(Chapter Three)

(Fredas 27th) (With Astrid)

The morning was cool and quiet, Astrid took this opportunity to wake up before anyone so she can get in her early morning training for the day. She leaves her house with her axe over her shoulder heading into the forest to her usual training spot which only a couple of people knew about. One of those people is her best friend Ruffnut and the other is… Snotlout. The only reason why he knows about it is because he followed her into the forest one day but when she caught him she chased him out with her axe.

She needs to change to a new spot, so he wouldn't come out to spy on her while she trained and bug her with his constant flirting. It made her sick every time he would attempt to impress her. It didn't take her long to reach her spot since it was about an hour walk from her house. You can tell that she trains here often due to all the indications of an axe being thrown.

Before she begins her training, she starts out with some stretches, so she doesn't hurt herself. After done with her stretches she got into her throwing stance. Axe above her head. Pulls the axe back then she throws it with a war cry. She missed, and the axe was imbedded into the ground.

She huffed with annoyance pulling her axe out of the ground. She tried again with another war cry. She missed again and again and again. Every time she missed, she got angrier and frustrated. After countless misses she decided to call it for the day even though it's still early but she's just to frustrated to continue.

She was on her way back to the village when she tripped over a tree root that was sticking out of the ground "Oof!" she falls landing on her hands with a few scratches "Thor's dammit!" she quickly got herself up, picked her axe off the ground then started chopping at the root in frustration. Within a couple of minutes, the root that was sticking out of the ground became nothing more then wood chips.

She stood there looking down at the pile of wood chips feeling a little bit better, but she jumped and threw her axe when someone startled her. The axe went into the tree next to the person who startled her. When she saw she threw it in a panick. It was Draco that she threw her axe at and it was barely an inch from his face "Oh my Thor! I'm so sorry!" she ran over to retrieve her axe. Draco pulls the axe out of the tree with little to no effort holding it out for her to grab with one hand "No worries, it's not the first time someone threw an axe at me" it didn't bother him that she just threw her axe at him.

She took the axe from his hand "Still I'm sorry, you startled me"

"I'm sorry for startling you but my I ask why you're out here?" he asked looking past her at the pile of wood chips "and what happened there?"

"I was out training and for that, a root sticking out of the ground tripped me and since I was already frustrated I directed my frustration towards the root turning it into… that" she points at the pile of wood chips. He found that somewhat amusing but didn't let it show since it might irritate her more then she already is.

"I guess that's one way to channel your frustration" he simply says then turns around heading for the village. She sprints to catch up with him "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"Why were in the woods this early in the morning?"

"I'm camping out here"

"Why are you camping way out here?"

"It's away from the village and it's peaceful"

"Why do you want to be away from the village? Don't like being around people?"

"I don't mind being around people but with some past experiences with outsiders it's hard to stick around them for to long"

"Well, you're an outsider to us but we don't mind you being around" she sounded a little offended, probably by the answer he gave her "I wonder how long that'll last, and besides I don't plan on staying long, until I can get a message out and my boat repaired I'll be staying but when I'm done I'm gone" the way he said it was kind of harsh but she was asking a lot of questions and it was annoying him.

She sensed that he was getting annoyed, so she stopped asking questions and walked behind him in silence. The silence only lasted about a couple of minutes before they being to hear people from the village ahead.

"I'm going to go on ahead, I'll see you around" Astrid took off past him leaving him by himself.

"I guess I'll go to the arena, I hope Hiccup didn't forget about his training, even though I don't know why I'm doing this" he said aloud. On his way through the village he noticed a couple of young lasses probably around Astrid's age looking at him whispering to one another but didn't think nothing of it.

He noticed the chief was walking in his direction "Draco, you heading for the arena?" Draco nodded "Great, 'iccup's waiting in there for you" Draco was kind of surprised, but he didn't say anything and continued his way towards the arena.

It didn't take long before he was walking out of the village and walking over the bridge leading to the arena 'Why did I agree to train him?' he thought to himself but couldn't find an answer and pushed the thought to the side for now. He heads down for the arenas entrance and in the middle in the arena was Hiccup with a sword and shield in hand.

"You're hear earlier" Hiccup jumped quickly turning around to see it was and to his relief it was only Draco "O-Oh um… yea but I wasn't waiting long so you don't have to worry about me waiting" Hiccup was here a couple hours early but won't tell him that.

"Well then everything's good, now are you ready to begin?" Hiccup nodded

"From now on you'll do everything I say ok?" He nodded again. Draco went over to one of the weapons rack looking over the choice of weapons. Standard weapons like short swords, longswords, axe, mace, and a shield. He decided to go for the standard short sword.

Draco held up the sword to examine it and noticed that it was quickly made which would cause the durability to be low and break easily 'I guess I'll have to hold back a little' he thought swinging the sword a couple of times. To be honest Hiccup was afraid. Hiccup watches Draco stop a couple of feet in front of him sword lowered "I want you to come at me"

"W-What?"

"Come at me"

"O-Ok" Hiccup charges with his shield up and sword pointed out towards Draco. Draco moved to the side and let the sword pass him then he took the opportunity and grabbed Hiccup by the arm with his free hand and used the other hand knocking the sword out of Hiccup's hand. After letting go of his arm he back hands Hiccup's shield with enough force to knock him on his butt. Hiccup let out a groan "Ouch…" his looks at his shield and notices a little dint in the shield.

He looks up at Draco which had a disappointed look on his face "Tell me something, what hand do you fight with?"

"Right, why?"

"Get up and swing the sword" Hiccup did as he was told and stood up after picking up his sword. When he swung his sword, Draco could tell his was struggling to swing but something wasn't right. The way he swung didn't seem to fit right.

"Ok stop, take the shield off and swing with the other one" Hiccup dropped the shield replacing it with his sword. He began to swing the sword. Each swing was better then when he was using his right hand "Stop, what hand do you write with?"

"Left"

"Then that's your problem, you're using the wrong hand, use the hand that you write with to fight with"

"But my dad always told me that it's best to fight with your right and not your left, says that you can't put enough swing in your left arm unlike your right" Draco just sighed 'These vikings' he thought "That's not always the case, some people are able to adapt to that practice but that's mostly people that are right handed since it more common then people left handed, I'm left handed and I fight with my left"

"Now I want you to come at me again, but this time use your left hand and block with your right" Hiccup nodded his head and got into a battle stance but this one was different then the one before. He angled himself with his left foot out where his shield was protecting his front and was also hiding his sword. Draco and Hiccup began to circle each other.

Hiccup was the first to make a move and charged for Draco. Draco noticed that his sword was out yet but instead held his shield up a little too high leaving his stomach wide open. Draco waited till he got closer and grabbed the top of his shield yanking Hiccup towards him followed by a knee to the stomach. Hiccup dropped his sword and shield falling to his knees clutching his stomach.

Draco looked down at Hiccup "Get up and do it again" Hiccup was still clutching his stomach but looked up at Draco "C-Can I catch my breath" Draco shook his head "In real battle your enemy won't let you catch your breath"

"Again" Hiccup slowly got back up picking up his weapon and shield. He got back into the same stance he used just a couple of minutes ago. During the whole training session Hiccup would charge at Draco using the same tactic followed by a swing or a stab but failed over and over and over again and every time he did that Draco would just knock his sword out of his hand or punch and or kick him down.

To Draco's surprise Hiccup was determined and continued to get up and try again. Draco was kind of glad that he didn't give up, but he had to remind himself that he can't get attached to this place no matter what.

(Time Skip)

Hiccups training session lasted for about five hours making it the middle of the day. Hiccup was lying on the ground panting, arms and legs flat out with his sword and shield a couple of feet away from him. He was covered in bruises and some minor cuts. Draco on the other hand was standing over him with nothing but a small tare on his robe.

Draco looked up in the stands above him and saw Stoick and a couple of bystanders watching them. He looks back down at Hiccup "We're done for today, go rest up and we'll continue your training the day after tomorrow, you'll need all the rest you can get" Draco leaves Hiccup on the ground while he goes over to the entrance of the arena.

Stoick was standing at the top of the ramp that enters the arena "So, how did it go?" Stoick asked "He was terrible at first but until I figured out that he was a little better with his other hand then his right he wasn't that terrible but still couldn't lay a hit on me in the end"

Stoick sighed "But I'm not going to quit training him, he just needs a little more work" Stoick was relieved "A little tough love wouldn't hurt him if he just tried harder"

"I don't think it's him that needs to try harder" with that he leaves making his way over the bridge. Draco heard his stomach growl 'I guess I'm going to the Great Hall' he thought exiting the bridge and into the plaza walking up the steps of the Great Hall.

Entering the Great Hall Draco looked around to see that there were a couple groups of people scattered throughout the hall one of those groups was made up of Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins. Everyone in the hall noticed Draco but no one said anything to him. He walked over to where Fishlegs got his food yesterday.

The gang noticed Draco as he passed their table "I have to say that guy is very mysterious" Tuffnut stated "Yea, it's like, he has no reason to interact with anyone or something"

"I can't blame the guy, he's all alone here, I would be distant to if I was alone in a new place with new people" Fishlegs jumped in "From what he told me it's from past experiences that he keeps his distant from new people or what he calls outsiders" Astrid looked over her shoulder but turned back to her friends.

"He's the outsider not us"

"Yea that's true and I bet you that he knows that but we're strangers to him so he's going to keep his distant for a while until he gets used to being here"

"That depends on how long he'll be here"

"That's also true" all of them turned to look at him and noticed that he was reading something "I wonder if he wouldn't mind showing me more of the dragons from his land" Fishlegs was really interested in the dragons that he's seen in that journal of his and been wondering if there's more in it but doesn't have the courage to walk up and ask.

"He has dragons from his land too? Man, how far out do those demon go"

"In his journal he has drawings of the dragons from his land with their abilities, size, name and they're very detailed drawings to" Fishlegs started to remember the first picture he saw "I bet those dragons are small if he still alive"

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked, "I mean look at him, he's just as small as useless, I doubt he could handle a real dragon"

"Actually, the dragons from his land are twice the size of the dragons that attack us" everyone excluding Snotlout turned to Fishlegs "Are they as big as a mountain?" Tuff asked getting excited "Could you image fighting a dragon that big, there would be so much death and destruction" Ruffnut felt shivers go down her spine.

"No, they're not that big, but they are bigger than a Monstrous Nightmare, it's jaw strength is strong enough to crush a skull of one and the wingspan can cover up to sixteen people" While Fishlegs was rambling Draco was sitting in silence minding his own business. Draco sat there looking through his journal making it look like he was busy, so he wouldn't be bothered but that didn't seem to work since Gobber could be seen walking in his direction.

"Aye Draco, how did my apprentice do?" Gobber sat down in front of Draco. He closed his journal putting back under his robe "He was terrible but I'm not giving up on him, I'll continue to train him till I can leave or until I feel like he's good to go" Gobber let out a sigh "I've tried trainin' 'im before but he was just to… difficult, always training to do something different"

"What do you mean different?" Gobber was about to speak but got cut off by Spitelout "Different isn't what I would use, more like he would run and hide like a chicken would against a dragon, even though I think a chicken could handle a dragon more then useless could"

Gobber glared at Spitelout "If we gave 'im a chance…"

"Even if we gave 'im a chance he would still be a bad viking" Gobber hit slammed his fist on the table "He may be different from regular vikings but his a viking none the less" the hall became quiet, and everyone's attention were on the two adults.

It seems like they forgot about Draco and didn't notice that he left the hall "Spitelout, I will not let you talk about my apprentice like that and get away with it" Gobber stood up glaring at the man "Well, it's true even his own farther is disappointed in him and you know it" Gobber took a step forward but Stoick stepped in between the two "That's enough!" he pushed them away from each other.

"Now what's going on here?!" Stoick ordered staring Gobber and Spitelout down "Nothing…" Gobber walked away pushing past Spitelout leaving the hall. Stoick looked at his brother which only shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you think that was about?" Fishlegs asked

"I don't know but did you see how mad Gobber was? I wonder what made him get so mad"

"Whatever it was he'll get over it like he usually does" Snotlout said nonchalantly.

(With Draco)

Draco was walking through the plaza deep in thought 'I don't really understand why vikings think that they're born a viking or you're not born a viking but that should mean that you need to treat someone like shit because you're not one' he knew that's how vikings thought but hearing a viking say it just made him angry, but he can't get involved or get too attached to this place. It's not like he hates the place or the people, yes, some of them are annoying but he doesn't hate it.

He looked up from looking at the ground and noticed that he was standing at the edge right behind the forge looking over the lower half of the village and the ocean. He lets a sigh "Rias, I hope you're safe" he said aloud. He felt someone's presence and quickly turns around just to see that it was Gobber.

"Aye lad, I noticed that you were standing behind my shop, something on you're mind lad?" Gobber asked

"Nothing to be worried about, I was just thinking"

"About your home?" Draco shook his head

"No, my family" Draco walks pass Gobber heading for the forest but Gobber stopped him "Hey Draco, why don't you come by the watch tower tomorrow night, I'll be there with Astrid, the twins, Snotlout, Fishlegs and 'iccup, you could tell us some of your stories if you would like"

"Thanks, Gobber but I can't, I'll be staying at my camp tomorrow" Draco resumed to walk towards the woods.

On his way into the woods he could hear the sound of crickets chirping throughout the forest 'I guess it's around six, no wait…' he looked up at the sky and saw that there are a few stars in the sky 'probably getting close to seven' he finished his thought coming up to the cove where he could hear Galaxy moving around in the water. Draco looked down into the cove and saw that Galaxy was in the middle of catching fishing from the lake. Galaxy knew of Draco's presences and looked up at him watching Draco climb down into the cove "Vir drey nii bo voth delah?"

"Terrible, the way he swings a sword makes it seem like his never held one before, but I found out that was because he was using his off hand instead of his dominate hand"

"Hi dreh ni mein nau giving vok nau mok los hi?" Galaxy watches his brother sit down in front of his tent "No, but I'll only train him as long as we're here or until I feel like he can handle his own" Draco took out his journal along with a charcoal pencil. He opened up the journal to a blank page and began to write something down. Galaxy walked out of the water and stood behind his brother looking over his shoulder "Fos los peluth?"

"I'm writing the notes to give to trader Johann" Draco replied finishing up the last sentence of the letter before closing the book and putting it away. He looked up at the sky one more time before crawling into the tent, laid down on the extra furs he had with him then closed his eyes and let sleep consume him.