"Welcome to Demon Training!" The large mustached amputee exclaimed.
The small, skinny boy with an auburn mop rolled his eyes at the jovial man. He knew Gobber most of his life, the man practically raised him after his father practically abandoned him as a lost cause. He stood at the back of the line fidgeting with the extremely uncomfortable armor adorned on his lanky body. The armor was sized for a much larger recruit and the boy nearly crumpled under the weight alone. He tried to persuade his father to let him wear something that would fit his form and allow movement of his joints. Like leather or hide armor.
His father merely chuckled before throwing the cuirass and vambraces into his arms. A Knight of the Holy Order must look the part Hiccup. His father had claimed. Hiccup scoffed, he was by no means a knight and probably never could be. I mean, how could a walking talking fishbone ever–
"Are you sure about this Hiccup? You would probably make a better support engineer like me." His thoughts were interrupted by the large man looking down on his apprentice.
"You know how my father is Gobber." Hiccup sighed, "his son must become the world's fiercest knight." The rest of the group laughed at that claim.
"Nice one Useless, but you don't have a chance while I'm still around." The stocky, raven haired boy said with a smirk lining the side of his face. The blonde boy with braided hair next to him elbowed the boy.
"I think you mean while Astrid is still around Snot." He laughed as Snotlout's face contorted.
"I am well aware that Astrid is going to be the best of us here." Hiccup said as his eyes glanced over to the lithe shape casually leaning against the nearest wall. Her arms were crossed and she huffed, flicking her blonde braid over her shoulder and blowing the bangs off her beautiful face and revealing stunning azure eyes. Hiccup's breath hitched as it usually did when he saw the blonde valkyrie.
"That's enough lolly gaggin'" Gobber claimed and dragged the band of students further into the training arena. It was a rather small room that contained oval walls made of concrete. The top of the room was iron chains that covered it in a dome. Looking up and off in the distance you could see the headquarters of the knights order. It was a giant building with two large towers ending in a butterfly roof framed with parapets flanking the sides of the building. It felt like an old church that was repurposed hundreds of years ago at the start of the demon's invasion of the mainland.
"Astrid, lass. Can you show us how to summon your divine weapon?" Gobber asked, looking at the warrior expectantly.
She nodded and walked to the center of the training arena and closed her eyes. She slowly inhaled and exhaled, focusing on her surroundings. She did her best to direct the natural flow to herself. Over the span of a few minutes of constant meditation, she was able to gather enough energy to summon her weapon. She held out her hand and the energy collapsed and gathered into the form of a large double-headed battle axe. The blonde smiled at her feat and opened her eyes.
The audience clapped and were amazed by how quickly she was able to summon the weapon. It only took a few minutes and she wasn't even officially a knight! Gobber was off to the side pointing a device at Astrid. He was nodding and seemed pleased with the result.
"Well done Astrid. As expected," Gobber smiled. "Now the rest of you. Show me how it's done."
"Wait, aren't you going to train us?" A blonde female with twin braids, nearly identical to her brother.
"I believe in learning on the job Ruffnut."
The rest of the trainees spread out from one another and began their best to summon their divine weapons. The twins would get close before one would crack a joke and they would both lose concentration. Soon enough Snotlout was able to summon his divine weapon, an ordinary looking mace. Still, it took him nearly thrice the time of Astrid. The twins summoned their weapons as well after they finished goofing around. Well mostly. Fishlegs was an exception and was not required to summon a divine weapon as he was not testing to become a knight.
The only one left now was Hiccup. Who tried his best to summon something. Anything really. The sad reality that he had hidden from everyone was that he had yet to obtain his divine weapon. Most people would be given them as children by their parents and trusted to protect the family from the invading demons. Hiccup was never given one as his father feared he would impale himself or cut off one of Stoick's toes. Hiccup knew it was fruitless to try and summon a weapon that never existed, but he still gave it his best shot even amid the scornful looks from the twins and the mocking shouts from his cousin Snotlout.
"Any day now Useless." Snotlout faked a yawn, "I'm about to collapse from boredom."
Hiccup threw his hands up in frustration and gave up. He knew it wasn't going to work, but he would give it his best shot even if it was impossible. He may be mocked and weak, but he is stubborn beyond anything else. He will never give up or slack on his work to make up for his shortcomings. Hiccup trudged off to the side and sat by Fishlegs who just gave him a pitying glance before returning his gaze to the rest of the recruits.
Fishlegs was writing notes and observations at a lightning pace trying to keep up with the session. He was trying to become a scholar. One that would support the knights from behind the scenes in knowledge of the demons and the strategies to defeat them. He was already assigning different statistics to different types of demons. Some with speed eight or differing jaw strengths. The rest of the recruits sans Hiccup were continuing with their training. One thing was for certain, if Hiccup was unable to summon a divine weapon. He would never become a knight.
And so the other lessons continued. Day after day of the same routine. All would summon their weapons in preparation for the training regime, but Hiccup would give it his best. After the usual berating from Snotlout he would return to the sidelines with Fish. This continued on for months as the training continued. Still with no weapon Hiccup was losing hope of ever graduating. His father just wouldn't see reason and allow him to become an engineer.
And before he knew it graduation came. With this he would receive the news of his failure and be removed from the order. Needless to say, Hiccup was not looking forward to this. He walked into the large room in the center of the Knight Order. It was a large rectangular room with scare furniture and a few ornaments and tapestries on the wall. In the center was a makeshift stage where each knight would be given their rank and inducted into the Order.
"First, I would like to call up the recruit with the highest marks in the recruitment and bootcamp process." Gobber smiled at his students, "Astrid Hofferson."
Everyone clapped and gave a few small whoops as she climbed onto the stage and received her title. She was inducted into the Order as a D-rank knight and with the highest marks earned the honor of being the captain of her cohort, meaning she would lead the future engagement of her fellow knights. Soon after her the rest of the knights were called up and also inducted as D-ranks.
"Now that is all for the knights in this class." Hiccup's shoulders deflated. He knew this was coming but was still slightly in denial. "Next up I would like to invite Fishlegs onto the stage."
The husky boy squeaked then climbed up next to Gobber nearly bursting from the seams. He was inducted as a D-rank scholar. He would act as support for Astrid's cohort and do his best to give them the best strategies and keep an ear out for any possible invasions that they could defend against.
"Lastly, come on up lad." Gobber said softly his gaze locked on the slumped shape in the back. Hiccup stood slowly and walked up and next to Gobber. Hiccup was doing his best to keep his eyes anywhere but on the larger man. "I would like to award you Hiccup as an E-rank support engineer."
Hiccup's head shot up, eyes wide in disbelief. Snotlout mocked something from the stands, but Hiccup tuned him out. He could not believe what he was hearing. That he was actually getting a chance. A chance to be in the Order. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he accepted the uniform from Gobber. With the ceremony done, and in a much more exciting ending than he had anticipated, he allowed himself to look around the room finally. Looking at the audience that contained the family members of each recruit. Everyone looked overjoyed for their children and some, the Ingermans, were even tearing up. Hiccup glanced at the empty seat on the far right. It was reserved for his father. He let out a low sigh and realized he had never shown, probably too busy to even attend Hiccup's graduation. Hiccup knew his father loved him in his own unique way, but he loved serving the Order more and trying to rid the world of the demons.
Hiccup smiled despite himself. He knew that even this wouldn't get him down. He was finally a part of the Order that he had dreamed about since his father first told him the stories. The recruits were gathered and forced to take a picture of all of them together. Astrid was in the center next to Gobber and the rest flanked them on the sides huddling close. Hiccup stood off to the side just barely getting into photograph range. For the first time in a long time, Hiccup's smile was genuine and beaming.
Even 5 years later looking back at the photograph and running his hand over the textured image in a small picture frame on his desk. He still smiled remembering the day. He was locked in his office trying his best to support the E-rank knights. Although his fellow cohort had moved on to the C-rank, leaving him further in the dust. Hiccup was still happy finally being allowed to do his part. To rid the world of demons, like his father.