How to Find Your Fire

(Httyd) Chapter 20: Where's chapter 19?

By Puffnut

I wake up with a pounding headache and with two blond-haired twins staring down at me. "Thatwasawesome! I knew we were right to let you become our pupil! You're a natural!" shouts Tuffnut.

I grin, ignoring my headache for the time being. "I know right?" I say. "So much destruction!" A frown crosses my face, and I rub my head. "But, pain hurts more than I thought it would."

They smile, and Tuff ruffles her blonde hair. "You'll get used to it."

I hope so. This has been the most exciting thing in my life!

Except...

"Where's the NightFury?" I ask.

"She's locked up in the stables. We were actually just going to see her. Wanna come with?" asks Ruffnut.

"Sure!" I say. I try to hide the worry in my voice.

She's already been imprisoned once. Maybe it's not the best idea to do it again...

Tuff and Ruff lead me to the stables where the other Riders already were. As we approach, the dragon wakes up and glares at us. After it tries and fails to get out, Hiccup says, "It's dragon proof metal, no getting outta here." It turns to face us and glares.

"Wow, a dragon actually hates Hiccup. Oo, ooh! Let me and Ruff handle this! We know everything about training wild beasts like this. Though.. this wouldn't be the hardest dragon we've tackled before, right my dear sister?" Tuffnut declares with a point of his finger to the sky.

"You got that right, bro! Leave this to the masters!" Ruff agrees.

I try to speak, but Hiccup cuts me off. "Oh my- guys, just... please just don't ok? It's hard enough as it is! I'll handle this."

Then he begins to come closer to the bars, his hand outstretched. I almost squeal with excitement. It was Hiccup's signature move. To my surprise, the NightFury snarls and snaps at him, barely missing his fingers. Astrid raises her axe in preparation to defend him, but Hiccup stops her with a firm hand. "Astrid..." he says, warning her to not provoke the dragon. "Everybody, just leave the Night Fury alone." He orders, turning to us.

Tuffnut turns to me and Ruff and whispers, "He can't control it! It's time for plan B."

Ruff nods her head. "Plan B will commission in T-minus 30 minutes." I am thoroughly confused but pretend to know what they are talking about.

We turn to see Hiccup glaring at us. "You got that? Ruff, Tuff, Puff?" He asks with an irritated expression.

Ruff hurriedly says, "Oh.. uh... yes, SIR. We will NOT touch the dragon."

"YES Hiccup, that is correct! No touching here!" Tuff adds, stifling a laugh. I notice that both he and Ruff are crossing their fingers behind their backs.

Hiccup turns back to the NightFury and Astrid joins him. They stare at and, and it glares at them. They start to mutter to each other, whilst still staring at her. I strain to hear what they are saying, but can't hear a single word. Then, Hiccup says, "I always thought that Toothless was the last. And now I know that he isn't alone."

Astrid smiles. "What will we do with her?" she asks.

Hiccup is thoughtful for a moment before answering, "This dragon's the last; I have a feeling. So it wouldn't make sense to leave her without a tribe for protection. We can train her to like humans, Toothless can show her it's not so bad. But we can't let her fend for herself, she clearly has been struggling. If we let her go she may die." With a last look at the dragon, he and Astrid leave the stable. Ruff and Tuff soon follow them, whispering about Loki knows what.

I am the only one left. I look at the dragon who seems to be emitting a mixture of sadness, hopelessness, and anger. It doesn't seem to see me standing there, too busy caught up in its own thoughts.

It seems so sad. Should we really be keeping it locked up?

The dragon finally notices me standing there and glares at me with an expression of pure hatred. I step back, confused. The dragon's hate is definitely directed at me.

Does she think I was the one who locked her up? I just woke up a few minutes ago!

I think on it a little longer.

Or, maybe it is my fault. I was the one that shot her down. And, because I left Berk, she got captured by the Hunters. And, if I hadn't fainted, I could've gotten off the boat by myself, and it never would have had to save me!

If it is my fault, I need to fix this.

I boldly walk up the Dragon Proof cage and tug on the bars. They don't budge.

They're Dragon Proof, so they must be Human Proof.

I smack my forehead, feeling incredibly stupid. Suddenly getting an idea, I race out of the stables. Quietly, I find Hiccup's hut, which is pretty easy to do since I've already memorized the layout of the place. I sneak in, grab the keys to the NightFury's cage, and sneak out again. I run back to the stables and stop in front of the only cage with a dragon in it. Full of adrenaline, I unlock and open the cage. With a roar, the NightFury pounces on me, pinning me to the floor. I gasp, very much startled.

I probably should've thought this through...

Luckily, I am very skinny and slippery, so I easily slip under the NightFury. Then, my Twin side comes over me, and I jump onto the NightFury's back. I hold on, feeling the dragon try to buck me off.

Well, this was a bad idea.

I hold on for dear life as the NightFury shakes back and forth. Soon, it bucks me off, and I'm thrown against the wall, causing a bucket of paint to fall on my head. As I wipe the paint from my eyes, I hear a peculiar sound coming from the NightFury. "Are you... laughing at me?" I ask. I try to frown at it. "This is a serious matter." I try getting up. In doing so I bump against the wall and cause another bucket of paint to fall on me. The NightFury laughs harder and is hardly able to stand up as it does so. I look at myself and see red and green paint dripping down my clothes. "Not funny," I say, trying to glare at the NightFury. Despite this, I can hardly suppress my own laughter. I try shaking off the paint and notice the NightFury has stopped laughing. I look up and see the paint is splattered over its face. I can't help it anymore. I feel the dragon's glare on me as I laugh, clutching my stomach and feeling tears leak out of my eyes.

I look up to see the NightFury shoot a plasma blast above me and feel more paint drop on top of me. "Hey, you'll pay for that!" I say with a smile on my face. I scoop some paint into my hand and throw it at the dragon. She puts her wings up as the blue paint comes pelting towards her. The NightFury growls playfully at me and shoots again. This time, I dodge the paint that comes down. "Oh, it is on!" I say, grinning.

* * *

When the Dragon Riders rush in to see what the commotion is, they find Puffnut and the NightFury, both covered with paint, asleep on the ground. Puffnut lays snuggled against the NightFury who is wrapped around her protectively. Both have smiles on their faces and seem utterly peaceful together....