"Why do the gods hate me? Some people lose an axe or a knife. But no, I have to lose a whole dragon." Hiccup had been looking for the dragon for hours, after sneaking out the back of the house. Seriously, Gobber visits once a week to have dinner with them and he still didn't know about the back door? He had been checking every possible inch of Raven's Point. And he hadn't even found one scale of a dragon that should have gone down over here. Frustrated, he trudged down a path, not looking where he was going. Swatting a tree branch out of his face, Hiccup stews in his own frustration, as he ponders what…

Whack!

"Ow!" Hiccup cried, looking for what hit him. Seeing the branch he had just attacked, his ever-curious eyes followed the branch, looking for the tree that he wanted to take his anger out on. Anger turned to confusion, turned to shock, as Hiccup say said tree was already smashed, the trunk barely hanging together, with a huge furrow in the ground, like something really heavy had been dragged there…or something that had fallen from a great height and skidded along the ground. The Night Fury!

More terrified than brave, Hiccup edged closer and closer to the end, picking up a couple Night Fury scales, things to show his father, to prove his "warrior spirit". Looking over the edge of the hill, Hiccup say the Night Fury. Terrified that it would attack, Hiccup ducked back down, waiting for the blast and he was greeted with…nothing. Weird, dragons were incredibly hostile towards everything, except each other. Why had it not fired? Hiccup raised his head just above the top of the hill again, checking the clearing. The Night Fury was right there, its legs and wings caught in the bola. Hiccup decided to look closer, and saw a strange substance on the ground. His body moved faster than his rational mind, and he dipped his hands into it. Upon touching it, Hiccup knew what it was. Night Fury blood. The force of impact and friction from the ground must have torn up its side. But that didn't register in Hiccup's mind just yet.

"It's right here. Yes, Thank Thor! This fixes everything!" Hiccup could not believe his good fortune. Suddenly, the legs started moving. Terrified, Hiccup backpedaled, holding his knife in front of him, as if it would repel it. However, the dragon did not rise. Hiccup advanced again, to see the large eye open, showing a green sclera with a slit pupil. "I'm gonna kill you, Dragon." Hiccup told the dragon, pulling out his dagger. "I'll cut out your black heart and bring it to my father. I am a Viking. I AM A VIKING!"

Hiccup raised the dagger over his head, preparing to plunge it into the soft underbelly of the beast. His left eye opened looking at the dragon. The eye Hiccup saw, didn't hold resentment, or anger. It was scared, terrified…of him. Hiccup snapped out of his stupor. He had shot down a Night Fury. He had hurt another creature. He had spilt its blood. When on hunting trips with his day, Hiccup never liked hunting. He had always resented hurting other beings, no matter what they had done to him.

"I did this." He muttered, sick to his stomach. No one deserved to have this done to them. Hiccup turned to leave, when he heard a whimper and heavy breathing. Turning back to the dragon, he made a split second decision. He cut the ropes that bound the dragon, and no sooner had he split the ropes that the dragon jumped on him, pinning him underneath it's powerful feet. Now, its eyes blazed with anger and hatred. It reared back and Hiccup prepared for the worst…

RROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARR

The dragon roared in Hiccup's ear, letting out all its frustration out in one, loud scream. The dragon was so close to Hiccup that his head was ringing with the sound, engraving it into his memory. Looking up, his head still ringing, Hiccup saw that the dragon had left.

Later that night, after putting in some hours in the forge, Hiccup opened his front door as quietly as possible, not wanting to talk to his father after today's realization. But his father's keen hearing was not simply a story, as Stoick called to him, when Hiccup was halfway up the stairs. "Hiccup, there is something I want to talk to you about." Grudgingly, Hiccup went back down the stairs to stand in front of his father. Stoick sighed heavily, before uttering the words that Hiccup had never expected to hear.

"You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."

Hiccup almost blanched. That was the last thing he wanted to hear. How was he supposed to go through this training to kill dragons when he couldn't bring himself to kill one when it is helpless? "Yeah, Dad, about that. I've been thinking." Hiccup said, trying to think up an argument, and he sees that Stoick is rolling his eyes, like he always does when Hiccup says those three words. "Maybe I should just stick to being a blacksmith? Take after the shop while Gobber is- Oof!" Hiccup grunted as the axe was thrust into his arms.

"This is serious, son." Stoick demanded, in a tone that told Hiccup this was going to go one way and only one way.

"You are my son. This is what you have to do. Don't disappoint me this time. Now, train hard. I'll be back. Hopefully."

Looking back up curiously, Hiccup asked, "Where are you going?"

"Another expedition to find the Dragon's Nest."

Hiccup hung his head. There were always less Vikings that came back from those trips. As much as his father annoyed him, Hiccup was scared that this time, his father wouldn't come back. "Alright. I'll see-" looking back up, he saw his father had left, "You. Later. I guess."

The next morning, Hiccup woke to a pounding on the front door. Waking up and trudging down stairs, he opened the door to reveal Gobber. "C'mon, the others are waiting. We should get going."

"Can't I just cover the stall?"

Gobber gave him a look that clear expressed No-you-cannot-just-cover-the-stall. Reluctantly, Hiccup went with Gobber, eventually just trailing behind him. Hoisting open the gate, Gobber turned the to the teens explained, "Welcome to Dragon Training. You have all been selected to undertake this training so that you may help fend off or, preferably, kill the dragons." Hiccup's stomach twisted at the thought. "Now, line up so I can begin the first lesson."

As they all lined up, Snotlout noticed that Hiccup had joined them. "Why the Hel is he here?"

"Because he wants to kill dragons, same as you." Gobber replied, knocking Snotlout in the head with his mace-hand. "Now, let's see who knows their dragons. Fishlegs, tell me the features of a Gronkle."

"Sporting an abnormally thick skin, the Gronkle will try to charge at their enemies or use their ability to shoot balls of magma at their opponents." Fishlegs listed off, as if he had memorized the Book of Dragons. Hiccup believed this was all too probable.

"Good. At least one of you knows, so let's get to it." Gobber flipped a release lever, opening the large gate nearby and releasing a Gronkle into their midst. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins immediately ran away. Hiccup, who was not expecting this was not fast enough to run away and had to dodge by falling backwards, while Astrid simply side-stepped the flying beast. Running into the wall, the Gronkle crumpled to the floor, however it quickly recovered and scooped a couple rocks in it's mouth, before hovering again, coming in a little slower, looking to see which it could kill. By now, everyone had recovered from their initial shock. Everyone had grabbed shields except for Hiccup. He didn't know why he hadn't gotten a shield, he just thought he had to prove himself. Charging the beast, he saw it turning. Thinking that he had an opening, he charged in, hoping to be able to find a way to attack the dragon without harming it. This left him blind to the dragon's mace-like tail, which knocked into his arm and side, sending him flying…right into Astrid, who was trying to attack at the same time. They collided and fell down, with Hiccup on top.

"Hiccup!" Gobber called from behind them, and Hiccup was prepared for some kind of reprimand from Gobber, after Astrid kicked his ass. Looking back, he saw instead that the dragon's mouth was open and glowing, like the dragon was about to…

Some deep instinct awoke in Hiccup. Time slowed to a crawl and he became hyperaware of his surroundings. He pushed Astrid out of the line of fire as he himself dodged to the side, the flaming rock struck the ground just centimeters away from Hiccup. Rolling to his feet, Hiccup was greeted with the dragon charging at him. He couldn't move this time, the rush of energy wasn't there. Suddenly, Gobber's hook hand came out of nowhere and pulled the Gronkle into the wall, stunning it enough for Gobber to throw it back into its cage.

"Remember, a dragon will always, always go for the kill. That is enough to wet your whistles for today. Same time tomorrow."

A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates. Trying to do this, find a couple jobs, work around with 20 billion other things right now. Please review. It helps me think of new ideas for this that might be cool. You guys are Awesome! YW20, Signing out.