Taming Hearts

Chapter Four: Dragon Training

Trying to get a group of ten year old children together for one dragon training lesson was almost as hard as battling a Thunderdrum without earplugs. Hiccup and Astrid had been offering some private lessons to the kids whose birthdays fell before the twins' but they thought, now that there was a group of six altogether who needed instructions on training their dragons, they figured it was about time they got a class together. Hiccup and Astrid found that teaching six children at once, especially new and overly confident dragon riders, was quite difficult so they kept their class sizes small.

Finn and Adrianna were, of course, the first to arrive at the arena with their dragons. Hiccup and Astrid had been up for hours getting everything ready. There were large barrels of fish but there didn't seem to be anything more so the twins were a bit confused as to why their parents had gotten started so early. The reason, of course was nerves. The parents had taught their children quite a bit about dragons but now it was time to put into practice all those lessons. And considering their track record in dragon training, they began to wonder if there were enough safety measures.

The other children around Finn and Adrianna's age were two boys and two girls who all turned up with their dragons a few minutes after the twins. Cliff was a small, quiet boy whose Gronckle was even quieter. Most residents didn't notice him at all and it came as a surprise to Hiccup and Astrid that he was Finn and Adrianna's age when they were told that he would be getting his own dragon. Thorein was built more like Finn, tall for his age and muscular with thick brown hair and a slight under-bite that made him almost resemble his Monstrous Nightmare in appearance. Taryn was tall for her age and her Changewing was even more so. Morgan was blonde and quite popular with the older girls on Berk, especially when she finally acquired a rather finicky Deadly Nadder. Hiccup and Astrid didn't know the other kids as well but they suspected they'd learn much more than they could ever want to know soon enough.

Once all the kids were gathered and silent, all looking rather excited, Astrid spoke up. "Well, it's been kind of a long time since we've gotten a class of brand new dragon trainers and their dragons, we usually let Fishlegs handle you guys, but we wanted to be there for this."

The four children who weren't in the Haddock clan turned their eyes to the two that were. Finn raised his head slightly, enjoying the sudden attention. Adrianna did the opposite, avoiding the eyes that suddenly fell on her.

Hiccup sauntered over to one of the barrels. "The first lesson we usually teach is-"

"Woah, why are all these people in here?" came a very loud voice from the entrance.

"Maybe they're here to watch you wipe out!" a second chortled before making a pained sort of noise in response to what sounded like a fist in his chest.

"Ruff, Tuff, what are you doing here?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow and looking distinctly annoyed.

"We always come here to play Hide and Go Kill." Ruffnut said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm teaching a lesson! That's what we do at the Academy! How long have you been doing this, exactly." Hiccup gritted his teeth irritably. This was certainly not going according to plan.

"Ooh, even better! Look at all the shrimps, is it their first day?" Ruffnut patted an indignant Finn on the head as she approached the Haddock parents.

"Of course it's their first day, which is why this lesson needs to go smoothly!" Hiccup sighed deeply as he felt the plans he'd meticulously crafted slip through his fingers.

"Hiccup, calm down. Maybe they'll actually be useful today." Astrid said, patting her husband on the shoulder. He gave her an irritated glance. "Okay... yeah we're screwed." she muttered so the kids couldn't hear her.