𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter four; yrsa
❝ dragon training! ❞
YRSA refused to let herself think about what had happened.
In fact, she tried her best to forget it. She was going to forget she had searched for the Night Fury. She was going to forget finding it with Hiccup. And most importantly, she was going to forget she had helped let it go. With most of the village having left for sea after the Dragon's Nest, new recruitment training had been moved forward, and that allowed for the likes of Yrsa to finally show what she was made of. She was angrier than she has ever been, determined to remind herself━and others, not that they even knew━that she was a ruthless dragon killer, and letting one go did not change that, at all.
One of the many reasons why Yrsa had little friends, apart from her father being deemed as crazy before he died, was that she wasn't exactly easy. Her words her venomous, laced with insults to anyone who dared get close to her. Even to those she cared about, she pushed them away. It was a warrior's attitude, and while she didn't care how she looked, or whether her hair was right or not, she was a proud Viking. She held herself with pride, and she held herself with elegancy. She was nasty, she was not easy━at all━, she was ruthless, but she was also her mother's daughter, and she wanted to constantly remind people that. Her father had been crazy, but her mother was regal and a legendary shieldmaiden. She liked to hold that in the way she walked, in the way she tilted her chin and in the way she stepped into dragon training.
She left what happened in the woods yesterday behind her, and walked into the arena anew: determined, proud and a soldier.
"No turning back," she murmured to herself, her nose up in the air as she descended. The other teens her age followed behind her, not really paying much attention to her. Astrid was not far behind her, flexing her wrist to warm up her swings.
The dragon killing arena stone foundation has stood almost as long as Berk has; training Vikings after Vikings to be warriors, dragon-killers and most importantly, independant to live. Seven cages expanded around the arena, where Yrsa could hear the dragons growl and shuffle behind at the sound of them entering. Above, webbed a series of metal wires to keep the dragons in and away from any spectators that decided to watch. It was entertaining, for sure, to see teenagers run and try to kill the beasts.
"I hope I get some serious burns," stated Tuffnut, nudging his sister. Yrsa rolled her eyes.
"I'm hoping for some mauling," Ruff grinned, "like, on my shoulder or lower back."
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," Astrid spun her axe lazily, picking at the colourful twine she had wrapped around it.
"Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it..."
The additional voice made them all spin around. Yrsa hid her surprise, and instead swallowed the nervous flutters in her chest with a glower. What if he told them? She stressed. No, don't be stupid, she reminded herself. No one would believe him anyway.
Yet, she would rather he wouldn't be here. Not that she hated him, or didn't like being around him, but instead, she felt a brink of shame. She didn't know whether it was a reminder of what she had helped do yesterday, or for him to see that she was here to kill the dragons with no mercy━despite yesterday. Yes, definitely despite yesterday.
One dragon wasn't going to change her view on the beasts, that was for sure. It couldn't. She refused for it to. They'll call her crazy just like her father if she started to sympathise with the beasts. Or maybe something even worse.
Yrsa studied Hiccup, trying to figure out what made him come today. She would of course never admit it, but his soft, not-a-fighter self that made people call him the Useless was something she liked. She didn't know why it did, but it made her fight a smile━her? Smile? Yeah, right? But for him to come to Dragon Training, barely able to lift his axe was out of character. He didn't suite the look of the arena. His lanky figure wrapped in a woolen green tunic and fleece was fine, not scuffed like the stone of a warriors playground. He had not a scratch, and only one scar; soft dark auburn hair and features. No, he was not a harden warrior.
"Oh, great," grumbled Tuffnut, rolling his eyes. "Who let him in?"
"Let's get started!" announced Gobber, and Hiccup wrapped his arms around the axe hilt to keep it up. "The recruit who does best will win the honour of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village."
"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury," spoke up Snotlout and Yrsa stiffened. She could feel Hiccup's eyes on her, and she did her best to ignore them, squaring her shoulders and glaring at the cages, "so, does that disqualify him, or...?"
The Twins snickered at his joke. Yrsa rolled her eyes, keeping her glower as she glanced at Astrid, sharing a short, idiots. The group of them started to migrate towards the cages. Tuffnut sighed out as he did so: "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?"
Behind them, Yrsa could hear Gobber give Hiccup a friendly shake around the shoulders. "Don't worry," he said. "You're small and weak," he led him over to the others, "that'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane━" Hiccup rolled his eyes at those words, "━and go after the more Viking-like teens instead." He laughed as he shoved him into line next to Fishlegs. Gobber continued to the front of the group of young warriors. Yrsa stood up straighter in between Astrid and Snotlout.
"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight!" he set his hooked-hand professionaly behind his back. He passed by each cage, stating what dragon lied behind. As if knowing he was talking about them, the dragons locked in grew angrier. The iron doors shuddered. "The Deadly Nadder!"
"Speed eight, armour sixteen," mumbled Fishlegs.
"The Hideous Zippleback!"
"Plus eleven stealth. Times two," the pudgy Viking grew louder, brows furrowed in his eargerness.
"The Devilish Dervish!"
"Attack fourteen, speed twelve."
"The Monstrous Nightmare!"
"Firepower fifteen."
"The Terrible Terror!"
"Attack eight, venom twelve━"
"Can you stop that?!"
Fishlegs went bright pink. His mouth snapped close.
Gobber rolled his eyes and moved onto the final cage. He rested his hand on the lever. "And," he stated dramatically, "the Gronckle."
Leaning in close to Hiccup, Fishlegs whispered, "Jaw strength eight..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Snotlout shoved his way forward, eyes wide. Yrsa could feel her heart start to rise as she began to understand what was happening. Gobber had a mischevious glint in his gaze as he held the lever to open the cage door. "Wait, aren't you gonna teach us first?!"
"I believe," said Gobber, grinning, "in learning on the job."
He pushed down the lever. The log of the doors lifted up. And out burst the Gronckle.
It was an absolute scatter.
The teens all screamed and split up, running out of the way of the flying beast with its small beating wings and overbite jaw. Yrsa could hear it to her left, clattering an angry snarl. She remembered the Night Fury in the forest; its roar before leaving them alive━no, she told herself, don't think about that. You'll only get distracted.
"Today," went on Gobber, watching them with amusement, "is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead!"
Slamming straight into the side of the arena, the Gronckle fell to the floor. It snatched up nearby rocks, swallowing them whole. Yrsa's stomach jolted; a Gronckle recieved their fire by their rock diet.
"Quick!" exclaimed Gobber. "What's the first thing you're going to need?"
"A doctor?!" cried Hiccup, clutching his axe awkwardly.
"Plus five speed?" suggested Fishlegs weakly.
"A shield!" snapped Yrsa, darting off to the one furthest from the dragon.
"Shields!" agreed Gobber. "Go!"
The young Vikings ran after the shields scattered around the arena, grabbing whichever they could find. Yrsa picked up a flame-emblemed shield with an iron-rim, slipping her arm through the handle.
"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield!" Gobber spotted Hiccup struggling to pick up his own. "If you must choose between a sword or a shield━" he grabbed it and shoved it to his chest, "━take the shield!"
Yrsa readied her axe for when the beast will decide to strike, and hated how there was hesitation in her gut. One dragon doesn't change her. It will not change her. It was a moment of weakness (it had to be).
Meanwhile, the Twins were busy fighting over their shields.
"Get your hands off my shield!"
"There's like a million shields!"
"Take that one! It has a flower, girls like flowers━" Ruff snatched the shield and whacked her brother over the head with it. "Ah!"
"Oops," she smirked, holding it out to him, "this one has blood on it━!"
The shield shattered between them in a blast of molten lava, and the Twins were knocked right off their feet. The Gronckle soared past, triumphant. "Tuffnut, Ruffnut! You're out!" said Gobber.
They struggled to sit up, "What...?" they both asked dumbly.
"Those shields are good for another thing!" said Gobber. "Noise! Make losts of it to throw off a dragon's aim!"
The remaining teens did as he said, huddling in a circle around the flying Gronckle and slamming their weapons against the iron of their shields. Almost immediately, Yrsa could see the dragon shake its head and blink its eyes. It grew dazed, stammering in its flight.
"All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?"
"Uh, five?" wondered Snotlout, eyes fixed on the beast with a quiver in his boots.
"No, six!" grinned Fishlegs, throwing his sheild-arm up in the air.
"Correct! Six! That's almost one for each of you!"
Fishlegs chuckled, proud of himself. "I really like━AAHHH!" his shield flung from his hand, steaming with fire. Seeing the Gronckle behind him, Fishlegs threw down his weapon, flung his arms up and ran away, screaming and sobbing for his life.
"Fishlegs, out━Hiccup!" Gobber was growing annoyed with the chief's son who sheltered behind the wooden barriers at the edge of the arena. "Get in there!"
He shuffled out, only to cower back in at the blast that sparked the stone beside him alight in a glowing rock. Yrsa watched him longer than she'd prefer, wondering whether the Night Fury they let go had anything to do with his━
Oh, for the love of━Stop thinking about it!
She was almost (almost) glad for Snotlout to shuffle in beside her and Astrid, a smirk on his face. Yrsa rolled her eyes, debating whether to smack her axe over his head instead of the Gronckles.
"So!" he nudged her, and she pushed him back, trying to keep her gaze on the Gronckle. "I━uh━moved into my parents' basement. You should come by sometime to work out." The beast advanced, and Yrsa gasped. She quickly rolled out of the way, and Astrid rushed to the left, leaving Snotlout━completely ignornat as he watched Yrsa go. "You look like you work out!"
Yrsa heard the blast and Gobber's shout, "Snotout! You're done!"
She pushed herself up onto her feet in the momentum, her braids dusted with ash and dirt. Yrsa's heart was still racing, and she wanted to believe it was from the thrill of the fight. But part of her knew better. She wasn't scared━gods no. It was something else. She was looking at this dragon, and she was feeling hesitation, and it made her heart race with her frustration. This dragon who was trying to kill them, who wouldn't hesitate, and yet here she was! She was seeing the Night Fury, hearing its roar, watching it flee. The dragon had the chance to end their lives, and yet it didn't. And this Gronckle, too━it could aim way better than it was, only hitting the shields as if missing every time.
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
(Oh, she should have killed that damned dragon when she had the chance!).
"Oh! Hey!" Hiccup's voice beside her made her jump slightly. She refused to show it, though, not even glancing at his awkward laugh. "Hi, Yrsa! So! You know, I was thinking━"
"Nope," she cut him off, not in the mood, nor having the time for whatever he wanted to say and rolling once again out of the way. The fire that had been directed at them threw Hiccup's shield right off his arm. He chased after it as it rolled away, not realising that the Gronckle was right on his tail.
"One shot left!" said Gobber. His eyes widened as he saw the dragon chase Hiccup. The chief's son didn't think as he ran, heading straight for the wall. In a matter of seconds, he was trapped, cornered by the heat-rising breath of the Gronckle hovering right in front of him. "HICCUP!"
He shuffled back as far as he could. The dragon reared back its head━
Gobber yanked its head up with his hook, at the blast only seared the tip of the hair on Hiccup's head. He yelped, throwing his head into his arms. But he was alive. Gobber grumbled, dragging the dragon away with heaving steps. "And that's six," he said, angry━if not annoyed━at the Gronckle who gnawed at his hook. "Oh, go back to bed, you overgrown sausage!"
With a spin, Gobber flung the dragon back into its cage and shut the door right on its face. "You'll get another chance," he told it through the iron, "don't you worry."
The teens all did their best to compose themselves. Snotlout groaned as he got back onto his feet. Yrsa and Astrid were the only ones standing. They shared a glance and a nod, congragulating each other. Her gaze soon wandered over to Hiccup, still cowering by the charred stone.
"Remember," said Gobber as he limped back, "a dragon will always━always━" he added to Hiccup meaningfully, "━go for the kill." He heaved the boy up, and the rest of the teens started to leave.
Yrsa followed them a little behind, not really welcomed that much in their group. She was only around because of Astrid, and they were all too scared to say no to her. But as she shuffled, her feet and knees sore from running and tumbling against stone, she thought over Gobber's words.
A dragon always goes for the kill, he had said.
And that annoying voice in her head asked, so why hadn't that Night Fury back in the woods?
𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
a/n: am i procrastinating doing art homework by updating this?
yes.
did i get inspiration to update this from listening to httyd audiobooks?
heck yes.
am i now imagining book hiccup sassing yrsa in his head if she was apart of all of that?
of course, i am, and it's fuking funny.