A/N: *runs in panting* I'M ALIVE!
I'm so sorry it took so long to finally get this written and posted! I literally just graduated from high school this year, and so things have been really crazy preparing to move out of state for college and stuff. Though I'll have a few weeks of no school in September when I will likely be very bored, so I'll hopefully post a/more chapter(s) then! Thank you all for being so patient! I really appreciate it!
Anyway...here's another update until then! Hope you enjoy! :)
Hiccup followed Viggo out of the Great Hall and into the open air. Some distance to their left was the great arena where the Dragon's Five trained. It was like a giant dome with the criss-cross of metal bars forming the top of it. Even from his position, Hiccup could see the Five already practicing for their next big fight inside it.
His heart began to beat a little quicker as he drew nearer, but he stubbornly pushed his nerves aside and kept going, maybe even walking a little faster. It all came down to this. What Viggo and the Dragon's Five thought of him would be sealed in the next few minutes.
His eyes came into focus on the warriors now right in front of him, and Hiccup's jaw dropped as he watched them.
The two twins of the group, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, were fighting each other in hand-to-hand combat, but it soon seemed to get out of hand when the girl punched her brother so hard that he fell to the ground with a welt already appearing on his right cheekbone. Though to Hiccup's surprise, he jumped right back up a second later and began fighting back once more.
Hiccup's eyes moved on to the next warrior: the larger one, known as Fishlegs, who liked using his brain more than brawn. He was fighting with a stuffed dummy with small red targets all over its figure.
Pressure points, Hiccup instantly recognized what the targets were for.
Next in order was the all-renowned smug one, Snotlout, who was relentlessly punching a large wooden dummy that had appendages that swung around and would attack him back. Hiccup could practically see the sweat flinging from his body everytime he swung, yet the warrior kept persisting no matter how exhausted he seemed to be.
And finally, there was Astrid.
As soon as Hiccup's eyes landed on her, he couldn't help but stare. She had an all around obstacle course. She would jump through giant hoops suspended from the ceiling, then climb what looked to be a small tree, before backflipping off of it and attacking a dummy similar to Snotlout's.
"Wow," Hiccup breathed as he watched her train. He then hurriedly looked away with a slight burning in his cheeks when she glanced over at him, though her face was impassive.
"Astrid!" Viggo suddenly called out. "Come!"
Hiccup's eyes widened at that. Was he seriously about to meet…
"Yes, Master Grimborn?" The voice was so close now that Hiccup could hear every panting breath that left the warrior's mouth.
"I want you to battle our Dragon Warrior here…"
Hiccup held his breath, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"...in hand-to-hand combat."
Hiccup chanced a glance at Astrid, who eyed him distastefully, but nodded all the same. "Yes, sir," she said obediently. Viggo moved back as Astrid prepared herself.
"Begin," Viggo announced suddenly.
Hiccup's round eyes snapped over to him in surprise. "Wait! I don't think this is-" But it was already too late.
Astrid sprang forward, her fist flinging out towards Hiccup's face. He was just able to duck in time, only for Astrid to flip over his back. Hiccup allowed himself a small, inward praise of victory, seeing as he was able to dodge the great warrior's attack, but that didn't last long as she pinned him to the ground from behind, twisting his arm behind his back.
Hiccup gasped from the shock and the pain, and was about to surrender, but then he saw the only slightly hidden look of triumph on Viggo's face, and he stubbornly kept his mouth shut.
It felt like an hour had passed before Viggo finally congratulated Astrid and told her to go back to her training.
Hiccup shakily got to his feet, rubbing his aching shoulder as he did so. He watched as Astrid ran back to her training ground and resumed fighting the dummy, glad that she was punching it rather than him. Yet, he couldn't help a strange warm feeling from penetrating his utter embarrassment and pain. As far as Hiccup knew, she had actually acknowledged his existence. Sure, she nearly dislocated his shoulder in the process, but it seemed to somehow be worth it.
"And that is enough for today," Viggo ordered stoically, breaking Hiccup from his thoughts.
"But I haven't really done anything," Hiccup said, unable to keep his disappointment from showing.
"You have done exactly as I had expected of you," Viggo returned easily, his eyes looking straight ahead, as if Hiccup wasn't even worth his full attention. "You may leave now. I need to have a private word with the Five."
Hiccup ignored the sting in his chest and did as he was told. Even when he was announced to be the all-powerful Dragon Warrior, people still seemed to see him the same way; just a lowly blacksmith apprentice who just got in the way, and nothing more.