Okay, now the chapters get long. Sorry for the long wait. School is...ridiculous.
Continuing from the previous chapter, the rules of the Dragon's Game is explained. Will Hiccup accept the challenge?
I kind of made some things OOC because I wanted to explore some things, notably a little on Hiccup.
Chapter Three: Challenged
To say that Hiccup understood what was going on would mean nothing. The young heir stood there, dumbfounded. Slowly, Hiccup's brain processed Thuggory's words. "What?" he finally murmured out.
The arena was filled with an uncomfortable silence. But it was soon broken the moment Toothless turned to face Auki with threatening growl. The Night Fury took a careful step forward. 'Auki, what's the meaning of this? I told you I denied your challenge! You have no right for a human to fight that battle for you!'
'Not when that human is my rider,' Auki jeered. 'When I found out you had a human rider, there was no way I was going to let you get the advantage in this game. I'm fair, you see. Or are you afraid to fight, Turlo-'
'It's "Toothless" now,' the Night Fury immediately hissed in return. Auki stopped for a moment. 'Oh?' the Skrill cooed. 'Such an unfitting name for a fierce dragon. Or did you lose all that ferocity back when we destroyed your family's nest?'
Toothless' eyes suddenly narrowed. Hiccup, still completely uncertain, decided to try to take control of the situation. "It's okay, bud," the young boy said soothingly. Carefully, Hiccup placed a hand on the dragon and soon felt Toothless' body loosen.
The Skrill let out an annoyed snort. Growling, Toothless suddenly short forward, the fast movement causing Hiccup to lose his footing and stumble back a couple of steps. Auki leaped out of the way just as Toothless dug his claws into the stone ground that the Skrill stood on a second before.
Astrid ran up to Hiccup. "Are you okay?"
"No," Berk's young heir sheepishly grumbled. "I have no idea what's going on." Turning his head, Hiccup looked towards Thuggory and his companions. Camicazi slowly walked over to Thuggory and his party, who were watching the scene between the Skrill and the Night Fury with great interest.
'It seems that you've gotten a little better,' jeered Auki, arrogant as ever.
'I'm not a little hatchling anymore,' Toothless replied, dead serious. Right above the arena, another swift creature appeared, it's shadow appearing on the ground of the arena. It caught the attention of all the viking teens and dragons.
"If you want to continue fighting, you're going to have to accept Auki's challenge," said an ominous yet clear female voice. Right in front of his astonished eyes, Hiccup watched as a magnificent silver dragon landed in the arena, folding in it's wings. The voice still rung in his eyes and Hiccup shook his head in an attempt to get them out. Hearing that voice, Toothless carefully took a step backwards, ignoring the devious gleam in Auki's eyes. Slowly, the Night Fury retracted it's fangs.
Snotlout seemed to have gotten the same impression. "Did that dragon just speak?" he whispered to Tuffnut and Ruffnut.
"I don't know what's going on too," Tuffnut replied, "but whatever it is, it's really weird."
The silver dragon turned her head to face Snotlout, who immediately gulped at the dragon's amber eyes. "Yes, it is I who spoke."
At this point, Hiccup winced as he witnessed Fishlegs faint right onto the floor. "Someone make sure he's okay," he muttered. But Hiccup wasn't exactly calm either. In five minutes, he was witnessing five random dragons that all have chosen their riders, one of them was a Skrill which he had never seen before, he had been challenged to whatever Thuggory called it and he's looking right at a talking dragon.
"Can someone please explain what is going on!" he cried, slightly impatient and utterly confused. The silver dragon turned to face him. "Very well," she said. "But before you ask anymore questions, listen to my explanation.
"I am Drotning, dragon princess who has been living in the volcano in Dragon Island for many years. And I believe it is you who set me free and saved all the other dragons, the young boy who befriended a Night Fury. You ended my mother's dreadful reign-"
"Your mother was the Red Death?" breathed an astonished Hiccup, also partly because the size young princess was not even close to be able to be compared with her parent. In fact, Drotning seemed just a little larger than the average Monstrous Nightmare, but the beauty of her silver scales showed that she was different from any other dragon. "I'm sorry to interrupt, er, your highness, but if it was your mother then I-"
"No need to apologize," Drotning answered calmly. "It was better for all of the dragons. Now may I continue without interruptions?"
Scared, Hiccup carefully nodded his head. All the vikings listened intently to what the Dragon Princess had to say. When the arena once again fell silent, Drotning continued.
"Royal Dragons were given the special gift of communicating with humans. Unfortunately, my mother detested this gift more than anything and her hatred for the humans grew. Eventually, she ordered the dragons to begin to attack them. Over time, it became more natural and I thought my mother's cruelty would never end, but it seemed that a human, whom I have been taught to hate for so long, showed us dragons light and freedom, so I have you people from this island to thank for that.
"And now, moving onto the matter of the Dragon's Game."
Hiccup's attention caught on in an instant. Toothless' eyes perked up on hearing this. He did not dare interrupt the princess, but even if he did, it would not make a difference. Hiccup and the others are already in way over their heads. There is no turning back.
Thuggory rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He had already heard of this explanation. From the day Auki chose him as his rider. But looking at Hiccup and the other viking teens from Berk, he wondered if his reaction was as priceless as theirs.
"The Dragon's Game is an organized event in which two sides of the dragon race battle one another," Drotning explained. "The cause can be anything. In terms of The League, which is Auki's side, and the Leiptr clan, which is Toothless' side, it has been an age long grudge. But a struggle over territory cannot truly be won until one side has been exterminated. As such, Toothless is all that remains of his clan."
The Night Fury averted his gaze to the ground immediately. His past had caught up with him, and there was no way he could run away from it any further. Looking into his riders eyes, Toothless could see a large mixture of unsure emotions.
Inside, Hiccup didn't know what to feel. Shocked to know that everyone in Toothless' family was killed. Or relieved that it wasn't the humans who were at fault.
"I will now explain the event," said Drotning. "There will be five parts to the event: speed, strategy, firepower, stealth and combat. Because both sides now have riders, the parts will be one-on-one battles between a pairs rider and dragon. Each side will choose only one dragon-rider pair who will represent them in each part. Whichever sides win three battles will be declared the winner."
Solemnly, Drotning turned to face Toothless. She knew that dragons understood the human language but could not speak it themselves. "I'm afraid that if you want to settle your matter with Auki, you will have to engage in the Dragon's Game."
Once again, Toothless' sharp fangs appeared, a soft growling noise coming from the dragon's throat. Drotning closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "However, because it is Thuggory who challenged the Leiptr, it must be their human leader who accepts."
This time, Drotning turns around to face Hiccup, looking Berk's young heir straight in his deep green eyes. "Hiccup, the choice of whether or not you go into battle is yours. The decision of any other does not matter. There is no turning back. Decide carefully."
By each word, Hiccup's brain slowly processed the words he was being spoken too. Everything else right now was all a blur. But the one thing that he is certain about is that he gets to pick whether or not they fight in a battle against Toothless' past. A downright deadly and dangerous battle at that.
Unsure, Hiccup turned to face Astrid who was helping a slowly conscious regaining Fishlegs. They looked at him with certain eyes. "It's your call, Hiccup," said Astrid. "Whatever you think is best for your dragon." Biting his lip, Hiccup turned to the twins and Snotlout. The twins look like their ready for a fight. Snotlout however, was looking elsewhere with his arms crossed.
Finally, Hiccup turned to look at Toothless. The dragon's eyes told him no, to avoid of all danger. Anxiety built inside Hiccup as he gritted his teeth. Toothless has been running long enough. He's been protecting me because he doesn't want to get me involved this whole time. Toothless had always fought for me. It's time I do the same. Battle wise.
Hiccup clenched his fists and said in his boldest voice, "I accept the challenge!" A smirk curled up Astrid's face. Fishlegs wasn't sure how to feel, patting Meatlug beside him. Snotlout and Hookfang snorted as the twins and their dragon knocked their heads together. Toothless lowered his head in worry before looking at his rider. Hiccup grinned at his dragon in reply, making Toothless perk up his ears.
Over on the other side, Thuggory cracked his knuckles as Kodran, Svala and Alf nodded to each other. Only Camicazi stared off into space, not daring to look at Hiccup in the eye.
"Very well," said Drotning. "Come to Dragon Island in exactly three days time. At sunrise. Bring one dragon-rider team for each of the events. Further explanations will be given then." With that, and with flaps of her wings, Drotning took off into the sky, disappearing as fast as she appeared.
Smirking, Thuggory eyed Hiccup. "I'll be looking forward to fighting you, Haddock. Be sure to survive. Until then, please lead the way to your Meade Hall. I'm famished."
Astrid stepped forward. "I'll take care of it," she said before walking over to Thuggory as Camicazi and the others followed suit. Their dragons flew off, Toothless trotting out of the arena. Hiccup guessed that it was to accept what had just happened.
Ruffnut stared at Hiccup for a moment. "So, long story short, we get to fight other dragons?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Fishlegs replied shakily. "And we're up against other dragon riders."
"Yes!" cried Tuffnut excitedly. "Finally, an arch nemesis for my dragon!" But despite all of that, something felt different. Confused, Hiccup turned towards the only one who remained silent: Snotlout.
"Whoa, Snotlout," Hiccup began to jeer. "What's wrong? I thought you'd be one of the most excited ones."
"Not when I have to do it for you," Snotlout scoffed in return. "I'm going to have to go to that fight, don't I?" Snotlout demanded, now raising his voice fiercely. "Why do I have to do this for you?"
Hiccup sighed. "Snotlout, that's not what I was trying to do-"
"Well technically, it's not for you, is it? It's for that dragon of yours, so that's even worse! Don't you think we all don't want to run into certain death? And the only reason we have to get involved in it was because you got us involved with that dragon of yours. Why? Because it can't fly!"
Hearing this, Hiccup immediately balled up his fists. Fishlegs' narrowed his eyebrows, his temper rising. "Snotlout, stop it."
"Why should I, when it was all Metal Leg's fault? He was the one who rendered his own dragon disabled," Snotlout continued to rant furiously.
"Snotlout, I said stop it!" Fishlegs roared. Snotlout gulped for a second, but refused to back down. "No! It's all because of him that we almost died so many times. No, I'm sick of risking my life for other people. The guilty one here is Hiccup so why do I have to put up with-"
In a swift moment of pure rage and speed, Hiccup thrusted his fist forward, landing a hard hit on Snotlout's face. Hookfang shot Hiccup a low growl. Stumbling backward and holding his jaw, Snotlout looked up to see Hiccup's body slightly shaking and noticed that Stoick's son was panting.
"He's losing it," Tuffnut whispered to Ruffnut.
"I think that's a first even for Hiccup."
Fishlegs looked at his friend worriedly. "Hiccup," he breathed.
Panting, Hiccup brought his fist down. "Don't you think I know that?!" he cried. Everyone else was slightly taken back. For Hiccup to raise his voice. For him to resort to violence. None of that could compare with the guilt that hung in Hiccup's heart.
Using his sleeve, Hiccup wiped off the tears that began to form at the corners of his eyes. "Don't you think I know that is' my fault Toothless can't fly. Don't you think I feel any guilt or pain? I'm his closest friend, and every time I look at that metal tail, I see how I helped him. But I also see how I hurt him. I know that more than anyone. I don't need you to tell me that, Snotlout!
"That's why I try to hard," Hiccup continued, "to help Toothless fly again! I'll stand beside him, no matter what you guys say. Because Toothless is the best friend I've ever had, and I want to help him overcome his past! This is why I'll fight with him!"
Scoffing, Snotlout straightened up. "That's more like it." Hiccup looked at the young viking jock curiously. Snotlout laughed boisterously. "I can't believe I actually got you to punch someone! I was hoping to see that you had some backbone to at least say something about it, but this was better than I expected. I didn't understand half of what you just said, but only the punch was good enough! Put a little more muscle into it. Though now with that determination plus these bad boys," Snotlout brought up his burly arms to emphasize this, "there is no way we could lose."
Now that he had calmed down, Hiccup chuckled slightly. "Punching Snotlout felt good."
"I know," Fishlegs agreed. "It's a good way to vent out your anger." At the entrance of the arena, unbeknownst to the viking teens, Toothless had watched the entire scene unfold. Grinning, Toothless merrily trotted away from the arena, looking for something to eat.
Because no matter what anyone else would say, Hiccup would only be his true rider. He and him had an unbreakable friendship. Which was why he believed that they would win.
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Well, that took longer than what I expected. Who cares, it was still fun to right! I just really wanted Hiccup to punch someone, so I just added that scene in with him and Snotlout.