Wow. I have not worked on this at all. :( Now I'll be giving all my wonderful and patient readers a treat for Christmas! (Or whatever holiday you celebrate!) Now we hear some explanations.
SUPER IMPORTANT! THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO AngelsDevilsXx, WHO SENT ME A REALLY NICE PM! :)
Chapter 4
The two sides of the room looked in shock each other for a moment, as the Vikings stared at their heir in the arms of what had been a Night Fury moments ago.
"FREEZE!" A voice echoed through the room suddenly, and a flash of white light, similar to the one that transported them appeared in the middle of the room. In its place stood a figure... who was facing the other way.
"What the-? Where did everyone go?" The figure looked around in confusion, before spotting the bewildered audience behind her. "Oh! There you are!"
It was a girl. She had shoulder-length brown hair with bangs, and a prominent nose. Her purple eyes blinked, and her mouth quirked up into a grin. The most noticeable feature, however, were the black and purple scales crowning her forehead and cheeks.
"Well then, introductions first. I am Spyrite Vesta, and I am the one who brought you here." She said, dipping into a curtsy. Hiccup thought back to the pillow. It had been signed, S.V. That probably stood for Spyrite's name, meaning she was the one who came up with the chair prank.
"Wait, but didn't that Darcy girl bring us here?" Fishlegs asked, remembering the blonde girl that had appeared before them in a similar way.
"Oh, well Darcy was the one with the plan and idea to bring you here. I'm the one with the space manipulation who opened the temporal portal that locked onto your life signatures to teleport you here!" Seeing their dumbstruck looks, she sighed. "I'm the one who made the magic white light that brought you here."
"Ohhhh," the Vikings all nodded in understanding.
"So are you a witch?" Astrid asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing at Spyrite.
"No, of course not." Spyrite rolled her eyes, before muttering under her breath. "Not in this dimension, anyway. Truthfully, I'm a dragon." There was shocked silence for a moment, and then the Vikings remembered the fact that their enemies could apparently turn into humans. They turned to look over at the dragons again, and this time it was Stoick who questioned Hiccup.
"Hiccup, what's going on?" Hiccup opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to think of how to explain this confusing mess, but luckily she was saved by Spyrite.
"Well, basically everything is answered by the movie, so you guys just sit down and watch that." The Vikings nodded, and went to sit down, but Stoick didn't move.
"Well, before I continue your muvi-" "Movie." "I demand to know why my daughter was wearing that thing's shirt!" At this, Hiccup blushed, and buried her face in Aedus's chest, much to the Night Fury's pleasure.
"Well that's cause-" Spyrite started, before a ping suddenly echoed through the room, and she pulled a slim black rectangle, that had a picture of Aedus on the back of it. (AN: That actually is my phone case! Its so amazing!) She looked at it for a minute, lightly tapping it, before her eyes widened and her mouth dropped.
"CHRONOS! What the Hades does that mean?!" Spyrite scowled, before looking back at the audience. "Sorry, but I have to go. This is urgent."
Then she looked up at the ceiling. "Spike! As of now, you're in charge! Try not to eat too many reviews at once!" And with that, she disappeared, leaving an extremely confused audience.
"Um, so why don't we all sit down to watch the movie?" Hiccup suggested nervously, and chairs and couches suddenly appeared on the dragon's side, where previously there were none. The dragons all chose their seats, and Aedus and Hiccup snagged a couch next to Kai and Verity's seats. And with that, the movie continued.
Hiccup enters her house, only to see her dad sitting by the fire-pit, waiting for her. He stirs the coals with his axe, embers wafting around his beard. Hiccup goes into stealth mode, trying to sneak past, up the stairs to her room.
"Please, lass, as if that will actually work." Gobber snorts, startling most of the Vikings out of the shocked reverie that they had been in. Looking up at the screen, they thought Hiccup was actually doing a pretty good job at silently climbing the stairs.
Stoick seems none the wiser, when his head suddenly bobs up and he speaks. "Hiccup."
"Busted." Snotlout snickers with the twins laughing with him, the three of them having been in that situation many, many times before.
Said girl freezes on the stairs, caught, before reluctantly crawling back down.
"Dad. Uh..." Stoick stands up, taking a deep breath. "I, uh... I have to talk to you, Dad."
"I need to speak with you too, daughter." Hiccup and Stoick both straighten up before rushing out at the same moment.
"I've decided I don't want to I think it's time you learn fight dragons to fight dragons." A moment passes. "What? What?"
"Wow, talk about terrible timing." Kai chortles. "Right when her dad finally gives Hiccup a chance, she finds out she can't kill dragons."
"You go first." Stoick tells his daughter.
"No, you go first."
"I still regret saying that," Hiccup muttered under her breath, the dragons near her patting her on the back sympathetically.
"Alright. You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning." Hearing this Hiccup starts panicking.
"Oh man, I should've gone first. Uh, 'cause I was thinking, you know we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough... bread-making Vikings,-"
"YES! Make her a bread making Viking!" Aedus cried, jumping up, causing Hiccup to almost fall off the couch, and startling everyone else in the room.
"Um, Aedus? You okay, dude?" Firan asked the Night Fury.
"You don't understand, Firan! One time, Hiccup brought me some human bread that she made. It tasted better than Angler Fish!" By now, Aedus was practically watering at the mouth, as many of the dragons' eyes widened.
"Angler Fish?" Fishlegs questioned, curious enough about this new fish that he was willing to overlook the fact he was talking to a dragon.
"Angler Fish are delicious, but they only live in deep shadowy ocean rifts. To get one, you need to know a Scauldron who isn't afraid of the dark," Mettina, the Gronckle from the ring, explained.
"Well, if you like my bread that much, I'm willing to make you some more," Hiccup offered Aedus, who laughed and sat back down on the couch, hugging his mate in thanks.
"-or small home repair vikings?"
Hiccup accentuates each point with small movements, but Stoick just ignores her and drops an axe in Hiccups floundering hands, the young girl struggling with the sudden weight for a moment before hefting it in one of her hands.
"You'll need this." Seeing that her dad wasn't going to understand with her staying subtle, Hiccup chose to come forward with the straight truth.
"I don't want to fight dragons." Stoick laughs and this, and smiles.
"Come on. Yes, you do."
"Rephrase. Dad I can't kill dragons."
"But you will kill dragons."
"No, I'm really very extra sure that I won't." Stoick just ignores his daughters pleads and leans over, his face completely serious.
"It's time Hiccup."
"Can you not hear me?"
"This is serious, daughter! When you carry this axe... you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us. You talk like us. You think like us. No more of... this." He gestures at Hiccup, who clenches her jaw in anger.
"You just gestured to all of me." Ignored.
"Wow," Kai looks at Hiccup in sympathy. "How many times have you been on the recieving end of that gesture?"
"More times than I can count. And that's saying something." Hiccup sadly replied, her head ducking down into the warmth of Aedus's shirt, missing the regretful looks the Vikings were currently wearing on their faces.
"Deal?"
"This conversation is feeling very one-sided." Also ignored.
"Deal?!" Stoick says, more firmly this time. Hiccup glances at the axe in her hands. It's a no-win argument.
"Deal." Hiccup confirms, resigned. Satisfied, Stoick grabs his helmet and duffel bag, and heads for the door.
"Good. Train hard. I'll be back. Probably."
"And I'll be here. Maybe." Stoick heads out the door, leaving Hiccup holding the axe. She looks at the axe in her hand for a moment, before she scowls and drops it.
"Do all conversations with your father sound like that?" Fortuna wondered, many of the dragons and Vikings both incredulous at the absolute lack of communication between parent and child.
"Unfortunately, yes." Hiccup replied, finally leaving the comforts of Aedus's shirt.
"Welcome to dragon training!" Gobber cheerfully says as he raises a massive iron gate at the entrance of a vast stone arena. The recruits file through the gate, and out onto the arena floor. They take it in like gladiators entering the colosseum. The walls are covered in scorched silhouettes of blasted Vikings. It's a grim yet awe-inspiring place.
"That ring!" Kai hissed out, with Lifa and Lielo, Mettina, and Verity all joining in for a moment to glare at the screen depicting their prison. Ryu whimpered and scampered over to Hiccup and Aedus's couch to hide, trembling in her lap.
"I don't wanna go back to the scary stone pit! Don't wanna go back! Don't make me go back, Sis! Please!" Ryu cried to Hiccup, who started hugging and comforting the scared Terrible Terror.
"It's alright, Ryu. You don't have to fight anymore. I'll protect you," Hiccup cooed at him, shocking most of the Vikings, who hadn't seen this soft side of her before.
"No turning back," Astrid breathes out, as if she had just accepted all the responsibility in the world.
"Good! At least one of our kids are serious about this!" Ingrid Hofferson called out, the other parents starting to make bets.
"Are they stupid?" Hiccup muttered, as Ryu calmed down enough to crawl off her lap to sit next to her.
"What do you mean, Hiccup?" Aedus asked her, seeing her focused on the betting parents.
"This is showing us the past, meaning most of the village already knows the outcome. Placing bets like that is just stupid." Then she noticed Gobber, making multiple bets, and catching Hiccup's gaze, he winked. Hiccup smirked. Gobber was going to completely scam the entire village.
"I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut says to Snotlout.
"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back." Ruffnut adds in.
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Astrid agrees, only for the trainees to turn as an unexpected voice sounds from behind them.
"Are you people insane? What kind of person likes pain?!" Mettina cried in disbelief, only to sweatdrop as she noticed Lifa and Lielo and Verity staring at the screen with bloodlust in their eyes.
"Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it." Hiccup says sarcastically, looking as if she wanted to be anywhere but there. Groans come from all around.
"And there's that world famous sarcasm!" Aedus teases Hiccup, laughing as she pouted. She just smacked his arm in retaliation, rolling her eyes.
"Oh great. Who let her in?" Tuffnut sneers at the girl, only for Gobber to start the class.
"I don't know... the Chief?" Verity drawled, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village." Gobber says from next to Hiccup, emphasized the word 'killing' with a twist of his hook.
The dragons in the room all flinched, much to the astonishment of the Vikings, who weren't used to seeing their opponents showing any feeling.
"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify her or...?" Snotlout asks as the recruits all laugh and chatter in the background.
"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut adds, cueing more laughs. Gobber throws a supportive arm around Hiccup and ushers her along.
"Will you two just shut up! Its just rude for you to pick on Fi-Hiccup like that!" Verity stood, glaring at them, internally wincing at almost messing up Fiametta's human name. Both Tuffnut and Snotlout flinched, before their jaws dropped open as they stared at her.
"What are you looking at?!" Verity growled, only for Hiccup's laughter to cause her to look over at the brunette.
"Verity," Hiccup managed to get out between laughs. "Your hair's on fire!"
"Oh!" The Monstrous Nightmare grabbed some of her violet hair, and seeing the flames licking it, blushed. "Sorry, it does that when I get emotional!" She closed her eyes for a second, concentrating, and the flames extinguished. She sat back down, as the movie unpaused.
"Don't worry. You're small and weak looking. That'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking-like teens instead." Gobber cheerfully tells her, before sticking her in line next to Fishlegs and continues on toward five massive reinforced doors. Terrible roars and bellows issue from within.
Cue dragons flinching again.
"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight. The Deadly Nadder."
"Hey! That's me!" Kai shouted, grinning like a maniac, as he bumped fists with the other dragons from the ring.
Fishlegs immediately rattling off under his breath, "Speed eight. Armor sixteen."
"Wait, what?" Kai asked, blinking multiple times. Fishlegs opened his mouth to explain, but someone beat him to the chase.
"Isn't it obvious, Kai?" Mettina rolled her eyes at the Nadder. "Since he said Speed and Armor, he was saying how fast you were and how protective your scales. The numbers after it are most likely a form of measurement, used by the humans to compare us to a standard. Am I right?" She finished, looking back at a dumbfounded group of Vikings, who had never heard anyone understand what Fishlegs was saying before.
"The Hideous Zippleback."
"Aw yeah!"
"That's us!" Lifa and Lielo fist bumped, with Lielo letting out a little gas and Lifa sparking to create a small explosion. Most dragons just rolled their eyes at the two, completely used to it.
"Power of two!"
"Plus eleven stealth. Times two."
"The Monstrous Nightmare."
"And there I am," Verity smirked, pride flowing off her in waves.
"Firepower fifteen!"
"The Terrible Terror."
"Sis! Sis! Look! There I am!" Ryu shouted excitedly, bouncing up and down on the couch, and smiling at Hiccup. Many of the Vikings smiled at the duo, before remembering that the kid was a dragon, and turning away.
"Attack eight! Venom twelve!"
"CAN YOU STOP THAT?!" Gobber yells at Fishlegs, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "And...the Gronckle."
"And finally, I'm introduced," Mettina smiles, as Snotlout and Tuffnut snicker at Fishlegs getting yelled at by Gobber.
Fishlegs quietly whispers to Hiccup, "Jaw strength, eight." Gobber pulls a lever, raising the cross beam on the last of the doors.
"Whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first!?" Snotlout yells, panicked.
"Nope! He believes in learning on the job!" Hiccup tells him, glaring at Gobber, who has the decency to look sheepish. "If a six year old comes to him as an apprentice, and knows nothing at all about blacksmithing, what's the solution? Oh, I know! Let's have her try to make an axe! After all, its not like she'll burn herself on the forge, making her accidently pour molten metal all over a catapult, causing it to fire straight into the Chief's house! No, learning on the job is a great idea!"
"I already said I was sorry about that, lass." Gobber tells Hiccup, who just snorts and rolls her eyes.
"Oh really? Do I need mention the Pegleg Incident?"
"NO! I mean, no. No, you don't have to say anything about that, lass." Gobber blushes and sinks into his seat, while the room looks at each other in confusion. What in Thor's Beard was the Pegleg Incident?
"I believe in learning on job." BAM! A Gronckle thunders out of its cave, charging into the ring like an irate rhino. The recruits scramble in every direction. Except for Ruffnut and Tuffnut who rush toward it, like pumped-up rodeo clowns.
"Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead."
"Seriously? That's how they teach you how to fight us?" Lifa asked, an eyebrow raised.
"That's not a very good method," Lielo continued.
"When teaching someone,"
"It's always better,"
"If you help then understand the theory,"
"Then apply it practically." The dragons nodded in hearing the Zippleback, after all, that was how they learned to fly.
"Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?!"
"A doctor?" Hiccup cries out, panicked.
"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs suggests.
"A shield." Astrid says confidently, already running to grab one.
"That's my girl!" Ingrid cried proudly, as the other parents mumbled amongst each other and traded money.
"Shields. Go." Gobber orders, seeing the rest of the recruits just standing there. The recruits scramble for shields, finding them scattered around the ring. "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield."
Hiccup struggles trying to tighten the straps around her skinny arms. Gobber helps her, then sends her running. Ruff and Tuff stand amidst a dozen shields. But only one has a skull painted on it. They both grab it at the same time.
"Ugh," the Thorston parents groan, knowing that their children were about to start arguing.
"Get your hands off my shield!" Tuffnut says, starting the twins infamous arguing.
"There are like a million shields!"
"Take that one, it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers." Ruffnut uses the shield to bash Tuffnut in the face. He lets go momentarily, and his sister mocks him.
"Oops, now this one has blood on it." The Gronckle takes aim at the distracted twins. BLAM! The shield is blasted out of both of their hands. Tuff and Ruff SPIN like tops and go down.
"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!"
Grumbling, a few of the Vikings who bet on the twins coughed up their money, glaring at Gobber who was collecting a majority of the cash.
"What?" The twins ask, both dazed. The Gronckle slams into a wall, and seeing a pile of rocks, scoops it up and swallows. The teens gather on the far side of the ring.
"Those shields are good for another thing. Noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim." Gobber tells his students, who immediately scoop up weapons and begin hammering on their shields. The Gronckle shakes its head at the clatter, and for a moment we see it from the dragon's point of view. The teens targets become blurry and scrambled.
"So that's what its like," Stoick mutters thoughtfully, making note of how the dragon's weaknesses worked.
"Ugh, I hate it when that happens." Mettina moans, and Verity looks at her sympathetically, both of them having hearing that could mess with sight.
"All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?"
"Five!" Snotlout shouts, guessing.
"No, son," Spitelout scowls, Snotlout flinching away from his stare to look at the ground. Neither noticed Verity also flinching as she saw the exchange, it reminding her of something long ago...
"No, six!" Fishlegs yells confidently.
"Good job," Luglegs Ingerman praised his son. "Knowledge is power."
"Correct, six. That's one for each of you!" Fishlegs looks proud for a moment, before trying to talk to Gobber, not noticing the Gronckle stop to take aim at him.
"I really don't think my parents would-" BAM! Fishlegs has his shield blasted away.
"Knowledge may be power, but that knowledge is useless if you can't use it when the time is right." Mettina announced, smirking.
"Fishlegs, out." Gobber spots Hiccup hiding from the Gronckle's molten slugs."Hiccup, get in there!"
Across the arena, Astrid is bouncing on her heels, ready to dodge a blast. Snotlout appears, trying to hit on her.
"So anyway I'm moving into my parents' basement. You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out-" She cartwheels out of the way, allowing a shot to shoot past her and hit Snotlout's shield. He's blasted onto his back.
"Snotlout!" Spitelout growls at his son, who at least looks ashamed at not trying his hardest to take out the dragon.
"Snotlout! You're done!" Gobber cries, as Astrid rolls to a stop beside Hiccup, who stirs awkwardly, trying to look cool.
"So, I guess it's just you and me huh?" Hiccup asks her, her voice breaking, not noticing the blonde girls eyes widening.
"No. Just you." Astrid rolls away. A split-second later a lava slug knocks Hiccup's shield clear off of her arm. Hiccup is exposed.
"Sorry about that, Hiccup," Mettina winces.
"It's no problem, not like anything happened to permanently injure me," Hiccup smiled, but then remembered what came next, and subtly started scooting away from her Night Fury boyfriend.
"One shot left!" Gobber informs them as Hiccup panics and chases after her shield as it rolls across the ring. The sudden movement sends the Gronckle chasing after her, leaving Astrid in the clear.
"Hiccup!" Aedus cried out in worry, his eyes widening, as he turned to his mate and pulled her back to his side, cradling her in his arms as if she might suddenly disappear. Hiccup blushed, but stayed like that, knowing that Aedus was just worried about her.
On the Viking side, the Berkians were also worrying about their heiress, but in a much more controlled manner, considering they knew that she had survived, and that Gobber was in the ring to prevent things like this.
"Hiccup!" Gobber cries out in worry as the Gronckle drives straight toward Hiccup, pinning her against the wall. It opens its mouth and cocks its tail, ready to fire point-blank. Gobber lunges in and hooks the Gronckle's mouth at the last second, causing its head to jerk back and fire against the stone wall above Hiccup's head.
"Sorry! I was just scared, and I'm sorry about almost scorching your head," Mettina apologized. Hiccup smiled and nodded, showing she understood, and forgave her. Patting Aedus's arm so he would let her go, Hiccup returned to her former position between Aedus and Ryu.
"And that's six!" Gobber wrestles the irate Gronckle back into her pen. "Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage!"
"Excuse me?! What do you mean by overgrown sausage!" Mettina glared at the blacksmith, in the rage of an irate female whose looks had been insulted. "I know that we Gronckles are bigger boned than the other dragons, but that's no reason to insult our looks by calling us sausages!"
"Uh, sorry lass. Er, dragon." Gobber apologized awkwardly, but it did the trick, as Mettina calmed down enough to go sit with Verity with a huff.
"You'll get another chance, don't you worry." Slam! Lock. Gobber turns to the recruits.
"Remember... a dragon will always, always go for the kill." He hoists Hiccup to her feet and walks off. Hiccup looks overhead to see a steaming pit in the solid stone wall.
"Woo! Go me! I'm an exception to the rule!" Aedus cheered, high-fiving Kai. Across the room Vikings were exchanging money from the bets, and most of it was going to Gobber. Back on the dragon side, Hiccup just rolled her eyes at the two males cheering about not killing.
Two guys who are bragging about spilling the least amount of guts. It's like the opposite of the gang. Hold on a sec, Hiccup thought sitting up straight. Now that I think about it, the ring dragons are like a replica of the Viking teens on Berk.
Verity's like Snotlout, from what I've seen so far. Both are proud and slightly arrogant, but Verity seems a bit more practical than Snotlout. Not to mention way more skilled.
Lifa and Lielo are like the twins. Both love destruction, and are extremely mischevous. The only difference is that the twins on Berk fight and prank each other, while the Zippleback just pranks others, and doesn't really fight with each other.
Then there's Mettina. The way she rambles off facts is exactly like Fishlegs. The only difference being that Fishlegs is more of a sidelines guy, while Mettina likes using her knowledge on the front lines.
Kai and Astrid aren't as similar as everyone else, but both have a competitive streak a mile wide. Astrid is the top of the class and always serious, while Kai is more average and loves having fun.
Then Aedus is like me. Both of us are outcasts, and don't trust others easily. But we also are stronger than the world thinks we are, and can have fun when allowed to let loose.
Hiccup suddenly came back from la-la land, as a huge bang resounded through the room. A white light appeared in the center of the room again, and Spyrite reappeared.
"Spike! I'm back!" She yelled out toward the ceiling, before turning to the audience. "Alright, boys and girls. I have officially decided that now is a good time for mingling. Sooooo..."
With a flick of her wrist the barrier between the two halves of the room sparkled, and then dispersed.
"I've decided to remove the barrier! Now, the rules still stand: no attacking the other side. Are we understood?" Seeing the nods from both halves of the room, Spyrite smiled, and then took the same odd rectangle from her pocket.
"Alright! Listen up! Since most of you wouldn't go to the other side of the room if your lives depended on it, I've made a 'middle zone,' if you will, where a few pre-determined volunteers will sit."
With another flick of her wrist, said middle zone was created, with a red couch, a brown couch, a green couch, a blue couch, and a black couch.
"Snotlout! Verity! You two are on the red couch!" Trying (and failing) not to look nervous, Snotlout inched towards the red couch, while Verity glided over after a moment of hesitation.
"Mettina! Fishlegs! Brown couch!" Fishlegs let out a small squeak, while Mettina scurried over to sit on the end of the couch which was incidentally next to Verity's end of the red couch.
"Thorston twins! Lifa and Lielo! Big green couch!" Hooting with excitement, both pairs of twins ran towards the couch, jumping on.
"Kai and Astrid! Blue!" Kai grinned and ran to the couch, flipping over the back to land on it. Astrid walked toward the couch with confidence in her stride, sitting as far away from Kai as she could manage.
"And finally, will the Heir of Berk, the Fury of Night, and Ryu the Great please seat themselves on the black couch!" Without hesitation, the three walked to the couch, Ryu walking between the couple and holding their hands. Many of the people in the room thought they looked much like parents walking with their kid. Stoick and Gobber were just glad that the kid was between the dragon and Hiccup.
"Wonderful! Now, you all will have about a minute to talk before the movie resumes!" And with a bang, Spyrite was gone.
OH MY GOSH! Was that as long as it felt? Cause to me that chapter felt like it took forever to write! Anywho, I hope you enjoy!