OH MY GOSH! I AM SOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! Here's a preview at my longest chapter so far (It's a long preview).
Chapter 7: Dragon Training
Aiden's POV
The gate swung open and Gobber announced, "Welcome to Dragon Training!"
I heard Astrid mumble, "No turning back." Maybe she's more nervous than she let on.
As for myself, I have no idea what to do here. I understand that the Viking haven't become friends with the dragons yet and that I'm expected to learn how to fight them, but I don't want to. Curse the littler kids at the orphanage for making me watch that movie so many times that I've memorized it. I'll prove it. Cue Tuffnut for talking about burns, followed by Ruffnut, then Astrid.
"I hope I get some serious burns," Tuffnut exclaims.
"I'm hoping for some mauling, like, on my shoulder, or lower back," his twin chimes in.
Astrid sarcastically remarks, "Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it."
Told you so. But then I hear, "Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain– love it."
Alright–I lied. I don't have the entire thing memorized.
Aside from Astrid, who looks like she is trying desperately to keep a straight face on, the others look at him disgustedly.
"Oh great, who let him in?" Tuffnut says.
"Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village." Gobber shouts, trying to get the class started.
"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury so, does that disqualify him or…" Snotlout mocks.
The other teens laugh and Tuffnut makes one last jab, saying, "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?"
I pat him on the shoulder, and make my way to the middle of the arena, where the others are gathering. The training arena is basically a large hole in the ground that is covered by a chain net. The floor is slick with morning dew and along the walls are large doors, that every once in a while creak and shift.
Behind me I can hear Gobber trying to cheer Hiccup up.
"Don't worry you're small and your weak. That will make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking-like teens instead."
What! Whatever happened to natural selection?
Gobber pushes Hiccup towards me in the line and starts telling us about the dragons.
"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight."
He walks to each door, telling us about each dragon inside.
"The Deadly Nadder."
"Speed: 8, Armor: 16." I heard Fishlegs butt in with some stats.
"The Hideous Zippleback."
"+11 Stealth times 2."
"The Monstrous Nightmare."
"Firepower: 15."
"The Terrible Terror."
"Attack: 8, Venom: 12."
Gobber finally had enough. "Can you stop that?! …And the Gronkle."
"Jaw Strength: 8," Fishlegs whispered to Hiccup.
Gobber placed his hand on the door's lever. Snotlout took notice of this and panicked.
"Whoa, whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?"
Gobber simply replied, "I believe in learning on the job." And with that he opened the doors.
A large brown object came bursting out into the arena. It looked like three large boulders glued end to end. It had four short, stubby legs and two small wings that were beating vigorously. This was the Gronkle.
We all scatter, trying to find a place with some cover.
"Today is about survival. If you get blasted," I heard Gobber announce, "you're dead. Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?"
"A doctor?" Hiccup, sarcastic as always.
"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs, never could get out of his statistical mind.
"A shield." Astrid, the one who has all the answers if they have to do with fighting dragons.
"Shield, go." Obviously the correct answer.
"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield."
I quickly grab a shield with a lightning bolt on it. I can hear the twins bickering over who should take the skull shield and who should take the flower shield. Suddenly, a large, flaming hunk of lava shatters both shields, leaving the twins on the ground.
"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you're out. Those shields are good for another thing, noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."
We all quickly start beating our weapons and shields together. The Gronkle started to shake and became clumsy.
"All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronkle have?"
As I ran to find a safer spot, Snotlout shouted, "Five?"
But Fishlegs was quick to give the correct answer. "No, six!"
"Correct, six! That's one for each of you!"
Then the Gronkle took notice of Fishlegs and blasted his shield apart.
"Fishlegs, out. Hiccup, get in there!"
As Hiccup started to come out, the Gronkle shot at him but missed and hit the wall behind him. Hiccup dove back behind the wooden crate.
The only ones left now were me, Hiccup, Astrid, and Snotlout. I heard Snotlout start to flirt with Astrid but she looks more focused on the training exercise.
"So yeah, I've moved into my parent's basement," Snotlout claimed. "You should come by some time to workout. You look like you workout." As Snotlout said that, Astrid cart wheeled to the side just as the Gronkle shot in her direction. Her movement left Snotlout exposed, and his shield was obliterated, and I watched him go flying in the other direction.
"Snotlout! You're done!" Gobber confirmed.
Astrid rolled to the side, until she was now standing beside Hiccup. "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?" He said, doing his best to sound cool, with an awkward half-smile on his face.
"Nope," Astrid said quickly. "Just you."
She ran out of the way, leaving Hiccup vulnerable and alone. Just at that moment, the Gronkle's fire collided with Hiccup's shield and, with luck, managed to not blast it to pieces, but instead send it rolling across the arena.
"One shot left," Gobber pointed out while Hiccup ran after the rolling shield.
The Gronkle was now advancing on him. I ran to try and help my friend and saw that he was cornered against the wall.
"Hiccup!" Gobber yelled out.
The Gronkle was just about to fire that shot that was sure to be Hiccup's doom. With a sudden burst of speed, I threw myself at the dragon, causing it to miss Hiccup. Gobber had run up in the nick of time, and stuck his prosthetic hook hand into the dragon's mouth and was pulling the Gronkle toward it's cage.
"And that's six," Gobber said struggling with the dragon, "Go back to bed, you overgrown sausage!" He shot at it, as he secured it back into its cage. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry. By the way, good job Astrid and Aiden. You both won this round," Gobber says. I feel a little sick at the prospect of winning these training sessions and killing the Monstrous Nightmare. He turned to me and the other teens, who were all out of breath, and said, "But, remember, a dragon will always," he turned to Hiccup, who was leaning on the wall, rubbing his right arm, "… always go for the kill."
He pulled him up and Hiccup looked at the smoldering hole in the stone wall that the dragon had made.
Hiccup's POV
"So why didn't you?" I questioned out loud, as I held the remains of the bola that had held the Night Fury.
Putting them down I wandered in the general direction I had seen the black dragon fly off to. I walked into a small tunnel and at the end, was a cove with a lake and waterfall. It was actually quite pretty. But, no dragons. What was I thinking that I would find the Night Fury? This is a dragon! And dragons fly! It was probably long gone by now.
"Well this was stupid."
But as I turn to leave, I notice some small, shiny, black rocks. I knell down and pick one up. These aren't rocks! There scales.
Just as that thought forms in my head a black blur flies past me. I look over and see the Night Fury clawing viciously at the canyon walls. It slides down and tries to glide off but can't seem to go more than a few feet. It crash lands on the far side of the lake.
My eyes widen and I can't help the grin that splits my face for a second or two. The I see a ledge where I can watch without being seen. I hop down and look at the dragon.
The Night Fury takes off and gets about half way up the side of the cove before crashing. It tries again, but gets the same results.
I remember my sketch book and pull it out to study the mysterious creature.
The dragon tries to escape the natural prison once more and fails. It lands and starts to roar and shriek in defeat.
Quickly, I draw the basic body design on the Night Fury. Blunt head, thick neck, streamline body, two large wings, two triangular fins above its rear legs, a long tail, and two tail fins.
Looking up from my rushed sketch, I ask the most obvious question. "Why don't you just fly away?"
The dragon shoots one of its famous plasma bombs in frustration. I look at its tail. One tail fin. I look at my drawing and erase the left tail fin before the meaning of this sinks in.
I tore off its tail fin.
I watch the dragon try to fly off again. Once again, it crashes, by the edge of the lake this time. It notices a fish and tries to catch it, but exhaustion has taken over its body and the fish escape.
Guilt floods through me and the grip on my charcoal slackens. Too late, I realize this and try to catch the falling object. It falls onto a rock below, alerting the Night Fury of my presence.
It looks up at me, not with the eyes of a mindless killer, but almost contemplative.
I watch the dragon until I notice the storm clouds coming in and decide it would probably be best if I head back.
Aiden's POV
We were all sitting inside the Great Hall talking. Well, almost all of us. Hiccup had gone missing right after the training lesson. I had looked everywhere but couldn't find him. I decided to ask the others.
"Have any of you guys seen Hiccup?"
They all gave me blank stares. I waited, hoping for a positive response.
Finally, Fishlegs answered for the whole gang, "No."
Snotlout seemed to want to say something negative now. "Not that I blame him. After how badly he messed up in training today, he probably ran off and hid in a hole."
Ruffnut snickered at that and Tuffnut chimed in, "Just proves how useless he really is."
Fishlegs looked like he was faking the smile on his face now and Astrid looked like she was trying to keep her face looking impassive.
I wanted to ask a question that had been on my mind since I first saw the movie. I decided to go ahead and ask.
"Why do you guys hate Hiccup so much?"