Learning To Fly Away

Chapter 3

The next morning, the two teens walked into the dragon arena quietly.

"I really don't want to be here Hiccup." Eira whispers to her brother.

"Me either. But we have to. Just, try not to get killed." Hiccup tried to reassure the girl.

The other teens were already inside when they arrived. There was Fishlegs, Snotlout, who Eira hated, the other twins Ruff and Tuffnut, and then Astrid, the blonde warrior who Hiccup had a major crush on. Instructing them today was Gobber.

"Welcome to dragon training!" Gobber cried.

"No turning back" Astrid said.

"I want some burns!" Tuffnut cried out.

"I want to be mauled!" Ruff cried.

"It's only good if you get a scar out of it." Astrid told the girl.

"Oh yeah, pain! Love it!" Hiccup said shyly.

The teens turned around to see the Haddock twins.

"Ugh, who let them in." Tuffnut groaned.

"Shut up!" Eira called out to the boy. She really didn't get along with any of the teens, except for her brother.

"Righty-O! Let's get started shall we? Now, the recruit who does the best will win the honour of killing his or her first dragon in front of the village!" Gobber stated.

All the teens except the Haddocks looked excited.

"Hiccup and Eira already killed Night Furies, so are they disqualified or...." Snotlout began.

All the teens began to laugh and Hiccup was having a hard time holding his sister back.

"Shut up! I swear to the gods if I get my hands on you I will send you straight to Valhalla!" She yelled.

"Okay, that's enough threatening for today Eira." Gobber said, trying to keep the peace.

"I like this girl already." Astrid muttered to herself.

"Any who, behind these doors are just a few of the dragons you will face." Gobber explained.

The boy Fishlegs was bouncing up and down in excitement.

"The Deadly Nadder!" Gobber called out.

Fishlegs muttered something under his breath that Eira couldn't hear.

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"The Terrible Terror."

By now, Eira was off in her own world, worrying about how she would stay alive until the end of the day.

"CAN YOU STOP THAT!" Gobber yelled at Fishlegs, snapping Eira out of her trance.

"That's better. And finally, the Gronkle." Gobber concluded.

With that, he opened up the door and a Gronkle flew out.

"Wait, aren't you going to teach us first!" Eira yelled.

"I believe in learning on the job." Gobber said.

All the teens ran in different directions.

"Now, what's the first thing you need?" Gobber called out.

"A healer!" Hiccup yelled.

"Plus 5 speed?" Fishlegs cried.

"A shield!" Astrid and Eira yelled out together.

Astrid shot Eira  a small smile. She was really starting to like this girl.

"Yes! A shield! Now, go grab one."

All the teens rush to grab a shield, while Ruff and Tuff fought over the same shield. Eira backed as far away from the Gronkle as possible, while Astrid stood her ground with confidence, Snotlout freaking out and Fishlegs and Hiccup looking wary.

"Your most important weapon is a shield. Always chose a shield over everything else." Gobber yelled.

Eira was having trouble holding her shield, so Gobber helped her and pushed her out into the arena. Just then, the Gronkle fired at the blonde twins, luckily only hitting the shield they were fighting over.

"Ruff, Tuff, you're out!" Gobber cried as they left the arena.

"Now, those shields are good for another thing. Noise! Now, bang your shields and make lots of noise to confuse the dragon." Gobber advised the teens.

All the teens except Eira started banging on their shields. The Gronkle became disoriented. Eira stopped in her tracks. This wasn't a murderous creature, this was just a poor, scared creature defending itself. Before she knew it, only Astrid, Hiccup and herself remained.

"Guess it's just you and the Haddocks." Hiccup said.

"Nope, just me." Astrid said before jumping out of the way.

The Gronkle had one shot left, and it's eyes were locked on the female Haddock. Eira lowered her shield, showing that she wouldn't hurt the creature. Before the Gronkle could shoot, Eira spoke quietly.

"Hey there. It's okay, I won't harm you, see, no shield!" She said gesturing to her discarded shield.

By now, everyone saw Eira alone with the Gronkle.

"Eira!" Gobber and Hiccup cried.

The Gronkle heard the yells and began to get defensive again. It readied it's fire, but before it could shoot, Gobber pulled it out of the way before Eira got hurt.

"Okay, that's enough. Back you go you horrible beast." Gobber said, bringing the dragon back to its cage.

"Oh Eira, thank Thor you're alright." Hiccup said, embracing his sister.

"Eira, what were you doing!" Gobber cried.

All the teens were staring at her. Before she could explain, Gobber interjected.

"Never mind. Just remember, a dragon will ALWAYS..." He said, staring at Eira. "Go for the kill. Class dismissed."

All the teens left the arena, leaving just the Haddock siblings.

"Hiccup, if dragons always go for the kill..." Eira began.
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"Then why didn't they?" Hiccup muttered.

The two of them returned to where they found the tangled up dragons. They decided to follow the path that the dragons fled down. They eventually reached this beautiful sunken cove. There were vines dangling down the sides and there was a gorgeous pool of water. Hiccup bends down to see a black scale on the ground. After inspecting it, he turns around to leave. Just then, the black Night Fury flies past him, sending the twins to the ground.

The black Night Fury struggles to fly up the sides of the cove. The smaller, grey Night Fury sits by the lake, watching the black Night Fury try to fly. Hiccup grabs his note book out while Eira does the same. They each sketch the dragon they captured. Eira looks confused at the two dragons.

"Hiccup, why is the black one not flying away? And why is the grey one just sitting by the pool?" Eira asked.

On further inspection, Hiccup noticed that the black Night Fury was missing his left tail wing.

"It's because he can't." Hiccup replied.

After multiple tries of escape, the black Night Fury gives us and heads towards the grey one. It wraps itself around the grey one protectively.

"Hiccup, I think they are brother and sister." Eira pointed out. "The sister won't leave her older brother." She explained.

Suddenly, Hiccup drops his pencil. It falls to the ground, making as much noise as possible. The two dragons glare at the twins before the twins run back to the village.