In the second day of Dragon Training, the group was put into a maze in the arena with the Deadly Nadder, a rather spiky dragon.
Hiccup was doing his best to ask Gobber more about Night Furies while the Nadder was shooting fire at them. "Hey, I just happened to notice there was nothing about Night Furies. Is there like another book or a sequel? Maybe, a little Night Fury pamphlet… whoa!"
A magnesium blast shot Hiccup's spear, reducing it to ashes as Brooklyn ran by him, eyes widening from the Nadder screeching, running on its two legs in their direction. "Focus, Hiccup! You're not even trying!"
"Easy for you to say… ah!" Brooklyn cried out as the Nadder shot its spines, barely missing Brooklyn and hitting the wall. "Today, is all about attack!"
The Nadder hissed again, jumping on top of the maze, running about and trying to pick them all off. "Nadders are quick and light on their feet your job is to be quicker and lighter!" Fishlegs had yelped when the Nadder also nearly struck the boy with its spines too, striking his shield. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" He screamed, Brooklyn silently agreeing with him.
Gobber however ignored the comment and continued his teaching. "Look for its blind spot, every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike!"
Brooklyn panted heavily but when he turned a corner, he flinched from the Nadder coming face to face with him, snorting. He trembled, struggling to stay in its blind spot until to his bad luck; Snotlout rammed into him, making Brook glare. "Hey, watch it!" He shouted, until the Nadder heard his yells, firing its magnesium blasts.
It caused Gobber to chuckle in amusement. "Blind spot yes. Deaf spot, not so much!" Brooklyn glowered, his hair smoking from being almost cooked alive. Hiccup once again tried to talk to Gobber. "Hey, so how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"
Gobber groaned, a hand over his eyes. "No one's ever met one or lived to tell the tale. Now GET IN THERE!" He bellowed, pointing. Hiccup babbled about the Night Fury even further until Astrid called his attention, Brooklyn also hiding as well since the Nadder was stalking behind the wall.
Astrid waited for the right moment, then did a duck and roll to the other side. Thanks to his gargoyle training Brooklyn was able to copy the move as well but with Hiccup, he stumbled from the heavy shield, falling on his back. Cringing, Brooklyn grabbed Hiccup's hand before the Nadder could bite him in half.
Snotlout at one point had stepped in front of Astrid with his cocky attitude. "Step back, babe, I'll take care of this. Hyah!" He tossed his hammer, but missed the dragon by a mile. It made a snort which sounded like laughter to Brooklyn. "The sun was in my eyes, Astrid!" Snotlout complained before having to dodge more fire. The Nadder was so aggravated by now it began knocking down the maze going after Astrid.
When it suddenly casted its eyes onto Brooklyn, the Nadder hissed, shooting its spines. Before Brook could dodge, the spine struck his bicep, making him gasp aloud in pain. He could see Hiccup still trying to ask about Night Furies and ran, wanting to stay as far away from the Nadder as possible.
"Hiccup!" Gobber shouted, trying to get Hiccup to turn around as the Nadder toppled down the last of the maze, Astrid screaming when being sent flying, right on top of him.
Brooklyn held his arm, seeing Hiccup and Astrid on top of each other with her ax in Hiccup's shield. The twins sneered. "Ooh, love on the battlefield!" Tuffnut mocked. "She could do better.' Ruffnut grumbled.
After struggling around on top of one another, Astrid saw the Nadder hissing, ready to attack. She gasped, yanking the shield imbedded ax out of Hiccup's hand, swinging and hitting the Nadder hard with it, the shield wood splintering everywhere.
The Nadder squawked in a pitiful way from pain, limping away. "Well done, Astrid." Gobber said while Brooklyn thought he saw a look of regret in Astrid's eyes until it disappeared, glaring at Hiccup. "Is this some kind of a joke to you?! Our parent's war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on!" She seethed before stalking off.
Gobber had gone down into the arena, noting Brooklyn still having the Nadder spine stuck in his arm. "Hey, yer hurt." Brooklyn nods, flinching when Gobber tugged on the spine, yanking it out. "Thanks." Brooklyn muttered, rubbing where the spine was, hating Astrid for having yelled at his friend like that.
….
After having gotten his wound treated by Gothi, Brooklyn and Hiccup had both returned to the cove but this time, Hiccup brought both a shield and a fish with him.
The fish rather smelled, Brooklyn's face wrinkled up. He supposed gargoyle noses were more used to the smell of fish than a human's. The two crept into the cove despite the shield getting stuck on some rocks.
"I hope the Fury eats the fish instead of us." Brooklyn said under his breath, Hiccup agreeing while holding the fish by its gill, the two looking around for the black dragon.
They were unaware however of the Fury sneaking up on them from behind a large rock, swishing its tail silently until letting out a guttural threatening snarl, creeping from on top. Brooklyn and Hiccup turned about with a gasp, Hiccup holding the fish close to his chest, the Night Fury crawling down in front of them, arching its back like a lion, hissing.
"Uh, hi… dragon…" Brooklyn said nervously, feeling a small shiver go down his back from the beast's piercing green eyes. But that was when its eyes dilated, smelling the fish then changing its demeanor, crawling over to eat it. Its eyes next however slitted as soon as it smelled the knife on Hiccup's belt, hissing again.
Hiccup noted this, taking out the knife and dropping it. The Fury inclined its head to the water. Brooklyn nudged Hiccup. "I think he wants you to really get rid of it." Hiccup eyed him. "How do you know it is a him?" Brooklyn shrugged, grinning sheepishly while Hiccup kicked the knife away into the water.
Looking more calm now, the Fury sat on its haunches, gazing up at them feline like, face now rather adorable. Brooklyn let out a light chuckle, not knowing dragons could behave like this as Hiccup held out the fish. The Fury opened its jaws but revealed no teeth.
"Where did his fangs go?" Brooklyn asked in curiosity, Hiccup scratching its head. "Toothless. I could've sworn you had—gah!" The Fury's fangs shot from its gums, grabbing the fish fiercely and swallowing it whole, licking its lips. "…teeth…" Hiccup croaked, wiping his hand as the dragon rumbled, walking closer to the two and sniffing them both.
Brooklyn stumbled back, Hiccup stuttering. "Uh, no, no. We don't have anymore!" Hiccup gasped, the Night Fury staring at them intently until it began making weird gag refluxes.
The former gargoyle didn't like those sounds, wondering what they could mean until half of the fish was dumped from its stomach onto Hiccup's lap, grossing him out. The Fury cooed, stepping back, sitting on its haunches and waiting expectantly.
"Why did he even do that?" Brooklyn asked in disgust, Hiccup looking down at the fish tail then back to the Fury. The Fury eventually tilted its head, almost like it was telling him to… eat it.
Hiccup picked it up, Brooklyn cringing silently, seeing his friend bite into the fish. He was glad he wasn't eating that thing. Hiccup did his best to pretend to like it, the Fury making swallowing sounds since he didn't buy Hiccup only holding it in his mouth.
Brooklyn's stomach churned more. "Oh boy…" He groaned, knowing Hiccup had to or else they would upset their new 'friend', Hiccup with a grimace swallowed the fish, looking like he was about to be sick but kept himself from throwing up. The Fury made a slurping sound that was rather silly sounding to Brooklyn, who couldn't help but smile at how cute the fierce dragon was. Hiccup did the same and the dragon even tried copying it, struggling to smile with its teeth retracted.
"Wow. Who would've thought a dragon could smile?" Brooklyn asked, nudging Hiccup playfully in the shoulder who laughed at him, next going to try petting the Fury. That apparently didn't work as the Fury hissed, gliding off to the other side of the pond. Brooklyn watched the dragon burn a part of the ground, curling up to sleep on it.
Hiccup gestures to Brooklyn to follow and the two crept around the water to the sleeping Fury, Hiccup attempting now to touch the tail. The Fury growled, lifting it up, eyeing them both in suspicion. Brooklyn flushed. "S-Sorry… we'll be going now." He laughed nervously, the friends making a break for it, the dragon stalking away from them both.
But they didn't leave. Well into the afternoon, Brooklyn and his friend both sat together on a log, wondering what to do. All Hiccup had been able to come up with so far was a name for the dragon he decided to be called Toothless.
Brooklyn folded his arms. "Really? That's the best name you can come up with? Why not Strike? Or Night Shadow?"
Hiccup flushed. "It was the only name I could think of, ok?" He snapped while drawing in the dirt which was of Toothless. Behind them Toothless was hanging upside down in a tree like a bat, peeking out of his wings and noticing the two boys. Cooing in interest, he quietly crept over, leaning over their shoulders.
The former gargoyle felt the dragon's presence, looking around and unable to help the chuckle from his throat, not telling Hiccup yet but Hiccup already knew, continuing to draw as if Toothless wasn't there.
The Fury had a really cute look on his face, his head following every movement of Hiccup drawing until he got an idea, walking off on his two legs and grabbing a branch. Brooklyn had seen that happen, staring in disbelief while Toothless began to make lines on the dirt too like he was drawing, holding the branch in his mouth.
"Ok, this is getting weird…" Brooklyn said to himself, while Hiccup watched in awe as this seemingly fierce beast showed off his drawing skills.
All Toothless could do was just make a bunch of squiggles around Hiccup and Brooklyn, sitting down and admiring his work, purring.
Getting up, Hiccup wound up stepping on one of the lines while Brooklyn stayed put, thinking that he should let him bond with the Night Fury. Toothless growled, lowering his head only until Hiccup lifted his foot. He did it a couple more times until placing it on the other side, beginning to do a dance across the drawing. Brooklyn grinned, wishing he had a camera to film this, holding his legs tight, feeling rather breathless during this moment between teen and dragon until Hiccup reached the end, Toothless just a few inches away.
It made the former red male hold his breath, gripping his knees tighter than before as Hiccup stared into the wild green dragon eyes who cooed softly. Hiccup then did the most daring thing in the world; holding out his hand slowly, turning his head away.
Toothless purred, sniffing the teen's hand before soon, pressing its black nose against Hiccup's hand, eyes closing. Brooklyn's jaw dropped open, having never seen a human bond with a dragon before. His mind was now obsessed with the idea of touching a dragon without it killing him.
When Hiccup opened his eyes again in amazement, Toothless huffed sharply, moving away from them again, making it good for Brooklyn to move. He got up, walking over to Hiccup, wide eyed at him. "D-Did you just…?"
Hiccup's shoulders sagged in disbelief, shrugging. "I honestly don't know. But I felt something after I touched Toothless. Like we connected." He said softly, staring at his own hand. Brooklyn smiled from the words but then saw how late it was. "We should probably get home or we're dead."
Nodding, Hiccup followed Brooklyn out of the canyon, the two looking back at Toothless once more before leaving. On the way home, Brooklyn now had an idea in his mind. He wanted his own dragon now. And he knew which one it would be, a little smile on his face. Brook just had to figure out how to find one.