The Four: Things Will Change

15 ~Chances~

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Hiccup tried the little trick he found out about on the next Dragon Training lesson. They went up against a Deadly Nadder. Their lesson was to find its blind spot. Find it, hide in it and strike. The arena was transformed into a maze and as soon as the Nadder had Hiccup cornered and distracted by a wild, charging Astrid, Hiccup started scratching around the Nadder's jaw. As soon as he hit the right spot, it fell unconscious.

Today, there was no Dragon Training. Everyone was busy preparing for the arrival of the clans. That afternoon, Merida was in the grotto again. They talked about their day when suddenly, Toothless started snarling. Hiccup found out he hated eels and confirmed that all dragons hated eels the next day when they went up against the Hideous Zippleback.

With Toothless, Hiccup discovered many things about dragons and he applied all this to Dragon Training. Merida also visited them on a regular basis.

He found grass that had an effect to dragons similar to the effect of catnip on cats. Merida called it 'dragon nip'. He used it on a Gronckle and it was effective. Hiccup once reflected the light of the sun on a small hammer and Toothless chased the reflection. He used this when they went against the small Terrible Terror. Hiccup reflected the light on a metal part of his shield which the dragon chased back into the door.

Hiccup got better and better in Dragon Training that everyone liked hanging out with him. Astrid was growing jealous and suspicious of the attention he was getting, but she would deny it. Even the heirs liked Hiccup.

"If this keeps up, you might win the games! But am not letting you win that easy!" Young Macintosh would joke.

This afternoon was different. Merida, who now has her bow and arrows, went on a ride alongside Hiccup. They flew again like they did the first time. However, Hiccup was a little bothered this time around.

"Are ya okay, Hic?" Merida placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Hiccup nodded, "It's just that if I go on with this dragon training, I might have to kill a dragon," he whispered to Merida, hoping Toothless wouldn't hear.

"Then... you just hafta not do so well, right?" Merida whispered back.

Before Hiccup could say anything, Toothless sped up. He flew downwards into the darkness. The fog covering everything didn't help either. Soon, other dragons with sheep, cattle and other dead animals in their claws flew closer.

"Get down," Hiccup whispered as soft as he could. They ducked, trying to hide from the nearby dragons.

"Looks like they're hauling in their kill," Hiccup inferred.

"Uh... what does that make us?" Merida fearfully questioned.

"Woah!!" They both exclaimed as Toothless suddenly flew down and up quickly. Soon, a volcano came into view.

All the dragons went inside. Toothless laid low on the walls of the volcano which had platforms where the dragons rested in. Most of the dragons that went with them dropped their kill into the middle where the magma should be. A thick layer of steam blocked their view of what was under there and why would they let their food go.

Later, a Gronckle dropped a measly sardine into the pit from its mouth. There was a loud grumbling sound which caught it off guard for a second. The grumble scared most of the dragons, but the Gronckle shrugged it off and started to fly away. Suddenly, a gigantic dragon rose from the pit and ate the Gronckle.

"What... is that?" Merida asked softly. She held on tight to Hiccup's arm.

"We gotta go, bud. Now," Hiccup told Toothless. His voice caught the attention of the giant dragon.