Ch. 3- Dragon Training and Dragon Book

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"Welcome to dragon training, " Gobber said happily as he let all us in. And by all us I mean me, Hiccup, Fishlegs, Astrid, Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut.

"There's no going back," Astrid said as she walked in. Everyone looked around at everything, except me, I hid my face in Hiccup's back- near his shoulder- as the others were talking about something.

"I hope I get some serious burns," Tuffnut said.

"I'm hoping for some mauling. Like in the shoulder or lower back," Ruffnut said, rolling her shoulder.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," Astrid said.

"Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it," Hiccup said, sarcastically. I peeked over his shoulder. The others turned and stared at us, causing me to hide behind of Hiccup once again.

"Great, who let them in here," Tuffnut asked.

"Okay, lets get started." Gobber said. "And the recruit who does best will have the honor of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village." He made simple hand gestures that went with what was spoken.

"Hiccup and Halla already killed a night fury, so does that disqualify them?" Snotlout joked. The others laughed.

"Can I transfer class with the cool people in it?" Tuffnut asked, jokingly, walking away.

Everyone got in a line as Gobber put his hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Don't worry," he said to us, "the dragons will see you two as sector and sane and go after the more Viking like ones." He gave us a little push at the end of the line- parallel to the dragon cages and Gobber.

"Halla," Hiccup whispered to me. "Get in line."

"But I- I-"

"Halla, stop hiding behind Hiccup," Gobber grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into the end of line. Hiccup to my left, no one on my right.

Gobber walked to some doors and started talking about dragons. "Here are some of the many species you will face. The Hideous Zippleback."

"Attack 8, armor 16," Fishlegs said. 

"The deadly Nader."

"Speed 11, stealth times 2."

 "The monstrous nightmare."

"Fire power 15."

"The terrible terror."

"Attack 8, venom 12," Fishlegs got more eager the more he spoke. The more annoyed I got.

"Would you stop that!" Gobber yelled at him. Good, that is just what he needed to be told.  "And, the Gronkle." He placed his hand on the lever that would free the dragon behind the door. Oh no.

"Jaw strength 8," Fishlegs whispered to Hiccup and me.

"Wait!" Snotlout yelled. He took a step forward with a scared looked on his face. "Aren't you going to teach us first?"

Gobber smiled. "I believe in learning on the job." He pushed down the lever. Opening the door.

Everyone scattered as the dragon clumsily flew out of the cage. The Gronkle hit a wall, fell, and ate some small rocks on the ground, then went back up into the air.

"Today is about survival. If you get blasted: your dead. Quick! What's the first thing you need?" Gobber asked.

"A doctor," Hiccup said. I was across the arena and saw that he was really scared- almost panicking. I didn't blame him for I was nearly there myself.

"Plus five speed," Fishlegs said, also looking scared.

"A shield," Astrid's eyes never left the dragon, looking more determined and less scared. She was the only one who didn't look scared.

"Correct! A shield. The shield is your most important piece of equipment." Gobber said as everyone grabbed a shield. "If you have to make a choice between a sword and a shield, pick the shield." He said as he helped Hiccup and me with our shields.

The twins were fighting over a shield with skulls on it. Lucky for them, the Gronkle shot their shield and not them. "Tuffnut, Ruffnut, your out." Gobber announced.

"Those shields are good for another thing. Noise. And make lots of it; it throws off a dragons aim." Everyone started banging their weapons against their shields; the dragon shook its head to show it's confusion.

Everyone was scattered around the arena. "Every dragon had a limited amount of shots. How many shots does a Gronkle have?"

"5," Snotlout guessed.

"No 6!" Fishlegs put his arm in the air- the one holding his shield. Not seeming to notice the Gronkle behind him.

"Correct. That's one for each of you." I froze for a second, then turned to count seven kids. Eight people- if you counted Gobber. I held up seven fingers to Hiccup. He stopped what he was doing to count and looked surprised when he got the same number.

"Uh, Gobber-" Hiccup started.

The Gronkle shot Fishlegs' shield- still in the air- with a fireball. Destroying the shield. Guess he didn't know of the Dragon behind him. Oh well.

"Fishlegs, your out." Gobber said, as Fishlegs ran away screaming like a little girl.

The Gronkle then went to Hiccup, who was hiding between a thing of wood and the wall. He started to come out when the Gronkle shot a fireball right next to him, then he quickly went back in his hiding spot as the Gronkle left him alone.

"Hiccup get in there," Gobber commanded, when the Gronkle moved on.

Astrid's eyes never left the dragon. Snotlout was behind her, talking to her about something when all of a sudden she ran away and the dragon blasted his shield causing him to fall back from the force. "Snotlout, out."

Astrid ended up in front of Hiccup as she bounced her weight from foot to foot. "So I guess it's just you and me now," Hiccup said. Hey! I'm here too, I yelled in my head. Hiccup and his stupid crush on Astrid!

"Nope, just you," she answered as she dashed away.

When the dragon shot Hiccup's shield, it flew out of his hands. "One shot left!"

Hiccup chased after his shield; the Dragon chased after him.

"Hiccup!" Gobber yelled.

"Hiccup!" I whispered as I ran to him.

Hiccup looked behind him to see the dragon following. He forgot about his shield and ran to a wall. With his back against the wall and butt on the ground, he saw the Gronkle stop in front of him- it's mouth open.

This is where I came in. I stepped in between Hiccup and the Gronkle, protecting Hiccup.

I closed my eyes.

The Gronkle shot a fireball, causing me to make myself a bit smaller. The fireball didn't hit me.

When I looked up I saw Gobber pulling it with his hook hand. "That's 6. Go back to bed, you overgrown sausage."

"Hiccup," I whispered as I turned around, kneeling in front of him. Are you alright? I asked using our secret language. Sign language.

I'm fine, he signed back, how about you?

I'm fine. He nodded.

Gobber walked over to us. "Remember," he announced to everyone, "a dragon will always," he turned to us, bending down to us, who were sitting on the ground, "always go for the kill. Class dismissed," he said as he pulled me up off the ground. As everyone was leaving, Hiccup studied the mark the Gronkle's fireball left on the wall.

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"So why didn't you?" Hiccup asked as he held one of the ropes that took the two nightfurys to the ground, literally.

"Hiccup?"

"Yes, Hal?" He looked at me.

"Why didn't they go for the kill?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because we set them free," he shrugged, looking off into the distance. He walked quickly further down the nonexistent path. I followed him as he walked up to the entrance of the cove.

Hiccup sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Hiccup," I said and pointed to black dots on the ground.

"Hmm." Hiccup picked up a dot and starting examining it. He started to stand up, "Well, this is stupid."

A black dragon flew right past us, heading to the sky. Then landed back in the cove.

We went over to a ledge and watched it there. The dragon shook itself, went into the air and fell back down. Another Night Fury just watched as it sat on a rock.

Hiccup opened up his notebook and started to draw the Night Fury on the ground. "Why don't you just fly away?" Hiccup asked himself.

"Tail," I said. Half of his tail was missing. Hiccup saw and erased half of the Night Furies tail with his hand.

We watched as the one with out a tail try to catch some fish and failed.

He dropped his pencil and the Night Furies looked up at us. Oh no.

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"Where did Astrid go wrong?" Gobber asked, as we walked into the Great Hall. I didn't pay attention to the answer. I just followed Hiccup to the table. Hiccup and I were soaking wet. Don't ask. Okay- it was pouring outside. Thunder was heard in the distance, letting us know Thor was upset. Snotlout scooted over so there was no room to sit at the table so Hiccup and I got our own table. "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

"He showed up," Ruffnut said. Other said a few more things.

"His never where he should be," Astrid said rudely.

"Thank you, Astrid," Gobber said, sarcastically. "And Halla?" Everyone's attention went to me as the room went silent for moment. I hid behind Hiccup's side.

"She's always with loser boy!" Snotlout teased, bringing the light atmosphere back.

"She's with the boy who's never where he should be," Astrid answered, not entertained by Snotlout's teasing. "She was ready to sacrifice her life him."

"Okay, then. You need to live and breath this stuff. The book of Dragons." He slammed a heavy sounding book on the table. "Everything we know about every dragon we know of." A roar of thunder came from outside. Gobber looked up. "No attacks tonight. Get some rest." Gobber left.

"You mean read?" Tuffnut asked. "While we're still alive?"

They got into a discussion about the Book of Dragons before everyone but Astrid got up and left.

"So," Hiccup said putting his hand on the Book. "I guess we're sharing."

"I've read it." Astrid said, as she stood and left.

"All mine and Halla's then. Okay, um. See you, uh-" the door shut. "Tomorrow," Hiccup finished, sadly.

We came back to the great hall that night to read the book.

"Dragon classification: Strike class, Fear class, mystery class." Hiccup read the book out loud as I read it silently in my head. "Thunder drum... Timber jack... Scaldron... Extremely dangerous. Change wing... Gronkle... Zippleback... The Skrill... Bone napper... Whispering death... Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight."

We read the book nonstop for probably an hour and a half before we got to the "Night Fury," Hiccup read on the nearly empty page. There were no notes. No pictures. No kill on sight embedded onto the page. "Speed: unknown. Size: unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Just hide and pray it does not find you." Hiccup got out his journal and opened it to his drawing of the Night Fury. After a moment, he set his open journal on the nearly blank page in the Book of Dragons.

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