Review
DJ Rodriguez
No problem.
Thank you. I wouldn't say the Nadder is a tween. The dragons in the Arena are implied to be the same age as the Viking teens so I just gave her a bit of a playful personality.
Thanks, I really enjoyed writing the heartwarming scene between Hiccup and Leana and so on. Toothless was also fun to write in that chapter.
For what you said about Hiccup being an inventor and looking at the franchise, (Movies and TV series) I agree.
Chapter 7: The Tails of Dragons
It was just a normal day in what the people of Berk called Devastating Winter. People were going about their day. Hiccup was working in the forge, alone. Baela and Rheana were doing some chores at home.
Out in the plaza, Snotlout tried flirting with Astrid, Jorgenson style on a day where she had an argument with her father that left her in a very angry and violent mood.
"Hey, babe-" the Viking teen didn't get the chance to finish when Astrid punched him in the face and knocked him off his feet. The Thorston Twins stood near the side, frozen at the sight of Snotlout on the ground. Astrid pulled out her axe and held it threateningly to the Jorgenson boy who now looked up at her in fear.
"Listen carefully, Snotlout," Astrid growled to him. "Don't say a word or come within ten miles to me. Because if you do, I'll kill you in the most painful and unpleasant way possible. Is that clear?"
Snotlout stared up, frozen. The twins whistled quietly. "I SAID IS THAT CLEAR?!" Astrid demanded. The stout boy nodded his head fearfully while wheezing out, "Yes."
Astrid straightened up and continued walking. No explanation for her anger whatsoever. The entire exchange happened under a minute. One that Snotlout will not forget. Or Hiccup as he watched from the forge. He felt concern for his cousin when he saw that the boy was not moving from his spot for a while. But then slowly but surely, he rose to his feet shakily. The Jorgenson looked around, seeing some adults in the plaza and then he spots Hiccup.
He begins to advance to the forge, the twins following him. Hiccup recoiled at the shared expression of malice among the three of them before he turned and ran out of the forge. Snotlout and the twins chased after him.
Hiccup didn't look back, but he could hear the footsteps of the three teens chasing after him. Without thinking, he ran towards the forest. The ground was sleek and slippery with the snow and ice and Hiccup wasn't a good runner for a twelve-year-old Viking runt. So, it didn't really surprise him when he ended up slipping on an icy downward slope and rolled down to the bottom. It filled him with both pain and fear. Pain for that his back collided with a tree and fear knowing that his cousin and the Twins were catching up to him; using the slippery slope to their advantage.
With a painful groan, Hiccup looked up and saw them looking down at him with sadistic glee. He was alone and far from the village.
Snotlout looked down at the village heir, ecstatic at the smaller boy's fear. It always felt empowering to instill fear on others and see it grow.
So easy, so fun.
One hand, none of them have weapons. But on the other, they didn't need them. As Hiccup tried to stand, Snotlout kicked him in the stomach, sending him back to the ground and against the tree. Instinctively, he curled up, but not before being kicked by Ruffnut in the chest. Their kicks and punches continued to hammer down on Hiccup's curled figure, none of them held back.
After what felt like hours, they stopped. Snotlout looked down at the ice-tinged mud stained and green clad Viking heir who was shaking and breathing heavily in pain. He squats down to his level with a smile.
"Thanks, Cuz." he said with a chuckle. "I needed that."
"After seeing what Astrid did," Hiccup coughed, blood trailing from his lips. "I can see that." Snotlout frowned as he had the Twins grab Hiccup's arms and pull him off the ground.
"Don't tell your father about this, understood?" Snotlout said threateningly. "If you do, you'll regret it."
"Very blunt," Hiccup wheezed between coughs.
Tuffnut leaned forward. "You don't want to be labeled as a cowardly wimp now, do you?" he asked mockingly.
"Not necessary to be said, but points for trying to get the point across, Tuff," Hiccup said sarcastically while his head swayed, and his vision blurred, and he could see Snotlout giving him a nasty smile.
"Now that this is all cleared up," he raised his right fist. "Good night, Hiccup."
And the last thing Hiccup saw was the buff boy's fist racing towards him.
Screaming, Hiccup woke up sitting straight in the bed. A match was heard lighting up and he could see Baela and Rheana sitting up in their own beds, the former moving a match to a candle. "Hiccup?" Baela asked in concern.
Hiccup panted, sweating bullets. ". . . Just a bad dream. . ." he muttered, staring at the wall. Both sisters understood what the dream was about. Getting out of bed, Baela and Rheana walked over and hugged the Haddock boy tightly. He stiffened before hugging them back quickly and began to sob.
A dream. A nightmare. Just a bad dream. Just a bad dream. . .
Footsteps were heard as Leana walked up the stairs with a candle. She wordlessly walked to the bed and sat beside Hiccup, her daughters moving back, and she took the boy onto her lap and began to rock him a little. "It's okay, precious child." she said in High Valerian. Hiccup instantly began to relax. It was soothing to hear Leana speak in High Valerian. "It was just a dream. You're not alone, I'm here and won't be going anywhere." He felt Baela and Rheana hug him comfortingly again.
After what must have been half an hour, Hiccup pulls back. "Thanks, Mom." His voice was a little heavy still. Leana smiled warmly and ran her hand through his auburn hair.
Daemon poked the fire with a stick while Leana was braiding Baela's hair and Rheana and Hiccup were eating breakfast at the table. He sees at the corner of his eye, Hiccup sitting at the chair across from him. "Was it him?" Hiccup asked. Daemon glanced up to him.
"Caraxes," Hiccup elaborated. "Was it him that attacked the Thorston house?"
Daemon hummed. He had been anticipating this question. He nods his head silently. He watches Hiccup slump at that. "Why? I-I thought your dragons didn't attack humans." he said.
"We didn't say that did we?" Daemon asked in reply. "Hiccup, we have said that dragons in the past have been ridden during times of war. Vahgar is 180 years old right now. She was ridden by one of the great kings in my homeland as he conquered the land. Caraxes himself has seen battles before I claimed him and he's a few years younger than Vahgar."
Hiccup looked at him in surprise. "As for why, I've told you that our bond is strong." Daemon went on. "Strong enough that we can feel each other's thoughts and emotions." The Targaryen glances down to the fire.
Both Daemon and Stoick stand in the house of the village medicine woman and shaman, Elder Gothi. The former stares into the fire pit in the house while the other stares at the icy blue bedridden and unconscious Hiccup Haddock. Gothi was applying some bandages to the boy's chest. Daemon finally took his eyes off the fire pit and glances to the boy's bruises. He clenches a hand into fists.
Outside of the village, deep in the forest, Caraxes was snarling and growling, pacing back and forth with his tail swinging back and forth, sending logs and boulders flying along with snow.
The night Hiccup was beaten and left in the woods; Berk had experienced one of its worst blizzards recorded. The Blizzard of Olaf. Most houses ended up buried in the snow on the third day. By midday when there was a break in the storm, most of the villagers were digging out the house of the elder Mildew the Unpleasant. (Unaware to them, it would take them a whole week to get him out. And spend the rest of their lives wondering why they bothered.) Lunch came when Baela and Rheana had noticed the absence of one Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. They informed their mother and Gobber and they went looking.
It was almost sundown and the blizzard had returned when they had managed to find Hiccup, buried in the snow. The two limbed blacksmith and Leana raced straight to Gothi's hut, carrying the unconscious boy in the woman's arms. It was there that they had discovered that not only was Hiccup nearly frozen to death, but he was also beaten to unconscious. Daemon had arrived soon after that while Gobber went to inform the Chief.
At first, it was speculated that some pirates or Outcasts had taken the boy and beaten him before leaving him to die. How the boy survived, no one knew but Daemon knew that his daughters were glad that he did. It was then that Daemon and Leana knew that the children cared deeply about their friend. Two hours after the village was informed of the boy's condition, a small handful of adults came and spoke to Stoick.
They had seen Snotlout and the Thorston twins chase after Hiccup. It was only until after they were told of Hiccup's condition was that they put two and two together before informing the Chief.
Leana frowned when she heard the news while Baela and Rheana covered their mouths in shock. When asked by Stoick, the sisters had informed him of Hiccup being bullied by his own cousin and the Thorston Twins were often his accomplices in the bullying. "We wanted to tell you or do something," Baela said, "But Hiccup told us not to."
Vahgar and Caraxes roared to the sky in rage while Moondancer blasted the ground with her fire.
Roughly half an hour later, Stoick summoned his brother in-law Spitelout, Snotlout's father. The three men argued over what the boy's punishment would be. Eventually Daemon won the argument. "Your own son beat his own family and left him out in the cold." he said to Spitelout. "I think the fitting punishment for him will be to experience what Hiccup had experienced."
So, the next day, in front of the village, Spitelout had to beat Snotlout up and leave him in a pile of snow for only three hours when the blizzard continued. "Do make sure your boy does not even think of doing something like this again." Daemon had said afterwards to Spitelout. "Otherwise, Council member or not, Spitelout, I will personally see to it that your bloodline ends."
If one were to ask Daemon then why he was protective over a boy who was not his, Daemon would not be able to answer. But now he would say it was because he had wanted a son of his own. If his daughters see Hiccup as family, then so shall he.
The punishment for the Thorston Twins wasn't argued over as Snotlout's. Why? Because Caraxes had shown up.
Daemon had walked towards the twins when a horn was blown. "Dragon! Dragon!" A watchman was heard shouting over the winter wind. "Dragon to the north!" Daemon and Leana stared up in shock as they saw the red dragon fly over the village. The two glanced at one another briefly considering what to do. They didn't want to reveal to a dragon-hating village that they were dragon riders under these circumstances but how were they supposed to tell Caraxes to leave?
The Blood Wyrm roared in rage before he hovered over the houses. His eyes glaring down directly at the one below him. Thorston House. He hissed before blasting the house with a stream of fire. He landed on the ground with an earth-shaking THUD. Before him was Sarah Thorston and her newborn son.
"Well, you know the rest." Daemon said. Hiccup nodded slowly. Caraxes had killed them in one bite, corned the twins and dropped the corpses right in front of them and then roared in their faces before flying out to sea. "I had told them, after the funerals, that they were punished enough. The gods give just as the gods take away."
"In addition, the three teens were also grounded." Leana added. Daemon nodded in agreement. Hiccup knew that already. Those three months were some of the best in his opinion.
"After that whole debacle," Daemon spoke up again. "I realized that couldn't ignore the fact that you didn't know how to defend yourself. Your father always seems too busy running the village. And while Gobber has a lot of experience fighting and a good blacksmith, well, even you know that his methods are. . . questionable. Even if they don't get anyone killed."
Hiccup nodded in agreement. While he respected the two limbed blacksmith, he couldn't bring himself to agree with the man's methods. How no one has gotten seriously hurt in Dragon Training with Gobber's sink or swim method of teaching he may never understand. "Well, I don't know if I ever said this, Daemon, but I really appreciate your training."
"You don't have to say anything," Daemon replied, getting up and placing a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "You are the heir of the village; I have a duty to do what I can to help. And please, if you want, you can call me dad. Stoick may still be your blood, but you're part of our family."
Hiccup smiled and hugged the silver haired man. Daemon hugged him back before patting him on the back. "Now run along. You should give the Night Fury his prosthetic before lunch." he said.
Hiccup gasped and shared a look with Baela and Rheana. The three of them scrambled to grab their boots and the prosthetic. Leana handed Hiccup a large basket of fish. "By the way, have you thought of a name for your new companion?" she asked.
Hiccup paused at the door. "Yeah, I've named him Toothless." he replied before leaving.
Daemon and Leana stared at the door and looked to each other. "The Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death," Leana muttered.
"And he named it Toothless," Daemon snorted. "That's Hiccup for you." Neither of them thought that Hiccup was being cruel to the dragon. There was probably some hidden meaning behind naming the Night Fury Toothless. Other than the fact he had a toothless smile.
"Hey, Toothless," Hiccup greeted as he and the Velaryian sisters walked into the cove. "I brought breakfast, pal." he grunted as he placed the basket of fish on the ground before the Night Fury. "I hope you're hungry."
"Like you wouldn't believe," the Night Fury, Toothless replied, accepting the name given to him. "I hope you brought more than one fish. That ain't going to cut it this time."
In reply, Hiccup dumped the basket. "Okay, that's disgusting." he said as Toothless approached the fish. "We got some salmon, some Icelandic cod and a whole smoked eel."
"Eel? Please tell me you didn't," Toothless recoiled from the pile of fish. Confused, Hiccup reached down and picked up the black and yellow eel. The Night Fury recoiled, eyes wide, pupils in slits and snarling in fear. "GET THAT AWAY FROM ME! ARE YOU TRYING TO POISON ME?!"
"No! No, it's okay!" Hiccup exclaimed as he tossed the eel and held a hand to Toothless to pacify him. The Night Fury instantly calmed down but sneezed at Hiccup's hand. "Don't ever do that again."
"Yeah, okay, I don't like eel much either." he muttered, wiping his hand on his vest. Baela and Rheana rose an eyebrow at the scene before them and then they looked surprised when Moondancer reacted the same way, only she flew to the other side of the cove.
Hiccup made a mental note to test that eel with other dragons.
Toothless nuzzled through the fish as if checking for anymore eels before he began to gulp them down.
"That's it," Hiccup whispered as he walked behind the Fury. "Now, don't mind me. I'm just going to be back here, minding my own business." Before he could reach the tail, it moved away from him. He glanced to the Night Fury who was still wolfing down his fish. The Viking heir tried to move closer again, but it kept moving away. Just as he touched it, it flopped like a fish. "It's okay," he said more to the tail than the dragon before he jumped down on it. Just as he was about to hold it down with his hands, the dragon poked its head in the basket, moving its tail and made Hiccup slip. "Is there anymore in here?" Toothless crooned.
Hiccup reached and grabbed the prosthetic tailfin and began to strap it to where the real tailfin would have been.
Toothless perked his tail and let the basket drop. He narrowed his eyes and flicked his tailfin. "What are you doing back there?" he asked before he suddenly felt the weight of his left tailfin back. His jaw dropped along with his wings, eyes widened in surprise and his ears flattened. "Wait a minute. . ." he gasped.
Unaware of this, Hiccup sat up to admire his work and Toothless began to spread his wings ready for takeoff. He reached down to spread the prosthetic tailfin when he saw the flesh one spread out "There. Not too bad." he mutters to himself in pride. "It works."
"Uh, Hiccup!" Baela called out when she saw what the Night Fury was planning to do. "What?" Hiccup turned towards her.
"Blue sky, here I come." Was all the warning Hiccup got before the Night Fury's tail suddenly pulled him off the ground and he held onto the tail on instinct.
"Woah! Woah!" he shouted as the Night Fury flew up in the air. He glanced forward and saw Baela and Rheana running to the shoreline where he was just at. "No, no, no!" he shouted to the Night Fury before pausing at seeing the prosthetic tailfin closing on its own while the other remained open and then the dragon began losing altitude.
"Oh no! Oh no! Danger! Danger!" Toothless cried out, flapping his wings frantically. "Crash landing!" Hiccup looked back and saw that they were going to crash. Reaching to the prosthetic tailfin, he pulled it open and suddenly they shot upwards, out of the cove.
"I'm doing it! I'm flying again!" Toothless said while Hiccup exclaimed, "Oh my! It's working!" Then the two dived back to the cove and flew above the pond.
"Yes, yes, I did it!" Hiccup cried out, looking at the tailfin. "Thanks for your help, Hiccup." Toothless suddenly said to him after glancing at him. "But I'll take it from here."
Then he did a sharp turn around, throwing a screaming Hiccup off his tail and sent him skipping across the pond once before splashing into the water.
"Sorry Hiccup, but it'd be a bad idea to bring you back to the Nest," Toothless called, turning around to look back where he landed before he saw the prosthetic tailfin closing back up. "Wait," he said before he fell into the pond with a mighty splash.
Baela and Rheana looked at the pond with worried expressions before sighing in relief as Hiccup broke through the surface, pumping his fists in the air as Toothless rose up on the opposite surface.
"YEAH!" Hiccup cheered. He turned to see the sisters giving him confused looks. The dragon still couldn't fly on his own. Why was he celebrating? "Progress!" he said proudly. Ah, that explains it.
"Today is about teamwork," Gobber said to the teens after they came to the Arena after lunch. "Work together and you might survive an actual dragon attack."
"No weapons are needed. Each of you grab a bucket of water," Leana said next, gesturing to the buckets on the side of the Arena. "Ruffnut, you're with Astrid and Baela. Tuffnut with Snotlout. Fishlegs, you're with Hiccup and Rheana."
Gobber then opened up the cage of the Zippleback. "Now, the water is important in this lesson because this dragon can't light their fire if their sparking head is wetting." Leana said as smoke and gas filled the Arena from the cage.
"But that's what makes the Hideous Zippleback extra tricky." Gobber spoke in a tone as if he was telling a spooky story. "One head breathes gas and the other head lights it; your job is to know which is which." He then walks backwards into the fog dramatically.
Astrid, Ruffnut and Baela stood back-to-back as the gas moved around them.
"Razor sharp, serrated teeth," Fishlegs muttered to himself as he stood back-to-back with Hiccup and Rheana. "Injects venom for pre-digestion, prefers ambush attacks and crushing its victims-"
"Will you please stop that?!" Hiccup whispered harshly with an angry glare. Fishlegs promptly shut his mouth. "Hearing how a dragon will possibly kill you is not helpful at all," Rheana added elbowing the blonde boy in the ribs.
"If that dragon," Snotlout spoke to Tuffnut in false bravado, "shows either of its faces, I'm going to-" he paused when he saw the silhouette of what looked like a dragon head accompanied with growling. "There!" he said and the two of them threw water into the gas cloud.
And got three feminine human cries in response. The cloud parted to show Astrid, Ruffnut and Baela, both drenched and not happy. "Hey, it's us, idiots!" Ruffnut snapped.
Snotlout looked disappointed to not have got the dragon. Tuffnut decides to be really stupid. "Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon!" he chuckles at his joke.
Snotlout, however, knew that he's friend messed up. Big time.
"Did you just call us fat?" Baela asked, her eyes narrowing. Snotlout tries to take control of the situation. "Not that there's anything wrong with a dragonesque figure." Calling the girls dragons in a society where the village hates dragons was not the way to go.
Astrid walked up and punched Snotlout in the face but Ruffnut up and threw her bucket at her brother's face, knocking him off his feet.
"Ruffnut, you just wasted the water meant for the dragon!" Baela said in frustration and incredulously. She just called her brother an idiot, yet she just did something just as stupid!
Tuffnut sat up before being pulled into the smoke, his helmet clattering on the ground. "AAAHH! OH NO!" He screams.
Ruffnut stepped forward to look for her brother, but Astrid held her back. "Wait," she whispered. She and Baela got ready to throw their water as Tuffnut screamed again, "OH NO!"
Then a green tail launched out and swept the three girls' legs out from under them and their water spilled on the ground. "Oh great," Baela muttered.
Tuffnut ran out of the smoke and stumbled over Ruffnut. "Oh! Oh, I'm hurt!" he said dramatically. "I am very much hurt!"
Hiccup and Rheana stood to the side of the scene with Fishlegs who declared fearfully, "Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now." Hiccup and Rheana rolled their eyes. Didn't he know that Leana and Gobber wouldn't let anything seriously lethal happen? The two were standing less than ten feet away and Tuffnut wasn't even bleeding, much less bruised.
"Fee, fi, fo, foam," a Zippleback head slithered from the smoke towards Fishlegs and Rheana. "I smell the blood of a Viking hatchling plus two."
Fishlegs jumped back, bumping into Rheana as the Zippleback moved left and right. "Now!" the young Velaryian declared before she and Fishlegs splashed water on its face. "You shouldn't have done that, pups," he growled, green gas foaming in its mouth.
"Oh," Rheana muttered. "Wrong head," Fishlegs chuckled nervously before they were blasted by the stream of gas. Rheana let out a shout in surprise.
"Fishlegs! Rheana!" Both Gobber and Leana cried out in worry.
"We're fine," Rheana said before deadpanning at Fishlegs who threw his hands into the air and ran in terror, screaming in a high-pitched tone. "It's just gas, Fish." she called after him.
The second Zippleback head appeared before Hiccup, sparks lighting between its jaws. "We outnumber you two heads to one head, you small and skinny Viking hatchling," he growled. The other head growled in sync with its twin head, "Come on! Show us what you got! Hit us with your best shot!" the dragon's body bounced on its feet.
"Whatcha going to do? Whatcha going to do?" They growled at Hiccup in unison.
"Now, Hiccup!" Gobber shouted supportively.
Hiccup looked up at the dragon head determinedly before grunting and throwing his water as high as he could before it fell back down and landed between Viking and two-headed dragon. "Oh, come on. Really?" grumbled the Haddock boy.
"You missed~!" the left head growled at Hiccup as both heads lowered down to his level, laughing at him mockingly before spreading their wings making Hiccup recoil as the two-headed dragon lunged to him.
"Run, Hiccup!" Gobber shouted before covering his eyes. "Gobber!" Leana chided before running forward. "Hiccup!" she cried out, picking up her axe.
Baela and Rheana gasped and pulled out their swords and ran forward just as Leana did. And abruptly stopped in their tracks.
Why, may you ask? Because the Zippleback had recoiled in fear. "Eel! He's got an eel on him! A bloody eel!" the heads exclaimed as Hiccup rose to his feet, one hand out while he pulled out his sword with the other.
"Back! Back! Back!" he shouted swinging his sword in a threatening manner. "No, you back! Don't come near us with an eel!" they growled in response as they walked back to their cage.
Baela and her sister lowered their swords while Astrid and the other teens looked at the scene before them utterly mystified. "Now, don't make me tell you again!" Hiccup commanded them.
"Please! Don't come any closer! We're sorry for scaring you!" the Zippleback growled as Daemon leaned forward in his seat next to Gothi and a couple of adults who were watching. "Yes, that's right, back into your cage." Hiccup said before glancing back to the others and then pulling open his vest slightly to show the black and yellow eel from the cove. "Now think about what you've done."
"No, no, no! Wait, wait, wait!" the dragons whimpered as Hiccup tossed the eel at their feet. They practically backed up against the wall, moving their heads as far from the eel as they could. "Don't leave us in here with that thing!" Hiccup ignored their pleas and closed the cage doors. "Please?" He turned around and wiped his hands on his vest as whimpering was heard from behind him.
Baela and Rheana had amused expressions as did Leana along with a small prideful smile before there was a loud crash. Turning to the left, they saw Gobber and the others looking at Hiccup with wide eyes and dropped jaws and the sound had come from Fishlegs who dropped his bucket in shock with a dumbfounded expression.
It took all of Hiccup's will power to not laugh at what he was seeing. "Okay," he stated, rocking back and forth on his feet. "Are we done for the day? Because, I-uh," he stuttered a little before glancing and pointing to the door. "Yep, I'll see-see you tomorrow."
"See ya," Baela and Rheana bided to the others and left the Arena with him. Astrid and the others watched him leave before the blonde shield maiden glanced over to the dragon cage and back to Hiccup's form.
Later before dinner, Baela measured Toothless as Rheana gathered leather and brought them to the Forge. After dinner and after Gobber left, Hiccup spent a few hours to make a saddle for the Night Fury and Baela added two handles to it. The three stared at the saddle with proud smiles before Hiccup held a fist to each of them and they returned the gesture.
The next day was no training so, the three young Vikings returned to the Cove with Daemon and Leana. Hiccup held up the saddle for Toothless to see. "What do you think?" he asked.
"You're getting a saddle like us, Toothless!" Moondancer exclaimed happily as she and the other dragons showed the Night Fury.
Toothless looked between the saddles on the other dragons and back to Hiccup. "There is no way I'm wearing that thing!" he said, crouching down before running around the Cove.
"Hey!" Hiccup called before running after the black dragon.
"Catch me if you can!" Toothless said playfully, tongue wagging. Hiccup ran after him, holding the saddle over his head. "You will put this on!"
Neither of the sisters or their parents did anything to help Hiccup but laugh as Hiccup chased after the Night Fury for ten minutes before he managed to put the saddle on Toothless.
After that, Hiccup attached a string to the prosthetic tailfin, and they started with flying around in the Cove. "You got this, guys!" Rheana said as she and her sister rode on Moondancer. Daemon and Leana rode on their dragons outside of the Cove.
"Alright, easy does it," Toothless says to himself as Hiccup tried stirring them with the rope. "Easy does it."
Hiccup glanced back to the tailfin before looking forward and pulling the rope. Instead of what he was intending, Toothless veered to the left. "Great Stars of Draco!" he exclaimed while Hiccup remained flying forward before dropping into the pond.
Leana winced at the splash while Daemon snickered quietly.
That night, Hiccup returned to the Forge and made a tether with a hook added to the saddle. Baela and Rheana held their chins in thought as Hiccup gave the tether a few experimental tugs. Baela wordlessly walked to him and began to pull to give it more harder tugs. Hiccup let out a yelp when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled. She tugged on him five times as she stared at the cord.
"Okay, I think it works." Baela stated and promptly dropped Hiccup.
"Oof!" Hiccup exclaimed when he was dropped. He glared up to her as Baela snickered before shaking his head with a chuckle.
The next day, Toothless and Hiccup were flying outside of the Cove with the sisters and Moondancer. "Remember, Dragon Training is one hour before Lunch!" Daemon called after them when they left the Cove.
"Alright! Now we're moving!" Toothless said excitedly.
"Let's see how far you can go!" Moondancer said.
Baela glanced to the rope around Hiccup's ankle. "Uh, Hic, are you sure about that being a good idea?" she asked uncertainly. Hiccup grunted a, "Positive," only for the tailfin to shutter close and they began to drop. "Woah, woah, woah!" he cried before they crashed in a grass field.
"Oh, come on!" Toothless roared.
The belt Hiccup wore for the tether and hook broke, and he was sent flying forward. He stumbled forward in the grass before catching himself. "Okay, that didn't work." he muttered. He looked up and saw Moondancer abruptly dropping to the field and heard the sisters crying out in surprise. The Haddock boy gasped and ran over to them, pushing through the grass.
He found Baela and Rheana on the ground and to his surprise and confusion, Moondancer and Toothless were rolling around in the grass looking like cats in a field of catnip.
Baela and Rheana sat up and watched their dragon rolling around in the grass blissfully. Hiccup reached down and pulled a few blades of grass. He hummed in thought as he remembered that Moondancer and Toothless were scared of the eel and so was the Zippleback. I wonder. . .
The Gronckle headbutted Tuffnut in the chest and sent him flying back, his spear dropping to the ground. She looks around before spotting Hiccup standing by himself. Hiccup makes eye contact with the Boulder Class dragon before she shouts, "CHARGE!" and flew towards him.
Hiccup closed his eyes and held out his handful of grass to the Gronckle. Baela gasped while Rheana covered her eyes before peeking through her fingers. The Gronckle skidded to a halt just inches before his hand. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the Gronckle rolling onto her side, short tail wagging, "Oh, it's that wonderful grass!" she purred as she smelled it. "I love it."
Rheana opened her eyes and sighed in relief as did her sister.
Up in the stands, more adults were watching with Daemon, including the elder Gothi who narrowed her eyes a little as the Gronckle rolled around a little in front of Hiccup.
After class, Hiccup was swarmed by the other teens. However, instead of bullying or neglecting him like usual, they were complimenting or asking him questions about his new tricks in training.
"Hiccup, that was amazing!" Fishlegs exclaimed.
"How did you do that?" Tuffnut asked before he was shoved by Ruffnut and she leaned close to Hiccup with a sly smile. Baela shoved her into her brother with a protective glare.
"I never saw a Gronckle do that!" Snotlout said to Hiccup on his left. Neither he nor the others besides the Velaryian sisters had seen what Hiccup did. But none of them were going to tell them.
Hiccup started walking backwards. He doesn't really understand why they're acting all friendly with him all of the sudden, but it's sure making him uncomfortable. Baela and Rheana silently understood his thoughts and the three started walking away. "We, uh, need to go train and do some chores," Hiccup said. "You guys go on ahead."
He turned around and almost bumped into Astrid, the only teen that wasn't speaking to him the whole day. "We'll catch up."
Astrid narrowed her eyes suspiciously while the others watch Hiccup, and his friends leave.
"I don't know what that was about," Hiccup said to the sisters who shrugged in response as they walk away.
Back in the cove, Baela and Rheana had told him about scratching the dragon on the neck. "Most dragons can't reach their necks with their claws," Baela explained. "So, it would be a good way to bond with Toothless."
Roughly three minutes later, Hiccup was scratching the back of Toothless' neck behind his ear flaps. "Oh yeah, that's good." Toothless purred in bliss. "Little to the left, down but too far down." Hiccup didn't really know what 'too far down' was but as soon as he scratched under his jaw. The Night Fury yelped and fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Hiccup held his arms where Toothless' head was, and he looked down at the unconscious dragon in surprise.
Leana walked up to his side with a short bark of laughter. "I think you hit a pressure point," she said in amusement.
"Is he going to be okay?" Hiccup asked in a worried tone.
"He's going to take a nap," Leana replied. Hiccup looked at his hands in wonder. "Do all dragons have a pressure point, Mom?" he asked.
"Vahgar and Caraxes are too big for us to scratch and reduce them to this state," Leana replied while gesturing to the sleeping Toothless. "But yes, most dragons have a pressure point." She rose an eyebrow at the young Viking. "Are you planning on testing that theory in training?" she asked.
Hiccup looked up at her and shrugged at her innocently. Leana shook her head with an amused smile. "Just try not to get hurt." she said sternly.
Hiccup nodded in response.
The next day, the teens were facing the Deadly Nadder again. The bright side was that they weren't in a maze this time. But the Twins goofed around like clowns. Fishlegs avoided trying to confront the dragon directly. Snotlout was pinned to the wall by the Nadder's tail spikes when he tried to flirt with Astrid again.
Rheana tried to distract the Nadder so Baela could sneak up to its blind spot, but the Sharp Class Dragon ended up picking them both in her talons. "Ha! Nice try!" she chirped before tossing the sisters in the air and they landed in a water trough, though Baela hit the wall before falling into the trough with a splash.
Astrid tried throwing her axe at the dragon, but it bounced off the dragon's nasal horn and then the dragon slammed her head into Astrid's side and sent her flying across the arena. "Another win for Stormfly!" she squawked proudly before seeing Hiccup standing less than fifteen feet from her.
"One more challenger? Very well," she spread her wings as she charged. "Prepare for hand-to-claw combat, you small Viking hatchling!"
When she was less than five feet, Hiccup dropped his sword. She skidded to a halt and looked at him in confusion. "Why did you drop your weapon?" she asked. "Do you not want to fight? Wait, you smell like the Night Fury." she smelled his fur vest.
Astrid's battle cry was heard. Both Hiccup and the Nadder, Stormfly, glanced to the side and saw the young Shieldmaiden charging forth with her axe raised above her head.
"Want a rematch? Okay!" Stormfly stated but then Hiccup started scratching her neck. "What are you-? Oh, that's good!" Like what he did with Toothless, Hiccup reached to the bottom of her jaw and scratched her scales. With a blissful screech, the Deadly Nadder dropped to the ground.
Astrid skidded to a halt, he axe resting on her shoulder. Panting, she stared at the Nadder in shock before glancing up to Hiccup.
Hiccup just shrugged at her before jogging over to Baela and Rheana who were soaking wet from the water trough. "Bael, Rhea, you two alright?" he asked.
"I think I hit my head a little hard on the wall," Baela said woozily as she held her head. She pulled her hand back and saw it stained with blood.
Rheana grabbed her braid and wringed the water out of it with her hands. "Good job finding the pressure point," she whispered. Then she saw Baela's head bleeding. "Oh, that's not good."
"Timber," Baela said weakly before she fell down. Hiccup gasped and caught her before she hit the ground.
Leana ran over and held Baela's head in her hands before sighing. "It's just a concussion." she said. "Come on, let's take her to the house." Hiccup and Rheana nodded, and they left the Arena with the woman.
"Well, class dismissed!" Gobber declared before he started dragging the still unconscious Nadder back to her cage.
"Hey! What about me?" Snotlout shouted, he was still hanging on the wall of the Arena with the Nadder barbs holding his arms and legs. Daemon looked to the Jorgenson with a raised eyebrow. He mentally debated what to do or say before looking down to Gobber. "Gobber, is there a ladder nearby?" he asked.
"Not tall enough to reach the lad," Gobber replied as he closed the cage. "The tallest ladder is in the Great Hall."
"Very well then," Daemon nodded his head before looking down to Snotlout. "Sit tight, Jorgenson, I'll fetch the ladder from the Great Hall when it opens."
"But it's past lunch! The Great Hall won't open until dinner!" Snotlout protested.
"Relax, I'm sure it'll open when I explain the situation." Daemon said in a reassuring tone. "I'll be back." After I check on my daughter and go to the Great Hall at Dinner like everybody else, he thought to himself as he walked away from the Arena.
Four hours later. . .
"So, feeling better?" Hiccup asked as he and the sisters walked to the Great Hall. "I'm fine, brother," Baela replied with a playful roll of her eyes. Her head was now bandaged but she wasn't dizzy anymore. "Let's go eat."
Rheana was opening the doors already. "Guys, they're serving chowder!" she called back excitedly before she entered. Both Hiccup and Baela chuckled in amusement before they walked in.
Both Hiccup and the Velaryian sisters sat a table by themselves like normal. However, it was hardly six seconds before both the Thorston Twins, Fishlegs and a few adults swarmed their table.
"Hiccup, that was amazing what you did in the Ring today!"
"How did you do that?"
"Hiccup, you're going to be in first place for sure!" Tuffnut said excitedly.
Hiccup looked at them all confused and surprised and in the corner of his eye, he sees Astrid narrowing her eyes angrily and slamming her mug on the table. Hiccup chuckled nervously at the Vikings surrounding him and his friends before just picking up his bowl and leaving. Baela and Rheana silently followed his lead, and they left the Great Hall.
The next day when Hiccup was making adjustments to the saddle, he saw Toothless pouncing on a light reflecting off his hammer. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed. Raising an eyebrow, Hiccup picked it up and moved the light across the grass field.
"Huh? I gotcha!" Toothless pounced on the light like a cat. Smirking devilishly, Hiccup balanced the hammer on a rock and moved the light this way and that way. Toothless was chasing after the light. "I gotcha! What?! Just hold still so I can catch you!"
Just then Moondancer joined in on the chase. "I got you!" she said, pouncing on the light before being shoved by Toothless. "No! It's mine! Go get your own!" In response, Moondancer shoved the Night Fury. "No, it's mine!"
"Mine! Mine!"
"Mine! Mine!"
Both Baela and Rheana begin laughing so hard at the sight that they ended up coughing. Never before have they tried that with their dragons. Hiccup smiled to himself.
Both Caraxes and Vahgar were both uninterested. They were too old for that kind of game.
"Meet the Terrible Terror!" Gobber exclaimed as the log holding the cage doors, but the dragon came through a small cat flap door. The little dragon was the size of a iguana. It looked up to them and his lips curled up.
"Prepare yourselves to face Sharpshot!" the Terror chirped at the teens of Vikings in what is known as a Spanish accent. "Fear me if you dare!" he hissed.
"Ha! It's like the size of my-!" Tuffnut laughed as the other teens smiled in amusement before the Terror jumped onto his face and tackled him to the ground. The teens all cried out in surprise while the adults watching broke into laughter.
Baela and Rheana laughed as well. Hiccup smiled as well. "OW! Get it off!" Tuffnut screamed.
"Underestimate me for my size, will you?!" the Terror shouted. "You still do that as I scratch you!" he scratches Tuffnut's face with his claws. "How about I bite your nose?!" he bites on Tuffnut's nose, causing the Viking boy to cry out in pain. "OW!"
The Terror then crawls around Tuffnut's body, scratching and biting all over. "Get it off! Get it off!" Tuffnut screamed.
The teens look among themselves, unsure of how to help the male Thorston. "I got it!" Snotlout declared when the Terrible Terror was hanging from Tuffnut's belt. The Jorgenson boy ran up and kicked, only for the Terror to move and his boot hit Tuffnut in the groin.
Tuffnut wheezed as he fell to his knees in pain. Hiccup and Fishlegs winced in sympathy while Snotlout looked confused. "What? Did I miss?" he asked.
Tuffnut shook his head. "Nope." he glared at Snotlout. "You got them." The Terror then jumped from Tuffnut's back and onto Snotlout's face.
Snotlout cried out in pain as he was knocked off his feet by the small dragon. The Terror pulled on the Jorgenson's nose before it noticed a dot of light on his cheek. "Ooh!" the Terror chirped and chased after the light. "Bright light! I must catch it!"
Snotlout and Tuffnut stand up with bright red noses while the others stand and stare in shock at what Hiccup was doing. "Wow, he's better than you ever were," Tuffnut said, and Astrid glared at him before looking to Hiccup who holds the cat flap closed with his foot and he glanced at the teens with an innocent smile.
Astrid scowled before storming out of the Arena. I just have to train harder. I can't loose. And not to him of all people! My Clan is ashamed enough as it is!
I cannot loose!