AN: Back! Sorry for the late chapter, but here it is! Enjoy!
Song: I don't know, any epic Fight Music you might have!
Disclaimer: Own HTTYD, I do not.
Brandon's POV
While Jack was passed out on the ground, Hiccup and I tended to Toothless and Phoenix respectively, feeding the two of them and then quietly thinking about just what sort of a mess we had gotten into. I get shot down, we befriend dragons, and now, to top it all off, Jack had joined us. The two of us were now stuck in an unfamiliar land, with no way of getting back. I sighed deeply as the true weight of our predicament sunk in, just a little bit. Finally, Jack stirred in his state, slowly regaining consciousness before sitting up, done with his dirt nap. "Ugh, my head," he groaned, rubbing the side of his temple.
"Lookie who's finally come back to the land of the living," I chuckled.
"How long was I out?" Jack asked, standing up slowly.
"About an hour," I replied casually.
Jack looked around the clearing as he continued to rub his head. Once his eyes passed over the dragons, however, he did a double take, his pupils widening to saucers. "So… I wasn't hallucinating, huh. You're really friends with dragons?"
"Yep," was all I said as I walked over to Phoenix, feeding him another fish. "He won't let me touch him, but at least he or Toothless won't kill me." Jack just nodded, unable to take his eyes off of Phoenix. "His name's Phoenix, by the way."
"Nice name." Jack commented.
"Yeah. Well, we should get back to the house and get a place for you to sleep, 'cause I ain't got none." I smirked.
We headed home, the two of us joking and asking questions as usual. The rest of the day after that was quite uneventful. The next morning, we received a knock on the door right after breakfast. Jack was shaving with a knife, so I went from the table to answer it. Opening it, I was greeted by an irate Hiccup. "Didn't you remember? Dragon Training today. You're late." I put on a frown, before I thought of something that brought a grin to the surface of my face. "One sec." I said, before walking a few steps back into the house.
"Oh Jaaaaacck! Bring your knife, we're gonna have some fun," I laughed maniacally in my head.
Ten minutes later, Jack and I had joined the rest of the group in front of a maze of wooden walls, creating a labyrinth. I did not like the look of this, not one bit. Gobber signaled for the exercise to begin by opening a cage on the other side, releasing another dragon. This one had a massive head, with slit eyes. It was a light cyan color, but what was really interesting was its tail. Lots of little spikes stuck out from every spot possible. From what I had learned from Hiccup, this was the Deadly Nadder. The nine of us immediately scattered through the maze, into small groups. Jack and Ripper stuck with me, while Snotlout and Astrid went another way. The twins were another group, while Fishlegs and Hiccup were going solo. Gobber began to bark instructions. "Today is all about attack! Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter." Through the walls, I heard the one and only, patented, Fishlegs squeal-scream, and quickly drew my own conclusions as to what had just happened. Right after, I heard this: "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" in Fishlegs' voice. I quietly chuckled to that as my group of three forged on through the maze.
"Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike." Gobber continued to give us tips. Right after Gobber finished his sentence, we bumped into the twins. Nodding quickly, the five of us turned… to confront the Nadder. The five of us quickly fell into line right in front of its face, directly in front of its giant horn. 'This must be the blind spot.' I mused. As we moved in sync with the Nadder's head, Ruff and Tuff got a little too close for comfort.
"Do you ever bathe?" Ruffnut asked, a disgusted expression on her face.
"If you don't like it, find your own blind spot," Tuffnut quipped.
Ruffnut, clearly frustrated, said "How about I give you one!", before the two of them broke out into a scuffle, shoving each other and moving around loudly. The Nadder reared its head back, knowing where we were. "Guys!" Ripper whispered. The twins broke up, looking back to the Nadder. It suddenly lunged at us, leaving us scrambling over each other as the Nadder's jaws closed down on air.
"Blind spot? Yes. Deaf spot? Not so much," Gobber quipped as we sprinted past him. I saw Hiccup saunter back over to Gobber and start talking to him again, not really caring about our training. Our little group suddenly rendezvoused with Snotlout and Astrid crouching behind a wall. They motioned for us to join them, so we did, and with Astrid calling Hiccup over, the six of us were one group for now. Astrid looked around the corner, scanning for a second before suddenly ducking back in. She promptly did a silent somersault across the gap between our wall and the one next to us. Snotlout copied her, while Jack and I simply ran across. As we did, I saw the Nadder down the hall, facing the other way. Finally, it was Hiccup's turn. He attempted the somersault, and got the first part right. He then proceeded to lose all momentum and fall flat on his ass, the clanking of his shield on the rock floor alerting the Nadder. I facepalmed quietly, before running after everyone else, as we all tried to flee from the Nadder, with it in hot pursuit. The leading elements of our group, Astrid, Snotlout, and I, rounded a corner and saw the Nadder a distance away. Astrid took a step forward, but was cut off by Snotlout, smirking as he said, "Watch out babe, I'll take care of this." I simply rolled my eyes as Snotlout hefted his hammer at the Nadder. He whiffed by about ten feet. Astrid glared at Snotlout, while I busted my gut at his epic failure, the Nadder making a sound similar to my laughter, before it opened its mouth. The three of us got our asses in gear and started running for our lives as the fire came from its mouth. Snotlout made one of the lousiest excuses as we ran. "The sun was in my eyes, Astrid! What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I could do that, but I don't have time right now!" I almost collapsed from laughing as we ran, Snotlout heading off into a different corridor while Astrid and I ran together. I heard a crashing sound, and looked behind us. The Nadder had climbed on top of one of the wooden barricades, but its weight had caused it to topple over, starting a chain reaction just like dominoes. The whole maze was falling apart. Astrid jumped up onto the top of one of the walls to try and not get crushed, while I just ran across the ground, dodging and weaving the walls as they were toppled around us. Hiccup was in our path, and Astrid shouted his name as she landed on him. I winced at the impact, but I also heard catcalls from the twins, obviously about Astrid and Hiccup. The Nadder had recovered from the maze toppling, and was advancing on the two of them as they lay tangled on the ground. Astrid noticed, and began trying to get her axe out of Hiccup's shield, which it had gotten stuck in. After a few seconds and lots of complaining from Hiccup, Astrid got her axe, albeit with the shield still attached to it, and swung it in a 180 at the Nadder who was almost upon them. The axe-shield connected solidly with the Nadder's jaw, shattering the shield and sending the Nadder into a daze, stumbling around wildly as Astrid turned to face Hiccup, who was still laying on the stone floor.
"Is this some kind of a joke to you?!" Astrid yelled, getting up in Hiccup's face as he tried to stand up. "Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on." She pointed a finger at Hiccup and then stormed off, obviously angry with Hiccup's lackadaisical approach to Dragon Training. As everyone else left, I met back up with Jack, who had found Snotlout while the maze was collapsing, and followed him. "Good job out there," I patted his back. "You too, I ain't ever seen someone dodge like that before," he returned the favor. "Well, they weren't being chased through a maze by a dragon." I grinned. Hiccup walked back over to us, and beckoned for us to follow him.
A long walk later, we were back at the cove. Toothless was hanging from a tree, sleeping in a manner that strongly resembled a bat. Phoenix was by the water, staring at the fish. Hiccup sat down on a rock, while Jack and I investigated the wreck of Lightning for the first time, looking for anything usable, especially fuel for Thunder. "Oh yeah, I forgot to give you this," Jack suddenly mentioned, before pulling something out of his pocket. As it turned out, he produced my iPhone from his jeans pocket. My eyes widened as I snatched it from Jack, turning it over in my hand slowly, before also grabbing the earbuds that Jack had also produced. I quickly plugged them in and started playing my jams, 80's music. It calmed me more than I thought it would, my shoulders sagged and I went limp, just soaking in the familiar sounds. Sounds from a different time. Meanwhile, Hiccup was drawing in the sand next to the lake with a stick, and Toothless had waddled over to investigate, before suddenly running off. The three of us thought nothing of it, before a sudden crash made our heads swivel. Toothless came sauntering back, this time with a branch from a nearby tree grasped firmly in his jaw. On two legs, he began to walk across the sand, dragging the branch behind him. After thirty seconds of seemingly random walking, he dropped the tree limb, satisfied with his work. Hiccup tried to get up, but as he stepped on a line, Toothless suddenly got into an attack stance, growling in a gruff tone. Hiccup took his foot off the line, and Toothless turned normal again. Hiccup tried this again, and got the same reaction. When Hiccup stepped over the line to another blank space, Toothless didn't react. Hiccup seemed to get the idea, and began to do a sort of dance between the lines, laughing like a giddy kid on the last day of school. After a few seconds, he got right in front of Toothless, and Hiccup froze, feeling Toothless snort on his back. He turned around slowly, locking eyes with Toothless. Hiccup then slowly extended his arm to touch Toothless for the first time, but Toothless shied away. Hiccup, not one to give up, turned his head and shut his eyes as he reached out again for Toothless. Jack and I tensed, expecting Hiccup to become a very young amputee. But Toothless moved his head forwards.
They connected. They held it for a few seconds, before Toothless darted off again, leaving a dazed Hiccup in his wake. All of a sudden, I was lifted up from behind, into the air. I twisted around to see Phoenix holding the scruff of my shirt in his teeth, before he launched me up into the air. In the span of a second, I was up in the air, before landing right behind Phoenix's horns. Grabbing onto the spindly horns, I rubbed Phoenix's head, happy that he would finally let me touch him as well. Phoenix spread his wings, uttering the cry of a cannon.
He then proceeded to imitate a cannonball by rocketing into the air, with me holding on for dear life.
AN: Holy shit, that chapter was EPIC! See ya'll later!