So I decided to release this chapter early than I was going to. I'm almost done with the next chapter so it'll be up on my patreon if you want to read ahead of other readers.
I'm going to try being better with my updating schedule, and so I'll post a chapter at least once a week. You might find the chapter are shorter than the previous ones and that just me cutting down a little so I can still find the motivation to post.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter! Go check out my other fics, and again, visit my patreaon if you want to read ahead. The next chapter will be up on there soon.
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Third Person POV
It had been a few hours since Helga returned to the village. The day faded into night, and Gobber had told all of the teens to meet him at one of the watchtowers so he could share some of his 'storytelling'.
Walking up the watchtower stairs, Helga heard Gobber's dramatic, albeit quite detailed, story about how some dragons tore his limbs off.
"And with one twist, I felt my bone snap and my flesh tearing off from the rest of my arm. He took my hand and swallowed it whole. When I saw the look on that dragon's face, it was then I knew he thought I was delicious."
"That's gruesome, Gobber…" Astrid cut in as she took a piece of chicken that was hanging over the fire.
"That's not even half of it, either. He must have sent word because it wasn't a month before another one of them tore off my leg." He laughed as he swung around an entire cooked chicken.
"Woah... isn't it strange to think that your hand was inside a dragon? Like, what if your mind was still controlling it? Could you kill the dragon from the inside by crushing its heart?" Fishlegs asked as he pondered the question himself.
"I swear, I'm so angry right now! I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight. With my face!" Snotlout yelled before taking a huge chunk out of the chicken leg he held.
'Idiot.' Helga scoffed as she poked at a piece of chicken.
"It's the wings you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." Gobber corrected as he tore off a chicken wing for emphasis.
Helga became lost in thought after hearing him speak those words. She and the Night Fury had gotten a little closer over the past few days, and she knew for a fact that it could fly without that tail fin.
Sooner or later, the dragon was going to be discovered. Either that or it'd starve to death from the lack of food it was receiving. Helga couldn't supply it with fish for too long, and the lake would eventually run out of fish.
"It's getting late. I'm going to the forge, I have some things I need to get done there." Helga said, sighing as she stood up.
"Don't be up too late. Tomorrow, we get to the big boys. Gradually going up until we get to the Monstrous Nightmare. Alright then, I'm off to bed."
.
.
.
.
Helga worked tirelessly as she sketched tailfin designs. Lighting a fire, she placed the metal she prepared into the forge before using the large blower to increase its heat. Hours went by as she worked late into the night. When she was finally done, she looked at her finished product with satisfaction before turning it in for the night.
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Helga's POV
"Toothless! Toothless, I got something for ya!"
Last night I finished making Toothless' replacement tailfin, and now, here I was early in the morning looking for this dragon who was nowhere to be found.
"Toothless! I know you're here!" As I shouted, I heard the sound of wings flapping behind me. "You just love to land where no one can see you, don't you?" I sighed as I watched the dragon stare at the tailfin with curiosity.
Chuckling, I slowly move toward Toothless' tail. As I do, he watches, curious yet on edge, like he is seeing if I would do anything to harm him… again.
"I'm sorry I did this to you, but with this new tailfin, you should be able to fly again." I told the dragon as I began to strap the tailfin to him.
As soon as I was done tightening it, Toothless shot into the air.
"Toothless?!" I quickly realized the tailfin wasn't perfect, far from it.
We began to head straight into the side of the cove's walls. We weren't gaining enough altitude, and Toothless was unable to turn in different directions.
"Damn crazy dragon!" I shouted as I grabbed the tailfin, spreading it out as much as possible, causing us to curve to the side.
Toothless then began to ascend into the sky, while I found myself desperately clinging to the back of his tail for dear life. Grabbing the tailfin, I tucked it in on itself, causing us to fall toward the lake, only to open it at the last second and save us from crashing.
Getting annoyed, I was still hanging on to him, Toothless flung his tail forward, sending me crashing into the water. What he failed to realize is that without my help, he would no longer be able to fly, as he, too, came crashing down into the lake below.
Swimming back to the shore, I lay on my back as I watched the dragon crawl out of the water beside me. Groaning, I sit up as I watch Toothless groan, looking at his tail as he sways it back and forth.
'Dragon almost killed me… but I guess that's fair considering I almost killed him a few times.' Sighing in relief, I sit up and stretch a few times before making my way out of the cove.
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After that whole thing at the cove, I was currently at the arena, once again participating in Gobbers' so-called 'Dragon Training'. The arena was filled with a greenish fog, obscuring our vision as the dragon lurked inside it.
"Today is all about teamwork. The Hideous Zippleback is a tricky dragon with two heads. One head breathes gas, while the other ignites it. Your job is to know which is which. Use that bucket of water I gave you to splash the one who lights the gas." Gobber told us as we held our buckets of water close.
"Razor-sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, by crushing its victims—" Fishlegs began his usual rambling about his 'dragon stats,' as he likes to call them.
'Let's just get this over with…' I thought as I glanced around the arena, searching for signs of the dragon's movement.
"If that dragon shows either of its faces, I'm gonna—there!" Snotlout shouted before he and Tuffnut threw water at what they thought was the dragon.
It was, in fact, not the dragon.
"Hey, you idiots! It's us!" Ruffnut yelled.
"My bad, your face was so ugly I thought you were a dragon." Tuffnut snickered before getting socked in the face by his twin.
"We have the same face, barf for brains!" Ruffnut said as she stepped on him.
Before they could continue, Snotlout was quickly dragged off into the gas.
"Oh, Thor!"
Seeing Snotlout get dragged off, I quickly grouped the rest of us together.
"Stay together, guys! It can't pick us off if we stay together!" I shouted as we all huddled back to back.
"Wait, what's that?" Astrid asked as a shadow quickly approached us.
We all turned to where she pointed, only for Snotlout to run out and crash into Tuffnut.
"Did you guys see that?! I almost died!" He shrieked.
"We're not done yet…" I told them as one of the Zippleback heads emerged from the gas.
Fishlegs yelped and panickily threw water at its face. The dragon stared at him before opening its mouth leaking with green gas.
"Oh. Wrong head." Fishlegs whispered before it sprayed its gas at us, causing the others to split off from the group.
"Ugh, idiots. Astrid!"
"On it!"
Grabbing Fishlegs discarded bucket, I threw it at the head spewing gas, drawing its attention to me. Squinting its eyes in annoyance, the head that ignited its gas came into view.
"Now Astrid!" I shouted.
Astrid ran up with her bucket of water before splashing it on it. Throwing my bucket at one head, I ran toward the dragon before leaping onto its back.
"A little help here, guys!"
The other teens quickly sprang into action. Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Snotlout grabbed one head, while Astrid, Ruffnut, and I grabbed the other.
"Does this count as us winning, Gobber?!" I grunted as we all struggled, barely managing to hold the dragon's heads in place.
"I guess it does. I thought you'd all at least somewhat fail this test. Good job." He said, surprised at our teamwork.
Before any of us could respond, the dragon bucked all of us off.
"Anytime now, Gobber!" Fishlegs screamed.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Jumping from the arena's viewing area, he jumps on the Zippleback's back before attacking both heads.
They fought for a while, all of us watching in awe as he wrangled the dragon back into its cage.
"Now then, that's all for today. Go to whatever it is your kids do. We'll meet back here tomorrow."
With that, we were free from this torturous session that Gobber called training.