The Dragon Master of Beacon Academy

Chapter 1: Dance of the Dragons

The next day

Back at Berk

Vikings of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe gathered around the Kill Ring, chattering and murmuring in excitement. The  chief, Stoick the Vast walks onto a stage. He waves to the crowd. "Well, at least I can finally show my face in public again." he joked with a laugh, getting the others to laugh as well.

He waves his hands to silence them. "Now, if someone had told me that in just a few short weeks," he began. "Hiccup would go from go from being, well. . . Hiccup to placing first in Dragon Training? Well, I would have tied him to a mast and shipped him off for fear he'd gone mad!" This elicited more boisterous laughter from the crowd of Vikings. "Ha! And you know it! But here we are. Now, no one is more surprised. . . or more proud than I am." he said in a non-joking tone. "Today, my son becomes a Viking. Today, he becomes one of us!"

The crowd cheers in excitement before Stoick hears a voice call out over them.

"STOICK!"

The Chief turns to the voice and sees his long time old friend and village blacksmith, Gobber the Belch. "'Cuse me. Pardon me. Comin' through." he says as he pushes through the crowd before walking onto the stage.

"What's wrong, Gobber?" Stoick asked in concern as Gobber hunched over, trying to catch his breath.

"What's wrong is tha' I can't find 'Iccup!" Gobber exclaimed when he caught enough of his breath. This declaration silences the whole crowd.

"What? Are you sure, Gobber," Stoick asks his friend sternly. Gobber nods his head frantically. "I've checked everywhere he'd go, Stoick. I can't find 'im! I checked the Great Hall, every outhouse in the village and looked in the Forge! Nothin' in there's been touched! Never have I left the Forge ta Hiccup and returned without a hundred doo-hickeys lying everywhere. He hasn't even touched tha' scrap metal!"

Stoick chuckles nervously to the crowd. "Well, I'm sure he's just stage fright."

Gobber shook his head. "Hiccup wouldn't do this." he said firmly and worried. "He wouldn't hide this long. He's fifteen, not four."

Stoick's face becomes his namesake. He turns to the crowd who start muttering among themselves. "Alright everyone, settle down!" he boomed over them. "I want every inch of this island searched, all forests combed. Leave no stone unturned! There will be no rest on this island until we find my son."

As the crowd disperses, Stoick makes his way to the teens that participated in Dragon Training. "Kids! You usually hang around with Hiccup, right?" he asks in a worried tone. He remembers that they were cheering for him the day before when he won the test. The Ingerman boy even carried Hiccup on his shoulders. Surely they were friends. "Have you seen him lately?"

The teens scratch their heads and look at each other. Fishlegs speaks up. "Sorry, Chief. . . but we haven't seen him since he won the right to kill the Nightmare."

Tuffnut shrugs. "I haven't seen him . . . But maybe he learned how to turn invisible and sneak up on people." He looks around conspiringly before he straightens up. "Either that or he's in the woods."

Ruffnut nods her head in agreement, gesturing to the woods. "He's usually out there all day after class."

"I've tried to follow him a few times," Astrid admitted to the Chief. "But I always lose the trail."

"Okay, we'll search the woods then." Stoick tells them. "Go to your parents."

_____________________

"Hiccup?!" Vikings call out.

"Come on out, lad!" Mulch shouts.

"Where are you, Hiccup?" Bucket asks in a worried tone.