally since he was a real pest, but most of the time, she could take his nonsense. I heard a splash moments later, and saw Fishlegs running for his life since he choose the wrong head. I chuckled slightly, but that dissipated as the mist was settling, and everyone - including the dragon - was now in plain sight. I saw Ruffnut and Tuffnut try to put the fire head out, but their coordination was off (as usual) and they splashed the same head, which happened to be the gas head. That apparently ticked it off, since it was blowing gas on the duo. And moments later, they too were running away screaming.
Tuffnut ran straight into Snotlout, splashing his water everywhere, and Ruffnut plowed into Astrid, spilling her water. Now I was the only one who had water. Astrid obviously noticed this, because she ran over to me, and snatched the water out of my hand while huffing. She ran back to the dragon and splashed the correct head. But now, the dragon was agitated, and it attacked her, sending her into the wall. The dragon was approaching her as I ran over to stop it. I scratched it under the chin like I did Toothless, and the gas head collapsed. The left head looked over to see what happened to the right head, and I immediately scratched underneath it's chin, making that head follow suit with the right one. The whole dragon was sleeping, and the other vikings looked at me again, baffled.
I smiled at them, and walked out of the ring, knowing that their eyes were following me. And I smiled faintly as I heard,
"How did he do that?"
"Did you guys just see what I just saw?"
"Wow."
Once away from the ring, I talked to myself as I usually do when I'm alone.
"Alright lets see. . .Things to do today. . .1, finish dragon training - complete. 2, go visit Toothless. 3, do whatever until nightfall."
And with my brain organized, I headed for home before going to Toothless' cove.
Once at my house, I opened the door, and walked in, shutting it once I was inside. My dad was sitting at the fire pit, and he noticed me come in.
"So son. How was Training today?" He asked.
"I won again." I replied.
My dad had a face of disbelief, but also pride.
"Good job son! If you win tomorrow, then you'll win the Training! And you'll be able to kill your first dragon!" He said.
I smiled at him to make him think that I was excited or happy, but on the inside it killed me to make that smile.
"I'm going out dad." I said plainly.
"Alright. Be back at dusk." He replied.
"Yeah, I will." I reassured him.
I walked out the back door, and once I shut it, I made my way to Toothless's cove. And once I got there, I was surprised to see that Toothless was not there. . .again. But I shrugged it off yet again, since I thought that he went of on some hunting trip or something. . . But, that really screwed up my day, and as I walked back to my house, I could already feel boredom setting in.
I arrived at my house half an hour later, and walked in the back door, surprised to not see my dad sitting at the fire pit. He usually doesn't move until he goes to bed, or there's something urgent. I was curious, so I walked to my front door, and peeked my head out of it. And to my surprise, there was absolutely no one in the village. I mean, NO ONE. I was really confused, but that confusion was lifted when I heard yelling and chanting and such in the distance. And from the sound of it, it was coming from the Training ring.
My natural curiosity got the best of me, and I walked over to the ring to see what all the shout was about. . .
But, as I was on my way there, I was stopped by Astrid and the others. Then Astrid spoke,
"You can't go over there Hiccup. They have guards guarding the entrance. They say that they want to make this 'prize' dragon a surprise to the winner. And they also say that it will be EXTREMELY hard, and the winner may die, but, it will be an honorable sacrifice. Anyway, they're probably ruffing that dragon up. . ."
I smiled at her, but then she grabbed my by the collar and said sternly,
"Don't get in my way! I am going to fight that new dragon! It's not the Nightmare we were told about, so none of us know, and I want to have the honor of killing it!"
She set me down, and walked over to a rock, where she used a much smaller rock to begin sharpening her axe with slight agitation.
I stopped focusing on her, and sat on a rock that was nearby. And I rolled my eyes when Snotlout called me names. But, then he talked about something that caught my attention, and I did not want to hear it. .
"You guys know that I saved Hiccup from a Night Fury."
"Yes Snotlout. We all know, now can you please shut up? I'm trying to sharpen my axe." Astrid replied before anyone else could.
"Well, sorry Mrs. Axe Sharpener." Snotlout snapped back.
Astrid growled, laid her axe down on the ground, walked over to Snotlout, and did the equivalent of John Cena's 'Attitude Adjustment' on him. With Snotlout on the ground in pain, she said angrily,
"Say something again! I dare you!"
Snotlout didn't say another word, and everyone was either smirking or chuckling at Snotlout. With that, Astrid triumphantly walked back to her rock, and began sharpening her axe again. Everyone was silent until the rest of the vikings came back. And some of the passing vikings said things like,
"He's a fiesty one!". . .Or,
"You're gonna have a lot of fun with this one!" Or,
"Good luck. . .You'll need it."
And once all the vikings were back in Berk, life continued on normally, and in my peripheral vision, I saw my dad walking up towards us. We all turned our attention towards him, and curiously looked at the scorch marks on his leg and upper right arm.
"That new dragon is riled up now. . .I think that it's so riled up, it would tear someone's head off. . . Whoever the winner is, alls I have to say is this: DON'T underestimate your opponent."
And with that short speech, my dad walked back home, with me following him. He turned to notice me following him, and smiled.
"What is it Hiccup?" he asked.
"Well, dad. . .I'm just curious about those scorch marks on your leg and arm, where'd you get them?" I answered.
My dad combed his beard, like he always did when he was deep in thought, and then he answered.
"Well, it was from that feisty new dragon. Hiccup my boy, if you win the Dragon Training, then Odin be with you, because you're going to have your hands FULL."
"Umm, okay? I'm going to bed dad, it's getting late." - I decided to end the conversation because I didn't like this topic.
"Well, alright. Good night me boy. Make me proud tomorrow." he concluded.
"Yeah, I will dad." I said with slight nervousness in my voice.
And with that, I ran ahead of him, and shot into my house. I shut the door, and ran upstairs into my room. I sat down at my desk, and had the urge to draw Toothless again. So, I began to draw and draw and draw. . .
3 hours had past, and my drawing was finished. It was nice, but the one I drew yesterday was better. I smiled proudly at my drawing, hid it in my desk, and blew out my desk candle. I jumped on my bed, not even bothering to change into my sleeping clothes, and fell asleep immediately.
I woke up the next day, and stretched, allowing a yawn to escape my mouth. I pushed myself off my bed, and walked over to the window. It was a new day. . .some villagers were getting up right about now, the teen vikings would get up shortly after this, and I would be leaving for Training right now. I sighed, breathed in a fresh breath of air from the morning breeze, and walked downstairs. I opened my front door, and heard my dad say from the kitchen,
"Good luck today son!"
I smiled slightly, because he actually cared, and I replied,
"Thanks dad!"
I walked out of the house, and I actually enjoyed the past. Now I could make everything so much different in the future. . . I mean, Toothless never lost his tail-fin, I know the truth about dragons, but yet, I still have the major problem of killing the Red Death, and getting Berk to like dragons. . .Two very difficult challenges I had ahead of me.
I snapped from my thoughts when I reached the ring, with Gobber standing there as usual. He greeted me, and we waited for the other vikings to arrive. I looked at Gobber for a second, and he actually looked a bit nervous. What was he nervous about? I mean, we're the ones fighting the dragons, and he's nervous? That didn't make any sense to me, but I ignored it, and continued to wait for the other vikings.
Moments later, I heard the other vikings approaching, mostly because Snotlout always had a large mouth, so you would KNOW we he was coming. . . And once they arrived, Gobber explained something to us.
"This fight is for Astrid and Hiccup only. This is the fight that will determine who wins Dragon Training."
And with that, he directed me and Astrid inside of the ring, but this time, there was a large maze set up in the ring. I looked around and knew that we would be fighting the Nadder today. And just as my hunches were correct, Gobber closed the gate behind us, locking us in, and he walked up and around the outside of the ring until he stood above the Nadder's cage.
"Today," He started. "you will battle to see who is the winner of Dragon Training. You will be fighting a Deadly Nadder today, so keep on your toes. But be warned, the Nadder is extremely fast, so don't underestimate it."
We heard him open the gate, and heard the Nadder make it's squawk, and jump on top of the wooden maze walls as the crowd of vikings watched on from around the ring. I ran left, while Astrid ran right, and I'm glad I ran left, because moments later I heard a shout, and heard the Nadder breathe it's fire.
I continued to run through the maze, and luckily I didn't run into Astrid or the Nadder. And while we were running, Gobber said something to us.
"You know, Stoick was wondering if we would use the 'prize' dragon on this maze, since it is a pretty fast dragon, but I declined him. I told him that one more day wouldn't hurt ya'll."
I couldn't figure out what Gobber was talking about, so I thought it was nothing, and shrugged it off. While I was running, I heard a creak, and saw one of the wooden walls come down and almost hit me. I luckily managed to not get crushed by it by jumping and doing a summer-sault once I hit the ground. I got up, looked behind me, and almost fainted from knowing that I could've just been crushed underneath that wall. . .
But my focus was broken when I looked around and saw that all the walls had collapsed, and Astrid was battling the Nadder. They were in heating combat, fire, axes, fists, shouts, you name it, this fight had it. . . But the Nadder won, and it threw Astrid away from it, along with her axe. It ran towards her, and attempted to bite her, but Astrid used her axe as a stick to jam the Nadder's jaws. And with that, I ran over to the Nadder, and scratched underneath it's chin, making it collapse. Astrid took her axe from the Nadder's mouth, and looked at me with a face that was amazed, yet infuriated.
I would of walked out of the ring like I did yesterday, but since the whole village was there to see who would win, I had to stay there. Gobber walked over to me and Astrid, and stood behind us, as if he was a judge. He lifted Astrid's arms up, and there was some cheering, but the elder shook her head 'no'. Then he pointed at me, and there was so much cheering, that I couldn't make out my dad's cheering voice, and with that, the elder shook her head 'yes'.
Everyone cheered even louder, and Fishegs ran over, picking me up, and placing me on his shoulder as everyone cheered me. Everyone was chanting my name, and my dad gave me a proud look, along with a swing of his arm entitling 'good job'. I smiled at everyone to make them think that I was happy when I really wasn't. This 'ceremony' went on for another 10 minutes or so, until Fishlegs put me down, and we all went home, since it was getting late.
Once home, and on my bed, I couldn't sleep. I had so many thoughts running through my head about tomorrow.
"What's the 'prize' dragon going to look like?"
"Will it KILL me?"
"Will I HAVE to KILL it?"
"What will I do?"
"How will I make this work out?"
But my train of thoughts was broken when me dad peeked his head in my room and said,
"Good luck tomorrow son, I hope you get revenge on that dragon."
He smiled, and left my room, leaving me to wonder why he kept on saying 'get revenge'. It just didn't make any sense to me. . . But luckily for me, I had enough concentration to push all these thoughts aside, and get a peaceful nights sleep. . .
"Alright! End of Chapter 5! Chapter 6 is coming right up!" :D
Please R&R! :D