"Oh, Hiccup? He's not here right now."
Torny blinked at Gobber in surprise. It was unusual for Hiccup to not be in the shop during the afternoons, but it was even more unusual for Gobber to not know where he was.
"Can you let him know I'm looking for him then?" she asked. "When you see him again?"
Gobber agreed and Torny turned to leave the shop, feeling troubled. She had wanted to check on Hiccup after Chief Stoick had dragged him away. She had seen how aggressive and disappointed Stoick could be, especially towards his son, and she wanted to make sure that Hiccup hadn't been yelled at too much for something that was as much her fault as it was his.
"Psst, Torny!"
Startled out of her thoughts, Torny glanced around. Not seeing anyone besides a stray sheep sprinting past, she frowned and kept walking.
"Torny!" The voice repeated, and this time when Torny looked up she saw Ruffnut crouching behind a barrel next to a house and glancing shiftily from side to side. "Torny! Get over here!"
Torny hustled over and crouched next to Ruffnut. "Hey, what's going on?"
"Tuffnut's been tracking me since the docks," she hissed, still looking around warily. "It feels like he's planning something."
"Interesting," Torny hummed. "Any idea what he's up to?"
Ruff glared. "If I knew, then I'd tell you! He just keeps showing up out-"
"Look out!" Torny hissed, snatching Ruff's arm and dragging her to the other side of the building. Peeking back around the corner the two girls watched as Tuffnut wandered out from around a house on the other side of the road, looked up and down the street lazily, and sauntered down toward the Arena. "That was close," Torny sighed.
"But you see it, right?!" Ruffnut exclaimed. "He's acting like he's bored, but he keeps showing up out of nowhere! He might be an idiot, but he's not stupid!"
"You have a point," Torny agreed, now on high alert as well. "He's planning something. Did you do anything to him this morning?"
"Nothing but the usual," Ruff shrugged. "I slap him, he slaps me back. But maybe it was the worms I put into his mutton last night."
Torny cringed as she remembered how that went down. Tuffnut had already eaten half of the mutton before he noticed anything wriggling around. "Yeah, that's probably it."
"What do you think he's doing?"
"It's hard to say," Torny mused. "Let's see if we can follow him while he tries to follow us. He might slip up and reveal what it is he's up to."
"Good idea," Ruff grinned, and the two girls took off in search of the other twin. It was supposed to be a simple task but much to their frustration it seemed like Tuffnut had planned this out more thoroughly than either of them had thought.
"Where's he going now?" Ruffnut hissed as Tuffnut completed another seemingly useless circle around a house.
"I'm getting dizzy just watching him," Torny agreed, adjusting her grip on the roof tiles under her feet.
"Well, we're not going to find out anything else from up here," Ruff huffed. Letting go of the top of the roof, she slid down toward the ground on her knees. Torny was about to follow her when she heard a surprised shriek from Ruffnut.
"Ruff! What happened?!" She didn't have to wonder for long though when Tuffnut's cackling echoed up from the bottom.
"That's what you get!" he chortled as Ruffnut continued to yell at him. Torny risked a glance toward the ground and saw that there was some kind of sticky green substance surrounding the house that they had been hiding in. He must've found my stash! Torny realized.
"Tuffnut! You idiot, how am I supposed to get down?!" she shouted.
"Not my problem!" he shouted back. Before Torny could respond Tuffnut had to dodge an attack from his very angry sister. "Besides, I thought you wanted to meet up with Ruff! You're welcome!" And with that the two of them took off.
"Idiots," Torny muttered. Lucky for her, this was not the first time she had been trapped on a roof. Making her way to the front she was able to crawl in through the window and make her way down the stairs. No one seemed to be home, making it easier for her to use one of their chairs as a bridge across the slime. Once she made it across she looked up to see a Viking across from her, a child in one arm and a barrel in the other. Her mouth kept opening and closing in surprise and the toddler stared at Torny with wide eyes.
"Heh, sorry 'bout that," Torny chuckled nervously. "I'll, uh, I'll be off then."
She bolted in the direction the twins had gone, hoping that the shock would keep the woman from coming after her. A few minutes passed and she couldn't hear any angry feet coming after her. Breathing a sigh of relief, she started toward the Great Hall.
"Torny! There you are!" Half expecting Hiccup to be running up behind her, Torny turned around only to be faced with her cousin Fishlegs. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" he gasped, hands on his knees.
"What's up? Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded, holding up a hand.
"There's a meeting tonight, so Mom made us food at home," he explained.
"What's it about this time?" Torny asked as the two of them starting off toward their house.
"I'm pretty sure they're planning a final search for the Dragon Nest," Fishlegs replied. "Mom seemed really concerned, but Dad said that there should be nothing to worry about. But most of those ships never come back! I'm worried that something will happen to them this time!"
"They'll be okay," Torny reassured him, opening the door to their hut and seeing two plates set out on the table. "They're both really skilled, and I know that the Chief will do his best to keep everyone safe."
"Yeah… you're right." Fishlegs took his seat across from Torny with a heavy sigh. "I guess I'm just letting my nerves get to me. Dragon Training starts tomorrow. I'm so nervous! What's gonna happen? Is Gobber going to let us use actual weapons? What do we do if someone gets hurt? What if-"
"Fishlegs!" The boy snapped out of his ramblings, a wounded look on his face. Torny sighed and softened her tone. "Everything will be fine. I'm sure no one will be badly hurt, Gobber wouldn't let that happen."
"But what if-"
"Don't worry about it. Besides," she tried to grin, "I'll be there with you. If something does happen, I'll be there to patch you up."
Fishlegs looked at her with wide eyes. "You're going to Dragon Training?! But I thought you were training with Gothi? You shouldn't need to-"
"That's what I said, but Gothi insisted that it was necessary to know the basics at least."
"But-" He cut himself off, looking nervous. "But… but what if you have to fight a real dragon? Are you sure you won't… freeze up?"
"I'll be fine," Torny scowled. When Fishlegs looked like he was going to keep talking Torny started before he could ramble anymore. "I'm going to get some sleep for tomorrow. I'll see you later."
Fishlegs tried to apologize but Torny was too upset to hear him. Slamming her door, Torny looked from the new scorch marks on the floor to her mother's hammer that was sitting by her bed. She tried to lift it, but was barely able to carry it without her arms shaking with effort. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she lowered the weapon back to the ground. "I'm so sorry. I don't know if I can do this."
But I have no choice, she thought. I need to get revenge.
It was hard for her to sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes all she could see was the Monstrous Nightmare from that morning, its flames so close that she could taste the ash coming off of her singed clothes.
"I don't think I can do this," Fishlegs mumbled, clutching his weapon close.
"You'll be fine," Torny reassured, glancing at the other teens nervously. "Just… don't do anything reckless, and you'll be fine."
"Ha! Reckless is my middle name!" Snotlout, who was nearby, chimed in. "These dragons don't stand a chance!"
"I guess we'll see about that," Torny muttered, glaring at the black-haired boy who was trying to hype up the twins.
"Hey." Torny looked up, surprised that Astrid would even be talking to her.
"Good luck in there," she said, nodding towards the Arena. "I've heard about your parents. I hope you make them proud."
"Uhh… thank you. Good luck to you too."
Astrid smiled, a bit of a smirk lingering on the edges of it. "Thanks, but I don't need luck." Before Torny could respond, Gobber opened the door and Astrid turned to lead them into the Arena.
"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Torny's eyes widened as she stepped into the Arena. She had never really been to the Arena before; being afraid of both dragons and fire had kind of been a deterrent. But now, here she was, marching into a dome of death, getting ready to face her greatest fears.
"I hope I get some serious burns!" Tuffnut remarked.
"I'm hoping for some mauling, like, on my shoulder or lower back," Ruffnut pitched in.
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," Astrid agreed as they all stopped in the middle of the ring.
"Yeah, no kidding, right?" Everyone turned in surprise to see Hiccup walking into the Arena with an ax that looked way too big for his small arms to be carrying. "Pain. Love it."
"Oh, great. Who let him in?" Tuff jeered. Torny glared at him and was about to say something when Gobber interrupted.
"Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."
Snotlout scoffed. "Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so, does that disqualify him or..." The twins looked at each other and cackled as they turned back towards the far end of the Arena.
"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuff grumbled as they all began to line up in front of the dragon cages. Torny looked hesitantly between the group and Hiccup, not sure whether she should defend him or not. Gobber seemed like he was giving him a pep talk, so Torny figured that he would be alright for now and got in line between Fishlegs and the twins.
"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight!" Gobber began as he walked up to the doors. "The Deadly Nadder!"
"Speed: eight; Armour: sixteen," Fishlegs mumbled after him. With the amount of times that Fishlegs had brought the Book of Dragons home, it was no surprise to Torny that he had these facts memorized.
"The Hideous Zippleback!"
"Plus eleven stealth times two."
"The Monstrous Nightmare!"
Torny didn't even hear what random fact Fishlegs said afterwards. That was it. That was the one that she needed to kill. How could her parents be proud of her if she didn't avenge their deaths?
"Can you stop that?!" Gobber screamed, startling both Torny and Fishlegs out of their respective trains of thought before he continued. "And, the Gronckle."
Fishlegs leaned over to whisper to Hiccup, and as he did Torny felt her heart leap into her throat as she realized what Gobber was about to do.
"Woah, woah, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?!" Snotlout exclaimed. For once, Torny agreed.
"I believe in learning on the job." As soon as he finished his sentence his arm went down and a large Gronckle shot out of the cage. Torny felt frozen in place until someone grabbed her arm and dragged her out of harm's way.
"Today is about survival," Gobber continued. The beast crashed around for a bit before getting to a suspiciously placed pile of rocks, which it gobbled up immediately. "If you get blasted, you're dead!"
Literally! Torny thought as she stumbled after Fishlegs.
"Quick! What's the first thing you're gonna need?"
"A doctor?!" Hiccup called out.
"Plus five speed?!" Fishlegs squeaked.
"A shield!" Astrid answered.
"Shields! Go!" The teenagers scattered. Torny and Fishlegs made it over to the row of shields without much trouble.
"Here!" He tossed one over to Torny, who grabbed it with both hands. "Come on!"
The two of them stayed at the edge of the Arena, keeping the dragon in sight. Everyone else seemed to have got their shields besides Hiccup and the twins. Gobber made it to Hiccup first and yanked him to his feet, yelling the whole time. "The most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield!"
The twins, however, were not so lucky. The two of them were so busy fighting over the same shield that neither of them noticed the Gronckle hovering closer and closer to them. "Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!"
Torny's heart jumped and she tried to move towards the twins when the Gronckle swung towards her. "Those shields are good for another thing: noise!" Gobber continued. "Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!"
Torny looked around helplessly as the others began to beat on their shields with their weapons. She had dropped her hammer as soon as the dragon had been released and was now clinging to her shield like it was a lifeline. The Gronckle shook its head as it hovered in place, and Torny shifted closer to Fishlegs.
"All dragons have a limited number of shots," Gobber kept going. "How many does a Gronckle have?"
"Five?!" Snotlout shouted from somewhere across the Arena.
"No, six!" Fishlegs exclaimed, raising the arm that was previously hitting his shield.
"Correct, six! That's one more for each of you!"
Before Fishlegs could celebrate too much the Gronckle fired again and knocked his shield out of his hands. Torny stumbled back with a squeak and Fishlegs ran off screaming. "Fishlegs, out."
Torny scrambled backwards, trying desperately to put some distance between herself and the murderous beast that was coming closer to her. Her ears were ringing as the dragon opened its mouth wide, an ominous glow shining in the back of its throat. She gripped her shield tight and curled her body behind it.
The explosion rattled through her entire body and the force of it shoved her backwards. "Torny, out!" Gobber shouted, and Torny wasted no time getting to her feet and running as fast as she could toward the other teens that were watching from the sidelines.
"Torny! Are you okay?" Fishlegs worried, grabbing her shoulders as she skidded to a halt in front of him. She gasped for air and gave him a shaky nod, her heart still beating in her throat.
"At least you got a chance to actually face the dragon," Ruffnut grumbled as she crossed her arms and glared at her twin. "I'm only out because someone wouldn't let go of my shield."
"Puh-lease!" Tuffnut growled back. "I grabbed that shield first! You were the one who didn't let go!"
"Oh really?" Ruff grabbed Tuff by the horns of his helmet and tried to drag him face first into the wall. When that didn't work she slammed her head into his and the two of them began slinging insults back and forth.
Torny was about to break them up when she heard Gobber yelling Hiccup's name with panic in his voice. Looking up she could see why. The scrawny boy had lost his shield and was now flattened against the far wall of the Arena, the Grockle's massive face pressed right up against his. Torny wanted to shout, to move, to do something, but fear held her in place.
With a sharp yank of his hook hand Gobber pulled the beast's head up, causing its shot to go too high. With a lot of shouting and swinging, he managed to drag the beast back into its cage and locked the door.
"You'll get another chance, don't you worry," Gobber was saying as he turned back to the disheveled group of teenagers. "Remember: a dragon will always – always – go for the kill."
He heaved Hiccup to his feet before walking away. Torny wanted to run over and ask if he was okay, but the look on his face confused her. Instead of being terrified, Torny saw a curious and confused look cross her friends face as he turned to look at the scorch mark on the wall behind him.
"Thank Thor that's over!" Snotlout said, strutting over to the rest of the group. "C'mon guys, let's go down to the Great Hall. I'm starving!"
Torny rolled her eyes as the group of them followed him out of the Arena, giving Hiccup one last glance before following them out. He looks like he'll be fine on his own.
Thank you to everyone who has read this story. I hope you have enjoyed. Until next time!