 
The Dragon Tournament is a fanfiction I (Toothless99) am writing, based on the How to Train Your Dragon game.
Story[]
Chapter 1 - The Announcement[]
The sound of a ram horn echoed around the island of Berk. Every viking, be they man, women or children, was called to the village centre, where the chief of the tribe, Stoick the Vast, was about to make an announcement. Once everyone had arrived, Stoick bellowed for silence. Which he got.
"Now," he yelled, "I am here to tell you about an upcoming tournament for the viking teens. They will compete in rounds of increasing difficulty, and, at the end of the tournament, the winner will be considered a true viking. There are six candidates for this title, and they have each prepared a little speech to put to you before the tournament begins. You will hear them now."
The first of the six Vikings-to-be was Snotface Snotlout, a brute of a boy, with a nasty attitude. His speech was very short and sharp. Next up was Fishlegs, a chubby boy who had memerized the entire dragon manual. He went on for a while, and the watching vikings got bored. Third and fourth were twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston. They were both confident of winning the tournament. Second-to-last came Astrid, a viking girl with blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and good looks all round, really. Her speech was very Viking-like.
"I can win this tournament, and I can beat all the boys to the title of true Viking."
This earned an angry stare from Snotlout, but Astrid just shrugged it off. Finally, it was Hiccup's turn. He was son of the chief, and slightly weedy by viking standards. His speech was too long and reasonable for the Viking crowd, but Astrid contragulated him when he finished. Snotlout, who was smitten with Astrid, glared enviously at Hiccup. Hiccup wasn't looking the right way to see.
Stoick the Vast then stepped back up on the stage. He concluded the gathering by saying,
"The tournament begins in one week. Until then the Viking candidates should train on two areas that will be crucial to the tournament. They are - Dragon Flying and Swordfighting. However, there is much more than that to the tournament. Good luck to all."
As the viking teens returned to their houses, Astrid noticed Hiccup seemed a bit down. She went over to him, and asked him what was wrong.
Chapter 2 - Hiccup's Problem[]
"I just know I can't win the tournament," Hiccup said. "I'm no good. And if this continues, I'll never be a true viking."
"Nonsense," Astrid said. "What about Dragon Flying?"
"Yeah, but what about swordfighting?" Hiccup replied gloomily. Astrid didn't say anything to that; even she had to admit Hiccup wasn't a very good swordfighter.
"I just don't know what to do..." Hiccup continued. Astrid thought about something, and then said,
"What if we train together? Surely that'll help you improve?"
Hiccup wasn't sure, as he thought he was more likely to slow Astrid's training down, but it was the only way to give himself a fighting chance, so he eventually agreed.
"Tomorrow morning, OK? My house," Astrid said, and she walked off before Hiccup could reply. Still deep in thought, Hiccup returned to his hut, with Stoick the Vast. He quickly explained his plans to train with Astrid. Stoick wasn't, to say the least, best pleased. In fact, he literally exploded.
"YOU ARE TRAINING WITH A GIRL! COME ON HICCUP! A GIRL VIKING! YOU SHOULDN'T NEED HELP! YOU ARE NOT TO TRAIN WITH HER! NOT AT ALL!" he exclaimed.
When Hiccup could finally get a word in, he said, "But Dad, I'll never win the tournament without help, and it is Astrid after all - please Dad, just this once!..."
As Stoick listened properly, he decided that maybe Astrid wasn't too bad....
"Just this once," Stoick said reluctantly. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief.
Chapter 3 - Training[]
Hiccup arrived at Astrid's house next morning, as he had been instructed. Astrid was waiting in her backyard, axe at the ready. Hiccup had brought his sword. Before they engaged in fighting, they said hi, and then Astrid said they were to begin. She ran at Hiccup, axe raised. Hiccup, whose only strongpoint at swordfighting was dodging, ducked out of the way and swung his own sword at Astrid. She blocked it easily, and thrust Hiccup's sword downwards. As he struggled to keep his balance, Astrid hit him with the flat of the axe, and knocked him to the ground.
"Oh, come on, Hiccup, you can do better than that," Astrid said.
"No I can't," Hiccup replied.
"Well, of course you can't if you take such a negative way of thinking. You need to think positively. If you believe you can do it, you can do it. You just need to believe."
"Astrid, it's not that simple-" he was interrupted by Astrid before he could say more.
"You're doing it again. You're not thinking positively," she said. She stood silently for a few seconds, then said, "We'll do dragon flying now. Something to raise your spirits. Something you're good at."
Hiccup reluctantly agreed, and followed Astrid to the dragon stables, where the Viking teens' dragons were kept. He unlocked Toothless' cage, and Astrid unlocked her Deadly Nadder, which she had named Thorn. They took their dragons to the cliffs, the best taking-off location on the island.
"Ready?" Astrid asked Hiccup.
"Ready," he replied.
"One lap of the island, OK, and land back here. Bet I can beat you!" With a grin, Astrid took off, soaring away around the island.
"Hey!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Go, Toothless!"
Toothless, being a Night Fury, was faster than a Deadly Nadder, but had some catching up to do. They were neck and neck as the began the final quarter of the lap.
"Here we go!" Hiccup yelled, and he got Toothless to pull into a dive, increasing his speed, and leaving Astrid and her Nadder behind.
"Up, up, up," Hiccup commanded, and Toothless rose to the same height as the cliff. Then he landed where they had started, beating Astrid by a full four seconds. Now that Hiccup had a positive attitude, Astrid decided to try the swordfighting again.
"Come on," she said, and led the way back into town.
Chapter 4 - Swordfighting[]
They arrived back at Astrid's house after leaving the dragons back in the stables. They went to the back yard to try the swordfighting again. With Hiccup in a positive attitude, the fight lasted longer and was more evenly-matched. Astrid won by swinging her axe parry Hiccup's strike, and then she let go, causing the handle of the axe to slam into Hiccup's chin, knocking him to the ground.
"Good work," Astrid said. "I knew you could do better!"
"Yeah, I suppose that was OK. I better get back now. Stoick will be furious if I stay here too long," Hiccup replied.
"OK, see ya tomorrow," Astrid said, and she watched him walk off. Then she noticed that rather than heading back to his house, he went to the dragon stables. Although Astrid knew he could just be checking on Toothless, she decided, knowing Hiccup, that he was more likely to be up to something, so she followed from a distance. Just as she suspected, he was up to something. He let Toothless out his stable, and headed for the cliffs. Astrid let Thorn out, and followed him. She was just in time to see the fly off the edge of the cliff.
It would be harder to hide on dragonback, and since they were keeping to the face of the cliff, Astrid lay down, her head leaning over the edge, watching. So she was quite shocked when Hiccup and Toothless seemed to fly through the cliff face.
Once she was sure they were gone, she got Thorn to fly down, and then she spotted a hole in the cliff face, which must have been where Hiccup had gone. Thorn landed silently at the mouth of the cave. Then Astrid crept along the pasage, with Thorn following. Then the corridor turned, and Hiccup and Toothless were round the corner. Astrid remained silent and watched what was happening in the chamber....
Chapter 5 - The Secret Chamber[]
She watched Hiccup draw his sword, then throw it at the wall. On the wall, she noted he had painted life size illustrations of a Gronckle, Nadder and Zippleback. The sword struck the Nadder in the neck. So this was his secret way of training. Astrid smiled as she realised she wasn't supposed to know about this. She watched him go up, remove the sword, and throw it at the Gronckle. It struck it in the side, and she doubted it would have done much damage, since it was armoured.
After practising for 15 minutes, Hiccup seemed to decide he had done enough for today. He walked towards where Astrid was hiding.
Knowing he hadn't seen her yet, she quietly sprinted down the rock corridor, where Thorn was waiting. She hurdled onto Thorn's back, and whispered 'Fly' into his ear. Thorn flapped his wings and took off. Then she flew round a rocky outcrop, so they wouldn't be seen when Hiccup and Toothless emerged. Then they walked back to the village. Astrid left Thorn in his stable, and returned home.
However, she was puzzled by Hiccup's training method. She had found several problems, and scribbled them down on paper:
A. Real Dragons moved.
B. If he missed, he wouldn’t be able to just ‘retrieve’ his sword.
C. Stoick never said we were fighting dragons anyway.
D. They might not be the same size/shape as what he practised with.
Overall, she was puzzled with his chosen method of training. Unless Stoick had given him inside information. But Astrid didn't need to cheat to win, so she continued to practise with the standard methods - practising her swordfighting and dragon flying. Because the tournament wasn't far away....
Chapter 6 - The Tournament[]
Six days later, the tournament began. Everyone gathered around the stadium built specially for the tournament. Stoick stood on a centre podium, and made a beginning speech, which was very short."Now, to begin the tournament, there will be three bouts. They have no effect on the end scores, and are merely a warming-up exercise. First bout, Tuffnut and Snotlout."
This round was fists only. Gobber blew his ram horn, and the fight began. Snotlout advanced on Tuffnut, who backed up. Then, he suddenly darted forwards, and Snotlout was too slow to react. Tuffnut crashed head-first into him, and Snotlout was sent cartwheeling backwards. Snotlout got quickly to his feet, and evaded Tuffnut's next attack. Then he curled his hand into a fist and swung his hand into the back of Tuffnut's neck. Tuffnut crashed to the floor, and Snotlout stood on top of him.
"First Bout. Winner - Snotlout," Gobber announced. "Second Bout, Ruffnut and Fishlegs."
Great, Hiccup thought. So I'm fighting Astrid. My lucky day. Not.
The second bout began. Ruffnut charged at Fishlegs, and entered a roll. She crashed into Fishlegs, and he fell over, on top of her. She shook him off, and the fight continued. Fishlegs delivered a punch to Ruffnut's lower stomach, and she doubled over. Then Fishlegs swept his arm round, and it connected with Ruffnut's head. She tumbled to the floor, and Fishlegs got on top of her.
"Second Bout. Winner - Fishlegs," Gobber announced. "Third and final Bout, Astrid and Hiccup."
Oh well, here we go, Hiccup said, filled with apprehension.
Chapter 7 - The Final Bout[]
Astrid and Hiccup stood in the ring, facing each other. Then, the moment Hiccup had been dreading came - Gobber blew his ram horn. The bout had begun.
Astrid charged at Hiccup, and she leaped into the air. Hiccup ducked, and Astrid landed behind him, but she turned round quickly and hit Hiccup around the back of the neck with a karate chop. Hiccup staggered forward, clutching his neck. He turned round and parried Astrid's next blow. Then he kicked out with his foot, and Astrid lost her balance. She regained it quickly, and charged at Hiccup, shoulder-barging him into the wall. Then Astrid punched Hiccup in the lower stomach. He duobled over, and Astrid shoved him to the floor.
But Hiccup got up quickly, before Astrid could pin him down. Astrid grabbed his shoulders, and kneed him several times in the stomach. But Hiccup grabbed one of her arms and swung her round. She went catering into the wall, but recovered quickly, and turned to face Hiccup.
They stared each other down for a few seconds, and then Astrid advanced again. But as she lunged for Hiccup, he dodged and grabbed her, before pushing her to the ground. He got on top of her, but she arched her back and shook Hiccup off. Caught by surprise, he fell on his back, and Astrid pinned him down. The bout was won.
"Third Bout. Winner - Astrid," announced Gobber. "Vikings-to-be, please gather here for your first assignment."
Hiccup felt even more apprehension than when he had been confronting Astrid. In the end he had lost to a better fighter, but he was still disappointed with himself. He decided to get back on Astrid by winning the tournament.
Chapter 8 - Astrid's Dilemma[]
"Now," Gobber said. "Your first assignment is to travel to the woods, and retrieve one of yew staffs we have left there. You must also look out for two things. First - Dragons. Several Hooligans have left their dragons in the wood. They are trained to attack you on sight. Second - Oak Staffs. We have also left some fake staffs, made of oak, around the woods. Bring back one of them, and you'll be out the tournament. The first five to return with yew staffs win. Now, off you go."
Snotlout and Tuffnut rushed off to the woods. Everyone else ran for the dragon stables. They couldn't fight other dragons themselves, but their dragons could. Astrid untethered Thorn and Hiccup released Toothless. They flew off towards the wood. A few seconds later, Fishlegs freed Horrorcow, and Ruffnut freed Zap, the Zippleback she was supposed to share with Tuffnut. But since he wasn't here, she decided it was alright to fly on without him.
Astrid was flying over the woods when something shot up towards her. An arrow pierced Thorn's wing, and he wobbled, and started to lose height. Down below, Snotlout's laughter was audible. That cheating, sneaky pig of a boy, Astrid thought. He won't be laughing when he's set on fire.
"Land, Thorn," Astrid commanded, and he did. But Snotlout was gone. Astrid stared in frustration. Where was that freak? And now Thorn couldn't lift off again. Now Astrid was really annoyed. The forest was too thick for Thorn to walk through, and since she couldn't fly, they were stranded. Astrid cursed Snotlout with the worst curses she knew. Then she racked her brains in an attempt to solve her problem. Luckily for her, she had more brains than the average viking.
Chapter 9 - Battle in the Forest[]
Try as she might, Astrid just couldn't think of a way to get out of this situation. And no way was she calling for help. There appeared to be only one alternative to losing.
"Stay here, Thorn, I'll be back with a yew staff soon," Astrid said, and she plunged into the thick forest. But she hadn't gone far when she reached another clearing... with Snotlout and Fireworm. Fireworm was Snotlout's dragon, a female Monstrous Nightmare. Monstrous Nightmares were some of the largest and most dangerous dragons.
"Look who's here!" Snotlout jeered. "Without a dragon, eh! Get her, Fireworm!"
Suddenly, they heard Hiccup. "Oh no you don't," he muttered, and landed in the clearing, facing Snotlout's dragon.
"Come on then," he said. "Let's see if your dragon's really as good as you say she is, Snotlout."
Snotlout mounted Fireworm, furious. She released a torch of flame, which Toothless barely dodged. However, then Toothless flew back at Fireworm, and whacked her nose with his tail. Then, before Fireworm could retaliate, he released a ball of flame, which hit Fireworm at such speed she wenting skidding back. Then he dashed at her, buck she ducked underneath, and as he went over her, she whipped her tail out, sending Toothless crashing to the ground.
"Not so good now, huh?" Snotlout laughed, but then Toothless jumped forward and clawed Fireworm on the nose. It started bleeding. This was sapping Fireworm's strength, and when Toothless attacked again, he bit her wing, creating another wound. Fireworm prepared to attack Toothless, but collapsed from loss of energy first.
"Well Snotlout, not so tough after all, are you?" Astrid said. "Now, I'm going to find a yew staff, so, see ya."
Chapter 10 - Is the staff yew or oak?[]
Armoured Spiketail
The staffs were lying easily in reach, inside a clearing. But how did you tell the difference between yew and oak? Astrid didn't have time to worry about it when an Armoured Spiketail landed in the clearing. Armoured Spiketails were dangerous, and Astrid removed her axe, to fight it, as it was only as large as the Deadly Nadder.
She charged the dragon, which barely moved as it released a super-hot jet of flame. Astrid dodged it, and made a flailing swipe at its legs with her axe. Unfortunately, it missed by metres, as she tumbled to the ground and rolled.
Meanwhile, Fishlegs, riding Horrorcow, his Gronckle, arrived back where Gobber was waiting, staff in hand.
"It's yew," Gobber confirmed, and let Fishlegs into the sandy area where successful hunters could wait. Fishlegs was the first back, surprising considering Gronckles were naturally slow and sluggish, and Horrorcow even more than usual.
Soon after, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Zap returned, and Gobber let them through as well, confirming the staff was yew. Now only Snotlout, Astrid and Hiccup were left to return.
Chapter 11 - Race back[]
Astrid got up again, but was down straight after as the Armoured Spiketail's spiked tail collided with her head. She fell down hard, axe discarded. The Spiketail roared in victory.
Soon after, Snotlout and Fireworm entered the clearing. Snotlout dismounted Fireworm and left her to fight the Spiketail, while he grabbed a staff. He left the clearing unhindered, staff in hand. Fireworm stood up, then whipped her tail round and took out the Armoured Spiketail's legs from underneath it. Then she followed Snotlout.
Groaning, Astrid came round soon after. She grabbed her axe and a staff, then left, massaging her head. She hadn't noticed the absence of the Armoured Spiketail.
She arrived back in the clearing where she had left Thorn, and he was still there. Dragons have a natural healing ability, and the hole in his wing was almost completely patched up. When Astrid mounted him, he was able to take off again.
During flight, she encountered Snotlout and Fireworm.
"I see you did get a staff in the end," Snotlout teased.
"Yeah, and I bet you got yours by cheating!" Astrid remarked. She didn't get a reply as Toothless zoomed between the two of them, buffeting them to the side with the massive gusts of wind he caused. They could just hear Hiccup yelling,
"See you back at the tournament grounds," before he was gone entirely.
"We're the last ones back," Snotlout grinned. "I guess its first come first serve, so we might as well race back..."
Fireworm kicked Thorn viciously in the stomach, and rushed on ahead.
"Catch up, Thorn!" Astrid yelled, confident. But that confidence dwindled away as Thorn wobbled uncertainly, and continued on at a slow pace.
"NO!" cried Astrid. "Snotlout! NOOO!"
Characters[]
Vikings[]
- Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
- Astrid Hofferson
- Gobber the Belch
- Snotlout Jorgenson
- Fishlegs Ingerman
- Ruffnut Thorston
- Tuffnut Thorston
- Stoick the Vast
Dragons[]
- Toothless, a Night Fury
- Thorn, a Deadly Nadder
- Fireworm, a Monstrous Nightmare
- Horrorcow, a Gronckle
- Zap, a Hideous Zippleback
- The Armoured Spiketail
Behind the Scenes[]
These are bits of info on how I built the story
Chapter 10[]
I decided on the (slightly) comical title due to how Cressida Cowell normally titles chapters in the book series. Sorry that it is a bit short, but there will be longer chapters later, I promise. I also used one of my fictional dragons!
Chapter 11[]
Oh dear. But have you considered the fact that Hiccup, Snotlout or Astrid might have an Oak Staff? And I have written this chapter despite what I said on my user page, because I got a positive comment and felt like writing more.