HTLANF AU: How to Raise Your Night Furies

Part 1 ~ Chapter 3

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you about?" Snotlout said as he glanced at my daughter.

I glared at him and held Kala closer to my chest protectively. "Don't you dare."

"What? It's a dragon Hiccup. I'm just saying." He said with crossed arms.

"Leave her be Snotlout. She's done nothing to us." Astrid defended, which I was grateful for.

"Yet."

"She's not going to harm us." I growled out.

I saw that Fishlegs grew worried and began to talk. "How about we just read the manual? I've read it like, seven times. There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face. And–And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week–" He began to rant, but was cut off by Tuffnut.

"Yeah, that sounds great. See, there was a chance I was going to read that..."

"...But, now..." Ruffnut added.

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." Snotlout said as he got up and left the table.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut followed his lead, which got Fishlegs to follow suit as well.

"Oh, and there's this other one that has these spines that look like trees..." Fishlegs started to ramble again as they all left.

I looked at Astrid once they were all gone. "So I guess we'll share?"

"Yep." She said as she cleared our area of the table and pulled the manual over to us, opening the book as Kala came out of hiding and sat in my lap as she looked at the book curiously.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her to prevent her from falling as I looked at the first page.

"Dragon classifications. Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class." I read aloud, but I raised a brow in confusion. "Why are there so few?"

"Probably because we only ever deal with certain types?" Astrid guessed as she flipped the page, then began reading off it. "Thunderdrum: This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight."

Kala whined as she looked at the drawings, her earplates folding back against her small head. I smiled softly and kissed her head.

"Don't worry little one. I'll make sure a Thunderdrum never hurts you, I promise."

Astrid smiled and flipped the page, gesturing for me to read the next one. I nodded in understanding and looked at the page.

"Timberjack: This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight. Gods. Note to self. Never run into a Timberjack."

Astrid stifled a laugh as she flipped the page again then began reading. "Scauldron: Sprays scalding water at its victims. Extremely dangerous."

She flipped the page and I read the contents. "Changewing: Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight."

Astrid then began to flip through the book faster and we both read off what we could. "Gronckle, Zippleback, The Skrill, Boneknapper, Whispering Death. Burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside-out. Extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous, kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight..."

Kala whined as we read and hid her face in my chest. I subconsciously rubbed her back to comfort her as I kept my eyes on the pages. Astrid then stopped flipping through when we came across a mostly blank page and I read it.