"No! No, no, no, no, no! Wait! I'm here!" Hiccup yelled as he stumbled towards the gate, but just as he reached it, it slammed shut. "No! Let me in!" He began banging on the rough wood, but the noise inside was too great as no one seemed to hear him.

Hiccup's head fell forward against the wood with a sigh of defeat. He knew in his mind that it was pointless to keep trying, but his stubborn heart said otherwise.

He turned around, his eyes searching for something, anything to help him. The long fence was made out of heavy wooden beams, and reached up to about five meters high, he guessed. Then he noticed a few poles and other materials that leaned against the fence a little ways down to the left from where he stood, and Hiccup smiled as an idea began to form.

"Citizens of Berk, it is my great honor to present to you: Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut! The Dragon's Five!" Hiccup could faintly hear the commanding voice of Master Grimborn call out louder than the cheering as he worked, nailing the wood together.

"Come on," Hiccup mumbled impatiently to himself, as he struggled to position the top of his makeshift ladder up against the fence. "Yes! It worked!"

He slowly began to climb, but he ran out of pole before he was able to make it all the way up, and he was just barely able to touch the fence an inch away from the very top. He mentally cursed his short height, and his metal foot that made the climb a whole lot more challenging. With a frustrated grunt, Hiccup started his trek back down, being careful to make sure the nails on the bottom of his prosthetic foot (which were used to give him traction against the ground) didn't dig into the wood.

"Ruffnut! Tuffnut! Ready for battle!" The yell from Master Grimborn yet again reached Hiccup's ears, and he pursed his lips and looked around the area once more.

A few minutes passed, and Hiccup was beginning to grow impatient with himself. He plopped down onto his bottom and let out a heavy sigh, one that finalized the fact that he was out of ideas, and he wasn't sure how long he could keep it up without Gobber finding him there and forcing him to come home.

"And finally...Astrid Hofferson!"

That got his attention.

Without a moment more to lose, Hiccup jumped up onto his unsteady feet. His eyes quickly scanned the area for the third time, and that was when he finally saw it.

"Believe me, you haven't seen anything yet!" Master Grimborn's voice echoed around in Hiccup's skull as he got to work.

"Oh, really?!" Hiccup shouted back sarcastically, though he knew nobody could hear him. He grunted from the effort as he pushed the large object over to his destination, and directed it to face the gate.

He had to make the measurements perfectly, or he would end up slamming into the wall, and he cringed at the thought of it.

Luckily, he realized that the weapon he was about to use was something that he had crafted himself a few weeks prior, and he had begged for it to be brought to the Great Hall to see if they would be interested in using it.

The guards were begrudgingly persuaded into it, mostly because he wouldn't let it go, and had even taken it up to be 'tested'. Or, at least Hiccup thought that's what they were going to be doing with it. He had just then found it amongst a pile of garbage, and he couldn't even find it in himself to be bothered by it at that moment, seeing that it was just the thing that he needed.

It was mainly created from wood and metal, with a slingshot that could fire almost any type of object at an incoming enemy. In a way, it was similar to a small, open cannon. The firing mechanism was connected by a single rope to the flat, metal pad-that the object would be placed on-which was lined with a fine leather.

Hiccup grabbed a knife that he kept tucked away in his belt, carefully maneuvered himself so that he was standing on the pad, then began to cut away at the rope.

Old Wrinkly held up a wrinkly old hand. "I sense the Dragon Warrior is among us!" he called out to the crowd.

"Vikings! Old Wrinkly will now choose the one destined to be the Dragon Warrior!" Master Grimborn addressed the crowd quickly. Getting the hint, the Dragon's Five gathered in the center of the Hall, all ready for the impending decision.

"What? No! Wait!" Hiccup panted as he worked the knife faster, slowly but surely chafing away at the thick rope.

"Hiccup?!"

Hiccup didn't look up, but the voice only made him cut even more furiously.

"What do ya think you're doing, lad?!"

Gobber ran forward. The minute he saw the boy who he had raised as his own about to fly up into nothingness, he immediately took action, hurriedly grabbing the knife out of Hiccup's hand.

"No!" Hiccup protested, reaching for the knife. "I'm so close! I've always wanted to be there for this moment!"

"Get off of there before you hurt yourself!" Gobber demanded. He reached over with his hooked prosthetic hand to lift Hiccup out, but the boy pushed it away. "I don't understand; you finally had the Blacksmithing dream!"

Hiccup sighed. "I lied, Uncle Gobber. I'm sorry. I love blacksmithing, but I love the art of fighting just as much, if not more," he explained quickly.

Gobber stared at him in confused shock, holding the knife out of Hiccup's reach, in case the boy tried to grab it again.

"Just let me go see who is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior," Hiccup begged.

Gobber merely shook his head, but Hiccup caught the pitying look in his guardian's eyes. "It's time to go home."

Hiccup sighed again. It was no use, he knew that. He gave Gobber a sad nod and began to shuffle his feet to get off of the pad, but before he could take a single step off, the last few strands of the rope finally broke, the pad shot out, and Hiccup was sent flying up into the air.

"Hiccup!" Gobber cried out in horror.

Hiccup screamed as he was flung up and over the gate, just barely grazing the bottom of his boot against it.

Mild Calibration Issue, his sarcastic brain told him as his scream died out. He barely had time to notice the blurred heads of the crowd as he soared above them, before the power of gravity took hold of his small frame, and he was sent falling back down to the ground.

The last thing he felt before the darkness overtook him was pain as he landed on the dirt.