-Chapter: IX-

-Pick a Side-

`I never should have snapped. I never should have let myself go so easily. There are a lot of things I never should have done in my life, but letting myself go so easily that night in the 'Hall was probably one of the worst mistakes. I never should have let myself be seen as so weak. To be seen as a troubled little boy, with daddy issues. The truth is, I haven't quite been myself lately. It's all because of that damned dragon, and it's damned eyes. It all threads back to that moment, that moment that seems so long ago, yet so close...

The sun was peeking in through the leaf covered window of a still room. The sun was rising up out of the forest beyond a small rise as birds started to sing out in praise to the new day. Everything seemed so peaceful, one would forget where they were.

"HICCUP!" A voice echoed from outside. A small boy groggily pushed a fur blanket over his face. Now was not the time to get up. "HICCUP!" the voice echoed again, followed by the sound of footsteps coming in the front door. "HICCUP! Get up! Training starts soon enough if you actually move for once. The boy moved himself from his bed. Great, it was Gobber.

Hiccup spoke out with a croaking voice, "All right, just a moment.."

"You've had too many blasted moments already, now get up, down and out of this house!" Gobber at least had the decency of waiting outside the door for the boy to get dressed and ready. The door was flung open by the time Hiccup sounded mildly ready, his tunic could be tied up along the way.

As the duo made their way to the front door, Hiccup set to the storage pantry for some food. He was hungry, and he certainly wasn't going to go into training with an empty stomach. "Oh no, no time for that. Come on, the others have waited long enough." Gobber pulled on the boys arms before he could make it to the cheeses.

"You should have thought about getting dressed and having some morning food before sleeping in." Gobber scolded him for not bothering to get himself up.

"Sorry, I just had a busy night, that's all." Hiccup had slept in mostly due to not going to sleep at all really. He had spent the night cramming over various tablets and documents regarding dragons and their respective traits and behaviors.

"From what I recall, you walked out on the entire class, without even letting us get to the good parts." Gobber recalled him on his storming out. He stopped as they were nearing the ramps leading further inland. "Now, listen Hiccup, your father has placed it upon me to make sure you get through training. Now, he didn't specify how, he just instructed me to make sure you understand everything. That means you have to be where your supposed to be. Got that." He ended on a questioning tone, to make sure the boy understood.

"Got it." Hiccup answered with a tone that remained the same throughout his life. Compliance.

As they continued forward, Hiccup couldn't get the nights readings out of his head. He had collected various texts from the archive in hopes of learning something about dragon behavior. Specifically Night Fury. "Hey Gobber?" The man grunted. "I noticed, the archives don't have anything on Night Fury's. Is there like a secret tome, or something that is being kept secret?"

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale." Gobber answered like it was the most obvious thing in existence. "You can't exactly expect to know stuff about something when it hardly even exists at all."

"What do you mean, 'hardly exists'?"

"What I mean is, no one knows anything about them. Speed, size, shape, colour. Two legs, four legs, no legs. Nothing is known about them."

'...not much is really known about the creatures...' Hiccup recalled his words from a few days ago. He couldn't help asking, "How come nothing is known about them? I mean, we know quite a lot about the other dragons, why not Night Fury's?" Hiccups words fell like blasphemy. Gobber reeled around to look back at the boy.

"Have you any sense at all? They are the most fearsome and most destructive dragons we know of. No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale." Hiccup felt shocked by this, 'was I the first to meet a Night Fury? That can't be possible, Vikings have lived at Berk for seven generations, someone must have seen one at least.'

Gobber and Hiccup soon sighted the chains of the ring, floating creakily in the chilling, morning air. Hiccup resented this place. It represented all the questions that needed to be asked but wouldn't bother to be answered. It's purpose was solid, but it's foundations were shaky.

Hiccup was filed in with the rest of the teens. All of them staring him down like he was the cause of all the trouble. Which he was. He made them wait, again.

"All right, why don't you all spread out around the ring." Gobber called out from the platforms surrounding the ring. The entire ring was transformed into a makeshift labyrinth of wooden walls and stone pillars. Gobber moved across to a far station and yanked back on a lever. The sound of pulleys whirring and ropes snapping tight sounded from the other side. No one knew what dragon had been let out, what with the massive walls in the way.

"Todays lesson, is about attack!' The teacher spoke out. "Nadders are quick, and light on their feet." 'so thats what dragon it is today!' Hiccup wondered at the chirping sounds coming from the far side. Gobber continued with his lecture, "Your job, is to be quicker and lighter!" At that moment, the Nadder was busy firing spines down into one of the corridors. Hiccup heard Fishlegs call out on Gobbers method of teaching. 'yeah, he will give that impression during the first year' His thoughts were interrupted as he heard Tuff and Ruff arguing over a blind spot. He had read during last nights study that Nadders had a large blind spot directly in front of their snout.

'Now is not the time to argue' He could hear himself scolding them over their childish antics, except it wasn't really himself that was talking.

He found himself having wandered beneath the railing that Gobber was leaning on. He was enjoying the show clearly too much to intervene. "So how would one exactly sneak up on a Night Fury?" He had to ask, the man was bound to give some tips eventually.

"Your asking for death if you think any one could. Now get in there!" Gobber was growing tired of the boys nagging for answers. To know your enemy was admirable, but this? This was just tiresome.

"I know, just, hypothetically." he shrugged his shoulders in defeat. Gobber wouldn't be able to tell him any more than he already knew. After all, he did see a Night Fury, and lived.

"Hiccup." Hiccup whirled around to see Astrid and Snotlout crouched behind a corner of a wall. A Nadder was poking around, looking for the source of the human sent. "...get down." She whispered, motioning for him to take position in similar fashion. The Nadder was busy with it's nostrils flared wide, catching in the sent of it's hunters. Vikings weren't dirty people, did they live a life of dirty living? yes, but they all took to staying clean at points. Snotlout however was never one who took well to bathing and soaps. He said it's not very manly to bathe just because you smell like swine. He says it's just natural odor.

Well, this odor was attracting the snout of an angry Nadder from around the wall. Hiccup waved off Astrid, not to follow her. He wasn't going to get himself caught up in the dragons maw because of a stinky comrade. He started his way around the opposite wall, to flank the dragon and get away. If he was the last one in the ring, he would be fine. It wasn't a competition though, it never should be. Fighting for your life shouldn't be a competition.

"Hiccup?" He heard Astrid call to him as he went around a bend and disappeared from sight. The Nadder had caught on to the sent that Snotlout was giving off, and if he stayed away from him, he would be fine. 'Left Right Right Left...corner, straight' He began ducking around each of the corners before him. He could hear the dragon snap from somewhere behind him, before a sound like a blast of fire echoed around, followed by the cries of a disappointed Snotlout. He had evidently missed his mark.

Before he had time to collect his surroundings, a massive crash rolled around him as the outer walls of the labyrinth started to collapse as an angry Nadder was bashing them over. It clearly had grown tired of the game of cat and mouse. He had no way out as the impending walls were soon falling down around him, leaving him exposed, with nothing but a heavy handed axe in his right grasp, and a shield in his left. He didn't feel safe with these in hand. He felt like he should be safe, but in opposite, they made him feel more vulnerable, at his lack of deftness in combat or his inability to defend himself in any meager fashion.

"HICCUP!" Hiccups train of thought was broken when he heard Gobber yelling from above, the Nadder having sighted the boy and was now charging him.

Hiccup had his back to the wall and was moving his gaze between the axe and shield in hand, the dragon barreling towards him, and the wall behind him. 'Get down!', a voice in his head nagged him as the Nadder was at full speed not two arm spreads away. Whether it was the adrenaline pumping through him, the breathe of the moment or the sudden impact as the Nadders head connected with the rock, Hiccup was found tucked down just in time. It tittered back as it's head was swimming with daze from the impact before Gobber gripped it by the inside of the mouth and dragged it into the waiting cage.

Hiccup looked up from his hands to see the group staring at him, with Astrid looming over him questioningly.

"Is this some kind of game to you?" Those words dripped with irony. '...It's only fun if you get a scar out of it...' He recalled her words as they first stepped into the ring. 'How could she speak as though she were acting so much more mature than him?' His mind focused when she battered him, pointing with her axe towards the disgruntled dragon being locked away, "Our parents war is about to become ours, figure out which side your on." What was that supposed to mean? Was he suddenly suspicious of being a traitor simply because he didn't attack the Nadder?

"Ah, Go back to bed! You overgrown chicken!" He heard Gobber shouting at the dragon that was being dragged along.

Hiccup couldn't help but stay where he was as he watched the group file out of the ring, as the sun began to shine down from it's precipice. It was Noontide already, and he needed time.