The walk from my home to Berk wasn't tiring. I had walked through the woods to the village so many times, that it had really become more boring than exhausting. I had told Spark early that morning during our flight that I would be visiting the village that day, in hopes to find the boy from yesterday afternoon. The moment I saw the Night Fury, I was too shocked to do anything right away. I had stayed, hovering in midair with Spark under my legs. And that was when the boy came. I watched as he examined the black dragon, and prepared myself to attack, when I saw the boy lift his dagger to kill it. But he had stopped. For the first time in the ten years that I had lived near the island of Berk, and in the five years that I had been the Night Rider, I had never seen another Viking refuse to kill a dragon. Although I didn't want to admit it, it had peaked my interest. I had spent all night trying to think of why. Why wouldn't he kill the dragon? Was it nerves? Could he simply just not stomach killing a dragon? Or did he genuinely have enough sympathy to spare the wounded dragon's life?
That's what I was hoping to find out.
I didn't have my cloak with me. In broad daylight, it'd just be too obvious. But since no one had seen my face, or even knew that the night rider was indeed, a girl, blending in with the crowd was the way to go. I had spent the last hour and a half searching for the boy, with no luck. I almost wished that Spark was up, searching the skies, but I had insisted on him staying behind, for fear of him getting caught, and I still stood by that.
"Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it."
I furrowed my brows at the familiar sounding voice, and made my way towards the dome shaped building, and as I did the voices got louder. "Oh great. Who let him in?"
The gate was closed, but I could make out about six or seven figures inside. I looked down at the ground and my eyes followed the path to some stairs that seemed to lead to stands around the dome. Cautiously, I walked up one set of steps to my left, and as I expected, there were seats all around. I chose a seat where I was least expected to be seen.
"Let's get started!" I watched as a large man with a braided blonde beard walked around, in front of six children around my age. "The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."
I felt my stomach turn. So that's what they were doing...
A beefy boy with black hair chuckled, and gestured to the boy I had seen in the woods. "Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him or...?"
Hiccup I thought. I looked over to see the recruits begin laughing at him and chatter in the background. "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" asked an odd boy with blond hair, turning to what looked like his twin sister...or brother?
I shook my head and glanced around, surveying who was all there. Hiccup, I recognized. He had brown messy hair, and green eyes, and hardly wore any armor. He looked more like a blacksmith with the way he dressed. There was also a boy with short blond hair, and was quite large. He seemed the nicest to Hiccup, though he hadn't really spoken. There was also that boy who had made fun of Hiccup, and I had to admit, his cocky demeanor and bullying attitude caused a disliking for him to form already. Then, after close examination I could see that it was indeed a twin boy and girl, who were both equally as destructive as the other. My eyes then fell on the other girl there. She had long blonde hair tied in a braid, and icy blue eyes. I had seen those eyes before. It dawned on me that this was the girl from the raid, who had tried to attack me. I chuckled slightly.
This would be interesting.
The man who looked like the teacher stuck Hiccup in line with the others and continued on toward five massive reinforced doors, terrible roars and bellows issued from within. I peered over the edge, trying to see what was in there, when the teacher spoke again,
"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight." I felt my insides twist and turn. Did they really keep those dragons in there so they could fight them? The heavy weight blond boy bounced and giggled with excitement, barely able to contain himself. "The Deadly Nadder." the teacher introduced, gesturing to one door.
Under his breath, the heavy weight boy said, "Speed eight. Armor sixteen."
"The Hideous Zippleback." said the teacher, moving along the door
"Plus eleven stealth. Times two." My brow shot up as I listened to the boy's knowledge.
"The Monstrous Nightmare."
"Firepower fifteen."
"The Terrible Terror."
"Attack eight. Venom twelve!"
"CAN YOU STOP THAT?!" the teacher yelled, annoyed. "And...the Gronckle."
quietly; to himself, the boy whispered "Jaw strength, eight." While his percentage was just a tad bit off, I had a feeling that he may have had the most chance of surviving. The teacher reached forward and pulled a lever, raising the cross beam on the last of the doors.
The bully stepped forward, alarm crossing his face. "Whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first!?"
"I believe in learning on the job." said the teacher
BAM! A Gronckle thunders out of its cave, charging into the ring like an irate rhino. The recruits scramble in every direction. Except for the twins, who rush toward it, like pumped-up clowns. I shook my head at the tactic.
"Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead." The teacher simply explained, "Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?"
A Shield I thought, as Hiccup spoke "A doctor?"
"Plus five speed?" asked the heavy weight boy
"A shield." said the girl with confidence.
"Shields. Go." confirmed the teacher. The recruits began to scramble for shields, finding them scattered around the ring. "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield."
Hiccup struggled to lift his, and the teacher helped him, pushing the shield into his hands, and sent him running. The two twins stood amidst a dozen shields. But only one has a skull painted on it. They both grab it. "Get your hands off my shield!" yelled the boy
"There are like a million shields!" the girl yelled in protest
"Take that one, it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers." The girl uses the shield to bashed her brother in the face, which I thought was well deserved. He still doesn't let go.
"Ooops," she said "Now this one has blood on it."
The Gronckle takes aim at the distracted twins. Blam! The shield is blasted out of both of their hands. They both spin like tops and go down. "Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!" yelled the Teacher. Ruffnut and Tuffnut I thought, wanting to remember their names.
"What?!" yelled Tuffnut in a daze
"What?!" Ruffnut, confused, shouted.
The Gronckle scoops up a pile of rocks and swallows them back. The teens gather on the far side of the ring. "Those shields are good for another thing. Noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim." I nodded. I used that tactic with a few dragons to distract them. The kids scoop up weapons and begin hammering on their shields. The Gronckle shakes its head at the clatter as it's vision becomes blurry and scrambled. It's working.
"All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?"
"Five!" shouted the bully confidently
"No, six." corrected the heavyweight boy.
"Correct, six. That's one for each of you!" I laughed a bit. While his methods may be a bit mad, he sure was good at what he did. That thought made me shrink back. If he was as good as he seemed, then those dragons may not have a chance...
"I really don't think my parents would–" the blonde boy began, when, BAM! He has his shield blasted away.
"Fishlegs, out." said the teacher, just as he spotted Hiccup hiding from the Gronckle's molten slugs. "Hiccup, get in there!"
bouncing on her heels, ready to dodge a blast, the girl seems to be doing the best of them all. The bully appears, seemingly trying to hit on her. "So anyway I'm moving into my parents' basement. You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out–" She cartwheels out of the way, allowing a shot to shoot past her and hit Snotlout's shield. He's blasted onto his back.
"Snotlout! You're done!"
The girl rolls to a stop beside Hiccup, who stirs awkwardly, "So, I guess it's just you and me huh?" I shook my head at his awful attempt to make conversation.
"No. Just you." she rolled away and a split-second later a lava slug knocked Hiccup's shield clear off of his arm, leaving Hiccup exposed. A rush of adrenaline makes me sit up, finding myself worried for the boy.
"One shot left!" yelled the teacher, as if to remind me of the dire situation. Hiccup seemed to panic and chased after his shield as it rolled across the ring. The sudden movement sends the Gronckle chasing after him, leaving the girl in the clear. "Hiccup!" yelled the teacher in warning.
The Gronckle drives straight toward Hiccup, pinning him against the wall. It opens its mouth and cocks its tail, ready to fire point-blank. The teacher lunges in and hooks the Gronckle's mouth at the last second, causing its head to jerk back and fire against the stone wall above Hiccup's head. A sigh of relief made its way past my lips as I sat back.
"And that's six!" the teacher wrestles the irate Gronckle back into his pen. Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage!" he yelled, shutting the gate. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry."
Slam! Lock.
The teacher turns to the recruits. "Remember... a dragon will always," he turned to Hiccup with a stern look "always go for the kill." He hoists Hiccup to his feet and walks off. Hiccup looks overhead to see a steaming pit in the solid stone wall.
************************************************************************
As I began walking back to my hut, I thought about what the teacher had said. Not just about how the dragon would alway go for the kill, but just about everything. He seemed to be a very capable teacher, which worried me. I shook that thought away as I moved a few branches, and walked through a thick line of tree vines, revealing my home, a treehouse that I had built with my own two hands. It wasn't going to win a beauty contest, but it held up just fine for the past ten years.
I smiled as I made my way through the small puddles on the ground, and began climbing up the tree, using vines and other branches to make it easier. In no time, I finally made it to the top of the balcony, and walked inside with a slight heaviness to her breath.
"Spark?" I called, looking around for my large scaly dragon. When I heard no response, I figured he must have left to get himself dinner, and would be back soon.
I began to peel off my heavy armor, as well as my weapons. I took my twin daggers and set them on my desk, along with my whip sword, before I moved over to my bed. I flumped down and slid my fur boots off, setting them to the side.
A sudden noise caused for me to glance up, only to see Spark slithering through the door, an ell hanging half-way out of his mouth. With a slight sigh, I smiled at the dragon as he swallowed the rest of his dinner. "Hey boy." I said. "All full?"
Spark grumbled his response, making his way around the room, knocking his tail into the closet, causing the door to open. I laughed and shook my head, getting up.
"Always clumsy-" I paused, as I reached the door to my closet, allowing for my hand to fall on the fabric of my cloak. I sighed and closed the door, before turning to see Spark already curled up beside the bed. Slowly as not to disturb my almost dozed off dragon, I climbed into my bed, pulling the soft blankets over me. A frown settled onto my features. While being the Night Rider was something I didn't regret, it certainly wasn't something to be proud of. I turned over, scrunching my legs up. I could only hope that tomorrow would be better.