User blog:Invisiblewing/HTTYD Fanfiction/Retelling: Part 3

Thanks again to anyone who took the time to read my other blog posts. If you're in the United States, I hope you all have a great Memorial Day. Please thank the men and women in the armed forces for the sacrifices they have made to keep our country the way it is. Now that I am off the soap box, here's part 3 of my version of HTTYD. As always, comments and suggestions on how to improve this story are welcome.

_____________________________________

My father and his crew, which consisted of about ninety percent of the men on Berk, had left early in the morning. I had gotten to the pier just in time to see the three ships launch, heading toward the horizon in the north.

I met the other teenagers in front of the armory the next morning. It was the only place I could guess at where people would be. All I knew was that we were going to start dragon training today. No idea who would teach or where we would be taught. Or how long it would take.

                 I saw Astrid and Fishlegs there. I also saw Snotlout and the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

                 The twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut were always at each other’s throats. They were fraternal twins, Ruffnut the girl and Tuffnut the boy. They were argumentative, belligerent and were always trying to one-up each other in every single little aspect of life.

Six people in total. Tuffnut was the first one to see me.

“Aw, who invited him?” he asked pointedly.

                 Snotlout giggled and said, “Hey, I don’t think we have to train. Just hide behind Hiccup, since he’s already a master ‘dragon slayer.’” This made Ruff and Tuff chuckle.

                 “Ah, looks like everyone’s here.” The other five teenagers wheeled around to find Gobber standing right behind them, equipped with his prosthetic hook. “We’re headed that way, lads. And lasses.” He motioned to his right. We followed him as he started walking.

                 We entered the arena that I had only spectated at before. I had only seen this place from the outside. Now, we were in the pit. To do battle. I only had reason to be here every now and then, because I was supposed to when someone was conducting their rite of passage into Vikinghood.

                 Seeing this place from inside was really intimidating. The pit was about fifteen feet deep and a hundred feet in diameter. There was a cast-iron cage that protected the top of the arena like a dome. I didn’t help make those chains, so Gobber or the blacksmith before him must have done that. Above the arena were long stone shelves that stretched around the pit, acting as seats. We were standing in a horizontal line as Gobber clunked around us. I was on the far right, next to Fishlegs. Astrid was next to him, in the middle, then Snotlout and the twins, Ruff and Tuff.

                 Gobber must have picked up on my apprehension. For me, it was never easy to hide being nervous. “Think about it this way, Hiccup,” he said, pulling me into a somewhat friendly headlock. “You’re small and don’t have much meat on your bones. The dragons will see you as sickly or insane and go after the more Viking-like teenagers.” He turned and walked to face all of us. All I knew was that his badvice didn’t help me overcome being nervous. If anything, Gobber had worsened my situation.

                 I really didn’t want to be here. I didn’t care how docile or tame any of the dragons we had penned up were. I had survived a direct encounter with a wild and angry Night Fury. I knew exactly how powerful these creatures were.

                 “Welcome to dragon training!” Gobber shouted as he turned to face us from about fifteen feet away. “Here you will learn to fight dragons. Behind these doors are different dragons. Not a single one is less dangerous than any of the others. The teenager who does best in training will have the honor of killing his or her first dragon.” He made a twisting motion with his prosthetic hook, gutting an imaginary dragon.

                 “Hey, since Hiccup has already killed a ‘Night Fury,’ does that disqualify him from training?” Snotlout asked. He looked around, seeing the other teenagers besides Astrid chuckling. “Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?”

Gobber just looked at him blankly. “Are you finished?” he asked. Snotlout shut his mouth, because he didn’t want to offend someone with a sharp hook that could eviscerate a dragon. He motioned to each door as he spoke about the dragons. “We have here some of the most dangerous species of dragons.” He pointed at the door to our left. “The Monstrous Nightmare is on your left.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I heard Fishlegs buying into Gobber’s spiel. “Strength: plus-6,” he said to me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Gobber pointed to another door. “The Deadly Nadder.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Poisonous tail spines, for fast-acting paralysis.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “The Terrible Terror.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Venom: plus-14!” Fishlegs was really getting into gear with his RPG knowledge. His eyes were starting to widen.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “The Hideous Zippleback.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Armor: plus-6! Stealth: times-2!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “WILL YOU STOP THAT?!?” Gobber shouted at Fishlegs. Fishlegs hunkered down, not knowing his excitement was percolating all the way to Gobber. “And, finally, the Gronckle.” Gobber rolled the r, making the word sound like “Grrrronckle.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Jaw strength: 8,” Fishlegs whispered to me out of the corner of his mouth.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Tuffnut had noticed that Gobber had his hand on the lever that controlled the long wooden bole that locked door and shouted, “Wait, aren’t you going to give us some pointers first!?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Gobber laughed and said, “Nah. I believe in learning on the job.” With that he slammed the lever down and the wooden bole rose up. The dragon must have heard the lock disengaging, because the door started shaking from several impacts. As soon as the lock was released, the doors flew open, slamming against the arena walls. A large earth-colored dragon came flying out with wings that looked more fitting for a bumblebee or hummingbird.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Gronckles have four sections to their bodies. The second section contains the diminutive wings, and I still have no idea how they can fly with them. When they’re asleep, it’s unbelievably difficult to tell which side is the head and which side is the rear. One important thing we’ve all found out is that the Gronckle’s ammunition is limited by the number of rocks it can swallow. It spits them back out as fireballs. Generally, the limit is six, although Gobber claims to have seen one with a limit of forty rocks. Needless to say, nobody believes him.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 The dragon was so excited to be out of its pen that it sped all the way across the arena and crashed headlong into the opposite end. That’s another thing about Gronckles. They’re very one-track minded creatures.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Quick! What’s the first thing you’re going to need!?” Gobber shouted.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “A doctor!?” I shouted back.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Plus-5 speed?” Fishlegs asked.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “A shield!” Astrid shouted.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Right, Astrid! A shield! When you can only choose one between a sword and a shield, choose the shield! A sword will not stop an incoming fireball.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I found a shield lying on the ground, figuring Gobber had placed it strategically for us. As I started to pick up the shield, I saw the Gronckle home in on a small pile of rocks. It scooped them up into its massive jaws and swallowed. Ammunition.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Gobber had run over to me, because I had a small hatchet in one hand and was trying to get a shield on my other arm with half a hand. It wasn’t working, so Gobber scooped it up and thrust it on my arm and shoved me toward the middle of the arena. “How many shots does a Gronckle have?” he shouted to the arena.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Eight?” Astrid said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “No! Six!” Fishlegs shouted, raising his shield triumphantly into the air. Like a beacon.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Correct! That’s one for each of you!” Gobber shouted. I shuddered, wondering what must have happened to Gobber to make his mind so twisted like that.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I saw the twins fighting over a shield, screaming and cursing at each other.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Go get that one!” Tuffnut shouted to his sister. “It has a flower on it! Girls like flowers!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Ruffnut wrenched the shield from Tuffnut’s hands. Instead of claiming it for her own, she smacked her brother on top of his head with the shield. “Oops,” she said sardonically. “Now it has blood on it. I like blood much better than flowers.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Tuffnut grabbed the shield back and the twins started at square one again. The Gronckle decided to end the squabble once and for all. It blasted a fireball at the shield, which shattered in the twins’ hands. The twins collapsed to the ground as the Gronckle sped over them, looking for someone more enticing.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Ruffnut! Tuffnut! You’re out!” Gobber shouted from the other side of the arena. “This is real life here! If you get blasted, you’re dead!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Great, thanks for reminding me!” Snotlout shouted as he ran away from the dragon.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 The Gronckle saw Fishlegs’s shield and blasted it. This dragon was either crazy smart or crazy stupid by not aiming for Fishlegs. The shield on Fishlegs’s arm shattered.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Fishlegs, you’re out.” Gobber said. Fishlegs tore off, faster than I had ever seen him run. Toward the exit from the arena. Glad to be done with everything here.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 The Gronckle had settled itself near the middle of the arena, circling around every now and then, making sure we were aware that it was ready to kill us.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Now what’s one thing that a dragon can’t stand?” Gobber shouted to the remaining three of us.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Loud noises?” Astrid said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Yes! Noise! Loud, sharp noises. Make lots of it!” Gobber shouted back.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Astrid took the cue first and pounded the metal center of her shield with the axe she had been carrying. Soon, the other two of us followed. I was standing face-to-face with the dragon and saw its eyes lose focus. We began circling the dragon so that I was on its left-hand side by the time it landed. Our strategy was to not only daze it but confuse it as well. Maybe we figured that it wouldn’t know who to shoot if we kept this up.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Hey! Looks like it’s working!” Snotlout shouted. Immediately, he stopped pounding his shield. Astrid and I followed his lead, not realizing that the dragon would recover. Within seconds, the Gronckle got its senses back and blasted a fireball towards Astrid. She jumped out of the way, the fireball just missing her.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Snotlout was standing next to Astrid, trying to hit on her, like he usually does. From across the arena, I heard him trying to woo Astrid into exercising with him. “…Looks like you work out! I just moved back into my parents’ place and put some AUGH!” A fireball hit Snotlout dead on the shield, which he was loosely holding in front of his chest.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Snotlout, you’re done!” Gobber shouted.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I had eased my way over to Astrid while Snotlout was distracting the dragon. “So looks like it’s just you and me, huh?” I asked.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Nope, just you!” she said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I had completely forgotten about the dragon until it blasted a fireball at my shield. Astrid rolled out of the way of the Gronckle. Luckily, the shield didn’t shatter, because the angle was more of a glancing blow. The shield popped off my arm and went rolling clear to the other side of the arena. I went to chase it, because I heard the steady hum of the Gronckle’s wings right behind me. I was thinking about how many shots the dragon had fired thus far. There was one at Fishlegs, one at the twins, one that missed, one at Snotlout and one at me. Five. My shield rolled behind some wooden lattices as I realized the dragon had one shot left. A finishing blow. For me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I had just seen my shield behind some wooden scaffolding when the dragon crashed into the wall six inches away from my shoulder. “HICCUP!!” Gobber shouted. The dragon just bounced off the wall and glared at me before opening its mouth to fire the final shot. I saw its throat light up with fire when a hook grabbed the Gronckle’s mouth and pulled it to the side. The fireball slammed harmlessly into the wall a foot from my head. So much for Gobber’s badvice about the dragon ignoring me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“And that’s six.” Gobber said, wrestling with the Gronckle. “Ah, give it a rest, you overgrown sausage!” he said to the dragon as he forced it back into its pen. He raised the lever, and the gate crashed back down, sealing the dragon inside. I was too shaken to move.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“All of you, get back in here!” Gobber shouted. The other four teenagers came back to join me and Astrid. All of us had burn marks or open cuts somewhere. My entire left side was covered with charred rock. This was not the plan I had for the first day of dragon training. “You’ll get another chance, don’t you worry.” None of us looked excited. Ruff and Tuff exchanged glances and Fishlegs shuddered, thinking that the Gronckle we had seen today was more than enough excitement for us.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Great, I can hardly wait,” Snotlout mused sarcastically.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“That’s the spirit!” Gobber said. “All right, same time tomorrow, in front of the armory. Study and recover tonight. But remember. A dragon will always,” Gobber said, beginning to lean in close to me, “always…go for the kill.” Gobber was mere inches from my face, glaring at me, telling me with his expression that I had better pay close attention next time. Slowly, the other teens and Gobber broke off, trudging back to the village, leaving me at the wall. I couldn’t move. Something just felt…amiss. It felt wrong. I thought about what Gobber had said just a few moments ago. Looked at the scorch mark on the wall right behind my head from the Gronckle. I didn’t know why I felt this way, but something was telling me Gobber was wrong.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I got back home and washed up, trying to get the cinders off the left side of my face, where that last fireball had just barely missed me. After washing, I grabbed a pencil, my notebook and a knife. I was going to retrieve that bola and relax in one of my favorite secluded areas. I knew of a cove near where I had found the Night Fury yesterday. I wanted to go there and lie down to relax. I had nothing pressing me in the armory, and I was too tired to do anything else after that merry little encounter with the Gronckle.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">As I ambled my way toward the cove, I thought about what I wanted to do besides relax. Most of the time, I sketched different areas of the cove in my notebook. Last time, I got in there and walked across to the other side and sketched the entrance of the cove. I was trying to imagine it if I were trapped there. It definitely felt more intimidating thinking about the cove as a prison rather than a place to relax.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I walked over to the spot where the Night Fury was yesterday, where I tried to kill it. Where it deafened me. The bola was still there, so I wrote a quick note to pick it up on my way back. But I didn’t move. Looking at the bola, I remembered every detail I could from the encounter with the Night Fury. I had thought about killing it, realized I couldn’t, cut the ropes, and the dragon roared at me before taking off. A dragon will always go for the kill. I picked up the bola and asked the air in front of me, “So why didn’t you?” There was something terribly wrong about Gobber’s badvice. Or was it simply misinformation? Oh, well. I shrugged and put the bola down. The reason for the dragon sparing my life was a complete mystery to me, and I guessed it was going to stay that way forever. It had probably flown off after getting its bearings back. I pushed the question to the back of my mind for now and made my way to the cove.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I continued walking to a small gap in two massive boulders. This was the entrance to the cove. It was a naturally confined area about thirty feet deep with a river bisecting it. There was a lake at the far corner that was fed from the river. I had made it a habit of fishing here when I felt like cooking my own meals. The layout was generally circular, and it was pretty easy to get down to the bottom of the cove using a narrow series of ridges as a walkway. The lowest level was easily a few hundred feet across, so there was plenty of room to stretch out and do nothing. There was only one shelf that was maybe four feet tall to negotiate. Easy to get in, easy to get out. Out of the way, so no one could find me. I had taken several different paths to the entrance of the cove so that a clearly defined trail wouldn’t be obvious. I had kept this cove my little secret and wanted it to stay that way.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I crawled through the entrance and stood up. Brushed off my right knee. Looking down, I saw a peculiar black stone. I had never seen this type of stone here before. It just looked…out of place. Somehow, I knew I had seen it before, but I couldn’t remember where. Or when. I picked it up. Smooth, flat, almost no thickness. It bent easily.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">It was a scale. A reptilian scale. I moved my gaze in front of me and saw two more scales, just like the first. I took two steps forward and a black blur shot in front of me. I ducked for cover, scared for my life.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The Night Fury. It grunted as it was trying to claw its way out of the cove, trying to scale the thirty-foot walls. It scrabbled on the rock wall before it started to fall backwards, where it whipped around and glided to an abrupt stop, back on the ground. If that dragon saw me again, I’d have bet it would try to kill me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I snuck up to a rock and hid behind it, watching the dragon discreetly. It tried to take off again. The first few wingbeats were good, but it slowly cantered off to its right. It looked like it was unable to steer. It crashed into the rock wall and collapsed on the ground with a long moan. I kind of felt sorry for the creature, seeing as it couldn’t get out of its natural prison.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Here was a Night Fury, for all the world to see, and it couldn’t fly. It couldn’t get out of the cove. The path down to the bottom of the cove apparently was too narrow for the dragon to negotiate, because I saw claw marks on the rocks where it had tried to climb out.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I whipped out my notebook and turned to a double blank page. Started drawing. The break between the two pages split my drawing of the Night Fury into two parts. Most of the sketch was on the right-hand page, and the left wing took up the other page. I saw two huge wings for flying and two smaller rudder-type wings just behind them, just like yesterday. None of the other dragons I was familiar with had this type of wingspan, especially compared to the body size. I figured the Night Fury was about two-thirds the size of a Monstrous Nightmare, but seeing its wings reminded me of just how built for speed this dragon was. I guessed its wingspan somewhere around fifty feet. I saw four legs on the dragon and one tail fin. Wait. Comparing my sketch, I had complacently drawn in two tail fins. I asked the sketch, “Why don’t you just fly away?” Looked at the dragon again, who was still panting on the ground. Apparently it had been trying to get out all day. The Night Fury roared in frustration to nobody in particular. There was only one tail fin on the dragon. On its right side. The other fin was missing.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The dragon couldn’t fly away because it couldn’t steer. It couldn’t hold a steady enough flight to stay airborne. I rubbed out the tail fin on the left side of the dragon and compared the sketch to the real thing. Good enough.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I watched the dragon try again to get out of the cove, now knowing it was pretty much doomed to stay in here. It crashed into the ground again, where it shot a blue fireball about ten feet in front of itself. The fireball scorched the ground and disappeared, leaving a large burn mark in front of the dragon, who was roaring in frustration again. I was relieved that I wasn’t on the receiving end of the dragon’s tantrum.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The Night Fury tried to take off again and caromed into the ground on the other side of the stream. I watched as its attention turned from getting out to something in the stream. It stalked up to the bank and its head shot into the water. Its head pulled back out empty and shook the water off. Probably going for a fish.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I had been sitting on top of the rock for a little bit and had forgotten about my pencil, that is, until it slipped from my hand. I gave a short gasp and tried to get it before it fell into the water, a good twenty feet below. My hand missed and the pencil slipped off the rock. I watched in horror as the pencil clattered off the faces of the rocks in slow motion, every sound amplified, where it caught the attention of the dragon. The Night Fury watched the pencil drop, bounce and roll with curious interest until it plopped into the water and began floating with the current. It didn’t take long before the pencil ended up right in front of the dragon. The Night Fury pawed at the pencil a couple of times before turning its attention elsewhere.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Oh, no. This was bad. The Night Fury was moving its gaze upwards to where the pencil came from. Me. It didn’t take long for the dragon to find where I was sitting. I thought about hiding again, but something washed over me and told me not to hide. Even though I was in range of the Night Fury. But the dragon just looked at me. It was a little defensive, but I didn’t feel threatened in any way. It felt like the dragon just didn’t know what to think.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Soon enough, the Night Fury lost interest again and took off, trying to escape. Not wanting to overstay my welcome, I began the trek back to Berk, remembering to pick up the bola as I walked back. The entire time, I was thinking about why the Night Fury didn’t try to kill me. It had two perfect chances two days in a row.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in; text-align: center;">_____________________________________

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I got back to the armory and laid the bola down near my little corner. I used it for different ideas in my spare time, like building Mangler. I thought about making a note to try the bola with a circular ring rather than a junction point, but then remembered that Mangler was toast. So I just put the bola down and left. I’d find something else to do with it. Probably scrap iron.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The doors to the great hall were slightly open, waiting for us to eat supper there. There were enough villagers around to keep the great hall clean and cook. I picked up a chicken leg that had already been cooked. Recently, too. It was still steaming when I sat down next to the other frazzled teenagers.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“…And that’s what happened. I kinda hope this is permanent. It’ll keep me reminded of how dangerous these beasts are,” Snotlout concluded.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Who invited you to sit down here?” Ruffnut asked me pointedly. Somehow, this felt reminiscent of earlier today.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I, uh, dunno. I just kinda figured that if we need to work as a team, we could at least start tolerating each other,” I said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Ruffnut gave a snort. “Hiccup, there is nothing you can do to help anyone. Get lost! Go catch that ‘Night Fury’ again and show us this time!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Uh…” I started. Briefly, I thought about showing them. The Night Fury was almost surely still in the cove. I knew exactly where it was. I looked out the door, seeing if we could go there. Not only had the sun set, a thunderstorm had moved directly over Berk and was dumping water in buckets. No chance tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Well?” Ruffnut said. “Spit it out! Or have you been lying this entire time?” She was trying to humiliate me in front of everyone else, a hobby she had recently become unbelievably good at.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I sighed and began gnawing on the meat in front of me. “Never mind.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Geez, I don’t wanna be around this twerp. Let’s go somewhere else.” The other five stood up without hesitation.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">But before anyone could start walking, a massive tome crashed down on the table, upending Astrid’s drink. “Nice of you to sit together!” Gobber said over the sound of the driving rain.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Uh, we were, um, almost finished,” Ruffnut said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Well, sit down again so I only have to explain this once.” They all sat down, grumbling. Near me. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to feel relieved or humiliated. “This,” Gobber said, motioning to the book, “is the Book of Dragons.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Ooooooh,” Snotlout said, trying to be mock-creepy. “Isn’t there a more original title for this?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“No,” I said smugly. “I think it would be too difficult for you to read if it was different.” I had a smirk on my face and my arms were crossed. Snotlout just rolled his eyes.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Everything we know about every dragon we know of,” Gobber said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Ooh!” Fishlegs brightened in realization. “I’ve read it, like, seven times! There’s this one dragon that shoots boiling water at its enemies, and another…”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Yeah, that’s great,” Tuffnut said, making a shut-your-mouth gesture with his hand. “I don’t think I need to know that right now.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“You want us to read?” Ruffnut asked. “While we’re still alive?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Why read words about stuff when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?” Snotlout asked in frustration.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Snotlout, I think you couldn’t have been more vague,” Astrid pointed out.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“It would help to read it,” said Gobber. “Although, you don’t have to. For all I know, you just might prefer getting blasted by the next dragon.” Gobber paused, listening to something. He picked up on the rain and said, “No attacks tonight. Study up.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Ruffnut slumped a little in her seat. Without saying another word, Gobber strode over to the food and picked out a whole roasted chicken. He sat down at our table. He had his prosthetic mug out, so he was prepared to have his meal. But he turned to us and said, “You need to live and breathe this stuff. There’s no way you can become dragon killers without getting rid of your mistakes. So I’m gonna ask each of you, where did you go wrong today?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Astrid was the first to tell us. “My somersault roll was sloppy. I couldn’t get back up fast enough today.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I thought you did great on that, Astrid,” Snotlout said. “Your rolling was just so…Astrid.” She shook her head at him. “I think you’re being too hard on yourself.” It was the first time in my life I had heard Snotlout actually care about something other than himself.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“She’s right, Snotlout. You have to be hard on yourself. You can’t get better at this if you are lazy.” Gobber noticed me and asked everyone else, “Where did Hiccup go wrong today?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Ruffnut laughed and said, “Uh, he showed up?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“He didn’t get eaten?” Tuffnut said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“He’s never where he should be,” Astrid countered in disinterest.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Thank you, Astrid. Hiccup wasn’t where he should have been today,” Gobber said. I felt like retorting. I could feel my blood boiling, ready to lash out against someone, but thought better of it. I just sighed in irritation, thinking the only proper place for me on Berk was a place called Out Of The Way. I just had no idea where it was located. See, the problem with Out Of The Way was that it changed, depending on what people thought. It also changed depending on the time and where everyone else was at that particular time.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Gobber stopped asking us where we went wrong today, because Snotlout faked a yawn and said, “I think I’m too tired to read or talk about stuff today. See you guys tomorrow.” With that, he left, Fishlegs and the twins following him. Gobber tucked into his meal without saying a word. Without making everyone stay and critique their performance in the ring. Eventually he finished and left too.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Astrid was sitting across from me with a sour expression on her face, looking anywhere but at me. She was just finishing her drumstick. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t finish her meal more quickly and leave with the rest of the crew.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“So I guess it’s just you and me, huh?” I said. “D’you wanna…”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Read it,” she interrupted, pushing the book towards me. She stood up and left.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“All right, then,” I said to no one in particular. There were a few Vikings dotted here and there in the great hall. Some of them looked up at what I was doing and then lost interest just as quickly. “Sounds great. I’ll just read this here by myself. Nobody to share it with…” I trailed off.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I finished supper and cleared the table of everyone’s stuff before sitting down in the candlelight to read. I had never seen this book before, so how the heck was Gobber keeping it a secret until now?

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“G’night, Hiccup,” someone said as she passed me. She was the last person in the great hall besides me. I mumbled something back without looking up.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I opened the book. The table of contents was first. “Dragon classifications,” I read out loud. “Strike class, fear class, tidal class, mystery class.” I turned to the first entry in the tidal class. “Thunderdrum. This dragon inhabits dark caves and low tidal areas. When startled, this dragon can produce a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range.” The book had an illustration of a Viking being decapitated by a drum-shaped dragon bellowing. “Extremely dangerous, kill on sight.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I flipped randomly to a page in the Strike Class. “Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through entire forests. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I flipped back to the Tidal Class. “Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victims. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Mystery class. “Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid to kill their victims. Extremely dangerous…” I jumped at an explosion, scared out of my wits. I had been so up to speed with this book that it was making me edgy. Nothing, though. It was just thunder. Turned back to the book.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I flipped randomly through the book, browsing through some of the dragons and reading the more intense entries. “Gronckle, Hideous Zippleback, The Skrill. Boneknapper. Whispering Death.” All of the pages had scary-looking illustrations of the dragons, explaining what they could do to their victims.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside-out…” Every page I turned to had the exact same conclusion. “Extremely dangerous, kill on sight.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Except one. It was in the Strike Class.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Night Fury.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">No illustration. No text, except at the bottom of the first page. “Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Do not engage this dragon. It cannot be killed. Your only hope of survival is to hide and pray that it does not find you.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Slowly, I looked up, finding a large dark shape moving toward me through the great hall. I could see two cold, calculating yellow-green eyes, the two eyes of the Night Fury I had shot down, coming to kill me. I felt my lungs freeze. No place to hide. No prayer to be said. No way to escape. I blinked. The shape disappeared. It was a hallucination. I breathed a sigh of relief that my mind was trying to play a trick on me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The fact that the page had no illustration struck me as odd. We had information on every single other dragon in existence, except this one. I whipped out my notebook and laid it open on the page about the Night Fury. My crude sketch was staring me in the face, missing tail fin and all. I picked up a spare pencil from the great hall and wrote down the line “The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself” in my notebook. Below it, I put “Always goes for the kill.” Somehow, it just didn’t feel right. I didn’t hide from that Night Fury earlier today. I didn’t say a prayer or try to escape. It just looked at me. The dragon didn’t threaten me at all.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I just sat there, looking at my drawing. I wasn’t moving, but my mind was. I felt a little twang in my gut, like something was amiss. Something just wasn’t right. This was my downfall. Because I was an unconventional Viking in Berk, full of conventional people. Like Gobber had said, my ways made grown men “uncomfortable.” Well, I’d have been willing to bet that my father was about to start twitching in his boat, because of something I was about to do.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I was about to ask why. Why was there no picture of the Night Fury? And why was everything that we thought we knew about the Night Fury like the spawn of Hell? And, most of all, why didn’t the Night Fury “go for the kill” when it had two perfect chances?

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I thought that I might be able to answer those questions after dragon training tomorrow. With a plan for something ridiculously stupid, by Viking standards. My plan involved several things: a knife, a pencil, my notebook, a shield and a decent-sized fish. A cod would probably do the trick.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I walked back home that night, slopping through wet mud, even though the rain had stopped. The plan was to survive dragon training and visit the cove with all of my supplies.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in; text-align: center;">_____________________________________

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I got up the next morning and wolfed down breakfast in the great hall. Didn’t even taste it. I was too preoccupied. Sneaking around back, I checked to see if there were fish at the ready. Plenty. I ambled to the other teenagers in front of the armory, where Gobber was waiting. We headed back to the arena. As we entered we saw a maze of wooden walls about ten feet high, probably trying to teach us about how to hide or sneak around.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Grab a shield and weapon and hide,” Gobber told us. Slowly, we made our ways around the maze when I heard Gobber shout, “Today is all about attack!” I heard the bole crank upward, but that was it.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">From somewhere across the arena came a loud, staccato warble. A Deadly Nadder. Gobber confirmed my fears when he shouted, “Deadly Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Gobber wasn’t kidding when he said that. Deadly Nadders are tall dragons, probably comparable in size to a Night Fury, just vertical. They stand on two strong legs, and their wings are about what you would expect for a standard dragon. They remind me more of birds than they do dragons. They’re always vocalizing about something, and it usually sounds like a cackle or warble. Their fire is said to be the hottest fire in the dragon world. And just to make it worse, they have tail spikes that they’ll throw at anyone, which are poisonous. I remembered when Gobber got stuck with a Nadder tail spine a few years ago. It lodged in his right side, and for a week after, he was holding his right arm horizontally, resting it on the swelling welt the spine had produced. The Nadder we had was a bright blue on its back and white on its belly.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I found Gobber standing on the outside of the ring, leaning over one of the chains as he was instructing us. I glanced around, making sure the dragon wasn’t near me and turned my attention to Gobber. I said to him, “So, I noticed there wasn’t really anything in the Book about how to kill a Night Fury. Is there, like, a Night Fury pamphlet or a sequel to the AUGH!” The Nadder had just found me and blasted off the top of my hatchet with its fire. That was another thing about Nadders: they don’t launch fireballs. Their fire is more like this white-hot continuous blast.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Focus, Hiccup! You’re not even trying!” Gobber shouted at me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Oh, no,” I mumbled. The dragon was headed straight for me with its head turned ever so slightly to its right. It made some kind of cackling noise as it rushed toward me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">A Nadder’s eyes are on the sides of its head, kinda like a bird. Standing directly in front of a Nadder is one of the best ways to hide, because it can’t see around its large snout.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I tried to run, my legs pulling me in different directions. Eventually, I dove to my left just before the Nadder chomped on the space I was in just a second ago. I ran around a corner and heard a high-pitched grunt followed by a light clopping noise above me. Looked up. The Nadder was staring straight down at me. I dove behind another wall, hoping to lose the dragon for good this time. So much for attacking.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The Nadder raised its tail and several spines emerged from the end section. It whipped around and fired them at Fishlegs, who must have blocked them with his shield. I saw him take off with a bunch of spines protruding from his shield but none from his body. “I’m really beginning to question your teaching methods!” he shouted at Gobber.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The Nadder cackled a little bit before jumping back down, looking for someone else to maim. The twins rounded a corner at the exact same time as the Nadder, coming face-to-face with the dragon. Gobber noticed them and shouted, “Every dragon has a blind spot! Find it, hide in it and strike!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Ruffnut and Tuffnut immediately crowded in front of the dragon, moving to keep its snout in front of them. I heard the dragon grunt, trying to figure out exactly where they were. We knew from experience that a dragon wouldn’t blast someone with fire unless it could see them directly.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Ruffnut caught a whiff of Tuffnut’s hair and nearly gagged. “Ugh, do you ever bathe?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“If you don’t like it, you can find your own blind spot!” her brother countered.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“How about I give you a blind spot!?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The twins were shouting at each other, totally ignorant of the dragon, who had just caught a glimpse of the two bickering Vikings. It tried to blast them with a stream of fire, but they noticed it just in time and scurried back the way they had come.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Blind spot? Yes. Deaf spot? Not so much,” Gobber said, laughing.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I found Gobber again and asked him, “So, how would one go about sneaking up on a Night Fury?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“No one’s ever done it and lived to tell the tale. NOW GET BACK IN THERE!” he shouted.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I know, I know, but hypothetically…”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Hiccup, shut up!” Astrid whispered in my direction. I saw her and Snotlout hunkered down behind a wooden wall. A few walls down, the dragon was stalking us.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Astrid waited for the dragon to turn its attention elsewhere. It did soon enough. Both she and Snotlout somersaulted across the gap to the other wall, trying to buy time. I tried to follow, trying to show everyone I could at least be somewhat competent. I got through the somersault, but couldn’t pick the shield up fast enough. It fell back onto the ground, making a clanging sound. The dragon noticed and started barreling toward us. I scrambled up and ran back towards Gobber. The Nadder saw Astrid and Snotlout first, so it turned toward them.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Astrid was ready to defend herself when Snotlout hip-bumped her out of the way, saying, “Stand aside, little lady. I’ll handle this.” He readied his wooden club and threw it at the dragon. Predictably, Snotlout missed, because I heard the club crash into the wall and the dragon cackle at Snotlout. Laughing at him. I couldn’t help but smirk for a second.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Snotlout looked befuddled that he could miss a dragon from near-point-blank range. “The sun was in my eyes! What do you want me to do? Block it out?” he said as they ran away from the dragon, who was now shooting fire in their direction. “I could do it, I just don’t have time!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Snotlout, just shut up!!” Astrid shouted.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The Nadder jumped back onto the wall and whirled a few more spines at Snotlout. No hit, but he would probably think twice about throwing a club at that dragon again. The dragon jumped from walltop to walltop, becoming more and more frustrated as time went on. It couldn’t catch us, so its movements were becoming quicker and more haphazard. It was trying to follow one of us until it knocked over one wall. The wall spilled into another wall, and a domino effect started, until about half of the makeshift walls had toppled to the ground. Astrid was in the way of one of them and jumped back just in time to avoid the wall. Unfortunately, she collided with me, lodging her axe into my shield. To make it worse, my shield had looped itself around my elbow, where it stuck. Even worse, the dragon saw us.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Astrid grunted, trying to pull her axe out of my shield, but it was stuck tight. Tuffnut, the ever-present clown provided commentary on what Astrid was doing. “Oooooh, love on the battlefield!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“She can do better,” Ruffnut said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Astrid gave up on dislodging her axe, because she started pulling at my shield. I could feel my shoulder trying to dislocate before she popped the shield off my arm and grabbed the axe handle in one quick motion. With a lightning-fast half-turn, she swung her new weapon composed of an axe and shield, clobbering the dragon in the side of its face. The shield shattered, and the Nadder stopped in its tracks, giving a bizarre awk! sound. The dragon stumbled away, knocked silly by the blast.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Well done, Astrid,” Gobber said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Astrid was panting, glaring at me. “Hiccup, IS THIS SOME SORT OF A JOKE TO YOU?” I just lay there, dumbfounded as usual. “Figure out which side you’re on and quick, because our parents’ war is about to become our war.” She wheeled on the spot and strode out in a huff.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Gobber shoved the Nadder back into its pen and told the rest of us, “Same place after lunch tomorrow, everyone!” Nobody had to ask him to repeat that little sentence. He walked out, with the rest of the teens following, me brining up the rear.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I limped my way back to the great hall and ate lunch. Once again, I didn’t even taste it. Sneaking around back, I found a fresh two-foot-long cod and grabbed it. I already had my knife, pencil and notebook on me. Snuck by the armory to nab a shield. I had all of my supplies. I was in business. Quickly, I made my way back to the cove. I knew I had to hurry for two reasons: I was really anxious to see if my plan would work and the fish would start smelling pretty bad soon.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">When I got to the cove, I was slightly out of breath. But I soon realized that getting all my gear through the opening was going to be more challenging than I thought. I hadn’t figured out that the opening wasn’t much bigger than me until today. I hunkered down behind my shield and tossed the fish a couple of feet into the cove, where it landed with a splat. I waited, peering around, hoping the Night Fury was still here. Nothing happened. I peeked around and saw the coast was clear, so I started to walk through the opening with my shield in front of me. I had forgotten about the size of the opening, so the shield lodged itself in between two of the rocks, stopping me abruptly.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Crud,” I said under my breath.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I crawled underneath the shield and tried to pull it from the other side. Nothing. I kicked it. And stubbed a toe. I hopped around, nearly jumping on the fish, cursing my clumsiness.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Great,” I said. Now I had no way to defend myself from a fireball. I thought about leaving the fish here for the dragon to find, but figured what the heck. If I was going to do something stupid, it might as well have been monumentally stupid. It just wouldn’t be the Hiccup way if I didn’t. I picked up the fish and slowly started down toward the bottom of the cove.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The cove was empty. No trace of the dragon whatsoever. I looked around and saw nothing but a couple of trees on the other side of the stream and a few boulders to my left. Just like normal. To my right was the column of rocks my pencil had bounced down, alerting the Night Fury to my presence yesterday. I looked to my left again and saw the same boulders.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">With a black dragon crouched on top. Looking straight at me. Daring me to escape now. I couldn’t move. I was frozen. My feet had taken root and wouldn’t obey me no matter how much I wanted them to. Total fear. The dragon slinked down to the ground and stared at me, seemingly expecting something. It was between me and the opening to the cove, so I was trapped.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I held the fish out in front of me at arm’s length, as if doing so would keep the dragon far enough away from me to allow an escape. The dragon grunted and looked at the fish in interest. It sniffed at the air, slowly moving toward the fish, ready for an easy meal.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Then it stopped. Glowered at me. I really was going to die. This dragon had a large fish offered and it wouldn’t take the meal. Because it saw me as a threat. Maybe it was because of the knife I had in my belt. The same knife that I had showed it two days ago. If I disarmed myself, I hoped it would take the fish and leave me alone. So far this plan was working out exactly how I didn’t want it to: easy for the dragon to kill me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Slowly, I reached down to the knife on my waist and heard a deep, rumbling growl come from the Night Fury. The expression on its face intensified. It tensed, ready to tackle me and blow me apart with a fireball from point blank. I took the knife out of my belt and dropped it on the ground. The dragon kept on glaring at me. I kicked the knife away as the Night Fury watched. The knife ended up on the water’s edge, closer to the dragon than me. Not good, especially if I had to defend myself.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Suddenly, the dragon’s expression changed. The menacing growl stopped. It sat back on its haunches with that same expectant look. Its eyes had gone from slits to rounded. Although, I saw something more behind its eyes. It seemed to be pleading me for a meal. Like it was hungry. It had two ear flaps on the back of its head, one on either side. Both were raised. Something like a dog’s or cat’s ears. If they were up or facing forward, the animal didn’t feel threatened. But when the ears were plastered back, the animal was angry, ready to attack.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">On all fours, the dragon crept up to me with a low, quiet rumble where I had offered the fish again. Its mouth was open, but I saw no teeth.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“You’re a toothless dragon? I could have sworn you had…”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Without warning, both sets of gums sprouted sharp conical teeth. The dragon snatched the fish out of my hands, bit it in half and swallowed.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“…Teeth…” My hands were still extended, not realizing the fish that had been in them a millisecond earlier was gone. I quickly pulled my hands back as the dragon licked its lips. It must have wanted more, because it crawled towards me, sniffing the air around me expectantly. I heard a deep rumble come from the dragon.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Uh, no no no,” I started. I was shuffling backwards in hopes of keeping the Night Fury from attacking me. I tripped over a fist-sized rock and ended up on my rear. I couldn’t get up, so I backed away on all fours until my back met a boulder. No way around, and the dragon was mere feet away. And getting closer.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I…I don’t have any more!” I whispered as the dragon’s face got within inches of my own. It stared at me for a couple of seconds.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The dragon’s stomach sucked in hard. Once. Twice. I heard a gagging sound come from its throat as it regurgitated half of the fish it had eaten into my lap.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Yeeurgh…” I muttered. Gross. The Night Fury sat back on its haunches looking at me with that same expectant look. Waiting for something to happen. I could hear it exhale every few seconds, sounding like the bellows back at the armory.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I looked at the half-fish in my lap and then back to the dragon. I realized it was waiting for me to do something. It looked at the fish and back to me. Signaling.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The fish was a gift to me. From the Night Fury. The dragon could have eaten the entire fish and kept it. I wished it would have. “Great,” I mumbled under my breath. I had to eat this fish, because the dragon had given it to me. Slowly, I raised the fish to my mouth and tried to fake a bite. I chewed the invisible piece of fish and swallowed as naturally as I could, trying to wriggle out of yet another situation I had gotten myself into.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I didn’t count on the Night Fury being crazy smart or observant. Right away, it knew I had faked eating the fish it had given me. Its face twisted into a snarl, threatening me to eat the fish. Or else.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I sighed. I didn’t want to do this. I just knew I was going to get sick off of one bite. But I guess when a dragon tells you to do something, you had better do it. I raised the fish to my mouth again and slowly bit into it, trying to keep my lips off of the fish hide. I had tried to take one of those minimalist bites, where you don’t want to have anything to do with the food because it’s awful. Or it looks gross. For me, it was both reasons. But I had a problem. My teeth wouldn’t cut into the hide. It was too tough. Crud, I thought. I bit harder and slowly tore off a small chunk of fish, holding it in my mouth. I showed the dragon that I had really taken a bite this time, thinking I would be able to spit out the piece of raw fish in my mouth soon.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The Night Fury raised its ear flaps in interest, but just continued looking at me. Then my situation got worse. The dragon made a swallowing movement, telling me to actually eat the piece of fish, because it had given me the meal. As a gift.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">My shoulders slumped. Yep, I was gonna get sick off of this. I quickly tried to swallow the piece of fish, hoping I could get rid of the aftertaste within the near future. I tried once and my throat forced it right back up. No good, I felt like I was going to hurl soon. I swallowed again, this time in agony, because my throat wanted to reject the fish again, but I wasn’t going to give it a choice. The piece of fish went down with a lot of complaint, but the Night Fury looked satisfied this time.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Ugh.” That was gross. No doubt, I preferred my fish cooked. Thoroughly. Heck, even burning the fish was better than raw.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The dragon smacked its lips together a couple of times, probably asking me if I thought it was good. Not even maybe, I thought. Raw fish tasted horrible. But I knew if I was going to even have a prayer of getting out of this cove alive, I’d have to convince the dragon I liked it. I gave an unnatural smile, considering I had done something that would make most people faint. I was trying to lie my way out of this problem.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The Night Fury suddenly looked very interested in what I was doing, because it blinked a few times and I saw its eyes cloud over in concentration. Its mouth was twitching, trying to do something it wasn’t familiar with. After a couple of seconds it had the left half of its face wrenched into a mock-smile, trying to copy me. The right side of its face soon followed. I just kept the same dumb look on my face, not wanting to incur the dragon’s wrath again.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I noticed the dragon’s teeth were retracted. Toothless, I thought. Ironic nickname for a killing machine. But, hey, I have that kind of sense of humor about things. I guessed the dragon was male.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless had his face drawn into a hilarious attempt at a smile, trying to copy me. I put the half fish with a bite missing down and tried to reach up. I wanted to show him that I wasn’t a threat, and I’d probably come back with more fish. Slowly, I reached toward his snout, trying to touch him. That was mistake number I-don’t-know in this little excursion, because Toothless turned his “smile” into a snarl, including teeth, within a millisecond and growled at me. His eyes had gone from round to slits, and his ear flaps turned backwards. He flew off to the other side of the cove, caroming into the ground. I watched as Toothless shook his head slightly and breathed a continuous stream of white fire, charring the ground. He tromped on the ground a few times and curled up, like he was about to go to sleep.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Slowly and cautiously, I crept around and sat down near him, where he had his piercing yellow-green eyes closed. My cover was blown, however, by a small bird chirping and flying off. It caught Toothless’s attention and his gaze turned in my direction. I just sat there, hoping he would let me touch him. I had a feeling that I could gain his trust, because he stared at me for a short moment before groaning, adjusting his position and hiding his eyes behind his one remaining tail fin. He didn’t try to escape. He didn’t “go for the kill.” I knew I could do this.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">As quietly as I could go, I sidled up to him, trying to reach his tail. I got within a few inches before his tail fin instantaneously disappeared, revealing Toothless glaring at me. I quickly stood up and shuffled away, hoping Toothless wouldn’t blast me with a fireball. He just huffed in irritation.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">He lay there on his charred spot, watching me. I decided not to try again with him there, or I just might earn a fireball to the face. I shuffled around, kicking up a little bit of dust, finding a stick about four feet long. It was light and had a narrow tip. I sat down on a small boulder about twenty feet away from Toothless with my back to him and dragged the stick aimlessly in the dirt. Waiting, as a plan for the afternoon formed itself in my mind. Every now and then, I rubbed out the scratches with my foot and started again. After about the fifth restart, my hand took on a life of its own, trying to draw a portrait of Toothless. I had gotten a few good looks at Toothless’s face and thought about how I wanted to draw it. I figured it was practice for if (or more accurately, when) I felt like updating the Night Fury section of the Book of Dragons.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I had gotten the general shape of his head and was working on the eyes when I heard something on four legs shuffling up behind me. If it was Toothless, I wasn’t going to turn around. I was forming a plan in my mind on how I wanted to show him that I wasn’t a threat. In fact, I wanted to help him get out of here.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I had gotten the second eye done when I felt a short whuff on my back. Yep, it was Toothless. He watched the end of the stick as I finished his portrait in the dirt, churring with interest as I drew. The entire time, I never turned around. It was difficult, trying to keep my focus in front of me, while hoping Toothless would get my message.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I heard Toothless snort and lumber off. To my right, he ripped off a large branch from a tree growing at the bottom of the cove. My curiosity finally got the better of me as I watched him drag the broken end of the branch back toward my little area. He began moving in a flowing, random path, dragging the branch in the ground, creating a furrow wherever he went. Occasionally, he switched directions and dragged the branch in the opposite direction. I just watched in fascination, finally realizing that Toothless was trying to copy me. I thought about the first entry I was going to add to the Night Fury page: observant and displays mimicking behavior.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless picked up the branch and glanced at me, his eyes and ears telling me he was content. He touched the branch into the ground, making a “dot” in the middle of his drawing before he resumed dragging the branch. I watched as he galloped behind me, twirling. The leafy end of the branch smacked me in the back of the head, but I paid it no mind. I was too dumbstruck to react.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless finally dropped the branch next to his feet and sighed in contentment. He looked at his “drawing” like it was the finest creation of anything anyone had ever done. I just stood up and looked around. It looked like a bunch of squiggles and curves with no definable shape. But Toothless was proud of it.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Aimlessly, I took one step to start walking somewhere. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but I was going to go somewhere. My right foot came down on top of Toothless’s drawing. Once again, he turned his face from that contented stare to a snarl (teeth included), growling at me. I jumped and lifted my right foot. Toothless gave a low sigh, telling me he was happy that I wasn’t going to destroy his artwork. Just to make sure, I touched my right toe on the drawing again. And Toothless gave me another snarl. I knew if I kept this up, he’d eventually get angry and launch a fireball in my direction, so I lifted my foot again and placed it between the furrows that Toothless had created. He reacted by giving that sigh again. The way I had it figured, a happy dragon was better than an angry dragon. Especially when that dragon was a Night Fury. Especially especially when I was the only target nearby.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I waltzed and tiptoed around Toothless’s artwork, avoiding the lines until I had gotten out of my “prison.” Then I felt it. A short whuff again on the back of my head. This time, I turned around, seeing Toothless mere feet away from my face with that expectant look on his face again. His eyes were round, piercing directly into me. This was it. The moment I had been waiting for this whole afternoon. Slowly, I reached up with my right hand and held it open, moving cautiously towards Toothless’s snout. He snarled at me again, but this time it was more reserved. Like he wanted this to happen too. It just had to be his idea, not mine. Toothless didn’t try to get away from me, but he did want to make sure that he was in control of the situation.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I took a deep breath, trying to hide any anxiety that I had, because what I was about to do would shove this afternoon from ridiculously stupid into a level of stupid that was beyond Hiccup-esque. I was going to offer my hand to Toothless to do whatever he wanted with it. I closed my eyes and turned my head away from the black dragon in front of me, placing my trust in him. Like he wanted. If he took my hand off, then Gobber could show me how to use a prosthesis. If he killed me, then so be it. I wanted to cry or scream because I knew what I was doing was the exact action you never wanted to do in front of a dragon. I was waiting for Toothless to decide what to do with me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I heard a low sigh and felt the breath from Toothless’s snout get closer to my hand. He was going to take it off, I just knew it. He wouldn’t let me get away with ripping one of his tail fins off without some punishment. I figured with how smart this dragon was, he’d probably bite clean through my elbow. My face tensed, getting ready for unimaginable pain.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">But it never happened. I felt a gentle pressure on my right palm. My eyes opened, and I looked to see what Toothless was doing. His snout was resting in my palm, eyes closed. No biting. No fire. Toothless was telling me that I was okay. That I could trust him.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">That he trusted me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I wanted this moment to last forever. Me, a Viking, touching a dragon. Possibly building a friendship with a killing machine. A friendship with nature’s most dangerous airborne creature.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">A forbidden friendship.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I let Toothless stay there until he decided what to do next. Slowly, he pulled back and looked at me. Blinked. Then he snorted and dashed off. I looked at my hand, and saw it was still there. No damage. Looked at Toothless, who was charring the ground again so he could get some real sleep this time. It was getting late, and the sun had already sunk below the rim of the cove. I could barely see him except for his yellow-green eyes, which looked way more benevolent now than they did just a couple of hours ago. He just stared at me without moving. I thought about approaching him again, but decided against it. I was going to take this slowly. My guess was that my father would be away for about a fortnight, so I figured I could get a bond with this dragon underway during that time. Slowly, I turned away, heading for the exit. I heard Toothless sigh and put his head down to sleep as I walked away.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Goodnight, Toothless,” I whispered to the night air in front of me. “See you tomorrow.”

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">I was flooded with warm fuzzy feelings as I ambled my way back to Berk. Toothless had, if only briefly, accepted me for who I was when his snout met my hand. There was no judgment passed, no telling me that I didn’t belong there. It was just Toothless letting me know that he understood who I was, even if it was rudimentary. Somehow, I felt like I was able to relate better to Toothless, a dragon, than any Viking in Berk.