The Vikings have returned from the battle with the Red Death. All is safe, and the Vikings are co-operating with dragons. Meanwhile, Gobber changes the theme of Dragon Training from fighting dragons, to actually training them. However, it has been a mere ten days since the Red Death died, and something has arrived. Something that is very dangerous. Now it's up to Hiccup, Astrid and the others to save the entire tribe from a menace so great it could wipe them of the face of Berk... literally.
Yes, that is my idea. And you have NO IDEA of what I mean by VERY DANGEROUS. So, let's begin.
Chapter 1[]
Hiccup added the Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus to the manual
Hiccup was still shaken from his encounter with the Red Death. Despite this, he had re-written the dragon manual, removing 'kill on sight' and adding information and pictures of the Night Fury. And he had written another page, on a new dragon. This was the Red Death. He had named the species, Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus. Then, his father, Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe, had replaced the old dragon manual with Hiccup's version. As if killing the Red Death wasn't enough. Now he really was a celebrity.
Except with one person. Snotlout Jorgenson, who had once supported him during his rise to fame in Dragon Training, was now against him. The reason was simple - it was conflict. But not conflict over rights, or an object. No, it was conflict over Astrid. Astrid Hofferson was one of the only girls on the Dragon Training programme. She had long, blonde hair, tied in a ponytail, and a band across her forehead. She wore a red skirt decorated with spikes and skulls, and classic Viking boots. She was rarely seen without her axe.
Snotlout was smitten with Astrid, and was constantly trying to impress her. Hiccup was also smitten, but he couldn't do much that was very impressive. But when he had given Astrid a ride on Toothless, his Night Fury, her mind was made up - she was going with Hiccup. Which was why Snotlout no longer liked Hiccup.
The Night Fury was the rarest of dragons, and until Hiccup shot one down, nothing was known about it. But when Hiccup tried to kill it, he couldn't, and instead he freed and befriended it. Toothless had then helped Hiccup fight the Red Death, and ultimately saved his life. That considered, Stoick the Vast allowed dragons to bond with Vikings, creating the Berk Vikings knew today.
Berk was wild, wet and windy. It snowed nine months of the year, and hailed the other three. Except on occasional days where there was no snow, hail or rain. Today was one of those days.
There was a knock on Hiccup's door.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"Your girlfriend," came the reply.
"OK, OK, come in," Hiccup said. He knew it was Astrid.
"Hello, Hiccup," she said as she came in.
"Hello."
"Got any plans today?" Astrid asked.
"No. Why?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to go flying."
"Yeah, of course I do."
"Come on then!"
She ran out of the room and down the stairs, Hiccup in hot pursuit.
"Wait for me!" he called.
Grinning, Astrid just ran on, slamming the door behind her. Hiccup opened it, and chased after Astrid, who was almost at her house, where she kept Thorn, her Deadly Nadder. Toothless was bounding after Hiccup, eager to go flying. By the time they arrived, Astrid was on Thorn's back.
"Come on!" she said. "Aren't you ready yet?" Hiccup could tell she was teasing him. He mounted Toothless.
"Let's go then!" he said. "See what you're made of!"
Toothless flapped his wings and took to the sky. Thorn followed, and soon they were among the clouds, above the Isle of Berk.
Chapter 2[]
Hiccup and Astrid flying
Astrid was still amazed by the view from a dragon's back. Though she had flown enough times now - with Toothless, battling the Red Death, and a couple other times later on, she still found it amazing. However, Astrid was worried for Hiccup. Worrying was not a thing she did often, but she was concerned about Snotlout. Though she was pretty sure he would never do anything openly hostile, she knew he'd find some way.
The reason she was so sure he wouldn't be openly hostile was because he still wanted her to be with him. If he killed Astrid's current boyfriend, or did anything like that, she would never like him. But Snotlout had always been a master at sabotage...
But being in the air, on Thorn, made her forget all her worries. She marvelled at the openness of it all, how much freedom there was.
But suddenly, she was torn away from her dreams by a sudden shriek from Toothless. He started to spin and pulled into a dive. Astrid, unsure what was wrong, followed. He shrieked again, and again. Suddenly, a Timberjack streaked over their heads. Timberjacks were some of the few dragons that hadn't been tamed by Vikings. They had razor sharp wings that could cut trees. Toothless released a ball of blue flame, which struck the Timberjack in the midriff. Screeching in anger, it turned to face Toothless.
Suddenly, its neck, right wing and lower jaw were covered in sharp quills. Thorn had just fired them from his tail. With its wing injured, the Timberjack flailed wildly, but couldn't keep itself up. It crashed into the ocean; only then did Astrid realise how far they had flown.
Berk was a mere spot on the horizon now.
"Er, Hiccup..." Astrid began. But Hiccup had noticed too.
"We need to get back," he said.
"Yeah," Astrid agreed, and they turned round and flew back towards Berk.
They arrived back after ten minutes. Stoick was relieved to see them, as he was wondering where they had got to. Hiccup returned Toothless to his home, then went to meet Astrid in her house; where they had agreed to meet after putting away their dragons.
"I do love flying," Astrid said, when Hiccup arrived.
"So do I," he agreed.
Then Hiccup looked at the clock on the wall.
"Oh, I am so sorry," he began, "I really need to go now... I've got something I need to do, I'm going to be late!"
"Hiccup. Hiccup!" Astrid said, bringing him under control. "That's fine. Where are you going, though?"
"Er, it's something with Gobber," he said.
"Really?" Astrid said, with a tell-me-the-truth-or-else look on her face.
"Yes, it is with Gobber," Hiccup confirmed (and he wasn't lying), "But it is a bit of a secret and I'm not supposed to talk to anyone about it."
"OK," Astrid said. She believed Hiccup this time.
So Hiccup left. Astrid noted he was hurrying off in the direction of the old Dragon Training arena. She didn't think anything of it, though.
Chapter 3[]
Far away from the Isle of Berk, Something was stirring. The Something had been asleep for a long time, but for some reason, it had woken up. And this Something had a very short temper, and was not the sort of thing you messed with. The Something shook of the last remnants of sleep, and looked to the horizon.
It was looking in the direction of Berk.
The previous Dragon Training Arena
“You’re late,” Gobber observed, as Hiccup entered the previous Dragon Training arena.
“Sorry, sorry. I got a bit… er, caught up. I was here as quick as-“
“Never mind, you’re here now, that’s the important thing,” Gobber interrupted. “Because I need you to set up the new Dragon Training course. You’re the expert, after all.”
“Yeah, about that,” Hiccup said. He opened his jacket, and out fell some garlic grass, an eel, paint, and a few other things.
“I see you’ve come prepared,” Gobber said, “So I’ll let you get on with it.” He reclined to a corner and watched Hiccup work.
First, he set up a stall in one corner of the arena. He placed two pots side by side on the surface. The first contained some special grass that he had collected earlier. The second contained a couple of smoked eels. Then he laid a shield next to the pots.
After doing this he moved over to another section of the arena. He set another shield, and one hammer, on the floor. Then, on the wall, he painted a target. It was alternating circles, red and white, getting smaller each time, until the final circle was filled in.
Hiccup then went on to another part of the arena, where he laid down some turf, which was roughly 5 metres by 20 metres. He painted a white line at the midpoint. He then surveyed the arena, and decided it was OK.
“Gobber, I’m done,” Hiccup said.
“Good, good. Now just go away, and pretend you’ve got nothing to do with it. I’ll call the trainees to the arena.”
So Hiccup left, and not long after, he heard the sound of Gobber’s horn. P-A-A-A-A-R-R-R-P!!!!
When he had everyone’s attention, Gobber told the Viking teens to meet in the old Dragon Arena with their dragons.
“What do you think we’re doing?” Snotlout asked.
“Yeah, I thought Dragon Training was over,” Astrid said.
“I dunno,” Fishlegs replied.
The Viking teens continued chattering about what was going to happen, but Astrid noticed Hiccup wasn’t contributing to the discussion. She was vaguely aware of Snotlout saying,
“Maybe we can fight each other!” He was imagining it now, smashing Hiccup to a pulp and winning over Astrid…
“You know,” Astrid said to Hiccup. “You know what we’re doing.”
Hiccup wasn’t supposed to say anything, but there was no point in lying. “Yes, but I’m not supposed to talk about it,” he said quickly.
“Oh, OK,” Astrid said. “I understand.”
They walked on in silence, until they arrived at the arena.
Hiccup was worried. One of his worries was Snotlout. What would happen while he was teaching the teens, and how would Snotlout react? He pushed the thought out of his mind, knowing he could ask Gobber for help if he needed to. But there was another worry, which was foremost on his list. Astrid. How would she react to being taught by her boyfriend? Again, he just decided to take it as it came. Hopefully nothing would go wrong…
Chapter 4[]
They entered the arena. Gobber was waiting inside.
The Viking Trainees returned to the arena
“As you know,” he began, “We are no longer fighting dragons, so I have come up with a new form of Dragon Training, which actually involves training your dragon! And as he is an expert on the subject, I have recruited Hiccup to teach you.”
The trainees were shocked, but none more than Astrid. In the end, she just smiled at Hiccup.
Well, that’s worry number one off the list, Hiccup thought.
“Now,” Gobber continued, “Hiccup will explain to you the three events happening, all of which will help you train your dragon. Hiccup, if you would like to start…”
Hiccup took a deep breath, and stepped forward.
“I’ve set up a sort of dragon training course for you to train your dragons on. There’s an area here,” he gestured to the turf area, “for two of you to train your dragons for battle, by fighting each other. Over here,” he moved over to the target he had painted, “you can teach your dragon how to aim its fire,” he glanced over at Astrid, “or its quills. Once you’ve done that there is a shield and hammer, so the dragon can practice while you are making noise. And finally,” he said, moving over to the table, “there’s this table, where I’ve collected some objects, and I’ll teach you what your dragon likes and doesn’t like.”
“Wonderful, Hiccup,” Gobber said. “Who wants to do the fighting?”
There were lots of hands up, as Hiccup suspected, but he was surprised to see Astrid’s hand stay down. She usually loved a fight.
“Snotlout and Ruffnut and Tuffnut,” Hiccup said. Snotlout had brought his Monstrous Nightmare, Fireworm, and the twins had their Hideous Zippleback, Zap. “Right, if you just do a practice attack each,” Hiccup said.
Zap leaped forward and clawed Fireworm’s nose. Then Fireworm shot a jet of flame that hit Zap square in the chest.
“Good work. Just remember, take it in turns, and it’s not a proper fight – you’re just training your dragon.” Hiccup glanced at Snotlout.
“Now, who wants to do target practice?” Hiccup asked. Fishlegs put up his hand, but again Astrid kept hers down.
“OK then, Fishlegs, if you come over here. So what you need to get Horrorcow to do is release a fireball from about here, and hopefully get it to hit the target. If you practise that, and successfully hit it every time, try making some noise,” he gestured to the sword and shield, “and getting Horrorcow to shoot then.”
Horrorcow was Fishlegs’ dragon, a Gronckle.
“OK, you can start now,” Hiccup told Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs. They began.
“And we can come over here,” Hiccup said to Astrid. He’d worked out why she hadn’t chosen the fight – if she did the table, Hiccup could teach her personally. Thorn was behind her.
“So,” Astrid asked. “What are we doing?”
“Well, first, if I get some of this,” Hiccup said, reaching into a pot and bringing out some garlic grass. “This is a special type of grass that dragons like. Try rubbing it around Thorn’s nostrils,” he said, passing it to Astrid.
She did as she was told, and Thorn rolled round on the floor in pleasure.
“However, you’ll find they don’t like eel,” he said, pulling a smoked eel out of another pot. “Try holding this to him.”
Astrid held it up, and Thorn recoiled, growling. Hiccup quickly took it back and stuffed it back into the pot.
“If Thorn wants to play,” Hiccup told Astrid, “All you need is a shield, and some sunlight. Because if you tilt it a bit, a spot of light reflects on the floor.”
Thorn jumped on the light.
“Then if you keep moving it, he’ll keep chasing it. You try.”
Astrid played with Thorn like this for a while. She was amazed to see how simple it was to make Thorn happy. Eventually, he got tired of chasing it, and rested. Finally, Hiccup showed Astrid where Thorn would like to be scratched. Then he went off to check the others.
Horrorcow could strike the centre of the target every time now, and she could hit the edge of the target even when Fishlegs was making noise. And, surprisingly, Snotlout hadn’t been cheating, and he, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were getting on well enough.
“Alright, gather round,” Gobber called some time later. “Dragon Training’s over for the day. So, are we all doing well?”
Everyone was.
“Good. You can go home now, until tomorrow,” he said, and everyone scattered.
When they were alone outside, Astrid said to Hiccup,
“That was amazing. I never knew there was so much to learn about dragons.”
“And there’s still so much I don’t even know,” Hiccup replied.
“Really?” Astrid asked, wondering if Hiccup was teasing her.
"Yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “I suspect individual species have different likes and dislikes, as well as likes and dislikes that are the same among all dragons. I just haven’t had time to really study them.”
Hiccup and Astrid, after hearing the roar
“
Astrid was about to reply, when they heard a roar. It came from the sea, and sounded loud, especially considering the distance between them and the dragon creating the sound. Hiccup suddenly looked troubled.
“That sounded like the Red Death,” he said. Astrid was frozen in shock, unable to reply.
Standing on a wooden platform, they looked out to sea, wondering where the roar came from, and having no doubt it meant big trouble.