Hiccup entered the Great Hall, where Gobber and the teenagers were discussing the lesson.
"Where did Astro go wrong?" questioned Gobber.
"I mistimed my summersault dive." explained Astro, "It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble."
"Yeah," nodded Ruffnut, "we noticed."
"No." protested Snotlout, "You were great. That was so Astro."
"Astro's right." said Gobber, "You have to be tough on yourselves."
Hiccup reached for a plate of chicken that was on a spot next to Snotlout. Snotlout shifted into the spot, making it obvious that Hiccup wasn't welcome at the table.
"That's fine, Snotlout," said Hiccup, "I wouldn't sit next to you even if you fixed that repelling smell." Snotlout heard the twins snickering. He glared at Hiccup as he shifted back into his spot when Hiccup walked past them to the neighbouring table.
Gobber gestured to Hiccup and asked, "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"
"Uh, she showed up?" said Ruffnut.
"She didn't get eaten." added Tuffnut.
Astro shook his head, "She's never where she should be."
Gee, thought Hiccup, I don't know why I wanna drop dead for some reason.
"Thank you, Astro." nodded Gobber, "We need to live and breathe this stuff." He pulled out a book and dropped it on the table, calling it, "The Dragon Manuel. Everything we know about every dragon we know of."
Thunder was heard outside.
"No attacks tonight." explained Gobber, "Study up."
"Wait!" said Tuffnut, who stopped balancing his knife on the tip of its blade, "You mean read?"
"While we're still alive?" added Ruffnut.
Snotlout slammed his fist on his plate, causing the crumbs of his supper to fly across the table, "Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?"
"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Fishlegs, "I've read it, like, seven times! There's this water dragon, that sprays boiling water at your face! And-and there's this other one, that buries itself-"
"Yes!" interrupted Tuffnut, making a hand gesture for "shut up" at Fishlegs, "That sounds great! There was a chance I was gonna read that."
"But, now…." added Ruffnut.
Snotlout stood up, "You guys read, I'll go kill stuff."
Tuffnut shoved his sister's face into her food as he scrambled to follow Snotlout. Ruffnut chased after him. Fishlegs followed to show off his knowledge.
Hiccup shyly walked up to Astro, "So…. I guess…. We'll share?"
"Read it!" said Astro, quickly leaving as Hiccup came closer.
"Oh!" said Hiccup, "All mine then. Ok… so I guess I'll see you uh…."
Astro slammed the doors as he left.
Hiccup finished her sentence, "tomorrow."
Hiccup sat at the table. She waited until everyone else had gone to their homes before she opened the book.
She read the book aloud, "'Dragon Classifications: Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class.'"
She turned the page and saw a sketch of a dragon with a broad body and a large mouth.
"'Thunderdrum: This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled the Thinderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on site.'"
She turned the page and saw a long, slender-bodied dragon with wings that made it look somewhat like a moth.
"'Timberjack: This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full-grown trees. Extremely dangerous. Kill on site.
"'Scaldrun: Sprays scalding water at its victims. Extremely dangerous-'"
Hiccup yelped in surprise as a loud thunderclap was heard outside.
She gathered herself together, and kept reading.
"'Changewing: Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on site.
"'Gronckle, Zippleback, the Skrill, Boneknapper, Whispering Death.'"
Hiccup's imagination began playing tricks on her as the sketches on the paper seemed to be coming to life.
Hiccup's voice began to tremble as she continued reading.
"'Burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside out. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on site. Kill on site. Kill on site….'"
As Hiccup reached the last page, she noticed that it was nearly blank. All she noticed was the name and a few sentences.
"'Night Fury: Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you.'"
Hiccup pulled out her sketchbook and set it on the book. She began to ponder everything that happened with her encounter with the Night Fury.
The only thing that really confused her was the fact that, she was the only one who had seen the dragon, and was still alive. The Night Fury could've killed her. He had her pinned to the ground. He had every right to end the risk of being found and killed. But he let her live.
Why did you? she kept asking, Why risk being discovered just to let me live? Why am I so important to you dragons? What do you want from me?
Hiccup sighed and buried her head in her arms. Why did I have to be born like this? What did I do to deserve this curse?
Stoick examined his map as his small armada sailed along the fog that outlined Hellheim's Gate.
"I can almost smell them. We're close."
Stoick stared at the fog for a few moments before commanding, "Take us in."
The three ships entered the fog.
For a few moments, there was silence. Then, there was a loud roar, followed by fire and screaming.
The fleet was being attacked by dragons.
"Where is she?" the dragons asked repeatedly. But the Vikings couldn't understand them. Only Hiccup could.
After realizing that Hiccup was nowhere to be found, the dragons began burning the ship.