Disclaimer: I own nothing!

A/N: Thank you guys for reading this and thanks for all of the support you've been giving me. I do have plans to rewrite Riders and then Defenders of Berk. Riders of Berk is currently in the works, I will also be rewriting Snoggletog and will probably just throw that in with my Riders of Berk Series unless you'd want a separate story entirely, let me know in the comments. I also don't know who I'm truly going to pair other than the two obvious, I'm up for suggestions but I can't promise anything because when I'm writing I tend to do what I want in that moment. Thanks again! Hope you enjoy!

Hiccup got about four hours of sleep at her desk before she woke up due to another violent nightmare. They had only seemed like they were getting worse as time went on and she didn't know why. Since she was up and knew that today they had a later training session today she went to the market and bought a barrel of fish. She then carried that sack with her into the woods and dropped it in front of Toothless. He was immediately intrigued but then he soon hissed and backed up. Hiccup was a bit confused but pulled out the eel and when that seemed to be the thing that caused him to hiss she immediately tossed it aside.

Toothless then went back into the sack of fish and wolfed all of them down quickly. While he was eating Hiccup went behind him to check out his tail, which looked better. She reapplied the salve and put new bandages over the wound. She then pulled out her tape measure and measured his remaining tailfin and how she was going to make it work fluently. She then started to make her way back towards the front and measured a way to make a rig of sorts.

As soon as she was done measuring Toothless was done and looked at his rebandaged tail and nuzzled her once again before he separated from her just as quickly. She bid him goodbye again before she picked up the eel and made her way back to her hut. When she got there Gobber was waiting and immediately asked her where she was and she told him the market and showed him the eel. He was suspicious but didn't say anything. She put the eel away before she followed after Gobber and the two made it to the arena.

When Gobber and Hiccup made it to the arena the other teens were already there. The first thing Gobber told them to do was to abandon their shields and weapons as they were doing something a bit differently. When being questioned he said nothing in response and instead handed each of the teens a bucket of water and for them to pair up.

The pairs were, Astrid and Ruffnut, Snotlout and Tuffnut, Delilah and Asmund, Anders and Gunhild, Frode and Fighlegs, Tove and Turid, Haldor and Gunnar, Dogsbreath and Wartihog, Clueless and Speedifist. As the teens reluctantly paired up they were sent into the arena and the door was shut the second the last recruit was inside.

"Today is about teamwork. Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which." As Gobber is speaking the dragon is released and the arena is immediately drenched in a smog.

"Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, by crushing its victims--"

"As interesting as the dragon facts are, can you please not?" Frode asks the equally nervous Fishlegs.

All of the teens look a bit antsy just waiting for the dragon to come out of the smoke. This, of course, causes Snotlout and Tuffnut to think that their fellow recruits are a dragon as they see the horns from their helmets and mistake it as a dragon.

"If that dragon shows either of his faces, I'm gonna-- there!" Snotlout states pointing at what he assumes is a dragon. Those figures just happen to be Astrid and Ruffnut who don't take very well to being splashed. While Snotlout's bucket hit the girls, Tuffnut happens to hit Gunhild and Anders with his bucket.

"It's us you idiots!" Ruffnut yells at the two boys.

"Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon."

"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque figure--" Snotlout tries to fix but Astrid punches him in his face. "Ow!" At the same time, Ruffnut throws her bucket at Tuffnut.

"How do you figure that we look like dragons of all things?!" Gunhild demands.

"Uh, the horns," Tuffnut tells them still on the ground. However seconds later the dragon drags Tuffnut back into the fog shocking all of the teens in the semi-clear area. The three still with full buckets get their buckets ready but their legs are swept out from underneath them causing them to lose their buckets. Tuffnut then comes out of the fog screaming. "OH, I'M HURT! I AM VERY MUCH HURT!"

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single-digits now," Fishlegs comments.

That was when one of the heads comes out of the fog a bit curious by the humans. It's inching closer to Fishlegs but it makes eye contact with Hiccup for a split second and looks at her in a bigger curiosity than the other teens. Its staring contest with Hiccup is ruined by Frode and Fishlegs tossing their buckets at the head causing it to become angry and spew gas at the two of them. The two run away and happen to knock into Dogsbreath, Clueless, Speedifist, and Wartihog.

The dragon then lets both heads sink out of the fog and it looks at the remaining teens. The remaining teens toss up their buckets but either it just falls short or they hit the wrong head. That was when Gobber pulled open the door to the arena and stepped in at the aggressive dragon. Gobber easily herded it back into its pen and shut the doors.

"Today wasn't horrible but we do need to work on your teamwork skills as we'll have to work together against common enemies on the real battlefield. Albeit a battlefield is a lot different as well because a battlefield isn't a competition such as this. Tonight we'll meet in the Great Hall and in tomorrow's session you'll be facing three Gronkles so rest up plenty tonight."

...

They all meet up in the Great Hall like usual and Hiccup dismisses herself with Gobber instead of either hearing the teens argue or rant. She goes into the forge and starts to work on Toothless' tail. He wouldn't be able to try it on as he was still healing but maybe in a week, he'd be healthy enough to test it out.

She works the entire night on the tail and knew that it was ready to go. She may have to make a few minor adjustments but it looked perfect to her. She took it home and hid it in her small closet. She also changed into a fresh set of clothes before she went back to the forge where Gobber was already making his way towards the chief's hut.

"You're up early today? Did you get any sleep? I heard you pounding away last night."

"I'll be fine Gobber, no sleep isn't going to kill me."

"You need to be getting more sleep lass, what will your father say when he returns? What will the other tribes think when they see that you're practically falling asleep during your daily tasks or at your wedding?"

"First of all that's not going to be a problem because I've gone off of less sleep before and I've never fallen asleep while attending to my daily tasks!"

"You could though and I won't have you burning down the forge because you're too tired to function."

"You'd send me home if you thought I was dozing off on the job."

"Aye, I would but only because your father would kill me and I don't want to have to rebuild the forge. Still, having issues sleeping? Nightmares or something else?"

"Nightmares like usual."

"About what?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"Oh, right, I forgot, you only tell lover boy about your nightmares."

"That's not true, he doesn't know what type of nightmares I have!"

"Oh right, because he knows how to read you."

The rest of the trek is silent and when they get to the arena the teens are taught that their shield could be their greatest weapon and are sent in only with their shields. Training goes by fairly quick and Anders and Asmund are the only two to not get blasted.

...

Its been a week and a half since dragon training started and Hiccup had discovered a lot about Toothless. She had practically spent every day with him as Gobber was focused on the teens and improving their skills.

Hiccup had also been taking great care of Toothless' tail and during that week it was healthy enough that she could take the bandages off. She still applied to salve to it but today was especially exciting because she could finally try out Toothless' tailfin to see whether or not it would work or not.

When Hiccup first showed him the tailfin he sniffed at it a bit curious but she eventually pulled it away and told him it was a tailfin and she was going to put it on him. However, as soon as it was strapped onto him he wanted to take off with it on, with her still straddling his tail. Despite it being an impromptu flight it meant that the tailfin had worked and she could start to build a rig for it.

...

Time seemed to fly by in Hiccup's opinion. The teens were slowly but surely improving. There had been a few different raids in the time period and thus they had caught ten more dragons. As they caught more dragons it meant that more dragons were out in the arena and they were pushing the teens harder than before.

Hiccup had also finished a rig and saddle in the two weeks that flee by. She was also getting better at flying with Toothless. Their first few rides didn't go so hot and that was when they were tethered to the tree trunk. This last time however Hiccup felt that she was ready and thus her and Toothless went out into the open air. It had started out fine to start but they did crash into a few sea stacks which Toothless was not happy about.

However shortly after weaving through sea stacks Hiccup lost her sheet, it was a stressful moment as when she was reaching for her cheat sheet she also became disconnected from Toothless and they both plummeted toward the sea. Toothless had walked her a few times but eventually, they had evened out enough that Hiccup could jump back in his back and connect again. The two still continued to plummet but at a slower pace and they were able to avoid crashing into the sea at the last minute. It was a short lived victory because as soon as they got up in the air they were flying at a blurred pace with how fast they were going. Hiccup started to use her cheat sheet once more but couldn't keep up do she took one last look at her sheet before she discarded it.

The two weaved in between the sea stacks perfectly and when they had accomplished their little feat they both celebrated. Hiccup pumped her fists in the air and Toothless fired off plasma blasts. It also caused the two to fly right into them. Toothless may be fireproof but she was not. Her clothes were a bit charred and so was her hair but it was worth it.

The two settled down on the opposite side of the island of the cove and had a nice lunch together. They had caught the fish, or better, Toothless had caught the fish and gave her a few, while he took the rest. These one's luckily weren't half regurgitated. She started to make a small fire but Toothless became impatient and so he just fired a small blast for her and she thanked him before she laid against his side. She started to cool her fish while Toothless slowly slurped his.

Toothless then regurgitated half of a fish for Hiccup but she declined. As the two were relaxing and enjoying each other's company four Terrible Terrors had approached the two. One of them took the fish head Toothless regugitated while another was bold enough to try and steal a whole fish from Toothless. Toothless growled at all of the Terrors once they landed but he was especially angry with the one who tried to steal his fish. He played a bit of tug-of-war with that one before he won and let out a warning to the Terror. The Terror didn't take his threat seriously and tried to act bigger than what he was and got ready to firs a blast. As he did that Toothless fired a small little shot right into the other dragon's mouth causing him to be a bit woozy.

Hiccup then makes the observation, "Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?". The dragon then slowly makes it's way to Hiccup. As he approaches Hiccup tossed him her fish and he gulps it down immediately. His movements are slow almost wondering if he could trust this human but eventually he curls up right beside her and she pets him. "Everything we know about you guys is wrong."

...

While Hiccup was off with Toothless her father and a singular boat had arrived back on Berk. Gobber had gone to greet Stoick and the ships as soon as the ship was spotted. Albeit, it was after dragon training that he waited for the ships to dock but he waited nonetheless. Hiccup probably would've been there had she known but as she wasn't paying attention and no one had told her she was off with Toothless.

When Stoick finally got off the boat, Gobber took the sack he had slung under his arm and placed it under his own. "I trust that you found the best at least?"

"Not even close."

"Ah, excellent."

"I hope you had a little more success than me."

"The teens are doing much better than their first session if that's what you mean. I almost gave up hope on any of them being competent warriors."

Stoick looks a bit shocked, "Even the Hoffersons?"

"All of the top teens are in a constant argument almost all of the time. Mostly because they argue over who the better warrior is. It'd be a bit different if they were using those arguments to improve themselves but instead it's mostly just a battle over who is cockier."

"I'm sure they'll all wisen up once eliminations begin to start."

"I doubt that, if anything it'll only make the competitiveness worse."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"How's Hiccup doing?"

"She's doing great, she's a great assistant with releasing the dragons and she follows orders."

"That doesn't really sound like Hiccup. Where's she at right now?"

"I think Gothi sent her out to collect herbs. She's been healing the teens when they get injured in the ring as well. they aren't really appreciative and think her incompetent but I think her healing them is faster than Gothi's has ever been but you know the old bat isn't as gentle as she once used to be so you may very well come out with a concussion if you don't understand her."

"Very well. I'll talk to Hiccup when she gets back into the village. If you see her, send her home." With that the two of them separate.

...

It isn't until later in the evening that anyone sees Hiccup. Gobber had found her in her back room of the forge but considering she didn't look the happiest he thought it was best to leave her alone. He did tell Stoick and that was where he found his daughter a few hours later.

Hiccup had her head on her desk and had she not been rolling her charcoal stick up and down the desk he would've thought she was asleep. She jumped right up once she heard footsteps approach her and immediately looked at the door to see her father. She was nervous, especially because she had drawings of Toothless along with the dragons in the arena so she ended up trying to hide the drawings from his sight.

"Dad! You're back! Uh, Gobber's not here so..."

"I know. I came to see you."

"You did?"

"Yes, Gobber tells me that with Gothi's training you've turned out to be a great healer."

"I'm really not that great. I've just been dealing with scrapes and burns, nothing serious or anything."

"Hiccup, you don't need to be so modest. If I had known that you'd be a decent blacksmith and a good healer I never would've agreed to have you married off."

"Well, it's a little late for that, don't you think? Besides, I'm getting married in about a month, the other tribes will be here within the week."

"I know that and we can't exactly change anything unless we start a war and for that I apologize that we're basically selling you once you come of age."

Hiccup is a bit awkward with how this conversation is going so she lets out a big mock yawn. "Everlasting peace with the Berserkers isn't a bad deal though once an heir is born. You know though, I'm really tired. I just have to finish picking up here and I think I'll head home and rest."

"Yes, yes, good idea. I'll see you at home."

"See you at home."

...

With the rest of the village returned home, everyone came to watch dragon training the next day. It was announced the night before in front of the teens that the elimination round would start the next day as well. Everyone was excited but also nervous for the elimination part as the last one out would get the honor of Killing the Monstrous Nightmare. The nervousness came more from the fact that the first person eliminated from dragon training normally got stuck with one of the grossest or weakest jobs on both islands. It mostly depended on the score that they ended with and how long they lasted against the dragon.

When the teens entered the arena, everyone in the village was chanting along with any Berserkers that were around. Every single Viking was excited for the children coming of age. They were also excited for the elimination rounds as it would show the top warriors for the tribe or in this case tribes.

Stoick eyed each and every single one of the teens, almost like he was looking through each and every single one of them and trying to determine their worth to and for the tribe. Hiccup was standing next to her father and Gothi as Gothi would be telling Stoick who would be eliminated and he would announce it to the tribes. Hiccup was by her father's side to show support and to translate Gothi's words as well. The reason it was hard to understand Gothi is because she spoke, technically wrote, in older Norse than what they currently speak or when she couldn't get her point across that way she drew pictures.

Today the teens were given a challenge as they faced five Gronkles. The amount of chances they were given was based on how long their shields lasted. If their shield wasn't obliterated they were still counted as in. Another factor to determine if they were still in as well was their drive to be a warrior but they also couldn't just rush the dragon and be blasted as that would show them being reckless and not good warriors on the battlefield.

The Berkian twins were once again proving that they weren't taking dragon training seriously as they were fighting one another more than one of the many dragons. Asmund and Astrid were proving to be worthy warriors as they took on a purple Gronkle. The two of them were working as a uniform team and had even managed to pin the dragon that they were fighting. Snotlout was flirting with Delilah more than paying attention to the dragons and was disappointing his father as a result. Anders and Gunhild were semi-working together and semi-trying to take on the dragon themselves. Gunhild got hit as soon as the two had pinned the dragon down.

Both sets of Berserker twins were going after a blueish-colored Gronkle and were struggling but had so far managed to avoid any blasts. The rest of the teens were either on the last dragon or on the same dragon as Snotlout and Delilah. Most of them had the same idea by letting Astrid, Anders, Asmund, and Gunhild on their own dragons as they would throw anyone extra underneath of the bus to reach their goal of winning dragon training overall.

Soon enough all of the dragons were subdued and the teens all had to work together to get all of the dragons backed into the cage at the same time. A few of the dragons still had shots available they just hadn't used all of them on the teens. When most of the dragons had been backed into the cages, the final one released one last shot and had almost hit most of the teens but they were luckily able to duck before anything bad could happen. As soon as that last dragon was locked in there the door was closed and locked.

Stoick then raised his hands to quiet down the rowdy villagers. As the crowd quieted, Gothi began to write. Hiccup softly translated and Stoick announced. "Most everyone did a wonderful job, Asmund, Astrid, Anders, and Gunhild are looking the most promising. However only one can be a winner, whether one of them win or someone in this group proves that they too are a greater warrior than the four most promising. Gothi has been watching for weeks and while many have improved, many have stayed in the same spot they started. Not just one, but two people will be eliminated today. Those two are... Clueless and Wartihog!" The crowd is loud and in a bit of an uproar. Stoick calms them down once again and continues to translate for Gothi. "The two of them may not be the worst of the teens but they also haven't improved much either. However, there are at least four others who are next in line to be eliminated if they don't clean up their acts. That is all."

The crowd once again is loud, some are cheering at the fact that their children were either top warriors or that their children weren't eliminated. Whatever the reason, it was a cause for celebration. Their warriors had returned from their journey from the nest safely and they were finally going to see which one of the children would be named top of their class.

...

Everyone made their way to the Great Hall once dragon training was over for the day. Clueless and Wartihog were scolded by their respective parents and clans. While that group wasn't particularly cheery, everyone else was. Hiccup made her way to the Great Hall with everyone else and sat with her father and Gobber like usual. She sat and ate while the two men were doing the same while discussing, the usual men who sat with them were forgoing it for the day to sit with their families and celebrating the win that way.

Hiccup idly listened to the two men discussing. They were mostly just catching up with one another about their tasks and what ensued during the others absence. When Hiccup was done eating she excused herself and the men allowed her to leave.

With everyone busy and distracted Hiccup made her way to the woods to go visit Toothless. She didn't have time to go get a barrel of fish so the two of them would have to go fishing. Fishing with Toothless was probably more fun and exhilerating than just plain flying with him. Albeit they had to be careful with that as well otherwise Toothless' gear would rust faster than not.

The two spent the rest of the afternoon in each other's company. They went on a quick flight and while they were on said flight, they spotted ships. They were sure to avoid them but Hiccup was able to identify the ships as the Bog Burglar, Murderous, and Uglithug tribes. They would soon be spotted by the lookouts and would arrive the next day.

Hiccup was not excited for the other tribes coming, especially because the other chiefs make cracks about her being the runt and the other heirs enjoyed bullying and ostracizing her. Not to mention the fact that she'd have to deal with them alone. Dagur wouldn't be arriving for another two weeks so he wouldn't be able to keep them away from her. Not that she needed to hide behind him for protection but it was nice to know that someone had her back. Hiccup may not be excited for the other tribes coming but with the other tribes arriving it meant that Dagur would be arriving soon enough.

Tbc...