On the Backs of Beast

Chapter 3

Tommy walked into the arena behind the other teenagers. There was a Tubbo, a childhood friend and Schlatt's son who he stopped hanging out with years ago for whatever reason; Ranboo, a tall and lanky kid who was quite smart but not very strong; Purpled, the little brother of Punz whose family was rumored to be mercenaries; Eryn, a chaotic kid who had the bad habit of setting things on fire like his idle Sapnap; and Aimsey, a pretty calm kid who seemed to keep to themselves most of the time. Behind them all was their new teacher Sam, a trusted friend of Phil's who taught new recruits and helped with rebuilding houses.

The others were talking, but Tommy didn't care enough to listen. Wilbur's ax, which was strapped to his back, felt heavy on him, both literally and figuratively. Tommy wasn't sure how he was going to do this, since he knew he couldn't kill a dragon but he didn't want to let down his dad after he trusted him with Wilbur's old ax. Tommy hoped that the gods would take pity on him, but if his luck kept up then... well, Tommy was trying not to think about that.

"As you all probably already know, there are many different types of dragons with many different abilities. All are incredibly dangerous, but nearly every dragon has a weakness. One such weakness is that dragons have a limited number of shots they can take." Sam said to the group as he walked backwards. Tommy tried his best to push away his doubts and dread and just focus on the training, even though it was very difficult to do so. Tommy still felt like he was going to throw up at any minute.

"Which means if you can make them use up their shots, they won't be able to attack you anymore!" Tubbo said excitedly, his mood the absolute opposite of Tommy's. Tommy still couldn't remember when or why the two had stopped being friends, but they had become very estranged since then and Tommy doubted he would ever find out.

"Correct Tubbo, and once a dragon is unable to attack you it's much easier to kill." Sam said, walking to the wall where the doors for the cages are. "There are many different types of dragons you will face during your training here in these cages. A shockjaw, a flame whipper, a slithersong, a night terror, a thornridge, and a thunderclaw." Sam listed, walking in front of each walled off cage before stopping next to the thunderclaw cage. Tommy could hear Ranboo mumbling some stats about each dragon, but he didn't hear what exactly he said. "Now, can anyone tell me the number of shots a thunderclaw has?"

"6 shots, with 12 firepower." Purpled said, gripping his sword a little tighter as he spoke. Purpled and Tommy had never been close, and the rumors around Purpled's family being mercenaries often had them looked down upon by other Vikings. Tommy was slightly jealous of how Purpled seemed to know exactly what he was doing when it came to fighting, though he would never admit that out loud.

"Correct, and that's one for each of you!" Sam said, his tone different from his words. He grabbed onto the lever that would open the door, and Tommy felt fear creep over his body as he realized what was going to happen. Sam pulled the lever up and a white and yellow thunderclaw came barreling out of the cage as soon as the door opened, causing the teenagers to all scatter as fast as they could in different directions to get away from the dragon. Tommy looked at it, and when Tommy got a small glance at the dragon's eyes, he thought the look it had seemed nearly as panicked as all of the teenagers. "Now, what's the first thing you should grab when faced with a dragon?" Sam yelled above the panic.

A few different answers were called out by the group, until Eryn yelled out that they needed a shield which Sam quickly agreed with. The group scrambled to grab shields from where they hung on the wall, and Tommy looked over at Eryn. Eryn was one of the few other teens who actually talked to Tommy anymore, and he enjoyed their short conversations. Ranboo also talked with Tommy sometimes, or more accurately the tall and shy boy would often ramble about certain subjects and Tommy was one of the few people who would listen to him.

The thunderclaw first shot at Aimsey, who blocked it with her shield. Sam yelled that they were out almost immediately after, and Aimsey gave an annoyed sigh afterwards. Aimsey always seemed alright to Tommy, but the two had never gotten the chance to really talk. At least Tommy knew Aimsey didn't do it because he thought she was better than Tommy, like many other Vikings did. Soon after, Ranboo, Eryn, and Tubbo got out as well, leaving Purpled and Tommy and two more shots.

Tommy had gotten distracted looking at those who were out, that when the thunderclaw blasted his shield it ended up being ripped from his hand by the force. Tommy ran after his shield, and he heard the dragon's thundering steps behind him. The shield suddenly changed the direction it was rolling as Tommy ran towards it, the blond teen unable to change direction as fast and finding himself right at the wall. He was able to turn and face the thunderclaw just as it started to prepare its final shot, and for the second time in 24 hours Tommy braced himself for fire.

Sam pushed the dragon's head up hard, causing the last blast to fire just above Tommy's head. The adult had a serious expression on his face as he forced the dragon back into its cage and pushed the lever down to shut the door. "The most important fact about any dragon, is that they will always, always, go for the kill." Sam looked over at Tommy as he finished his sentence, his face deadly serious and giving Tommy a slight chill. "That's where we'll end our first session for today, I expect you all to be here this time tomorrow, and be much more ready this time." Sam finished, walking out of the arena. The others glanced at Tommy, disappointment and annoyance on their faces.

Tommy's adrenaline was slowly coming down, and Sam's words fully started to register in his mind. Tommy thought about the odd night fury he had shot down, remembering how the dragon had him pinned down and defenseless. The dragon could have easily killed him without any consequences, but it spared him. A million questions raced through Tommy's head as he slowly started to leave the arena. Why didn't it go for the kill? Why did Tommy keep seeing emotions in a dragon's eyes? How many of the things they taught about dragons were wrong? Why do the gods seem to hate Tommy so much?

Tommy looked towards the forest once he had left the arena, and he remembered how instead of flying up and away, the odd night fury had flown more downwards. Maybe it was still there... Well, Tommy knew that he wouldn't get answers from anyone else in the village, so he might as well see if he can get some answers from the dragon. If it's still there, which it probably isn't, but it was his best shot to get at least some of his questions answered. Tommy looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching him, before going out into the forest once again.

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It had taken Tommy what felt like hours, but he had done it. He had found the dragon, and he was certain it was the same one. It had the same white spots in the same places, and it had Tommy's makeshift leaf bandage on its tail. Tommy had found the dragon near a cliff with a waterfall, drinking from the pond the waterfall poured into. Tommy watched the dragon from a small platform a little ways down the cliff where he was mostly hidden by some plants. Now that he had actually found the odd night fury, he realized he had no actual plan on how to get any answers. For now, he simply chose to watch the dragon as it went about its day.

Tommy was honestly surprised by how little the dragon had done during the time he had been watching it. It drank some water, lounged around in different places in the sunlight, tried to catch a fish every now and then, and kept a close eye on its surroundings. All in all, the dragon reminded Tommy of a cat and nothing like the feral beasts he was told so many stories about. He watched as the dragon flicked its tail over its head, covering its eyes so he could sleep even with the sunlight beaming overhead.

Tommy felt his jacket shift as he moved to get a close look, and his eyes widened as he realized the movement caused a small rock to now teeter on the edge of the platform he was on. He went to grab, only to realize his jacket sleeve had gotten caught on a small plant's branches as it pulled his arm back. Tommy watched the rock fall, wincing every time it hit another platform until it finally reached the ground. Tommy looked at the dragon, only to find the odd night fury was staring right back at him with narrowed eyes.

Tommy arrived back at the village soaked in water. He heard the other dragon hunter trainees say quiet jabs at him and snicker as they were eating in the dining hall, Sam giving a soft sigh as he slowly shook his head. Tommy grabbed a plate of food, quite glad his dad, older brother, and a large group of the adults had gone out in search of the best of the dragons. Tommy saw Dream looking at him with an expression that looked possibly annoyed, but at the same time not. Tommy looked away rather quickly, and sat down at an empty table to eat by himself like he usually did.