Kara sat at the dining table with the others, a hand pressed to her stomach in pain. She had no appetite. When she woke up, she had told Hiccup to show up a different time. She couldn't pull off a double transformation today, not after taking a hit a point-blank like that.
A storm was brewing outside. The great doors rattled on their hinges.
"Alright. Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber asked.
"I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble." Astrid said.
"Yeah. We noticed." Ruff remarked sarcastically. Snotlout grabbed Astrid's hand.
"No, no, you were great. That was so 'Astrid'." He said. She took her hand back.
"She's right, you have to be tough on yourselves." All eyes turned to Hiccup, entering the hall, sheepishly. Gobber glared at him. "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"
"He showed up."
"He didn't get eaten." Hiccup tried to sit, but the recruits keep closing the gaps. Rolling his eyes, Hiccup sat at the vacant table next to them.
"He's never where he should be." Kara glared at the group and stood, walking to sit next to Hiccup.
"Thank you, Astrid." Gobber said. He stood. Gobber laid a giant book in the center of the table. "You need to live and breathe this stuff. The dragon manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of. No attacks tonight. Study up."
"You've gotta be kidding." Tuff said, watching Gobber exit into the storm. "Wait, you mean read?"
"While we're still alive?" Ruff added.
"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?"
"Oh! I've read it like, seven times. 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..." The teens stared as Fishlegs went on too long.
"Yeah, that sounds great. There was a chance I was going to read that..." Tuff said.
"...but now..." Ruff continued, standing with her brother. Snotlout got up to go.
"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." Snotlout said. The others followed, with Fishlegs in tow.
"Oh and there's this other one that has these spines that look like trees..." Astrid was the last to go.
"So I guess we'll share-" Hiccup was cut off by Astrid.
"Read it." She pushed it toward him and left.
"All mine then. Wow, so okay. I'll see you-" The door slammed. He sighed. "Tomorrow."
"How come you like her so much?" Kara asked, sitting on the table and picking the book up to look at the cover. "I mean, she's kind of a bacraut."
"No she isn't." Hiccup said. Kara gave him a look.
"Hic, she's constantly insulting you because you make mistakes."
"Everyone does." Hiccup said. Kara snarled and slammed the book down.
"Yeah, everyone." She said. She stormed out, her fury matching the storm overhead. She ran into the woods, her tattoo's beginning to glow. She leapt into the air and roared, shifting in a short but blinding flash of light. She took to the air, easily cutting through the air. She landed on a perch in the middle of the ocean, and she screamed.
Hiccup opened the massive book. Thunder boomed outside. The hall was vacant and dark, but for the few candles he's pulled together. Hiccup poured through page after page of strange and frightening dragons.
"Dragon classifications. Strike class. Fear class. Mystery class." Hiccup turns the page.
"Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." Hiccup's eyes drifted to a lurid illustration of decapitated Vikings. Another page, another dragon.
"Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees...extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." The illustrations seemed to take on a life of their own, shifting and squirming in the candlelight.
"Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victim. Extremely dangerous." The storm outside raged against the shuttered windows. Hiccup was startled, but pressed on.
"Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight." He began flipping through the pages. A blur of dragons... "Gronckle. Zippleback. The Skrill. Bone Knapper. 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 finally landed upon the page he'd been looking for.
"Night Fury." It's blank - no image, save for a few, sparse details. "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."
Hiccup pulled his sketchbook out of his vest and opened it to his drawing of Toothless. He laid it over the book's blank page and considered it.
His head shot up as he heard a pained scream. It was a dragon. He had never heard the sound before, but his eyes welled with tears. The scream was so powerful, so emotional... it was a Banshee, he knew it. Hiccup wiped his eyes and began to flips through the book for the Banshee. He found the page and read aloud.
"Banshees... Speed unknown. Size unknown. Usually black or white. Is generally majestic and beautiful... Moves with grace... Extinct, except for one... Never engage... Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you... Banshee's are even more dangerous than Murderous and Exterminator dragons combined... A Banshee will kill for fun, and can kill with ease... Uses it's piercing screams to paralyze its victims... Can use anything in its surroundings to kill... Banshee's can become human-" Hiccup slammed the book closed and rubbed at his eyes. "And now I'm going to bed."
There was a knock on his door before he could retire. He opened it to see a soaking wet Kara.
"Can I talk to you?" She asked. Hiccup stared at her for a moment. Then he shook his head and gestured for her to enter. She sat by the fire and stared into the blaze. It was something about the way she carried herself that reminded him of the passage he had read. Is generally majestic and beautiful... Moves with grace...
"So, what is it?" Hiccup asked. But then he realized that Kara had fallen asleep. He grabbed a blanket and placed it over her shoulders. "Good night."