Here we are again! I am very sorry for the loooong gap between updates! I wanted to finish Return of the Dragon Rider first, and then my laptop died and I could write for nearly three weeks, so everything was delayed. I am very sorry! Please forgive me!

Anyway, now that ROTDR is done, I will be dedicating all my time to TAAOFHAW. We have so many cool stories to go, so many ideas... so much to do and so little time to do it in!

So enjoy this third part and once again, sorry for the delay in updates. I never meant it to be this long...

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

Learners Bay, Part III

"Hey Useless!"

He looked up but had no time to respond. Snotlout punched him, the blow sending him to the ground. Before he could get up, his cousin kicked him, the heavy boot colliding with his ribs. With a pained yelp he curled up, his hands around his chest. But even that didn't protect him from Snotlout's kicks.

When he was finally left alone, it seemed like his entire body was hurting. He just lay there for a little while longer, curled up and crying. Then he slowly stood up, using one hand for support while he kept the other around his chest. He winced, biting his lip when the pain shot through his leg when he tried to walk.

With his arms around his chest he limped towards his house, still crying but doing his best to hide the tears. He wiped his face with his sleeve, taking a deep breath, but cringed when it hurt his ribs. He slowly opened the door and peeked inside. His father was sitting near the fire, his head resting on his folded hands as he was staring into the flames.

He slipped inside, as quiet as he could. His father didn't even blink as he closed the door and quickly went up the stairs. As soon as he was in his own room, he allowed the tears to fall as he pulled his tunic over his head. He knew that in the morning, the bruises would be there, visible for weeks. And when they would fade, it would begin again, and Snotlout would once again corner him and beat him up. It would never end, unless he made it end, and he wasn't strong enough for that, nor did he have the courage to try.

O*O*O*O*O

He shot up, nearly crying and breathing heavily as he remembered the beatings. He hadn't thought of those in years. Toothless crooned softly and came up to the bed, nudging his boy gently. Hiccup smiled weakly as he placed a hand on the dragon's nose. He had been in Learners Bay for exactly one week, and he had been plagued by nightmares for five days now, but this was the first time that he dreamt about Snotlout. All his other dreams had been about his father, telling him he was useless, not worthy to be heir of Berk, or his father finding out about Toothless and killing the dragon.

He slipped out of bed quietly, quickly put on his clothes and crept towards the door. When he opened it he saw it was dark outside, and he slipped onto the warm sand of the bay, feeling how it had retained the heat of the sun, almost like tiny lanterns trapping the heat. Slowly, he walked towards the beach, where the sword fighting of that day had to take place. Dale had allowed him to just watch the first few times, to get an idea of what he had to learn, but today he was no longer able to do that. Today he had to join the class and use his sword for the first time. It scared him greatly.

He watched the gentle waves for a while, the azure blue water darkened by the night, but it still possessed the brilliant color it had during the day. He let it wash around his feet and wriggles his toes in the sand. He was still getting used to the constant heat, but it was kinder on him than the cold of Berk had been and he had realized that the constant ache in his lower back, had simply come from the cold. Now the ache in his lower back had been replaced with one higher up, between his shoulder blades, but it was more of a sharp pain that flared up when he strained too much.

He squinted a little, focusing on a small, black dot in the distance, but quickly learned that it was a whale. Another strange animal he had yet to understand. The first time he had seen the whale was three days ago, and he had thought it was a dragon. He remembered he had been utterly surprised when he had found out it wasn't. The sea creature was bigger than some dragons, and Wrenlou had told him that this particular whale liked to hang around the Bay for some reason.

He gestured closer, the dragon's keen eyes picking up the signal, even in the dark, and quickly mounted the pitch black beast. They flew towards the whale calmly, the gentle waves disturbed as Toothless flew so close to the surface, little droplets of water sprayed the dragon and his rider. As soon as they got closer to the majestic sea creature, the whale surfaced and sprayed a fountain of water into the air. Toothless swerved to avoid it and Hiccup saw how the whale's sleek body glided back into the water, the large tail hitting it hard, splashing more water at the dragon and rider. They continued their game for a while, and Hiccup forgot his anxiety, enjoying the salty water that splashed up at his face, refreshing and cool.

When the sun started to rise in the distance, they said goodbye to the whale, knowing that it would be around the Bay anyway, never far away. He landed on the beach just as the first rays peeked over the horizon and slid of the dragon's back. In the distance, in the small village, he could hear the voices of the other riders and his bare feet patted the sand as he ran towards the sounds.

Broghan was practically dragging Wrenlou across the small plaza, having his brother in a strong headlock. Wrenlou was struggling to get free, but Broghan was stronger than him and the younger boy had no chance against his brothers strong grip. One they were inside the Hall, Broghan let Wrenlou go and he moved away from his brother, turning to Hiccup while rubbing his head with a painful grin.

'I hate it when he does that.'

Hiccup just smiled and sat down next to Wrenlou, the tables, as always already set with plates containing the usual meal. Some bread, cod, soup if chosen, and a cup of water. But instead of eating, Hiccup just stared at his plate, poking the fish with his fork. The knot in his stomach had tightened again, his light mood had disappeared.

'So,' Wrenlou started cheerfully, 'are you excited or scared?'

Hiccup looked up, frowning. 'What?'

'You know, because of training?' Wrenlou stared at the fish on his fork before he put it in his mouth and turned to Hiccup, who quickly looked at his plate again.

'Both I guess,' he mumbled, pulling the cod apart, but not eating it.

'Hiccup, I understand that you're nervous, but you have to eat something. You're supposed to gain weight, not lose it.'

He sighed deeply as he poked his fork in the fish again, this time lifting a little clump of the soft meat and he stared at it, unwilling to eat.

'I can't,' he whispered, turning to Wrenlou, their eyes meeting, 'my stomach is all knotted. It's like...'

'Eat something,' Wrenlou urged gently, 'you won't help anyone if you collapse on the battlefield, even if it's just practice.'

Reluctantly, Hiccup took the fish in his mouth. He had to admit that it tasted sweetly and wonderful as always, but he couldn't enjoy it like he always did. Somehow, it left a bitter taste in his mouth, and his stomach protested the little bit of food that he had forced on it. He managed to down a few more bites, eating slowly so that he was sure he wouldn't be able to finish the meal before Dale called them outside.

And indeed, when the dragon rider called his pupils to join him outside, he hadn't eaten more than four bites. He didn't care, he wasn't hungry and he quietly sneaked the rest of the fish to Toothless before he followed Wrenlou outside. He missed the worried glance his friend shot him as he walked behind them, trying to swallow his nervousness, but ultimately failing.

He stood next to Wrenlou, his hand clenched around the handle of his sword as he listened to Dale's explanation, even though he only understood some words. Dale gestured to Broghan and the boy walked towards him, pulling his sword from the scabbard and griping it tightly. Hiccup watched closely as he saw how Broghan placed one foot behind the other and crouched slightly, then he swung the blade towards Dale. The older man blocked the blow, and in one fluent motion Broghan spun around on his heels, striking another blow at Dale, this time low, aiming for his knees. Again Dale blocked and the two stepped away from each other as they both took their stance again.

Hiccup watched, his brows drawn and the know in his stomach growing as he knew, he would have to do that as well. Broghan and Dale repeated the moves, first strike, block, spin around and second strike while the defender blocked again. Dale explained a few things, showing how best to block and how best to hold the sword, and Hiccup listened intently, picking up on words such as sword, or defense. It had only been a week, but he already noticed that he started to understand words. Of course, Wrenlou had been insisting on language lessons after the daily trainings were done, and according to him he was learning quickly. He still relied on Wrenlou to translate the majority of what the man said, so after Dale was done with his demonstration, he gave Wrenlou some time to do just that.

He didn't really listen. He tried to, he really did, but his mind was already on the fact that he would have to use his sword. His sword, it didn't really sound right. He never had a sword before. He had handled plenty in his time in the forge, but none to call his own. Somewhere it felt good, but somewhere it felt wrong. Luckily, he didn't have to go first, Leila and Susan, or was it Sharon? took the first round, switching between attacking and defending, so that they practiced both. After they had done it about a dozen times, Dale seemed satisfied enough and allowed them to rest while Broghan and the other twin went up against each other. He took a few deep breaths as he practiced the swings and turns in his mind, watching Broghan's every move he and Leila sparred.

And then it was his and Wrenlou's turned and nervously, he walked out on the sand, griping his sword tighter with every step. He took position facing Wrenlou, but his nervousness was now tensing every muscles in his body.

'Relax,' Wrenlou whispered softly, drawing his sword, 'I'll be careful.'

Hiccup smiled halfheartedly. It wasn't Wrenlou he was concerned about, it were his own skills that he questioned. He knew the basics of sword fighting, he even had some minimal training, but it wasn't much. He glanced at Dale as the man came over to him and helped him to adopt the proper position. He even helped him get the first swing right, but after that he left him to find out on his own.

His first few strikes were tentative, testing the strength of his arm and the range of the weapon, but he quickly got the hang of it, and the moves became easier every time he did them. When it was time to switch and Wrenlou became the attacker, most of his nerves had calmed down. He knew the rest of the day would probably be even more training, but now he knew he would be able to do it.

When he completed the exercise, he was pumped. His nerves had completely disappeared, and the smile would not leave his face. The rest of the exercises gradually got harder, but with Dale's guidance he found he learned them quickly and with every successful strike his enthusiasm grew. Until he got too excited and put too much energy, energy he didn't even knew he had, behind his blow and when Wrenlou tried to block it, their blades slid past each other, the force behind Hiccup's sword forcing Wrenlou's sword down and before he could do anything about it, the tip of his sword had cut Wrenlou's left forearm.

With a yelp Wrenlou stumbled back and Hiccup froze when he saw the red blood drip between Wrenlou's fingers, spotting the white sand. He stumbled back when Wrenlou looked up, his eyes confused. When Dale had pried Wrenlou's hand away from his arm and quickly assessed the wound, he send him to the healers hut with Broghan, then turned to Hiccup. He could swear he saw anger burn in the man's eyes and he didn't wait to find out what he had to say.

He just turned around and ran.

O*O*O*O*O

The next morning when he woke up, he just stared at the ceiling for a while. He didn't really want to leave the warm bed, but he did so anyway. He wasn't sure if Wrenlou was still angry for cutting him, and he was a little nervous, but he reasoned that he had to know it had been an accident. After slipping into his clothes, he poked Toothless and the dragon growled, slowly getting to his feet. Together they walked towards the beach, where the days always started and he saw that everyone had gathered there already. With a weak smile he walked up to them, but it quickly faded when they turned to face them. Their faces were dark, their eyes hateful.

'Are you still here?' Wrenlou asked, his voice cold as ice, 'you should have left.'

Hiccup's eyes widened, not believing what he just heard.

'W... what...? he stammered.

'How can I still trust you!' Wrenlou shouted, 'you nearly cut my arm off! You're a danger to everyone! You should leave before you kill any of us!'

'B... but it was an accident!' Hiccup protested weakly. Surely Wrenlou knew that he hadn't meant to hurt him?

'Your father was right about you.'

His head snapped up and his eyes met Wrenlou's, staring down on him with cold hatred. He stumbled back a few paces, his eyes shooting over the other dragon riders, desperately seeking some support from them, but all he found were cold stares and the anger was clearly visible on their faces. Wrenlou was cradling his injured arm with the other one as he took a step closer.

'You really are useless and a danger to every one around you. You're better off alone. Go away, you don't belong here.'

He couldn't describe the feeling that engulfed his heart as he stared up into Wrenlou's cold, unforgiving eyes. His heart felt like it had been crushed and he stumbled back again, tripping over his own feet and falling into the sand with a soft thud. Wrenlou took a step closer again, his eyes flaring his anger.

'Get out of here!' he yelled suddenly and Hiccup flinched, 'and take that stupid dragon with you! We don't want you here!'

For a moment he sat frozen, staring at the boy in front of him, then he scrambled to his feet and started running. He ran blindly, the tears suddenly flowing unstoppable as he ran along the beach, Toothless in close pursuit. He ran until he was exhausted, then he fell on the sand, curling up into a little ball, his body shaking as he sobbed. He felt how Toothless curled around him, folding his wings over him to form a protective barrier between him and the outside world. After a while his sobs faded and he just lay shivering.

Had he really thought he would find a home here? Had he really thought they liked him? That Wrenlou liked him? Of course they didn't. Why would anyone like a hiccup, a screwup. He was a danger to everyone that came close to him, he would never find a home.

As a new wave of grief washed over him and new tears started to fall, he fell asleep on the beach, curled under Toothless wing. They would leave tomorrow. There was nothing else they could do.

O*O*O*O*O

'Hiccup! Hiccup, wake up! We'll be late!'

He shot up, staring into Wrenlou's eyes and he felt tears rise as he remembered the things he had said the day before. How could he pretend everything was fine now? He pulled his legs up, wrapping his arms around them.

'Come on, we have to go!' Wrenlou urged with his hand on the doorknob, but he frowned when he saw that Hiccup had buried his face in the blanket. 'Hiccup? Something wrong?'

He didn't answer, softly sobbing into the blanket. He had shunned him, chased him away, now he was pretending nothing had happened. It crushed his heart all over again. He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder and moved away from Wrenlou, swatting at him like he was a fly.

'Hiccup, what's wrong? Please, tell me.'

'Go away,' he mumbled, turning his back on Wrenlou. He was utterly confused right now.'

'Hiccup...'

'Why do you even care! You hate me, right?'

Had he not turned away he would have seen the shock and hurt that quickly took possession of Wrenlou's face.

'W... what...? Why would you... Why would I...' he took a deep breath, carefully reaching out to Hiccup again, 'why would I hate you?'

'Because I nearly cut your arm off,' he muttered, his face in the blanket.

Wrenlou glanced down at the white bandage around his wrist. The wound hurt, but was nowhere deep enough to sever his arm. It had been shallow, and the only reason it was bandaged was to keep dirt away from it and to prevent infections.

'Hiccup, you didn't nearly cut my arm off, you just cut me and it will heal. It happens. Broghan still has a scar from when I accidentally stabbed him. It's a risk we take every day. We might get hurt, it might be serious, but trust me when I say that I'm not mad at you, what makes you think that?'

The boy looked up, finally meeting and holding his gaze. His cheeks were wet and the confusion was clearly visible in his eyes.

'But... you said... you told me to leave... you said I didn't belong here...' but Wrenlou was shaking his head.

'I never said any of those things, nor will I ever say them. You must have had a nightmare.'

Hiccup sniffed, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. 'You think so?'

Wrenlou nodded. 'Must be. I know I never told you to leave, or that I hated you. Trust me Hiccup, I would never say that.'

Hiccup didn't answer. Could it have been a dream? But it had felt to real...

'This isn't the first time you've been having nightmares, isn't it?' Wrenlou asked, but it sounded more like a statement than a question. 'That's why you have trouble focussing. You don't sleep well.'

Hiccup just nodded. There was no point in denying it now. Wrenlou seemed to see through his mask, he didn't believe his excuses.

'Tell me.'

After taking a deep breath, Hiccup slowly stretched his legs. 'It's usually about Berk. My dad mostly. That he tells me he hates me, or that I'm no viking, stuff like that.'

'Why didn't you just say something?' Wrenlou's voice sounded a little offended, 'Hiccup, you're not the only one having nightmares. When I first started flying, I would dream about falling off every night. All you have to do say something. It usually helps if you just talk about it. There's no shame in having bad dreams.'

'I know that, but I just... I thought...'

'Thought we would think you were weak for having nightmares? No, never. Every one here has had nightmares at one point, it's a part of dragon riding. If you're not scared, you'll never learn your own boundaries. Do you understand that?'

Hiccup nodded, wiping the remaining tears from his face. He was relieved that Wrenlou didn't hate him, but the dream still confused him. It had seemed so real, like it had really happened. He glanced at Wrenlou's wrist, and the boy caught him looking. He rubbed the white fabric and smiled widely.

'I'm impressed really. You just gave me my second dragon training related scar, and the first one I ever got from a sword. Really Hiccup, I'm not mad at you. I never thought you were that strong!'

Hiccup blushed as he slowly slipped out of bed in search of his boots. He sat on the edge and eyes Wrenlou from the corner of his eye.

'Breakfast is over, isn't it?'

Wrenlou nodded. 'But your plate is still there. Get something to eat, get a lot to eat, then come to the beach. I'll explain to Dale, he'll understand.'

He nodded and pulled the second boot on, then he stood and walked over to Toothless. After waking the dragon, he went to the Hall, seeing Wrenlou walk towards the beach, his white dragon in tow.

While he was eating, the nightmare still playing in his head, he couldn't quite shake the heartache from just a few moments ago, the brief moment in which his world had been crushed once again hanging over him like a dark cloud.

He didn't know that that nightmare was just the first of many more to come.