Hiccup sighed to himself as he rode Toothless to the training arena. An overwhelming sense of dread plagued him, a feeling shared by his dragon. It was Astrid's turn to teach dragon training today, and that wasn't good for anybody.
Astrid's training regimes were brutal by everyone else's standards. The other riders dreaded the days she was in charge, Hiccup included (not that he would ever tell his girlfriend that). Even Toothless wasn't safe. Once, they did endurance exercises that had the poor Night Fury's wings aching for days.
Both dragon and rider shared worried glances at each other as they landed at their destination. Having no idea what form of torture awaited them, they both walk into the arena. The other dragon-rider pairs could be seen with similar looks of unease. All except Astrid, who was smiling giddily. A bad omen for the rest of them to be sure.
"Okay people, let's get started!" Astrid announced. Sounding way too happy.
"Oh great." Ruffnut commented. Similar groans following from the other teens.
"What is it this time?" Tuffnut exasperated. "And don't say 'bare-hand tree chopping,' my knuckles are still bruised from last week."
"Nope! This week, our dragons are going to get involved!" Astrid proclaimed.
All the dragons, Stormfly included, whined loudly.
Astrid stood up on a crate and proudly declared:
"I introduce to you, Hand-to-Claw combat!" kicking the crate open to reveal an assortment of old wooden practice weapons.
"WHAT!?" Everyone yelled at once.
"You can't be serious!" Snotlout screamed in disbelief.
"I'm not gonna fight my princess!" Fishlegs protested. Meatlug whining in a similar tone.
Astrid just rolled her eyes. "C'mon it's just a bit of friendly sparring! Completely harmless!"
"Umm… Astrid, are we sure this is really necessary? It's not like dragons are the enemy anymore." Hiccup tried reasoning.
"Well sure, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared for the times when we cross paths with less than friendly wild dragons." Countered Astrid. "Can't rely on a gentle approach all the time."
He really wanted to argue, but she did have a good point. Perhaps it would be good to get some practice in a safe environment where no one would get hurt (not seriously anyways). At least, that's what he believed, right up until the moment turned to look at Toothless…
His dragon had the most evil grin on his face.
"Uh… Toothless?" Hiccup asked nervously.
Toothless crooned wickedly at his human.
Maybe this won't be so bad afterall.
Hiccup gulped under his dragon's piercing gaze. Toothless was looking at him like a wolf would look at an injured rabbit. The boy swiftly turned to start pleading with Astrid to let him sit this one out, but she was already gone.
"Alright! Who's up first?"
"Ooh! Us!" The twins were first to volunteer, excited about the prospect of violence.
The other teens and dragons quickly moved up to the edges of the arena, making space for the twins and their Zippleback. Practice weapons in hand, Astrid started off the match. The next five rounds passed in a blur of gas and scales. To their credit, they were able to get the better of Barf and Belch a few times. Proving tricky to pin down, they managed to get the dragon tied up in their own necks, the two heads fighting to go in opposite directions.
Up next was Snotlout. Hollow wooden practice hammer at the ready.
"Haha! You're going down Fangster!"
He was in fact, not going down.
With a snort and a puff of smoke, Hookfang chased his rider around the arena. Repeatedly catching the slower teen with ease. Snotlout did manage to land one blow on the Monstrous Nightmare's shoulder. It bounced off like it hit a brick wall. Hookfang responded by growling, setting himself on fire, setting the hammer on fire, then setting Snotlout's pants on fire.
Fishlegs was an interesting case. Neither him or Meatlug really seemed to have their heart in it. The Grockle accidentally scratched her rider's hand once, and then felt so bad about it she practically rolled over for the rest of it.
Astrid was the only one so far with balanced odds. While Stormfly was clearly an excellent fighter, managing to trap Astrid under her feet a few times, the blonde human proved more than capable of wrangling her own dragon. Both came out bruised and exhausted.
—
The entire time Hiccup was watching the other teens, he found it incredibly difficult to focus. Namely, because the Unholy offspring of Lightning and Death was breathing down his neck the entire time. Occasionally, Toothless would nip at his rider's back teasingly, making Hiccup jump while the Night Fury laughed at his expense.
Eventually, the moment he had been dreading arrived. When all the other riders had gone and it was his turn in the ring. He grabbed a wooden sword and dummy shield, confronting his dragon before they started.
"Please take it easy me bud." He begged. "I promise I'll give you extra fish tonight."
Toothless merely smirked at him smugly, audibly extracting his sharp teeth and shooting him a toothy grin. The dragon purred.
Not a chance.
Hiccup sighed in resignation. Great, just great. He could tell his pleas for mercy went ignored. Toothless was going to eat him alive, quite possibly literally.
The two of them took up their positions on opposite sides of the arena. Hiccup got into a defensive stance keeping his shield high and footing wide. He looked over to see Toothless hunched over ready to pounce, eyeing him with slit pupils in a predatory gaze. The boy hid behind his shield a little more.
Hiccup's heart stopped when Astrid started counting down. As soon as she reached zero, the feral Night Fury turned into a black blur that sped towards him. Hiccup immediately lost all resolve, dropping his stance and running the other way. Needless to say, he did not last very long. A few seconds later, he squealed as a large weight barreled into him.
Toothless bowled over his little human with ease, pinning him by the neck with his sharp talons. The chokehold, however menacing, was gentle in its grasp. He was careful not to hurt his friend in this fun game of theirs. Well, fun for him at least…
Round two wasn't much better for the young viking. After nearly having his spirit separated from his body in fright last match, Hiccup was a bit more prepared. Steeling himself, he decided to go on the offensive this time.
Looking back, that wasn't such a great idea.
Easily dodging his mock swing, Toothless took advantage of his rider's poor balance, swiping his tail to disarm his opponent.
By the time Hiccup could tell what happened, it was already too late. His sword and shield clattered to the ground on the other side of the arena as he struggled to stay upright.
Just as he regained his balance, he looked up to see parted jaws descending upon him.
"WaitWaitWait-!"
He was cut off as Toothless chomped on him, engulfing his entire upper body. The dragon playfully nibbled on his prey, he retracted his teeth at the last moment to avoid hurting his boy.
Hiccup squirmed inside his dragon's mouth, succeeding only in covering himself in more drool. Toothless spit him out after a few more seconds of licking, leaving Hiccup soaked in dragon slobber.
"-Ack! Toothless!" Hiccup whined. Finally getting a breath of fresh air. "Was that really necessary bud?"
The Night Fury in question smacked his lips and warbled playfully.
No, but it was fun!
"Arrgh! You'll pay for this you useless reptile!"
They both knew he wouldn't.
This pattern continued for the rest of the session. Always ending with Toothless clamping his gums around Hiccup's vulnerable neck, or some other equally embarrassing position.
Meanwhile, the other riders and their dragons were having the time of their lives watching the show. Not that they thought they could last any longer against a Night Fury, but it was just really funny to watch the least athletic among them try to fight the deadliest dragon ever known.
It was so funny in fact, that Astrid declared that it was over too quickly and that there would have to be bonus rounds, goodie.
Hiccup immediately tried to protest, but Toothless, all-too-eager didn't give him the chance and immediately started pursuing him again. At this point, everyone was rolling on the floor laughing. The Night Fury would tackle his rider, let him get up, give him a head start then tackle him again.
By the end, Toothless had pounced on him four times, caught him in his jaws twice, tripped him once with his tail, and topped it all off by sitting on him. Yet, despite his ferocious demeanor, he did his best to break Hiccup's falls whenever possible. Toothless may be an apex predator, but he didn't allow a single injury to befall his beloved rider. Claws and teeth never left so much as a scratch. He didn't even have a single bruise. He was just a little roughed up, that's all, and plenty humiliated…
"-Okay, okay, I yield-! Can you get off me now?! Please!" Hiccup wheezed out under the crushing weight of his dragon.
Toothless wagged his tail happily from his position atop his rider. Of course, he wasn't fully sitting on him. He didn't want to pancake his human. After just a few more moments of torment, the large reptile stood up and let his rider breathe again.
Taking a deep inhale and coughing a few times, Hiccup lay on the ground. Completely spent, he remained splayed out on the hard stone, exhausted out of his mind. The other riders come down from their perch to 'congratulate' him on his crushing defeat.
"Those were some pretty nice moves Hiccup!" Astrid chuckled out sarcastically. It was all in good fun though.
"I'm never forgiving you for this." Hiccup accused lightheartedly through heavy breathing from his spot on the floor. She knew this would happen to me.
Too tired to get up, he watched as Toothless turned around and trotted over to him. The black dragon smiled down at his prone form, his pink tongue was out as he panted his fishy breath straight into Hiccup's face.
"Useless reptile…"
Said reptile cooed at him gleefully, licking his face and pulling Hiccup upright. Throughout the matches he had attempted to go for the dragon's sweet spot under his chin. It would have been a dirty trick, but realistically it was his only hope to win. But Toothless had seen him coming every time he tried.
"Thanks bud."
He debated going for the sweet spot now, but decided that it would be poor sportsmanship. Also the dragon would end up on top of him, again. Instead he used his friend's neck for leverage as he struggled to stand himself up.
Seeing this, Toothless didn't hesitate to push his head under Hiccup's legs and lift the boy onto his back. He had bullied the poor human enough for today.
Sighing in relief at his chance for respite, Hiccup leaned back against the cool scales, patting the dragon's shoulders in thanks. Toothless carried him all the way back to the village that way. Trotting the distance on foot while his tired passenger got some much needed rest.
"Hey bud?"
An inquisitive warble answered.
"You think I'd ever be able to beat you?"
The Night Fury let out a throaty laugh, jostling his friend a little.
No.
"Yeah. Me neither."