"But you're pointing at all of me."
Hiccup quietly entered his house, trying to sneak past his father.
"Hiccup," Stoick called out.
"Ah, Dad... Ehhh, I need to talk to you, Dad," he said, coming down a few steps.
"Yeah, I need to talk to you too, son," Stoick said confidently.
"I've decided you can start learning to fight dragons / I've decided I don't want to learn to fight dragons. What?" both spoke at the same time and looked confused.
"Eh, you go first," Stoick offered.
"No, no, you go ahead," Hiccup insisted.
"Very well. You win. Training with dragons starts early tomorrow," he said, staring at him seriously.
"Ahhh, I should've gone first. Eh, you know, I was thinking... Dad, it's just that we... we already have too many Vikings to fight dragons, you know? But we don't have Viking bakers or Viking handymen," Hiccup tried to explain, but Stoick cut him off.
"You'll need this," he said, handing him an axe.
"I don't want to fight dragons, Dad," Hiccup said nervously.
"Oh ho! Of course you do!" Stoick said with a proud smile and turned around.
"Translation: Dad, I can't kill dragons," Hiccup insisted.
"But you will kill dragons," Stoick said stubbornly, unwilling to change his mind.
"No, I'm mega hyper sure that I won't," Hiccup said, struggling to hold the axe properly.
"It's time, son."
"You're not listening to me, are you?"
"This is very serious, son. When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you... It means you'll walk like us, talk like us..." he kept adjusting Hiccup's postur"Think like us... That's it... Exactly that!" he said, pointing at him.
"But you're pointing at all of me," Hiccup sighed.
"Got it?"
"This is starting to feel more like a monologue," he muttered to himself.
"Got it?" Stoick asked, now more serious.
"Ah... Got it," Hiccup said slowly.
"Good. Train hard. I'll be back... maybe," he said, grabbing his things and heading toward the door.
"And I'll stay here... maybe."
o0o0o
The white Skrill was flapping her wings desperately, trying to fly- all in vain.
"How can there be a Skrill who doesn't know how to fly?" the Night Fury asked, raising an eyebrow.
He was lying on a rock, watching her.
"Oh, then why don't you try doing better than me? Oh wait, you can't... You can't fly anymore. At least I didn't lose part of my tail," the Skrill huffed back at him.
The Night Fury looked at his tail, then at her.
"I'll show you who doesn't know how to fly," he said, standing up and jumping off, beating his wings.
Unlike the Skrill, he managed to stay airborne for a few seconds before falling- but quickly glided to make the landing soft.
"Hahaha, just as good as me," she said sarcastically.
The Skrill walked away and lay down among rocks and leaves. She yawned and closed her eyes, trying to sleep.
But the Night Fury kept struggling nearby, trying to get out of there- and failing, since he couldn't fly.
"Try that later," the Skrill murmured, half asleep.
But she was suddenly wide awake when she heard something wooden crash to the ground.
She lifted her head and looked toward the sound- it was the Viking boy.
(Hiccup) she thought, as a strange feeling bubbled in her chest.
Was it... fear?
The Night Fury and the Skrill both stared at him intensely, waiting for his next move.
o0o0o
"Alright, what was Astrid's mistake today? Gobber asked.
"My somersault was really bad, it messed up my backflip," she sighed.
"Yeah, we could see that," Ruffnut agreed.
"No, no, it was radical- so you," Snotlout tried to flirt with the blonde.
"No. She's right. You've got to be honest with yourselves. So, where did Hiccup mess up?" Gobber asked.
"He showed up."
"He didn't get eaten."
"He's never where he's supposed to be."
"Thanks, Astrid. You all have to live by this: The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we've encountered." Then thunder rumbled. "No attacking today. Study!"
"Wait, you mean, like... read?" Tuffnut groaned.
"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Why read about the things when you can just kill the things?" Snotlout slammed the table.
"I've already read it like seven times! There's this aquatic dragon- it spits boiling water in your face! And there's another one that burrows, an-" Fishlegs began excitedly.
"Talk to the hand. I would read that book..."
"But I'm not gonna..."
"You guys can read, I'm gonna go kill something," Snotlout said, walking off.
The others followed him. Hiccup stepped closer, going for the book.
"So... wanna read together?" he asked nervously to Astrid.
"Already did,"she said, handing him the book before leaving.
"Eh, ah! It's all mine, wow! Great, wonderful, yeah, so I'll see you..." Astrid slammed the great hall door hard "Tomorrow."
Hiccup decided to read the book later that night, when he was alone in the great hall. He lit an extra candle for more light.
"Dragon classifications... Strike class, Fear class, Mystery class..." he flipped the page "Thunderdrum. A reclusive dragon that inhabits sea caves and dark lagoons. When startled, it lets out a blast that can sink a ship or kill a man instantly. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." He turned a few more pages "Timberjack. Giant creature with razor-sharp wings that can slice through trees. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight."Another page"Scauldron. Sprays boiling water at its victims. Extremely dangerous-" a loud thunderclap made him jump "Changewing. Even its hatchlings spit acid. Kill on sight. Gronckle. Zippleback. Skrill... This indescribable creature is highly elusive. Known to ride lightning. Found only during electrical storms. Can shoot powerful lightning blasts. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Boneknapper. Whispering Death. Burns victims. Buries victims. Suffocates victims. Turns victims inside out. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight." Then he finally reached the page he wanted "Night Fury. Speed: unknown. Size: unknown. This dragon is the offspring of lightning and death itself. Do not engage this dragon. Only one chance: hide, and pray it does not find you."
Hiccup took out his own notebook and placed it there, since it had a drawing of the Night Fury.