Chapter 5

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Thought / Dreams / Event from the past

[Voice from the past]

"Dialogue"

Letter

Emphasis

Dangerous Tone

Astrid was reading Hiccup's book in the cove while running her left hand on Rivera's back, she woke up early that day to spend time with her Terrible Terror and reading the book. Her curiosity gotten the better of her, she want to know what else that Hiccup knew about dragons that was the opposite to what was written on the Dragon Manual they had for Dragon Training. So far, she had read the part about how dragons could get distracted by a beam of light, she found out about Dragon Nip, and now she was reading the part about flying lesson.

When you fly with your dragon, it would be best to let your dragon take the lead. Don't try to force any maneuver until you are used with your dragon's movement and their way of flying, you need to trust them to handle the flying until you can connect better with them and your bond with them grow stronger. That's all I can tell you though, you can only understand it when you experience flying with your dragon by yourself. 'Learning on the job' is the best way to learn to fly with your dragon.

Note : It would be best flying with a saddle on, or else you would get easily thrown off from your dragon's back.

She sighed as she closed the book, she didn't find anything else after that chapter. Maybe Hiccup didn't get the chance to finish the book or something. "I really want to experience flying on a dragon's back." She said to no one as she looked up at the sky, "I wonder how the clouds feel like".

She felt a movement under her hand, reminding her of her tiny dragon, she looked down to see Rivera had just woken up from her nap. "How was your nap?" She asked her dragon with a smile on her face.

Rivera let out a happy purr and nuzzled her snout into Astrid's chest, letting the Viking girl know that her nap was a nice one.

"Well, Rivera." Astrid said as she stood up and brushed her skirt, "I need to go now, before I'm late for Dragon Training." She explained, "Now, I already told you that we need to fight dragons in here, but I promise that I will try to not harm the dragons." She smiled at her dragon, "I think I will quit Dragon Training once today's training is over though, I don't want to kill dragons anymore." Rivera warbled happily at her, "And yes, we can spend more time together once I quit training." That statement earning her a long happy chatter from her dragon, she didn't have to understand what her dragon was trying to tell her to know that the tiny dragon was excited and happy about her decision.

"Alright." She scratched her dragon's head for a bit, "I will see you later, my little dragon".

Astrid left the cove and ran to the arena's direction, aside from she want to get to the arena sooner, running in the woods could be used as a training to make her reflex sharper and to increase her agility.

"Ah, nice to have you join us, Astrid." Gobber greeted her once she arrived.

Astrid nodded in greetings at the man, "Yes." She said simply before looking around for the other kids.

"You are the first to arrive." Gobber told her before she could ask.

"I see." She answered before looking at her mentor, "Gobber, can we talk after today's lesson ended?".

Gobber looked at her in confusion, "Sure." He answered simply.

The other kids arrived not long after, then after Snotlout tried to flirt with Astrid and was answered with a punch in the face, the training started with the same order as the previous one with the one when Hiccup was still in the Training with them. Astrid did her best to avoid the blast from the Gronckle, trying to exhaust the dragon's limit shot before trying anything else. She didn't have to try as hard as she thought, however, since the dragon used 4 of it's shot limit by getting Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs out of the arena before it focused on her.

Astrid managed to evade the last two shot before showing the dragon the eel she hid behind her vest, she smirked when she saw how scared the Gronckle after noticing the eel. "Get back to your cage or I will throw this eel at you." She said as she advanced to the dragon. Needless to say, the dragon flew as fast as it could back to it's cage, much to the shock of the others.

"Astrid, that's so cool!" Snotlout exclaimed to her, no doubt he was trying to win the blonde Viking over again, "How do you know that the dragon hates eels?".

"Yeah, tell us!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut exclaimed in excitement.

Astrid smirked at them, "Well, it's just something that I learnt from Hiccup, really." She told them casually, "I noticed that he hid an eel when he forced the Zippleback back into it's cage in the past, so I decided to try it".

"Well, it seems that dragons hate eels." Gobber said in thought, "Do you think they would still try to steal the sheep if we placed eels near the sheep?" He asked out loud without really looking at them.

"We could try!" Ruffnut exclaimed excitedly.

"If it's a success, we don't have to worry about losing sheep anymore!" Tuffnut joined her, it's rare that the twins would agree with each other outside of causing destruction.

"But if it fails, the dragons would likely shoot the eels." Astrid warned them.

"I will tell the farmer about it then, but with a plan to fight the fire soon in case the dragons really would burn the eels." Gobber said in decision, "Now, the training is over, go back home and train by yourselves." He told the Trainees. The kids, aside from Astrid, went out of the arena while chatting to themselves. "So, what is it you want to talk to me about?" He asked the girl.

"Two things, actually." Astrid said with a sigh, "I want to quit Dragon Training." She started, waiting for the man's reaction to her statement.

"Why?" Gobber asked in confusion, "I mean, you are the best Trainee after Hiccup".

She actually didn't have a reason about why she want to quit, but hearing Gobber mentioned that Hiccup once bested her gave her an idea. "Well, it's because Hiccup isn't here." She started softly, "I don't feel motivated enough to continue Dragon Training without Hiccup, I mean, I always thought of him as my rival. With him disappear like this, I don't know, but I lose my interest in fighting".

Gobber looked at her in sympathy, "Well, I think you need to talk with your Mother first." He advised, "If she agree to let you quit, then you are free to quit".

"Thank you, Gobber." Astrid answered with a smile.

"Now, what is the second reason?" Gobber asked to the point.

"Well, do you think you can take me as your apprentice?" Astrid asked curiously. Hiccup mentioned a saddle for the dragons, so she might be able to learn how to make one by herself if she learned from Gobber. "I know that it's hard for you after Hiccup disappear, I want to help out while learning how to make a weapon myself." She explained with the best reason she had.

Gobber raised an eyebrow but grinned at her, "You are welcome to learn from me." He said cheerfully, "But I warn you, becoming a blacksmith isn't an easy task!".

Astrid smirk, "I won't turn down such a challenge." She said confidently, "Well then, I will go home and talk with my Mother now. See you!" She nodded at the man before running out of the arena.

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"What? Astrid?" Stoick asked as he walked into the dining room with two plates for their dinner, "She wants to quit?".

"Yes, I said that." Gobber answered as he took one of the plates and sat down to eat, "Not only that, she threatened to throw an eel at the Gronckle if the dragon wouldn't go back to it's cage, and the Gronckle flew back to it's cage as soon as she said that. The kids were amazed that she knew that dragons hate eels, but Astrid said that she learned that from Hiccup, from watching him in the past".

"I think Hiccup found out about the eel problem when he was helping his dragon." Stoick said thoughtfully, "I wonder what other things he found out about dragons?".

"I don't know." Gobber answered before grinning, "But we can use this information for our advantage, I already told the farmers to put eels near the sheep in the next raid." Stoick raised an eyebrow at that, "If dragons hate eels, until they run away from the sight of eels, they wouldn't dare to go near the sheep if there are eels nearby, don't you think?".

"I guess." Stoick said in agreement, "So, where should we send the search party?" He asked before taking a bite of his grilled fish.

"Hiccup is a smart boy." Gobber started thoughtfully, "He wouldn't go to the nearby islands, I would suggest to search from the furthest islands, but then Hiccup might already guess we would do it . . ." He bit down his fish, "It would be best if we search from the middle range, start with the islands without any villages in there that aren't too far nor too close to Berk".

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When the night came, Astrid sneaked out of the house as quietly as she could, with a small bucket filled with fishes in one hand and some of the Dragon Nip in her other hand, in case the dragon she wanted to bond with was in bad mood.

Sneaking into the arena was an easy task in her opinion, because there wasn't a single Viking guarding the arena, why would they guard an arena filled with dragons anyway? No one was ever trying to do what Astrid was about to do, so it's easy for her to sneak in. The only thing that she needed to be careful about was the two people on patrol duty, one on the watch tower and the other walking around the village. It's easy to go undetected by the one in the watch tower, and if she paid attention to her surrounding, the one walking around the village wasn't a problem either, she just need to make sure she didn't make a loud noise that would draw their attention to her.

Astrid finally arrived in the training arena, she put her bucket on the ground beside the cage with the Deadly Nadder inside. "I hope this works." She whispered to herself before lowering the lever to open the cage.

The Nadder burst out and went straight to the arena, it looked around before relaxing when it didn't see anyone else. Astrid cough softly to get her presence known, from what Hiccup wrote in his book, it would be best to not startle a dragon she wanted to approach. The Nadder swirled around and saw her, "Hey girl." She said as she raised her hands, she was relieved when the Nadder didn't make a loud noise, that's mean she got the gender right, "Calm down, I don't have a weapon with me".

The Nadder looked at her for a moment before relaxing slightly and looked at her in confusion, she smiled at the dragon, "I'm guessing you recognize me?" Astrid asked softly, trying not to scare the dragon, the dragon nodded at her, "Well, I want to apologize, I was wrong when I try to attack you all this time." She lifted the bucket and walked over to the dragon, who eyed her in caution. She took one of the fishes and lifted it up to the dragon, "For you, why don't we start over with this fish?" She asked hopefully.

The Nadder sniffed her a bit before accepting the fish, Astrid grinned happily at that. She closed her eyes and lifted one hand towards the dragon's head, being careful to avoid it's blind spot, and waited. A few second passed before she felt a gentle nudge on her palm, she opened her eyes to see the Nadder closed her eyes while touching her snout onto Astrid's palm. "Thank you." She said warmly and began scratching the dragon's head for a bit, earning a happy purr from the dragon.

Astrid then tipped the bucket to let the fishes out for the Nadder, "I think I will call you Stormfly." She said cheerfully as she watched the dragon ate happily, the dragon looked up at her and squawked happily, "I guess that you like your new name?" Stormfly squawked again, Astrid smiled, "A beautiful name for a beautiful dragon like you".

Stormfly purred and nuzzled her cheek with her snout, "Well, Stormfly." Astrid began, "After you finish eating, you need to go back to your cage." Stormfly whined at her, "I know you don't like it, but there's nothing I can do for now." She explained softly, "I already quit Dragon Training, so I won't be one of the Trainees you will be facing tomorrow. Even so, I can't get you out from here without attracting suspicion to myself." She smiled and pat the dragon's head gently, "But don't worry, I will try to find a way to show the people that dragons aren't dangerous, that we can live in peace with each other, so you won't have to be caged anymore. Please be patient for now, alright?".

Stormfly looked straight at her eyes before nodding and nudging her cheek again, Astrid sighed in contentment, "Alright, girl." She said fondly, "Finish your food, I need to get back home before my Mother notices my absence".

Stormfly squawked and finished the rest of the fishes, Astrid led the dragon back to the cage, "I promise I will get you out of this cage one day." She promised once the dragon entered the cage, "See you tomorrow, Stormfly." The Nadder crooned softly, Astrid smiled and closed the cage.

As Astrid walked back to her home, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she didn't come to the cove that day, the day when she saw Hiccup left on a dragon's back and found the book of how to train a dragon. Her live had changed so much in just a short time after that day, and she was glad of the change, because she now knows just how wrong their belief was about the dragons.

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"Whoooooo!"

Laughter and roar of excitement rang in the air as Hiccup and Toothless free falling together. Free fall was their favorite activity, aside from how exciting it was, Hiccup always feel refreshed after they free falling like that.

The ocean came into view, Hiccup reached a hand and brought himself to the saddle, Toothless opened his wings and they flew above the sea in high speed, causing the water to part ways before they flew up to the clouds once again.

Once they touch the clouds, 5 other dragons joined them. A Boneknapper, a Changewing, a Deadly Nadder, a Monstrous Nightmare, and a Terrible Terror. Hiccup grinned at them, "Hey guys." He called to the other dragons, "I think it's time we go home." The other dragons roared in agreement and they all changed direction to Hiccup's Island, which he called as Dracoland.

Two months had passed since he ran away from Berk and discovered the reason why the dragons were raiding Berk and other villages, he had been freeing the dragons from the Queen's influence and gathering allies since then. It's not an easy task to do considering how strong the Queen's control over the dragons was, but with a dragon that was extremely skilled in stealth and his unique talent in getting into a dragon's good side, he managed.

The first time he tried to break the Queen's influence was when the dragons were on their way to raid the Bog-Burglars. He and Toothless had pulled aside a dark red colored Monstrous Nightmare from the group of dragons into the forest, and in that forest Hiccup dismounted his dragon and approaching the Nightmare with bare hands while reassuring the Nightmare that he meant no harm. The Nightmare warmed up to him soon after he used the Dragon Nip at the dragon and gave her a nice scratch, he had named the Nightmare 'Flarestorm' since the female dragon had a strange liking to fly in the storms and could be very temperamental like a fire sometimes.

Not two days after he brought Flarestorm with him, the night when he found out the Nightmare's strange habit and named the dragon, a heavy storm hit the island, he was lucky that he had found a big cave near the sea cliff of his island before the storm hit. The next day though, he found out that a Changewing had crash landed on his island during the storm, he helped the dragon with her broken leg and feed her. He named the green colored Changewing 'Rainleaf' since the dragon's color was like a leaf and he found the dragon after a rainstorm.

Three weeks after that, during his usual morning flight with Toothless and his two other dragons, Toothless's artificial tail fin got jammed and they crashed onto the Island of Bones, an island full of dragon bones. Flarestorm and Rainleaf immediately landed before crooning at him in concern, soon joined by Toothless who was checking him over, he reassured his dragons that he was alright before got surprised when an angry roar sounded from behind him.

It seems that they had crash landed on top of a pile of bones right in front of a Boneknapper, and it's just his luck that a certain bone that the big dragon wanted to complete it's armor had stuck in his vest. After some time of Toothless pulled him on the run with the Boneknapper on their tail, Hiccup managed to get the bone out from his vest and offered it to the big dragon, he also helped the dragon by putting the bone into the right place. The Boneknapper immediately nuzzling him and followed him to his island, he named the male dragon 'Bonecrusher' on whim.

He had asked Bonecrusher to carry Toothless on his back to the Dracoland since he couldn't fly Toothless due to his tail fin being jammed, he then flew to the nearby village with Rainleaf to fix the tail fin, Rainleaf's ability to camouflage with her surrounding came in handy for this trip. He told Rainleaf to hide in the forest while he went to the village, the village was called Hunterville since the people in there were very skilled in hunting and the best bow makers in the whole archipelago.

He managed to convince them to let him use the forge and trade the materials for the tail fin with a bunch of boar pelts that he collect every time he hunted boars on his island, and after answering questions (which he answered as truthfully as he could without mentioning about dragons) from the Chief - Rugra the Striker, and his daughter - Ruby, who was around his age, they agreed to let him come anytime to trade with them and use the forge.

Two weeks later, he was back at Hunterville and had just finished trading his boar pelts with one of their bows and some arrows when he heard commotion nearby, he went to see what it was and found that Ruby had accidently provoked a Deadly Nadder. Ruby was aiming for a deer, and when the girl shot the arrow, the Nadder suddenly appeared and get hit by the arrow at it's horn instead, so the Nadder went after the girl in anger.

When Hiccup arrived at the scene, he was relieved that the people in Hunterville weren't that used to dragon raids and were having difficulty attacking the Nadder. He simply pulled out the Dragon Nip and walked over to the Nadder while ignoring the warning from the villagers, he grabbed the horn on the Nadder's nose with his left hand while pressing the Dragon Nip on the dragon's nostril with his right hand before pulling the now purring dragon away from the village.

An easy task since he didn't have weapon with him, so the dragon didn't get so hostile towards him, and the fact that the villagers stopped shooting at the dragon when he approached it was helping him as well, he thought that maybe the Nadder thought that he was the leader there and stopped them from attacking by his action.

He returned to the village after he managed to get the male Nadder to stay in the forest, he was met with the shocked villagers and quickly left them with his new bow and arrows. By the time the villagers snapped out from their shock and went after Hiccup to question him, he had already on his way to his island with Toothless (his Night Fury wouldn't let him go with Rainleaf again since there's no problem with the tail fin anymore) and the Nadder whom he named 'Skyring', the Nadder was blue in color and had an orange ring on each of his wing.

Earlier that day, Hiccup went to Hunterville again to trade his boar pelts with some leather, he need to make sure that Toothless's tail fin, the saddle, and his flight gear were in perfect condition for the next day. He got himself being swarmed by the villagers who praised him for his action previously, they didn't know how Hiccup could of 'dominated' the Nadder so easily, but they were grateful since they were having a hard time fighting the dragon.

Hiccup had finished the reinforced the tail fin, the saddle, and his flight gear and was on his way to the forest, so he told Rugra and Ruby that he was leaving when a boy came running passed them screaming in fear, with a green Terrible Terror flying after the boy. How the boy got the Terror chasing after him was a mystery to Hiccup, but he didn't care the reason and simply grabbed the Terror with his two hands, one to keep the Terror in place while the other to scratch the tiny dragon's head. He left immediately after that, he stuffed it in his bag, without another word to the villagers.

Toothless wasn't happy that Hiccup brought a Terror with him, but he managed to get Toothless to accept the Terror in their flock. He called the Terror 'Sharpshot' since the male Terror was agile and could shoot fire faster than any other Terrors.

"Alright!" Hiccup announced once they landed on Dracoland, "Let's rest, everyone, we have a big day tomorrow." The dragons crooned their agreement and left to their usual sleeping spot in the clearing, they slept in the clearing since the cave at the cliff was too small for all of them. Hiccup looked at Toothless and smiled, "Good night, buddy." He said as he got in a comfortable position under his dragon's wing, "We need to be in our best shape for tomorrow".

Toothless purred and settled to sleep himself.

Indeed, they need to be in their best shape for the next day, because tomorrow would be the day when the dragons got their freedom, the day when they would kill the Red Death.

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To be continued . . .

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