Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter seems a bit short, but I thought a much sooner update was in order. So sorry for the cliff-hanger, but don't worry, you'll love what's coming next.

How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization

Chapter 12: I'm Not One of Them; Dragon and Viking United pt.1

Saturday

Dragon Training Coliseum

The Day of the Final Exam

Today was the day of the final exam for those dragon trainers who had passed the tests. But today, it was Hiccup's final test: to kill the Monstrous Nightmare, in front of the entire village. Who were all present at this time; the entire village of Berk were all anxiously awaiting for this coming right of passage. And none could have ever been more happier, than Stoick, who stood atop the stadium, addressing the growing and roaring crowd.

"Well, I can show my face in public again!" Uproarious laughter fills the stands, the audience laughing along with the Viking chief, as he went on. "If somebody told me that in a couple of weeks, my son, Hiccup, would have gone from being, well… Hiccup… to passing out as the top Dragon Slaying, well, I would have tied him down to a mast and shipped him out to sea, for fear of having gone bloody mad! And you know it!"

While everyone laughed at that little joke, there was someone who wasn't laughing. Sitting on a bench in the hallway leading into the ring, Hiccup tried to get his game face on. Lately, he was trying to re-adjust his battle gauntlet at the moment; last night, after the celebration, he was stuck in the blacksmith's shop, working on a new feature to the glove. At that moment, he stopped to look at his new Viking helmet, and tried to think of what to do in the ring. The other dragons were pretty easy to figure out… but the Nightmare… that was a whole new story. On one hand, he wanted to let the world know that they have been wrong all this while, that dragons really weren't harmful at all; on the other, this was a Nightmare he was soon going to fight against or tame… Gods know if the methods that Draco had taught him would work on this particularly aggressive and fearsome species.

But that was interrupted as he heard his father's speech go on. "But here we are, and no one's more surprised, or more proud, than I am." After hearing that, Hiccup's heart felt so heavy upon him. Why was that? he should have felt happy about that, for having done his father proud, as a Viking and as a son, so why? "Today, my boy becomes a Viking!" Stoick shouted, with a happy and proud smile spread across his face, "Today, he becomes one of us!"

The crowd once again cheered on like crazy, ushering in a new Viking warrior in the arena today. They chanted Hiccup's name again and again. Back in the hallway, Hiccup heard it all as he stood up, with his sword strapped to his back and his glove at the ready, holding his Viking helmet. A worried and broken hearted look on his face was all that could have been mustered. They were treating him like a celebrity, a star; something that he had always yearned to be. But now… he felt worse off than ever before.

"Good luck with that dragon," a soft, calming voice echoed behind him.

He looked around and saw it was Astrid. She had come all the way down just to tell him that, but it did little to ease the tension on him. He turned back to the stadium, and saw his dad, sitting in the chief's seat, with Gobber and Unfer standing at his sides.

It was then that he dryly replied, "Thanks. But it's not the dragon I'm worried about facing…."

Astrid looked to where his eyes were sighted on, and understood what was going on with him. She walked closer to Hiccup, until she was by his side, and asked, "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to put an end to this; I have to try," Turning to face her, in which she seemed a bit surprised by that answer, he place a shaking hand on her shoulder. "Astrid," He then spoke again to her, with his voice crack a little as he made what he feared would be his last request, "If something… goes wrong, please… I need you, Fishlegs, and Syn to make sure they don't find Toothless… or Draco…"

"Okay, we will," she replied. But then she took his hand in a gesture of comfort. And even moreso, she replied to him, concern shining through her eyes, "But please, promise me… it won't go wrong."

Hiccup was about to answer that request, but then Gobber walked up to him, and motioned him, "It's time, boy. Go on, knock 'im dead." He shrugged as he tried to make it sound more clearly, "Well, uh.. Literally. I mean…" he then shrugged, "You know what I mean."

In the Arena

Taking a deep breath, Hiccup walked forward on his shaking legs. He tightened his vest, and put on his Viking helmet. Sheathing out his arm gauntlet's shield mode, which was later forged with shavings of the Red Death's tooth, he walked down the hallway into the caged arena. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Astrid looking on, hands clasped over her heart in worry. On the way out, he saw the other teens cheering him on, with Fishlegs and Syn among them. Secretly, they were praying that whatever he had planned wouldn't backfire on the poor guy.

The roar of the crowd became even more deafening as, he stepped out into the heat. The chanting of his call sign disintegrated into a mess of yells and cheers. It was almost dizzying. A rack of various weapons were lined up against the side of the arena. One of every weapon that they have in their inventory was lined up in order. Hiccup shook his head, as he drew out his own sword, in which he had carved on the blade, runes of the sword's given name, Fang.

A collective mutter sounds throughout. Stoick, who Gobber was joined back with, scratched his beard as he commented on the battle, "Hmmmm. I would've gone with the hammer."

"It's a rest assured feeling that's not you down there," Unfer chimed out.

After finally readying himself, Hiccup took a deep breath, and finally called out, "I'm ready."

Suddenly, the door that held the Monstrous Nightmare at bay, busted into flames, in a large explosion. And then a massive lump of flames leapt out. The dragon had finally revealed itself, using its famed Flame Jacket technique, and boy was it agitated. The crowd gasped at the swift entrance of the Nightmare.

In a flash, the dragon was all over the walls, climbing up and down, looking for an escape. Clambering on the inside of the cage, it found none, and shot out an orb of burning kerosene gel in frustration. The projectile exploded harmlessly on the inside of the cage.

After the momentary rampage, the dragon extinguished its fire. It cocked its head to one side, sniffed the air, and finally noticed Hiccup's presence. Slowly, its neck extended to bring its head closer to the boy. The piercing gaze of the Nightmare examined him from head to toe, razor-sharp fangs inching ever closer, as it landed on the ground, slowly but surely, planning on killing the boy.

The audience hushed down, and went silent in anticipation, save for a number of over-zealous individuals.

"Go on, Hiccup!"

"Give it to him!"

"Kill it! Kill the mindless beast!"

Hiccup gulped, stepping back a little to put some distance between him and the dragon. Then, when all the fear washed out, as he remembered what he had learned, that fear disappeared. The Nightmare took notice of this change in emotion, and would prove the boy wrong, until the boy did the unthinkable.

He resheathed his sword back into the back hilt. The Nightmare seemed confused by witnessing such an action, but still approached the boy nonetheless. Surprised, shocked, and maybe frustrated whispers filled his ears. He then retracted his shield as well, his glove back to normal. His helmet was the next item to come off.

Stoick was equally confused by this as he cocked an eyebrow, "What is he doing?"

"Oh gods…" some in the crowds whispered, in disbelief in the boy's actions.

However, the only one not surprised by this was Unfer, as his smile went unnoticed. "This is even better than I thought," he whispered to himself.

From out of anyone's sight, Draco was spotted, as he blended into the rocks. His eye became normal again, as he looked to what Hiccup was doing, and couldn't help but smile, "Go on, Hiccup. Show them what you now know."

The dragon was as puzzled as the audience, it seemed. Its eyes darted to the sides, wondering what the boy could possibly be doing. Hiccup tried to talk to it, "It's okay… don't worry…"

Hiccup then took off his helmet, holding it in both hands. The dragon growls, taking it to be a possible sign of aggression, in an attempt to bash him on the head with it. Shutting his eyes, Hiccup made a silent apology to his mother, the only link between him and her.

He then looked to the dragon, a bit hurt at this gesture, but hardened in his resolve. "I'm not one of them." And then tossed the helmet aside.

The crowd gasped in palpable shock and horror at what they were all witnessing. They all saw that Hiccup had resheathed his weapons; now he was completely defenseless against what he now knew to be the second-most feared dragon in the world.

Stoick stood up, a mix of shock, fear and anger in his voice, "Stop the fight…"

"NO!" Hiccup shouted, getting all their attention, except his father, "All of you need to see this…" he then extended his hand slowly towards the snout of the dragon. he could feel the warm air flowing out of its nostrils with every breath it took. The dragon's eyes soften a little as he drew nearer, offering his friendship, "They're not what we think they are. They never were …" his resolve then hardened as did his face, "There's a better way to end this war without killing each other. We don't have to kill them."

Everyone gasped at this scene, even as Draco heard the gasping. They couldn't believe what they were witnessing. But Stoick, couldn't care, as his anger got the better at him as he roared out, "I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" and slammed a mace he had grabbed onto the cage.

The sound and the anger emanating from Stoick was enough to agitate the Monstrous Nightmare. Draco paled at this as he cursed silently, "You fool! Anger and aggression only provoke Nightmares into fighting."

This was made evident, as the Nightmare's eyes slits went as thin as ever. The very evidence of this monstrous dragon's rage igniting with such fury… aimed straight at Hiccup.

The young Viking saw this as he gulped, "Oh, crap."

Combined with the sounds of the mace striking only once, and Stoick's loud angered voice, this was enough to undo whatever Hiccup had achieved so far. He rolled over and dodged back as it snapped at him, narrowly missing. Going up in flames, the Nightmare unleashes a fountain of fire in Hiccup's direction. Luckily, he was able to roll aside to avoid it in time, before he got on to his feet and bolted around the arena, with the Nightmare chasing after in him a blinding fury.

"HICCUP!" Astrid screamed out for him, her face in fear of him actually getting killed.

Back at Toothless Canyon

Toothless was sound asleep in the canyon, curled up in one of his smoking charred beds of grass. That is until he heard it from across his canyon home…

HICCUP!

It was the voice of the one called Astrid; she had sound distressed, and shouting out Hiccup's name. It could only mean one thing: Hiccup was in danger.

Toothless knew deep down that he had to save him. The only problem was how was he going to get out of the canyon. The entrance Hiccup used was too small; the Night Fury would have to climb out. He frantically scanned the canyon walls, until he spotted a clear pathway to climb up. Toothless dashed over to the far end of the canyon crouched, readied himself to leap at the lowest ledge, and burst into a charge at full speed. The Night Fury flapped both sets of wings and leapt up. Luckily, the new tailfin opened up and Toothless was able to grab onto a crevice below, and off to the side of the ledge he was aiming for. He sprung over and scrabbled at the canyon walls; he managed not to fall, but at the same time, he couldn't get a hold on the ledge!

HICCUP! RUN!

He heard Astrid scream Hiccup's name once again. Strength boiled from somewhere deep inside the young Night Fury, and his claws gripped on to the ledge.

Back in the Arena

Hiccup had opened up his shield in time, and at the best time to. The Nightmare charged right at him, but it missed Hiccup as it tried to get him. Luckily, Hiccup crouched and used the shield as a ramp to let the dragon pass over him. But the beast turned around and charged again, and so Hiccup ran for it. It was pretty much all he could do at this moment, until he could think of a new plan.

Wanting to end this, Astrid grabbed an axe, and pried the cage open a little. It wasn't big enough to walk through, but she could roll under it and get to the other side.

In a scene that seemed strangely familiar, the pursuing dragon was suddenly distracted by something smacking it against the head. Shrieking, the Nightmare was thrown against the wall by the impact. Distracted, the dragon took its eyes off Hiccup, and focused on the source of its new injury.

There, standing like a Valkyrie descended from Asgard, was Astrid holding in her hands a hammer, ready for the next throw.

The dragon roared loudly, and hurtled towards her. Throwing the war hammer right at the beast, Astrid smacked the hammer right into the Nightmare's head, throwing off its trajectory, further buying Hiccup time to escape. Meanwhile, the Chief had gone down to the gates in order to save his still-hopeless son… once again. Once he reached the main gate, he threw open the gate to the arena, calling for the both of the teenagers to get out of there. Tossing aside the next hammer, Astrid made a break for it with the dragon hot at her heels, and Hiccup followed suit.

She was almost about to make it out in time, before another blast of fire lit up the gates, forming a wall of fire that trapped the two within. She turned back without thinking...

Big mistake.

The Nightmare was now right in front of her, needle-pointed claws almost about to rake her in half. However, his attention was soon changed, when a green grenade of Garlic Grass smoke smashed in the back of its head. The dragon shook it off, and looked behind him to see who had done such a deed. It was Hiccup, readying another throw at the beast, and he did so… right in the eye. The Nightmare roared at this attempt as it turned its attention to him now. And with one mighty final throw, he threw the last grenade at the beast. But the Nightmare's fury was too strong for the garlic grass to take any real effect, as it swatted the grenade aside, having it smash on the wall.

The Nightmare looked at the boy, as he snarled in much anger and rage directed at the boy.

Hiccup sighed, knowing full well what was coming next. He drew out his blade, and brought his shield at the ready, as he muttered, "Alright, boy." His face was now hard in courage and determination, as he narrowed his brow at the Nightmare, "Come and get severely schooled."

Next Chapter: I'm Not One of Them; Dragon and Viking United pt.2