How To Train Your Dragon

5: The Night

"So why didn't you?...." Hiccup murmurs picking up the stone in one hand and the rope that is attached to it in the other. We are back in the forest where we encountered the nightfury.

My mind is in a different place. Back at the arena where the Gronkle is. Did our minds link? Did I just imagine that I could feel fear coming from the Gronkle?

"Whisper!" Hiccup calls. I pull out of my thoughts and turn my head to him. "Come on." He says pushing his way through the trees. I hurry after him.

We trudge on for a while following claw marks and smashed plants. Suddenly the trees open up and there is a large dip in the ground in front of us walled by stone cliffs and rocks. There is a lake that takes up most of the space on the bottom. It is beautiful. There are a few trees growing close to the cliffs and the grass is flecked with flowers. It's like a cove.

Seeing a trail, I follow it down to a ledge on the cliff. There are a few black scales scattered on it. Hiccup and I kneel down and look at them. I pick one up and turn it over in my fingers. It's a Nightfury scale. Suddenly a black blur shoots up and chips of rock rain down on us. The nightfury is stuck in here and is trying to get out, but can't.

Hiccup and I fall back in surprise and watch as the Nightfury glides down to the bottom of the cove and blasts fire at a rock. Hiccup scrambles for his journal then opens to a blank page. He sketches out the nightfury from a birds-eye view. In the drawing the Nightfury's wings are opened all the way and the tail is stretched out.

"Why doesn't it just fly away?" He murmurs.

I reach over and smudge out half of the fanned end of the Nightfury's tail. It's a downed dragon.

~oOo~ 

By the time we get back to the village it is dark and starting to rain. When we get to the main hall there it is a full out storm and Hiccup and I are soaked to the skin. The main hall has stairs leading up to it from the outside with two wooden carved Vikings with swords guarding the door. On the inside there is a round fire pit in the middle for a roaring fire with wooden tables and benches all around it and a gold dragon with a sword running through it hanging from above the fire pit. On the far wall up a couple of steps is the chief's throne. At this time it is dad's throne though he rarely sits in it. The main hall is empty all except for us, the other kids, and a few other Vikings that didn't go looking for the dragon's nest.

"Well look who finally decides to show up." Gobber says.

Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlought, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Gobber are all sitting at one table. Hiccup doesn't say anything. He just picks up a plate of meat and dry bread and sits down at an empty table ignoring Snotlought as he scoots over so there is no room for Hiccup.

I go over and pick up my own plate of food when Astrid gestures for me to sit by her. "You are really lucky Whisp." She says. "You already survived two face to face dragon encounters."

I feel excited to sit by Astrid, but then I look at my brother sitting alone at the other table. I shake my head then site by my brother. Hiccup looks at me and smiles. I take his hand and turn it palm up and spell out, a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g-f-o-r-m-y-b-r-o-t-h-e-r.

Hiccup smiles. We turn to our food and slowly eat the salty meat and tasteless bread.

Gobber stands up and slams a big book down on the table. "The Book of Dragons. Everything we of every dragon we know of." Hiccup and I exchange a glance. Thunder booms outside in the pouring rain. "No dragon attacks tonight. Get reading." Gobber leaves.

"Read?" Snotlought splutters. "Why read about the stuff you can just kill." He hits his fist against the table.

"Oh oh." Fishlegs says excitedly. "I've read it like a 11 times. There's this one dragon that is black on the top and blue on the bottom so it can hunt in the water. It's called a Waterfright and is the only dragon that can shoot blue and white fire-"

Tuffnut makes a shut-up gesture with his hand. "There was a chance I was going to read it..."

"But now...... no." Ruffnut finishes for her twin. Then they get up and leave.

"Forget reading. I'm going to go kill something while I'm still living." Snotlought gets up and marches away with Fishlegs at his heels blabbering about different dragons.

Hiccup stands up and looks at the book. "So all ours then." He says awkwardly to Astrid.

Without even looking at my brother Astrid pushes the book toward him and says, "Nope. All yours." Then she leaves.

Hiccup picks up the book and sits back down by me. We push our plates away then open the book. We flip through the pages. We know what to look for without saying a word to each other.

"Lumberjack." Hiccup reads. "With wings so sharp that even hatchlings can cut through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." There is a picture of a dragon slicing through full grown trees with its wings, and on the other page a Viking cutting the dragons head off. "Squldron. Sprays boiling water at its victims. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." There is a picture of a blue dragon with a fat body, long tail and neck, large wings, and a big bottom jaw. It is spraying water into the face of a Viking.

Hiccup flips through the pages faster, the pictures on the pages seen to come alive. "Thunderdrum." A large dragon with an enormous mouth and wings that seem to be flapping. "Whisperingdeath." A dragon with just a head the rest of its body a tail, covered with spikes and little wings, its tail seems to be curling. "Extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous. Kill on sight, kill on sight." Hiccup muters as pictures of dragons fly by. "Strickclass. Fearclass." Hiccup is turning several pages at a time now. We class the dragons by their greatest strengths.

"Speedclass." Hiccup breathes. He turns the page and we see a dragon that is half black and half blue. This is the Waterfright Fishlegs was talking about. Hiccup and I skim over the description. "Black on top and blue on the bottom because it lives in deep water the black is to make it look like the water below it and the blue is to make it look like the water above it. The deadly hatchling of the terrors of the unknown of the deep ocean. Extremely dangerous, no chance of survival if you meet this dragon." In smaller lettering at the bottom of the page it says, "Only mentioned in legends." My brother looks up at me. "Good thing this dragon doesn't really exist." There are no pictures and the speed, fire strength, size, and armor strength are not listed.

Hiccup terns the page. "Nightfury." He breathes. "Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Do not engage this dragon. Your only chance: hide pray to Odin it does not find you."

The pages are blank of pictures. Hiccup and I are the first Vikings to ever see a nightfury. Hiccup pulls out his journal and opens it to the sketch of the nightfury. He places his journal on the empty space of the pages.