-Chapter: V-

-Sparred-

`Dragon training. It's every Vikings dream when growing up. The chance to make your Ma and Pa proud of you. A chance to make something of yourself. I should be happy that I am going into training. I should be looking forward to the time in the ring. I should be happy that my father is giving me a chance to make him proud. Only, I'm not. I Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is not happy about this. Some would call me ungrateful, some might say I am being a pretentious bastard. I say, that this is not by my choice to be here...

"Well lads, looks like were going to have a lot of fun together." Gobber moved over to where the six teens were waiting. He would be the one teaching them.

`I would never hold anything against Gobber. After all, he is my smithing master. It's just, his methods can be a little 'dangerous' when it comes to teaching others.

He motioned for all the teens to follow him as he made his way to the ramps leading up the ring. The dragon training ring was located quite far from the Village. Most likely to keep the noise down, and the dragons away from the Village. It was lead to by a winding path of timbers that created a series of bridges spanning across multiple stacks of stone. The ring itself was located at the base of a small spire, surrounded by wooden platforms for audiences to view from.

None of the other teens took notice of Hiccup's presence though. That wasn't to be a shock. He was surprised Gobber noticed him at all. Gobber waved over for him especially.

"Well, here we are." He placed his hand under a portcullis that lead into the ring and lifted it up with a mighty heave. "Welcome to Dragon Training!" He exclaimed, barely able to keep his excitement down as he motioned for all to enter.

All the teens started gasping at the structure around them. No one of a certain age was aloud inside the ring unless they were in training. The ring itself, as it sat at the base of the spire, was set into the stone floor a good five meters deep. Enough to prevent ANY chance of scaling the walls. The only entrance was the four meter high portcullis that barred across an arch. Across the entire space above was stretched a chain mesh, that created an artificial barrier to prevent flying out.

Across on the other side of the wall were a series of large iron and cross timber doors. Each one had a unique bar stretched across to lock it shut. Dragons were beyond those doors.

The other teens starting exclaiming how they wanted to get battle scars and such from training. A sign of a warriors fitness.

"I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut proclaimed. The male of the twins always had a likeness towards flame.

"I'm hoping for some mauling. On my shoulder or lower back." Ruffnut added.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Astrid spoke this. The words hurt Hiccup.'Was that all this was to them? A game of blood and scars?' His thoughts were broken when he found myself blurting out, "...yep, pain. Love it." his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The others looked stunned to hear him and turned around. Not one of them would have expected Hiccup to be here, and here he was. He would have liked to remain apart from them. Snotlout was essentially his personal bully, always trampling his work, or demanding free service at the forge, after which he would beat the boy up if he denied him that. Fishlegs however was the closest Hiccup could get to saying was a friend. He didn't neglect the boy, he just avoided him because he knew that if he talked to him, he would get disgraced by the others. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, just joined in the fun of bullying him with Snotlout. Then there was Astrid. He used to have a crush on her when he was younger, but soon came to realize that the Viking she was, was simply not a person he would like to spend his life being around constantly. She was strong, capable, determined, and down right a stubborn Viking who saw only the tradition of their ways.

"Oh great, who let him in." Tuffnut spoke out. It wasn't a question, just a statement of annoyance.

"Let's get started!" Gobber waved Hiccup off to move forward, after he closed the gate behind them. "The one who does best, will win the honour of killing their first dragon, in front of the entire village." Gobber moved his hands in the air in an arch to emphasize the grandeur of the event. The words struck Hiccup hard. Not a day ago, he chose to let the most feared dragon any Viking knew of live, and everyone expects him to want to kill a dragon?

"So why is Hiccup here?" Ruffnut asked. She clearly thought this was for fighters only.

"Is he like, the bait then?" Snotlout responded, finishing the thought. At that, the teens started snickering over the joke. They only thought fun and games here. A joke there, a laugh here. All in good fun. The death of this boy, oh so funny.

Gobber tried cheering Hiccup up, "Don't worry, your small, your weak. That will make you less of a target." He always was so tactful when it came to easing some ones mind. "They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking like teens instead." He ended with a short chuckle. He thought himself right. Which he was.

He motioned for the group to stand in a line formation before addressing them all.

"Now! Behind these doors, are a few of the many species you will learn to fight!" He began listing off the dragons that were banging against the doors. You didn't have to see them to know they were upset with the caging.

He ended with placing his hand on the lever to the final door, the Gronckle door. 'Was he just going to let it out just like that?' The thought ran through Hiccup's head. Snotlout clearly thought, and said, the same thing.

"Woah, woah, aren't you going to teach us first? Isn't that the point of this?" His voice hinted at worry.

Gobber, with his usual, tactful pose, replied justly, "I believe, in 'learning on the job'. Hiccup could feel the eyes of the other teens descend on him, like he was part to blame. It's true, 'learning on the job' was Gobbers method of teaching. Hiccup couldn't count the number of burns and cuts he got when he first started working the forge with him. He did learn fast though.

With that, Gobber yanked down on the switch and out shot a very angry looking Gronckle.

A Gronckle was not the most terrifying dragon there was, which is why it was first on the list of being released in training. It wasn't the most threatening either, but saying that, it was still a dragon and it was still dangerous to be around. The Gronckle currently loose began making a b-line to the pile of stones off to the side. Gronckles use rocks as ammunition to say; they hurl molten pellets at foes. As if by cue, Gobber yelled out. "Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need?"

Multiple voices rose up to the question.

"A way out?" Hiccup started.

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs had an interesting way of listing of traits and abilities. He used numbers to mean ability. Quite interesting.

"A Shield." Astrid didn't need to hear Gobber tell her she was correct. She always knew what was right. She grew up as a fighter, all this in the ring was like putting on a new pair of boots. She was the best in the ring.

"Shield. Go!" Gobber began about how important a shield was in combat. That it was more important than a weapon, and that they were the first thing you would need.

There were plenty of shields in the ring, most likely put there before hand just for this occasion. Hiccup found himself a slightly smaller shield that he would be able to lift, let alone handle well enough for fighting.

What was happening in the ring was anything but a fight. The twins were arguing over who gets what shield. That didn't help when a rock was hurled into the shield separating them, after which they went flying away. Snotlout was trying his usual attempt at flirting with Astrid. He didn't think anything mattered as much as getting her to like him, or take interest in him at least. Hiccup could care less if Snotlout got Astrid. He had no intention of crooning her, and Snotlout could get her. He was more concerned with the large dragon that was hovering around, looking for targets. it had already blasted away Fishlegs after he gave up the number of shots that it had before it ran dry. Six. Six shots for Six teens. Oh the cruelty.

Gobber was busy throwing out information on how to fight dragons of course. He was just a bystander. The teens could take care of themselves.

"Make noise, lots of it. It will throw off a dragons aim." One moment, "Move in quick, rapid fashion. It will help lose their focus."

Hiccup had somehow found himself hiding behind a weapons rack when Gobber shouted over, urging him to get into the fight. 'Uh, no, I am perfectly fine here' At that moment, a rock flew into the wall nearby, singeing some of his hair and making his body tense up. The Gronckle had two shots left. It had taken out the twins, Fishlegs, and Snotlout. Now it was only Astrid and Hiccup left in the ring. The others had been forced to retreat out of the fighting ring by Gobber. He only had to scare them to death, not actually make them dead.

Hiccup moved up to where Astrid was standing, not to make a coward of himself by hiding behind the rack. Safety with weapons they say.

"So, guess it's just you and me now." He told her.

"Nope, just you." She replied as she moved out of the way of the incoming blast.

"Agh!" Hiccup barely put his shield up as it was knocked out of his grasp and sent rolling away. He had to chase after it, it was the closest shield around and it would save his life. He could tell the others were watching intently as the dragon eyed him down and made chase. Hiccup didn't know this however, as he chased after his rolling shield. His life-line.

"Hiccup!" He could hear Gobber yell across the ring. Something was wrong. He stumbled just out of reach of the shield as the Gronckle had him pinned to the wall. Completely vulnerable. Completely defenseless.

As Hiccup leaned back against the wall, he stared forward at the dragon that was barreling down on him. Had he not just been like this before. He was starting to get into the habit of being pinned down by dragons. Something happened however. As the Gronckle moved into its position, it stared down to the boy that was cowering before it. Something happened that made the Gronckle fire its last shot up against the wall above the boys head, and not kill him then and there. Hiccup looked up from his arms to see what had happened. Nothing. Nothing had happened.

The Gronckle sparred him. No one was killed. No one was hurt.

Gobber was the first to move for a while. He gripped onto the dragons maw with his hook-hand and dragged it back into it's cage, shutting the bar down. No one else said anything or moved. They all stared at the boy that was huddled against the wall, hair singed from another blast near his head. They all stared at the boy that had just been sparred his life, by a dragon.

"Umm, why isn't he dead?" Tuffnut asked, not so subtly. That broke the silence.

"I don't understand. That Gronckle had him at its teeth, and let him go?" Snotlout put forward, disappointed in the lack of Hiccup getting eaten. Hiccup had started to pick himself up by now and was making his way to his axe that was knocked a few yards away. After picking it up, he found himself shadowed by Gobber.

"What did you do? Why did the dragon spare you?" Gobber inquired, his tone full of shock.

"I don't know Gobber. Your the expert, you tell me why." Hiccup replied, he was not at all aware that he had some affect in the matter.

"Hiccup, a dragon will always, always, go for the kill. Now, that dragon didn't, and I want to know why." Gobber pushed his point, emphasizing his main point.

"I don't know Gobber. I just don't know. I was helpless against the wall, my head was in my hands, and my hair got singed. That's it. That's all that I know."

"Well, in any case. I think you got lucky today. Looks like we've got a dragon with some bad aim in here." He gestured to the wall with the scorch mark on it.

"Anyways.." He turned to the rest of the group who were still standing wide-eyed at what had transpired. "...class continues later at 9 of Nighttide, at the Great Hall. Be there, we have much to discuss. For now, you are free to go." He finished, ending with Hiccup in his gaze.

"You Hiccup, I want to speak with you in private. Meet me at the forge." Hiccup could tell what he was going to talk about then.

"Understood..." His voice trailed off as his gaze swept across the ring and its inhabitants. No one was more shocked than Hiccup. He didn't think he would cheat death twice now.

"I'll be there." He replied. He was going to talk about this. Maybe not all of it, but most of it at least. He needed someone to talk to right now, and Gobber was the closest he could get to.

*Nighttide* = the time period between Eventide and Midnight - (late evening)