It's been a week since I posted anything, so here's a new chapter!

Chapter Four: The Games Begin

Dragons weren't supposed to be afraid of fire.

But when fire was the same thing that tore through your home and killed everyone you knew at the time, Toothless couldn't help but have a slight fear for the firepower that dragons possessed.

The Night Fury found himself on a rather rocky island. Flames were everywhere he looked. Even though he had fire resistant scales, he could feel the heat licking at his skin. Looking down, he realized that he had became smaller, and that he still had both of his tail fins.

With a loud roar, Toothless was snapped back to reality. A large purple dragon landed in front of him. Electricity cackled from it's scales. 'Well, if it isn't young little Turlough,' the Skrill cooed.

The young Night Fury growled in response, his small yet sharp fangs quickly appearing. 'Get off our island!' he roared. Blindly, Toothless shot forward, only to be slammed hard in the stomach by the Skrill's flailing tail. Toothless was sent backwards, digging his feet into the ground to stop himself from sliding further.

The Skrill was raising up his head in satisfaction when he suddenly received a blast of fire at his side. Shrieking, it stumbled for a moment before quickly regaining his footing. In front of Toothless, a large midnight black dragon appeared, protectively standing there.

'Father!' a young Toothless exclaimed.

'Don't touch my son!' the older Night Fury growled. 'Auki, your battle is with me.'

'Your boy was the one that charged first,' Auki sneered. 'Young, optimistic, reckless. Looks like he'll grow up to be a fine warrior in the Leiptr Clan, that young Turlough. That is, if I don't kill him first.'

Growling, Toothless' father shot forward. The two dragons tumbled down the rocky landscape. With his jaws open, Auki dug his fangs into the scales of his opponent. Toothless' father let out an agonizing roar. Grunting, Toothless slowly staggered to his feet, only to feel a large surge of pain shoot through one of this thighs and the young dragon crumpled down onto his knees once again.

Barely being able to keep his eyes open, Toothless looked up to see a Deadly Nadder follow through a flick of it's tail, sending spikes across the terrain. Another Night Fury pounced onto it, forcing it backwards.

Looking around, Toothless noticed that every single moving Night Fury was engaged in combat with another dragon species. Many dragons lied on the ground, lifeless and unmoving. The majority of them were young hatchlings who were still under their parents' care. One of the dragons lying on the ground near Toothless was the one he would play with everyday. They would have races to see who could fly the fastest. They would sneak up on each other and see who would make a better hunter.

Toothless hardly noticed another dark figure looming over him. As he lost consciousness, all the young Night Fury could hear was the roars of battle and the flickering flames of a bloody struggle.

When Toothless came to, he felt a familiar warmth around him, only to realize that he was wrapped in a pair of wings. He wriggled himself out of it's grasp. The landscape in front of him, he no longer recognized it being his home. Nests were reduced to ashes. Countless Night Furies laid dead on the ground. Some fires were still burning. But Auki and his colleagues were no longer in sight.

Beside him, Toothless heard a soft moan. A Night Fury was on the ground, it's wings had shielded him from the battle. Recognizing it's scent, Toothless nudged the dragon's head gently. 'Mother! Mother, get up!'

The young dragon looked up, trying to sight his father. But something in his heart told him that his father was among the fallen casualties. Slowly, Toothless' mother's eyes fluttered open.

'Tur...lough...,' she managed weakly as if she was running out of breath. Toothless' ears perked up. 'Yes, mother. I'm right here.'

'You can't stay here anymore. No one will be here to take care of you,' said Toothless' mother. 'Almost everyone in our clan is gone. And I'm sure I will be next.' The young Night Fury was suddenly filled with anxiety and fear. 'No! You can't die! You can't just leave me!'

Groaning softly, Toothless' mother gently nudged her son's head. 'As much as I don't want to, I'm afraid I've received too many wounds to continue any longer.'

'I'm not going to accept it if I have to live alone for the rest of my life!' Toothless desperately continued as he pressed his head to his mother's face. She snorted gently. 'You won't be alone. No one was born to be.' Looking into her son's eyes, the Night Fury tried to give him an encouraging look. 'Fly towards the sun. Auki shouldn't be able to pursue you there. His numbers have been reduced to him and four more of his elites. But I'm sure you'll cross paths with him again. Until then, Turlough, please live.'

'Towards the sun?' Toothless repeated. 'But in that direction, the humans live there! It's a kill or be killed world amidst those islands. There's no way I can survive because I won't have anyone to help me.'

'You'll pull through,' his mother said reassuringly. 'I believe that even in humans, there is love in them. Though there are most humans who would slay a dragon on sight, I'm sure that there is at least one who won't do so. And I'm sure that single human will help you. Your claws don't have to be stained with blood, Turlough. When faced with the decision, for my sake, please choose to love rather than to kill. Once the time is right, I know you will be able to end this struggle.'

Finally, the Night Fury's eyes slid shut. Toothless felt his heart sink into the ground. 'Mother?' he began frantically, using his head to nudge the still body over and over. Inside, he already knew that his mother was gone. But a part of him refused to accept it. In great anguish and despair, Toothless turned and roared towards the sky.

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Toothless' eyes sharply shot open. His gaze was directed in front of him, towards a sleeping figure on a wooden bed. Lifting his head up, Toothless realized that he was on his "bed" in the Haddock Household. That memory again, huh? Looking to a sleeping Hiccup, Toothless snorted to himself. I guess mother was right.

Slowly, Hiccup began to stir. The young boy rubbed his eyes and propped himself onto his elbows before sitting up and faced his dragon. Toothless gave his rider his signature grin, in which Hiccup smiled in reply. "Today's the day, isn't it, bud?"

Hiccup threw his legs over the bed and stood up. Outside, it was still dark. Hiccup sighed before heading down the stairs to get a bite. Toothless followed his rider. "It's a good thing that the meeting with between the Hairy Hooligans, the Bog Burglars and the Meatheads were moved elsewhere. That saves me to come up with an excuse for my dad in which I'll be gone for the next couple of days or so."

Toothless dug into a pile of fresh fish in front of him. Hiccup sat at the table, pecking his roasted chicken, deep in thought. "Thuggory, Camicazi and the others from The League left with their parents. But they'll show up today. So we have to be there too."

Finishing up his meal, Hiccup mounted Toothless and the duo got ready to leave. Once Hiccup was outside, he noticed the rest of his team was already there. Astrid with Stormfly, Snotlout with Hookfang, Fishlegs with Meatlug and the twins with Barf and Belch. This was the force that was going to set Toothless free from his past.

"I hate getting up early," Tuffnut grumbled.

"Yeah, because you barely even have the strength to do that," his sister jeered. Grinning, Astrid stepped forward. "Are you sure you're ready to deal with this so early in the day?"

"Unfortunately, I am," Hiccup muttered before straightening up. "Come on. Let's get going. The princess says that we have to be at Dragon Island by sunrise."

Getting on their dragons, the viking teens took to the sky. Snotlout gripped Hookfang confidently. "I hope I get to go first. Make sure you take a good look at me and Hookfang, Astrid."

A laugh escaped Hiccup's lips when he heard Astrid groan. Hiccup's expression darkened for a moment. He hoped that they would still be able to laugh like this after it was all over. Toothless seemed to have sensed his rider's mood. A gentle purr escaped him. Hiccup beamed at his dragon. "Don't worry. We'll win this thing."

Toothless found reassurance in his rider's words. He's right. We have love, bonds and friendship on our side as well. There's no way we can lose.

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When the viking teens reached Dragon Island, it was just a few moments before the sun's rays began to spread from the horizon. By the time Hiccup slid off Toothless, Thugory and the other members of the League were already there to greet them. Of course, Toothless and Auki growled at each other before Hiccup had to redirect his dragon elsewhere before the two attacked each other again.

Soon, Drotning emerged from the depths of the mountain on the familiar island. Hiccup looked around as if it had only been yesterday he fought Alvin and his men on this island. Inside, he wondered if he ever had to do it again. Drotning landed in front of all the dragons and their riders. "I see that all of you managed to make it on time," she said in her usual majestic voice. "I called you here early since the location for the first duel will not take place here."

The dragons and their riders looked at each other in confusion. Swiftly, Drotning took off. "Follow me. Our destination is what the humans call Breakneck Bog."

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Hiccup didn't think that he would have to return to the mysterious island so soon. But all the mist and fog seemed so familiar, along with the humid air. And he was specially aware of his left foot and if anything came near it, Hiccup would suddenly whip his head to face it or jerk.

Thuggory was the first from the League to notice this and he snickered. "What's the matter, Haddock. Scared of the fog?"

"I'm just trying to keep my leg on at all times," Hiccup muttered in reply. "In case you haven't heard of Smothering Smokebreath dragons."

When Drotning turned to face the two boys, both of them hushed up, even though their dragons took a little longer to cease their growls. Once again, Drotning proceeded to explain the rules.

"I will be the judge of the duels, and I will choose the order of the duels, but you will be able to choose who will participate in it. And the first duel will be..." As Drotning prepared to announce the first part of the Games, Hiccup held his breath.

"Stealth," she finished. "The fog and mist emphasizes this. Please take a few moments to talk amongst yourselves and send up your representatives. And a Hideous Zippleback does count as a single dragon, so their riders count as one as well. Also please keep in mind that each dragon-rider pair can only participate once so choose carefully."

Nodding, Hiccup turned to face his team. "Alright guys, who would be best suited for this event?"

"We have Toothless," said Astrid. "And he's a pretty stealthy dragon."

"Stealthy enough to sneak around Outcast Island without being caught," Snotlout added. "And since we ran into a Monstrous Nightmare out of nowhere, I would say that Hookfang can be rather stealthy."

"I would say we keep Meatlug out of this," Fishlegs spoke up. "She's not that fast and won't be much help. I don't think Stormfly would suit well either."

"And I think reserving Toothless and I for a much more dangerous event would make more sense," said Hiccup. "That leaves us with the twins and Barf and Belch."

"I doubt they understand the situation," groaned Astrid. Tuffnut heard this and was looking at her suspiciously. "Yes, we do! We just have to go around and blow up the other dragon, right?"

"But we have to do that by being sneaky," Ruffnut continued enthusiastically.

"Yeah, but I think I'm sneakier than you," Tuffnut sneered.

Fishlegs, Astrid and Hiccup exchanged glances. "They actually got it." Sighing, Hiccup straightened up. "Alright. Ruff, Tuff, don't let us down!"

Barf and Belch strode forward, clarifying Leiptr's choice of the participant. From The League's side, the boy Hiccup recognized as Kodran came forward on his dragon, the Changewing. Hiccup gulped. This wasn't a startling choice. But it would be difficult to fight an opponent you can't see at all.

"Take a good look at your opponent's face and remember it," said Drotning. "Be sure to attack the right one and not any others. I will now lead you to your starting places. Do not move until I have given the signal to start." One by one, Drotning led the competitors into the island.

When they were left alone, Hiccup could her Thuggory's chuckling. "Your pair is doomed," he said arrogantly. "Kodran's dragon, Cambire, is a Changewing. There's no way those twins could beat them."

"We'll see about that, Thuggory," Hiccup spat in return. "Then we'll see who's laughing." Simultaneously, Auki shot a glare at Toothless. 'Your rider seems pretty confident.'

'Of course he is! He and the others trained all our dragons on their own, so don't underestimate us,' Toothless retorted. Soon, Drotning returned. "The spectators are allowed to fly into the air and watch the battle. However, there must be zero inference or their competitors will be disqualified. Maximum contact is by dialogue and you can only communicate to your side. Any attempt in distracting the other side on purpose will also result in disqualification. You may follow the battle after it has begun."

With that, Drotning flapped her wings and flew high above Breakneck Bog where she can get a good view of the fog-filled setting. "Stealth match," she declared in a stern and clear voice. Sweat rolled down Hiccup's face as he anticipated the upcoming skirmish.

Drotning continued. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut Thorsten and Barf and Belch, versus, Kodran and Cambire. Begin duel!"

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Who will win? Ruffnut and Tuffnut or Kodran?! This is only the first battle so the stakes aren't that high. Maybe.