A/N: We broke the hundred review mark! *Party poppers* *confetti cannons* *cheering*, we actually broke it just after I released the last chapter which received one of the largest responses for single chapter yet, almost 20 reviews on its own! You guys are actually crazy, but hey now I know all your fetishes ;), I'm kidding, I'm sure it was purely coincidental, but the requests for an all-out-lemon in this story are actually starting to rack up, at this point I'm still on the fence but I'm leaning more towards writing one than not doing so, the people who are uncomfortable with it can just skip it I'll mark it properly and stuff, sorry for the long authors notes, I'm sure you eager to get into the chapter!
Hiccup walked out of the back door into the small yard as Toothless landed with a loud thud, the dragon warbled in amusement as Ghost landed a few moments after him a clearly displeased expression marring her face.
"I win." Toothless gloated playfully.
"Hmph." Was the flat response from Ghost as she ignited the ground under her feet and settled down.
Hiccup scratched at Toothless head quickly "Hey bud, I'll come back to fly with you later, Berk isn't going to defend itself I need to make sure the others are ready."
Toothless glanced at Ghost as if to say he had a way to pass the time and Hiccup chuckled, checking his knife for a moment before setting off towards the old dragon arena.
He arrived quickly, he walked inside slowly and peered around, nothing had changed in the unused place, scorch marks, a rack of weapons and shields discarded against the wall, Hiccup approached the small pile of weapons, eyeing the shields carefully, shields were practical and important but the general bulky shape of the Viking shields irritated him and made it difficult to maneuver, he glanced at his armguard and back at the shield, the gears of his mind beginning to turn slowly as he thought about designs.
Surprisingly, Ruffnut and Fishlegs were the first to arrive, the female twins brother strangely absent caused Hiccup to raise an eyebrow, although the fact that neither of them were conversing didn't give Hiccup any ideas he could be bother following.
"Hiccup, why have you called us here? Honestly I don't have the best memories of this place." Fishlegs announced nervously.
"I'll explain when everyone's here Legs, its important, that's all your getting for now." Hiccup replied calmly as he took a seat.
Astrid and Tuffnut arrived a few moments later, seeming as though they had practically bumped into each other at the gate as they walked in, Astrid flashed Hiccup a quick smile and waved, he returned the action with a nod and a smirk.
Snotlout was the last to arrive "Why do we have to meet in the stupid old arena we don't use anymore."
"I'll make is very, very simple," Hiccup announced as he got to his feet, eyeing the twins obviously "None of you are even remotely ready to fight an Outcast soldier on the ground."
The reactions varied, Astrid had already kind of expected this, Snotlout looked as though Hiccup had offended his greatest ancestors, Fishlegs paled, Tuffnut said something about making things bleed was a specialty of his and Ruffnut just grinned.
"I won't hear any arguments," Hiccup quelled quickly "Frankly if you are separated from your dragons you need to be able to defend yourselves, we might well be in a warzone in the coming weeks, being unprepared will kill you."
"So what, we are supposed to spar against you?" Snotlout snorted
"As the only one here who has fought and killed Outcasts, yes Snotlout, you'll be trying to beat me." Hiccup countered flatly.
Snotlout grumbled something about being lucky but didn't argue further.
Hiccup pointed at the large stack of weapons "Pick a weapon and a shield if you want it, then come at me, I don't care if it's all at once or one at a time."
The teens moved towards the pile of weapons calmly, Astrid had her axe with her so she inspected the shields calmly, not in a hurry to fight Hiccup at all and content to just sit back and watch the others, Snotlout darted for a sword before rushing Hiccup just as quickly.
Hiccup sidestepped the boys wild swing and tripped him "You just died once." He announced coldly as he rolled the large boy away.
Tuffnut was the second to approach, taking the mace and a small dagger, Hiccup lifted an eyebrow at the twin as he launched the dagger, Hiccup titled his head to the side and let the knife fly passed his head, Hiccups blade came into his hand as Snotlout rushed him from behind, Snotlout's sword clanged off Hiccups knife as the boy pivoted around and kicked Tuffnut in the back, the blonde boy looked around as if confused as to where Hiccup had gone as Hiccup deflected Snotlout's second blow and brought his blade to the larger boys neck, freezing before he could cut him.
"Snotlout's died twice already, anyone want to at least try to avoid getting killed?" Hiccup announced cockily, trying to get the teens to come at him more fervently.
Hiccup ducked a mace swing and rolled out of the way, his knife paused just shy of Tuff's ribcage and the boy froze "That's one death for you Tuff."
Fishlegs retrieved a hammer and shield before moving towards Hiccup in a much slower manner, the large boys grip tightened on his hammer "I'm much more at home with a book than a weapon Hiccup." Fishlegs sounded nervously.
"Fishlegs, as a dragon rider you'll be called onto defend Berk, just like the rest of us." Hiccup explained as he parried Snotlout and quickly elbowed the boy in the stomach.
Fishlegs seemed to accept that as he darted forward, Hiccup sidestepped the hammer swing and Fishlegs swung his shield around, Hiccup jumped back and the shield slammed into Tuffnut's chest, sending the twin sprawling over the ground.
"Not sure If count that as a kill for Fishlegs or a death for Tuffnut." Hiccup laughed, Fishlegs glanced at the downed twin worriedly, Tuffnut jumped to his feet and clapped his hands together, obviously unfazed.
Fishlegs breathed a quick sigh of relief.
Hiccup switched his stance "You didn't think I'd defend the whole time did you?" He asked as the teens glanced at each other nervously, even Snotlout had ceased his onslaught of get up and get knocked back down.
Hiccup launched forward, Snotlout stepped forward and swung wide, using his long swords reach against Hiccup's shorter blade, Hiccup smirked about time they started thinking smart, he thought to himself as he abruptly halted, Fishlegs stepped in and battered Hiccup back with the shield as Tuffnut reacquired his dagger and tossed it, Hiccup spun to the left, the knife barely grazing passed his helmet as he planted a foot on Fishlegs shield and used as a platform, he tumbled over the large boy and brought the backside of his blade to cut across Fishlegs back as he spun in and paused a few millimeters from Snotlout's gut.
"That's ridiculous, the Outcasts don't fight like that!" Snotlout exclaimed in irritation.
"No, I fight better than them, you stand toe-to-toe with me you will have issue with them." Hiccup responded, quickly silenced any protests with simple logic.
"You three take a break, you've died a few times each, Snotlout your up at thirteen deaths," Hiccup announced quickly "I'm a little worried about you apparent 'warrior family'."
Snotlout jut scoffed "I'll make sure to take this seriously when I come back then." The boy announced boldly.
Hiccup glanced at Astrid and Ruffnut, neither had picked up a shield, Ruffnut spun a long spear in her hand as Astrid twirled her axe, something about the glint in Ruffnut's eyes unnerved him before she rushed him, Hiccup backstopped to avoid the long thrust of the pole arm and spun in as Ruffnut slammed her palm down on the edge of the weapon, quickly rolling it over her neck and bring the blade whirling passed Hiccups face, Hiccup rolled back his want of a shield only increasing as she rushed him, he avoided each attack by a few inches as his back touched against the wall he clicked hi tongue, careless mistakes like this were liable to get him killed one day, Ruffnut clicked back and stabbed at his chest, Hiccup jumped into the air avoiding the attack before using the uneven wall as a step and jumping over her head, against cutting at her back with the flat of his blade causing her now harm.
Hiccup gave her a quick salute as he smirked, Astrid's battle cry caused him to drop into a quick slide, his knife deflecting the axe blade over his head, his swipe at her was dodged by a quick back step, Astrid twirled the large axe on her hand as if were a pen, bringing it around her body and towards him a quick upward slice, Hiccup sidestepped and she grabbed the axe and brought it across, forcing him to duck low before a quick spin turned the blade back towards him and he jumped back.
It didn't surprise him Astrid didn't need any extra help, Ruffnut's skill with a spear had however taken him off guard, she need very little help her use of the weapon was nothing short of expert.
"So the girls have beaten the guys in every sense of the term." Hiccup taunted, even Fishlegs seemed a little more eager to spar again.
"Let's see how many times you die this time Snotlout." Hiccup teased as he moved casually to the centre of the arena.
Fishlegs rushed first, slamming the hammer down and causing Hiccup to jump back as Tuffnut circled him to the left and Snotlout to the right, Hiccup flipped his knife into the air, his head leaned back slightly as the weapon flicked passed his eyes, Snotlout moved forward and Hiccup snatched the weapon from the air as he darted right, sliding passed Snotlout the only evidence that Hiccup had made a cut being the jacket that Snotlout wore over his shirt splitting in two.
Tuffnut spun the dagger around his fingers as Hiccup rushed towards him, he gripped the dagger quickly and parried Hiccup's first blow, he was not about to be shown up by his sister, the follow up mace swing caused Hiccup to back off a step, Tuffnut advanced slowly, taking a quick step forward and swing to the side, his use of a mace meant Hiccup couldn't effectively block for fear of losing his weapon and the dagger made an excellent parry weapon, the combo just made combat generally difficult.
Hiccup paused for a moment to take a breath, before launching forward, his prosthetic clinked as he slid low, he caught Tuff's boat with his foot and took the boys leg out from under him, Tuffnut grunted as he hit the ground but rolled to his feet fast enough, sending the dagger at Hiccup in a quick flick of the wrist, Hiccup deflected it with a loud cling.
Hiccup's eyebrow raised slightly behind his mask, Tuffnut smirked full aware his sudden shift in skill had intrigued Hiccup, the blonde shrugged "Just because I'm not serious doesn't mean I can't be."
"He's actually got some skill with a mace," Ruffnut added from the wall she was leaning on "When he's not being an idiot he's a pretty competent fighter."
Hiccup tilted his head and gestured to the wall, Tuffnut smirked as he leaned beside his sister, Fishlegs waited until Hiccup nodded before the sparring resumed, Snotlout stood a small distance behind the large boy, seemingly waiting for an opportunity to take Hiccup on his own.
Hiccup shifted effortlessly out of Fishlegs swipe, but before he could counter Fishlegs swung his shield around, again forcing Hiccup to move back instead of attacking, Hiccup gritted his teeth as he deflected the hammer, Hiccup's open hand clenched for a moment as he back stepped, he turned it deflecting the hammer and slamming his palm into the shield, the wood groaned loudly under the blow but the shield remained intact, Fishlegs pushed Hiccup with a quick shove.
Hiccup floated just out of the larger boys reach, Fishlegs let out a quiet growl as he leaned a little too far forward, Hiccup used the over extension to his advantage, taking Fishlegs weight over his shoulder before slamming him down, Fishlegs groaned from the ground and Hiccup rubbed at this helmet awkwardly.
"Maybe we should see about getting you a strategy job." Hiccup offered.
"No," Fishlegs toned surprised the teens in the arena "I may not like violence, but…I don't want to just sit around while my friends are out fighting, I'll fight too, please let me fight too."
Hiccup smirked "You had better start taking it more seriously, you need just as much if not more work than Snotlout, Ruffnut!"
The female twin stood sharply at the boys tone "Your gonna help train Fish, I think your styles complement each other well."
Ruffnut eyed the back of Hiccups head curiously, Astrid lifted an eyebrow and Fishlegs visibly paled "Uh, Hiccup, I thought I could keep sparring with you," Fishlegs piped up "Someone who won't kill me." He added meekly.
"I won't kill you," Ruffnut grinned "Make a man out of you, yes, kill you, no."
The reassurance did little to calm Fishlegs as Hiccup moved back to the centre of the arena.
"Alright Snotlout, how many times you want to die today? Going for twenty?" Hiccup taunted
Snotlout gritted his teeth but didn't charge like Hiccup had expected, instead the boy took a wider stance and held the blade out in front of him, the pair eyed each other and slowly circled each other, Snotlout's stance reminded Hiccup of the day he had fought the boy's father in the forest.
Hiccup titled his head to the side curiously "If you're going to stay over there." He flipped his weapon into the air, Hiccup placed a fist against his hip as he caught the handle deftly before he turned in a quick flourish and tossed it, Snotlout started at the sudden attack and lifted the sword to deflect it, the blade pinged off the sword and flipped towards Hiccup who jumped to catch it and slam both his feet into Snotlout's chest.
Snotlout staggered back and moved forward sword slicing forward in a quick thrust, Hiccup deflected but Snotlout was using the weapon in a way that by the time Hiccup could alter his footing another thrust was flying at him, the sword was poorly built for the style, Hiccup sidestepped a pair of quick strikes and a slash came at his shoulder, Hiccup back stepped out of reach, but Snotlout had a faster reaction to the shift than his father and caught himself before he overextended, Snotlout used the turn in momentum to spin into a quick slash Hiccup darted forward Snotlout's sword grated in his blade as Hiccup closed in and slammed his fist into Snotlout's jaw, Snotlout's sword fell to the ground as he staggered back and held his mouth, Snotlout sent him a glare.
Hiccup bent to pick up the sword and inspect it "This sword isn't well suited for the style you were using."
"I'm aware," Snotlout grunted crossing his arms "But Viking swords are all we have here."
Hiccup scratched at his chin calmly "I'll figure something out, give me a day, I'll make you a sword you can use for that style of yours, where'd you learn it anyway?"
"Johann once brought this guard here, he used a style he called 'royal swordplay' it was the only time I ever saw my father so easily bested so I asked him to teach me, he showed me the basic forms and told me to use my imagination for the rest." Snotlout explained quickly.
Hiccup nodded "We'll meet here again tomorrow, I'll have something for each of you."
Astrid lifted an eyebrow, that meant Hiccup planned to sit in the forge all night and build things, she sighed as everyone left "You don't have to take this all on your own you know?" She asked flatly
"I wasn't planning to," He lifted his helmet and smirked "I simply want everyone prepared, they can't fight well if their weapons are unsuited for their styles."
"So that's why you weren't going all out, you just wanted to see how they fought, not necessarily how well they fought." Astrid's eyes widened at the realization.
"Correct milady." Hiccup chuckled as he began leaving, he already had an idea for a better design of sword for Snotlout, the others seemed to have settled into the weapons they had but the training weapons were not created specifically for them, making them awkward, Ruff's reliance on thrusts made that clear, she hadn't attempted any other spins with the spear after the first one, which meant she wasn't confident in the weapon being able to handle, Astrid axe was fine, Tuffnut's mace was top heavy, the boy had continually overextended due to its weight, Fishlegs was simply too timid, which is why he had gotten Ruffnut to teach him, if anyone could activate the boys warrior instinct it'd be her.
"If only we had something that was lighter than iron but didn't lose strength," Hiccup murmured in irritation, if he made a lighter mace there was the possibility of it breaking, he still hadn't figured out what material his knife was made out, he just knew it was strong he didn't have the slightest inkling of what it was or how to refine, mine or forge it "There is only so much I can do with the materials we have."
Fishlegs fell onto his back with a sigh, his Gronkle Meatlug, warbled a few meters from him as she ate a few rocks, Fishlegs snapped a berry from a nearby bush and dropped it in his mouth "I know I need to learn how to fight properly girl, it's hard, I can't understand why Hiccup paired me with Ruffnut, but he doesn't do anything without thought." Fishlegs sighed as he ate another berry "That is assuming I can even learn to fight, I died seven times in that ring today girl, granted it was to Hiccup, but still!"
Meatlug just shook her form in a shrug, eating another rock.
Fishlegs hopped to his feet and swung his arm around as if holding an imaginary hammer "The weapon I was using was a little unbalanced, but that's no excuse! Ah, this is irritating, why couldn't there just be a book about this!"
"Well, I mean technically there are," Fishlegs jumped at the voice, Ruffnut emerged from the rocks behind him and sat down on the cliff overlooking the ocean "There are hordes of books on fighting styles, from everywhere, Johann brings more almost every time he visits, that's how me and Tuffnut learned at first."
"You guys…actually read?" Fishlegs asked in confusion.
"Well yeah, we don't like it, but it's necessary sometimes," Ruffnut shrugged "Besides, it helped us with at least the type of weapons we wanted to use, of course no amount of reading in the world will prepare us for an actual fight…for actually killing people."
The girl rubbed at her arms nervously "I mean, I know why I might need to and if I had to make a choice between my family and keeping my hands free of blood, I'd pick my family every time."
Fishlegs sat down slowly beside her "I agree, I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night if I knew my decision ended up costing the life of a villager."
"So for starters," Ruffnut perked up quickly "What kind of weapon do you want to use?"
"Ingerman's have always been partial to war hammers." Fishlegs replied with a chuckle.
"Two handed or one? Curved handle? Double sided, spiked?" Ruffnut questioned quickly.
Fishlegs eyes widened, he had honestly only thought there were just one kind of hammer "Uh." He let out dumbly.
Ruffnut rolled her eyes "Follow me."
"Wait wha-?" Fishlegs let out in surprise as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him to his feet.
Meatlug let out a low displeased growl and Fishlegs turned towards her with a frown, Meatlug flopped onto her side for a moment before she shifted back to her feet and wretched, lava leaked from her mouth over the ground and the two teens shifted back quickly, the burning liquid flowed over the cliff and into the ocean, leaving behind a thin sheet of shining silver metal, Fishlegs frowned and leaned down, placing his hand on the metal and withdrawing his hand with a hiss.
"Is it hot?" Ruffnut asked
"No, it's freezing," Fishlegs replied in confusion.
Ruffnut picked up one of the rocks Meatlug had been eating when she arrived, she pulled off her helmet and slammed the thing down on the rock, the rock split open and fell in half, revealing lines of dark ore running through them "These rocks have iron in them."
"So, Meatlug ate iron and made…this?" Fishlegs picked up the sheet.
"I assume so, I've never seen iron that shiny before." Ruffnut noted
"Maybe the lava in her stomach purified it!" Fishlegs exclaimed excitedly "I mean, when we mine iron no matter how careful we are there is always rock left in it!"
"So your saying that iron and only iron came out of Meatlug's stomach?" Ruffnut asked quickly.
"Exactly, Hiccup should see this, it would be much stronger than normal iron and it's lighter!" Fishlegs exclaimed as he lifted the sheet easily.
"Gronkle Iron!" Ruffnut exclaimed naming the new metal quickly.
"Fitting." Fishlegs chuckled as the pair darted through the rocks.
Hiccup glared at the latest attempt at the sword he was making for Snotlout, no matter what he did it was always to thin and weak, it'd snap under the slightest pressure, but it needed to be more similar to a needle than a long sword, he ran a hand through his hair in irritation when Ruffnut and Fishlegs burst into the forge breathlessly.
"Whoa guys, where's the fire?" Hiccup joked tossing the mottled hunk of metal into the corner
"Hiccup, new metal, strong." Fishlegs breathed out.
"Take a second and explain." Hiccup calmed the boy with an open hand, trying to avoid getting to excited at 'new metal' and 'strong'.
"So, I was with Meatlug and talking to Ruffnut about weapons," Ruffnut gave a little wave and Fishlegs quickly continued "Meatlug was eating rocks with Iron in them, she got sick and vomited lava, when the lava dissipated it left this sheet of metal." Fishlegs held up the large sheet.
"How'd I miss that?" Hiccup questioned audibly
"We call it Gronkle Iron!" Ruffnut exclaimed
Hiccup took the sheet and inspected it, he placed it against the anvil and braced it before bringing the hammer down, at its thickness it should have snapped easily, the jarring impact shot up his arm and he dropped the hammer with a wince.
"Fish, how much of this can you get Meatlug to make?" Hiccup asked urgently
"Well, as long as we have the iron in a rock as much as she can eat." Fishlegs answered quickly.
"Good, I'll need a lot more of it." Hiccup's eyes flared with a new fire as he dropped the sheet into coal to begin melting it back down, he moved the bellows quickly.
Minutes turned to hours, the sun dipped towards the horizon as Ruffnut went about showing Fishlegs the different styles of hammer he could use, the boy experimented with each one, eventually stopping on a long handled spiked hammer, it seemed the most comfortable on him and he could use it with a shield or without depending on the situation.
Meatlug repeatedly spewed chunks of the metal as Hiccup asked for it, he glanced out of the forge at the pair of teens and wiped his brow with a sleeve, taking a quick note of Fishlegs weapon of choice as he continued to pound away at the metal relentlessly, the stronger metal cooled faster and was stronger, so he had to hit it faster and harder than he was used to.
It was well and truly night when he finished the last weapon, placing it on the counter with a long sigh, he glanced at the last design he had just enough Gronkle Iron left if he made no mistakes.
Hiccup took a long breath as he moved back to the coals and dropped the last of the metal into it, he worked the bellows quickly and moved to the leathers, cutting a few quick strips he laid them down and moved back to the metal, he moved back to the metal, he had made the meld for his design earlier that day when he had first arrived at the forge, the metal filled it barely as he began the process of cooling it into the correct shape before he moved it back to the anvil, and worked on curving the large chunk of metal correctly before, he used a chisel and hammer to correctly shape the finer edges, he finished with a loud exhale, he fell against the wall of his office and sank to the ground. His arms burned, his lungs hurt and his head pounded, but he was finished, he could complete the rest of the intricacies the next day.
He moved into the back room, his small office, he had gotten a bed placed in it recently, having fallen asleep on his desk more than enough to know that sleeping at the forge was not uncommon, he collapsed against the wood with a thud, he promised himself he go flying with Toothless when he woke up, but for now he needed to sleep.
A/N: What kind of Sword do you think Snotlout's Sword is going to be? What did Hiccup build himself? Find out next week! Not next week whenever I get around to the next chapter!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you did drop a follow and feel free to check out my other stories and my poll if you are interested and I will see you guys in the next one, peace!