Ok, wow. I am SO SORRY for the wait. It's just a crappy week+ full of tests and different afterschool practices and . . . well, the worst of it's over now. My will will persevere. This story will survive.
Before I start, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all my reviewers/favoriters/followers/viewers. Seriously, you guys are the only reason that this chapter is here. So thanks, and give yourself a richly-deserved pat on the back.
Also, if you liked my story of HiccupXOC, than try this example: The Other Hofferson, by Queen-of Typing. I'm a big fan.
One last note: between my primary Minecraft fanfic, The Tale of Drake, and this one, guess which has vastly more favorites and followers, despite being smaller? A Fresh View! Personally, it is my belief that the HTTYD fanbase here is much more active than any other I've ever written on, and all the support has been kind of overwhelming. So three cheers for the fandom!
And one last last note, remember Toothless is in zero of the story so far. It could prove important if Hiccup were to have no experiences with dragons that didn't end up with them trying to kill him immediately...so yeah.
And thanks.
Standing together near the edge of the marketplace, Hiccup and Birla observed the teens laughing and running about. Anyone going to Dragon Training the next day had been given the day off chores and work to "practice" their skills at killing dragons. For the most part, they were bragging, joking, and sparring with their new weapons, not actually getting ready. Hiccup had gathered that much from just sitting there watching them.
"Lambs to slaughter." Birla whispered finally. "What was your dad thinking?"
Hiccup turned to his friend, grateful for the reason to break the (relative) silence. "We're running out of warriors."
Birla laughed, but it wasn't her normal, cheerful laugh. She sounded more like a condemned criminal. "I knew that, silly. My parents told me that much. You're his son, why would he do this?"
"I have no idea. I guess thirty half-trained dolts with sharp weapons are better than five trained Vikings when you're running out of men." Hiccup explained.
Birla gave him a dubious look. "That's all you've got?"
Hiccup raised his hands in defense. "Hey, you think I can read minds? His mind of all people's? I don't even know his favorite weapon anymore!"
"Hiccup, it's a hammer. Even I can tell that from . . . well . . . y'know, how he carries a war hammer during raids?" Birla said.
"Well, alright, maybe that was a little much, but still." Hiccup admitted. "Point is, I have no idea why he would do this."
"Great, just great!" Birla exclaimed. "I'm so gonna die."
Both fell silent after her outburst, listening to the bustle and commotion of the marketplace. Everywhere they looked, teens were exuberant at their new assignments.
"Those fools. They have no idea what they're going into." Birla breathed.
Hiccup looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "And you do?"
"Well, for one I'm not standing here grinning like a doll! This is war, Hiccup! Do they know how many people we've lost on nest hunts?" Birla said, eyes narrowing at the crowd in front of her.
Hiccup took a step back, raising his hands between him and the surprisingly angry Birla. "Woah, woah, calm down! And yes, I do know how many people we've lost on nest hunts. Every time Dad comes bcak from one he constantly mutters to me about everyone who didn't make it back. You're not alone."
"Ok." Birla sighed, visibly deflating. "Sorry, Hiccup."
"It's fine." Hiccup assured her. "Hey, at least we can die together." he commented, giving Birla a half-smile.
Birla smirked, back to her usual self. "Wonderful idea."
"I know, right? Fixes all our problems, doesn't it." Hiccup observed.
Birla frowned again. 'Seriously though, we're dead."
"Yeah, we are." Hiccup sighed in agreement.
The next day, Hiccup woke up early. His dad was still snoring in his room, and Hiccup was practiced at moving around his house withou making too much noise. Natural clumsiness aside, he had pretty much memorized the location of every possible obstacle on the floor of his house for this very reason.
He made it out the front door without a hitch. Quickly running along the road to Fishgut Cliff, he could hear lots of talking in houses he passed. Far too much talking for this early in the morning. Hiccup could only assume that the new Dragon Trainees were already up and ready to go.
Making it to the edge of the cliff, he was aware of a distinct lack of a certain petite brunette. Birla was late.
Humming to himself, he sat down on a rock and looked out over the docks. This cliff had a wonderful view of them, and even at this time of day people were swarming the area. He did notice three of Berk's best warships missing, though. That would be his dad, searching for the nest. Apparently, he had heard, Stoick had convinced the necessary number of Vikings to come with him on the dangerous hunt by threatening them with the prospect of watching Hiccup. Wonderful for his self-esteem.
He paused to consider the day ahead. All of Hiccup's life, he'd wanted to go to Dragon Training. He'd begged with his dad to let him at least try to prove himself to him. And every time, dad had changed the subject or, recently, blatantly informed his son that it would never happen. Now, completely out of the blue, long after Hiccup had written off ever being in Dragon Training, his dad had informed him that his long-time dream was becoming a reality.
There was but one problem. His long-time dream was no longer really a dream. A few years ago, for sure, all he had wanted in this world was to follow in his family's footsteps, but now . . . as Hiccup had matured, so had his life's aims. That combined with Snotlout and the gang constantly reminding him of his inability to use normal weapons had convinced him that he had better just accept life as a non-Viking among Vikings.
In retrospect, is was kinda amusing, as Birla would put it. For most of his life all he had wanted was to go to Dragon Training, and now that he actually was going to . . . All he wanted was to not go.
A voice snapped him out of those morose thoughts. "Hey!" Birla cried, directly behind him.
Startled, Hiccup spun around as he leapt off the rock he was sitting on. Or, at least, that was the action he had in mind. Unsurprisingly, he tripped over a root and fell flat on his face, just inches from the edge of Fishgut Cliff. He made a mental note not to get into deep thought that close to cliffs in the future.
"Agh . . ." he moaned, rubbing his head as he sat up. Birla rushed to his side, laughing.
"Wow, Hiccup, I'm sorry! I didn't expect that to happen!" she exclaimed as she crouched down at his side.
"You really should know me by now." Hiccup observed as she gave her best try at helping him up. "What a way to start the day."
"Well, it looks like you started your day a little early, eh?" Birla said, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Yup. Ready for you-know-what?" Hiccup asked.
Birla's mood instantly darkened. It was like throwing a bucket-full of water on to a fire. "Yeah. Woo-hoo, I can hardly wait to become a stain on the walls of the Kill Ring." she said to him.
"Neither can I." Hiccup deadpanned. "Come on, let's get to the town square. Everyone else is meeting there to go all together to Training."
"And do we want to go with those people?" Birla noted.
"Probably not."
As it turned out, it might have been a better idea to not meet up with all the other kids after all. Birla had hoped to get to know some of the other Berk teens, but they had proved to be less tolerant than Hiccup.
"Go away you little troll!" a big carpenter's apprentice jeered, earning the derisive laughs of a few of the people around him.
"Yeah, bug off ye dwarf." another of the bully's cronies sneered. Apparently, the original Dragon Trainees weren't the only bullies in the village.
"Those stupid little . . ." Birla choked out after they moved on to a new victim, nearly in tears. None of her peers, except Hiccup, had ever paid attention to her before, until now. Not really the way she wanted, though.
"Eh, don't let it get to you. Just keep thinking your smart and they're really dumb, and you'll get over it." Hiccup said to her. "That's what I always do."
Birla pushed back her tears and smiled at him. "Great advice." she said, sarcastically rolling her eyes. "Though, it is true."
They both had a little, private laugh over that.
Finally, Hiccup, Birla, and everyone else arrived at the Kill Ring. There, the other kids had stopped mocking their little group of two, as they were too busy gawking at the massive pit where they were to become warriors. The two teens could easily hear the cocky comments of the others.
"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber yelled as the crowd of trainees marched into the grim, yet oddly awe-inspiring place.
"No turning back." Astrid muttered, half to to herself.
"That's encouraging . . ." Birla commented to Hiccup, earning a harsh glare from Astrid.
Everyone else was silent until Tuffnut spoke up. "I hope I get some serious burns." he boasted, mostly to his sister.
"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back." Ruffnut agreed, gaping at the solid rock walls of the Ring.
Birla turned to Hiccup, this time whispering to avoid unwanted attention. "A burn on that guy's 'lower back' would translate to me getting charred to a crisp, you know."
Hiccup sighed. "Not encouraging either. What goes for you pretty much goes for me, too."
This time unaware of the teens' unenthusiastic observations, Astrid nodded at the twins' boasting. "Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it."
To this, even some of the other 'new kids' gave each other perturbed looks, Hiccup and Birla no exception. "I feel better already." Hiccup said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it." Birla shot back. Still, no one heard her over the increasingly-loud muddle of voices. Everyone looked on edge, tense, excited to shake off their old lives.
Gobber finally raised his hand to get the crowd to be silent, and most of them immediately complied, staring at him. Birla wondered if he got uncomfortable with so many people staring at him. She was disabused of that notion a second later.
"Let's get started!" he roared, catching the attention of any remaining errant kids. "The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."
At that, everyone started to talk in low voices to each other, undoubtedly about their chances of being that star pupil. All except Hiccup and Birla, of course. They exchanged uneasy glances, fidgeting with their (comparatively) tiny weapons.
Gobber slowly went down the line of recruits, looking intently at each and every one. The reactions varied; some of the teens were confident and smiled at the trainer as he strolled past, while other nervously glanced around under his intense stare. He finally reached Hiccup and Birla, who were standing at the far end of the line, slightly apart from the rest.
"Ah, Hiccup!" he said cheerily. "Glad to see you made it!"
"Yeah . . . glad." Hiccup 'agreed', looking away at the menacing doors the dragons were behind.
Gobber noticed Birla standing there as well. "Ah! And who's your friend?" he asked . . . winking?
Flustered, Hiccup stammered to respond. "This is Birla Skallagrinsson." he quickly explained.
"Ah, don't look so down, lass." Gobber said to the diminutive brunette, who apparently considered that the floor was a very attractive thing to stare at.
"Huh?" she whispered, glancing up.
"Don't worry - you two are small and weak. That'll make you less of a target to 'em. They'll see you as sick or insane and go after all those more . . . Viking-like teens, instead."
"Words of encouragement were never said finer up till today . . ." Birla said to Hiccup after Gobber had left, prompting him to chuckle.
Walking away from the line of mostly-eager recruits, Gobber reached the far wall. "Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight!" he shouted, going to the first door.
Hiccup noticed Fishlegs, who was at the opposite end of the line, looked unusually concentrated. Like, the about-to-burst-from-concentration look. He nudged Birla, and nodded in the large boy's direction. Birla joined Hiccup in wondering what Fishlegs was up to.
"The Deadly Nadder!" Gobber said, pointing at the appropriate door.
Fishlegs appeared to say something, and sure enough, a few people around him gave him a glance.
"The Hideous Zippleback!" Gobber said again. And again, people around Fishlegs looked at him. The boy himself seemed about to explode.
"The Monstrous Nightmare!" Same thing.
"The Terrible Terror!" Fishlegs said something, and now everyone near him was staring. Even Gobber noticed.
"Will you stop that!?" Gobber yelled. Whatever it was, it had gotten on the trainers nerves.
"And here we go." Hiccup muttered to his friend.
"And . . . the Gronkle!" Gobber said, then smirked. "Or should I say . . . Gronkles."
"Wait, why more than one?"" the, carpenter's apprentice from earlier asked, nervously gripping his sword.
"With such a big group, ya gotta work together. Groups of dragons do the same, so the only was to beat 'em is to mimic 'em, in this case." Gobber explained, reaching for the lever to the door.
"Wait, aren't you going to teach us first!?" Snotlout gasped in disbelief, and almost everyone nodded with him. Except Astrid, of course.
"I believe in learning . . . on the job." Gobber stated with a twinkle in his eye, and slammed the lever down.
As always, review please!