More Than Just A Bonny Face (Rewriting)

Survival Lesson

I was right about sleeping off the pain. I feel ready to battle it out till death takes me away. I am ready to make Dad proud and prove to him that I can be the next chief.

"Look who finally decided to show up." Snotlout gives me one of his smug grins as I enter the waiting area of the arena.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't sure if I should let you guys take Hiccup down or the dragons." I ready a bow and arrow just in case our teacher decided to jump scare us with a Terrible Terror or something.

Astrid punches my shoulder as a greeting. "You ready?"

I nudge her back. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Then the gate swings up.

Gobber points at the empty arena. "Welcome to Dragon Training!"

"No turning back," Astrid says as we walk into the arena.

You do not feel cool and mature until you enter the arena. Dad used to bring me and Hiccup here all the time to watch the fights that would go down. This is not nearly as beautiful on the outside than it is on the inside. I feel like a Viking and I'm on checking it out.

"I hope I get some serious burns!" Tuffnut says.

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back." Ruffnut smiles in excitement.

The twins are too crazy for their own well-being.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," Astrid says, being too invested in the shape and size of our training space.

"Yeah, no kidding, right?" We all turn around to see Hiccup entering with the axe and looking like he doesn't want to be here. "Pain. Love it."

"Oh, great. Who let him in?" Tuffnut asks. I'm going to let that one slide.

"Let's get started!" Gobber smacks his hand down onto Hiccup's shoulder. "The recruit who does best will win the honour of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."

"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so, does that disqualify them or..." Snotlout says which makes Ruffnut and Tuffnut laugh.

"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut asks as we walk away.

"From now on, only I can insult my brother, okay?" I stand ready and strong in front of the door that will hold our secret dragon behind it.

"Come on, this is fun." Tuffnut steps up beside me. Ruffnut laughs in agreement from my other side until Astrid intrudes by shoving her away from me to take her spot.

"I don't need to waste my breath on Hiccup," She says smirking at me. "He's all yours." The others take a spot in a line in front of the door as Gobber paces up and down in front of us.

"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight! The Deadly Nadder!"

"Speed: eight; Armor: sixteen," Fishlegs says to himself. He gets it from his cards.

"The Hideous Zippleback!"

"Plus eleven stealth times two."

"The Monstrous Nightmare!"

"Firepower: fifteen."

"The Terrible Terror!"

"Attack: eight; Venom: twelve!"

"Can you stop that?!" Gobber shouts at him before calming down and reaching for the door lever. "And... the Gronckle."

"Jaw strength: eight," Fishlegs whispers.

Snotlout steps forward in a panic. "Whoa, whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?!"

Wait...

"I believe in learning on the job." Gobber releases the Gronckle. It charges for us so we all run away which causes it to slam into a wall. "Today is about survival. If you get blasted... you're dead!" The Gronckle eats a couple of rocks to charge its fire. "Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need?"

"A doctor?!" Hiccup says.

Fishlegs raises his hand into the air. "Plus five speed?!"

"A shield!" Astrid says with full confidence.

"Shields! Go!" Gobber demands so we run to the shields. "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield!" I take a white and light blue shield since it's the first one I see. "If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield!" Gobber helps Hiccup with his shield and pushes him towards the Gronckle. I run past Ruffnut and Tuffnut to see them fighting over a shield as twins do. Or as the twins do.

Dad never mentioned how hard it is to carry a shield and always have a bow and arrow pointed at the target. Looks like the bow will have to wait.

The Gronckle flies towards me so I roll out of the way, giving it a clear shot of the arguing twins. It blasts their shield with a fireball, leaving them dazed on the ground.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!" Gobber diverts his attention away from the dazed twins. "Those shields are good for another thing: noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!" Gobber tells us. The remaining teens begin hitting their weapons against their shields, making the Gronckle shake its head, confused. "All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?"

"Five?" Snotlout guesses.

"No, six!" Fishlegs shouts triumphantly.

"Correct, six! That's one for nearly each of you!" Gobber tells us. Fishlegs' shield gets blasted out of his hand. "Fishlegs, out." He runs away screaming. "Hiccup, get in there!"

Before I can help my brother, the Gronkle comes for me so I roll to Astrid and Snotlout. "Three shots left. We need a plan."

"You go right." She gets ready to roll left.

"So, anyway I'm moving into my parents's basement!" Snotlout says, trying to flirt with Astrid when we're in the middle of trying not get killed on our first day of dragon training. "You should come by sometime to work out!"

"Now!" Astrid rolls left, and I roll right, leaving Snotlout in the open to get eliminated.

"You look like you work out!" The Gronckle fires at Snotlout, leaving him out of his flirting state of mind and into a dazed state of mind.

"Snotlout! You're done!"

I throw my shield on the ground and take aim at the Gronkle as it heads for Astrid and Hiccup. Astrid dives out of the way of its fifth blast, letting it fire Hiccup's shield out of its hand.

Time to fire.

"One shot left!" Gobber watches Hiccup run after his shield but the Gronkle corners him against the wall. "Hiccup!"

"I've got this!" I take a deep breath and fire but Gobber yanks the giant lump of scales away from my brother, my arrow lodging into the stone wall just above Hiccup's head.

I had the perfect shot. I could've taken that dragon down easily.

"And that's six! Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage!" Gobber spins it around and throws it back in its cage. The gate locks, keeping us from being rammed into a wall by the fat monster. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry. Remember: a dragon will always—" He looks at Hiccup. "Always go for the kill."