Tyra
"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber shouts excitedly.
"No turning back," Astrid mumbles next to me.
"I hope I get some serious burns!" Tuffnut grins. This guy is an idiot.
"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back," Ruffnut claims, smiling. This girl is also an idiot.
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," Snotlout agrees.
"Yeah, no kidding, right?" Hiccup laughs sarcastically. "Pain. Love it!"
"Oh, great," Tuffnut groans. "Who let him in?"
I hate it here.
I glance over to Bjorn, who stands by Finh. Get me out, I mouth. Bjorn laughs, shaking his head to show that he's sorry. Finh is next to him, grinning at me. Probably enjoying my suffering.
"Let's get started!" Gobber continues, ignoring the others. "The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."
Well, I hope that's not me. Maybe I'll do badly on purpose. Unfortunately, though, I'm extremely competitive. And I don't want to embarrass myself. So, I can't do badly.
"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so, does that disqualify him or...?" Snotlout asks, teasing my friend.
"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut groans.
I roll my eyes for probably the hundredth time today.
"Shut up," Gobber orders, fed up with everyone's attitudes, and Tuffnut goes silent. Gobber points to Hiccup. "Don't worry. You're small and you're weak. That'll make you less of a target! They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking-like teens instead."
"Gee thanks," Hiccup grumbles under his breath. I pat his shoulder to give him some unspoken support.
"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight!" Gobber continues. "The Deadly Nadder!"
"Speed: eight. Armor: sixteen," I hear Fishlegs mumbling.
"The Hideous Zippleback!"
"Plus eleven stealth times two," Fishlegs whispers.
"The Monstrous Nightmare!"
"Firepower: fifteen."
"The Terrible Terror."
"Attack: eight. Venom: twelve!"
"CAN YOU STOP THAT?!" Gobber explodes. "And... the Gronckle!"
"Jaw strength: eight," Fishlegs peeps.
Gobber walks over to the Gronckle's door and prepares to unlock it. I sneak a look at Bjorn for clues. Bjorn taps his elbow with one finger to signal to me.
Great. It's going to be a free-for-all today. All the trainees are going to run around screaming while Gobber observes and Bjorn and Finh laugh at us.
Well, they won't be laughing at me.
"Whoa, whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?!" Snotlout asks.
"I believe in learning on the job," Gobber answers simply, releasing the Gronckle.
Not missing a beat, I race over to the weapons rack and grab a shield and sword while the others are scrambling.
"Hiccup!" I shout, tossing the shield like a frisbee at him. He barely catches it and I grab another for myself. Unfortunately, I won't be able to help Hiccup much today because it's kind of an "every-man-for-himself" situation.
Astrid appears next to me, grabbing a shield, while the others follow in our footsteps. "Spread out," I advise Astrid, and she nods.
We quickly move away from the group, which seems to be the Gronckle's main target, sticking to the shaded parts of the ring. Gronckles can't see very well, so we'll be harder to spot in dark areas.
The Gronckle blasts both twins and they're called "out" by Gobber quickly. I nab Hiccup and pull him away from a blast just in time. We run by Bjorn and Finh. Finh grabs my wrist, waving Hiccup away.
"What?" I ask, irritated.
"Stop helping Hiccup," he orders.
"But-"
"Worry about yourself. If he needs help, that's what Bjorn and I are for."
Biting my tongue, I pull my wrist from his grip and continue dodging the Gronckle's blasts. Soon, the only people still in were me, Hiccup, and Astrid.
Oops, I stand corrected. Astrid's out.
The next victim in the Gronckle's sights is Hiccup. Uh oh. I'm moving for him, but Finh grabs me and pulls me back.
"What the hell?!" I grunt. "Do you want your brother to-"
"Just shut up," Finh orders simply as Gobber tugs the Gronckle away with his hooked hand, tossing it back into its cell. "See?"
He lets me go, a smug grin on his face.
"Back to bed, ya overgrown sausage!" Gobber shouts at the Gronckle. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." The big man pauses, regarding Hiccup coldly. "Remember: a dragon will always... always... go for the kill."
But the Night Fury didn't.
Clearly, Hiccup was thinking the same thing because he dragged me off to the forest before his evil older brother could tell me everything I did wrong at training.
We passed through a cave, entering into a lush green area with a bubbling pond in the center.
"Look," I crouch down, picking up a black dragon scale. I hand it to Hiccup, who turns it over in his hands. The Night Fury shoots by overhead and Hiccup yelps, plopping down by me. We observe the Night Fury crash to the ground in the center of the clearing.
"Why doesn't it just... fly away?" Hiccup wonders.
"His tail is damaged you gífr."
"I'm not a troll."
"No? Then why do you look like one?"
Hiccup doesn't respond to me, instead getting comfortable on the ground and pulling out a notepad, sketching the body of the dragon. I alternated between watching Hiccup sketch and watching the Night Fury, fascinated by the animal.
Another large shadow passed by over us and landed smoothly next to the Night Fury. My jaw drops. "Hiccup!" I whisper-yell, shaking the boy and frantically pointing.
That same Daredevil I saw the other night was down there.
It sniffed the Night Fury curiously, gently nudging the wounded part of the tail. The Night Fury hissed, but the Daredevil ignored him and opened its jaw, breathing out a blue-tinted smoke.
Numbing abilities. I remember reading all about Daredevils, since I was obsessed with them as a child. I never learned much about their actual species, since most information about these dragons were unknown. I usually read scary stories about Daredevils before bed.
One thing I do remember, though, was a piece of information in my father's dragon handbook. I remember that Daredevils could numb their victims, leaving them helpless. In this case, however, this Daredevil was helping the Night Fury by taking away any pain in his tail.
I watched the Fury visibly relax, curling up into a ball to sleep. The Daredevil sat back once it was finished, crawling over to a different spot to rest as well. Hiccup and I sat gaping at the scene we just witnessed.
A Daredevil. Right in front of us.
***
A/N: i hope you enjoyed!! Daredevils have cool powers and stats, which I'll share later (I PROMISE).
that's pretty much it, if there's any typos or if you have any other feedback, let me know!
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DREKI ~ HTTYD
Fanfic"I hear my father yelling as a bolt of burnt orange barrels into view, screaming with the voice of a thousand Valkyries." Tyra Lothbrok has always had a fascination with dragons while her village has always regarded the creatures with a deep hatred...
