54. Training Day

“What’re we gonna do with them?”

As Camilo asked this question, the four and a half Madrigals looked over to where he was pointing.

A trio of dragons, all of different species, were standing around in the village square under the cloudy sunlight. Looking quite disoriented. Their wings were bound, and muzzles were affixed to their snouts.

Mirabel glanced to her relatives, seeing the flashes of recognition in their gazes.

“Are those the dragons you fought?” She asked, receiving nods in return.

They were brought here by a group of villagers who’d found them in their various resting places, and handed them over to the Madrigals. Letting them decide what to do with their conquests.

The Snaptrapper, the Crimson Goregutter, and the Changewing. All summoned by that monstrous queen, and made to do her bidding.

Forcing them into violent, single-minded states. Solely concerned with acquiring food, and destroying all those who stood in the way of that goal. Only small traces of their actual personalities shining through the Red Death’s mental haze.

But now, after being knocked out by the Madrigal grandkids…they couldn’t hear her anymore.

Their minds were clear. Their thoughts flowed uninterrupted. Their wills were their own to control.

And as peeved as some of them, mainly the Snaptrapper, were about being bested by an assortment of young humans, they couldn’t entirely blame them. They’d been acting like rampaging beasts.

Yet despite this, they still seemed to show them mercy. None of the three dragons were seriously harmed.

Having their autonomy returned to them was the greatest gift they could ask for, and one of them decided that a show of gratitude was in order.

The Goregutter stomped his way over to Luisa, who instinctively took a step back. Her relatives watching with concern.

The hulking dragon loomed over her, staring straight into her eyes.

Luisa didn’t see any of the madness she saw the night before. No rage or destructive intent, only timidity and…what seemed to be remorse.

The dragon released a low, throaty rumble. And crouched downwards in a grateful bow. Much to her surprise.

“Uh…” She looked over to their resident dragon master, Hiccup. “What’s it doing?”

Before he could answer, another of the dragons began moving.

They watched with intrigue as the Changewing followed the Goregutter’s example. Skittering over to Camilo, her long whiskers flittering with the hectic movement.

She examined him, a suspicious glint in her eyes.

Camilo managed a wry smirk, and spoke to the reptile.

“What’s the matter? Still mad that I punked you last night?” He asked.

Mirabel, very sure that her cousin shouldn’t be provoking an acid spitting dragon, started to move forwards. But Isabela stopped her.

“He’s gotta learn somehow…” She whispered.

The Changewing seemed to grow angry at his remark, her round eyes narrowing with agitation.

But instead of attacking, she opted to lower her neck into a bow as well.

Off put by her strange reaction, Camilo rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away. Unsure of what to do.

This would be his undoing.

As soon as his eyes were focused somewhere else, the Changewing disappeared.

Only to reappear directly on top of him.

He fell to the ground, struggling under the sudden weight, and the dragon chittered triumphantly from atop his back.

The trickster has been tricked.

They all laughed at the sight, and even Camilo had to admit that it was pretty funny.

“Alright, alright! You got me!” He chuckled. “That was a good one!”

The Changewing seemed surprised, perhaps not expecting genuine praise for her prank.

She crawled off of him, trilling more sincerely. She poked him with her nose, as he began to stand. In an attempt to help him up.

The Snaptrapper seemed to be going through a power struggle.

Three of the four heads wished to thank Isabela for freeing them. But the head perched on the longest neck refused to allow this. Snapping at any of her sisters who showed a hint of humility. As best she could through the muzzle, at least.

The leftmost head, the one who seemed the least aggressive, suddenly showed an uncharacteristic amount of hostility. Hissing and growling towards the lead head, stunning her sisters into silence.

Satisfied that they wouldn’t interfere, she bent her long neck towards Isabela. Who had been observing their squabbling with bewilderment.

While initially wary of the approaching reptile, the softness in the dragon’s eyes lowered her guard.

The Snaptrapper head sniffed at her, and nudged her a bit with her snout. Making her smirk, while holding in tickled giggles.

“So you’re the nice one, huh?” She asked softly.

Two of the other heads moved the join them, and Isabela now had three Snaptrapper siblings vying for her attention.

She gently greeted all of them, trying to give each one an equal amount of time.

Seeing the human girl play nice with her sisters, the lead head finally lowered herself as well.

At first she regarded Isabela with a dark scowl, as if trying to burn the girl with only her eyes.

Isabela met the glare with a hardened gaze of her own, not backing down.

The three other heads watched the staring contest go down, wondering who would come out on top.

After a moment, the commanding Snaptrapper raised back to her full height. Hissing orders to her sisters.

They backed away a few paces, let go of their pride, and bowed to Isabela.

Now that all three dragons were in crouched positions, Camilo spoke up.

“Okay, seriously. What are they doing?” He asked.

“I think…” Hiccup began, as he gazed at them with curiosity. “I think they’re thanking you.”

He received some confused looks at this, as his pondering led him to more conclusions.

“Right, right! That makes sense…” He faced the three Madrigals in front of the three dragons. “You said these dragons were all hyper-aggressive last night, right?”

They all nodded. “Yeah, nothing like this.” Luisa said.

“I think that was the queen’s control. I think when you each knocked them all unconscious, you freed them from her grasp. And now they’re thanking you for it!” He explained.

Isabela raised an eyebrow. “That sounds dumb, Hiccup…”

The boy shrugged in return. “Stranger things have happened!”

“When I…” He hesitated, always feeling awkward about the memory of what he’d done. “When I shot down Toothless, he was unconscious when I found him. And whenever I met up with him afterwards, he never seemed like he was being controlled.”

“I don’t know what it is, but maybe something about being knocked out breaks the connection.” He finished.

The dragons had lifted themselves from their crouched positions, and were gazing at them intently. Perhaps trying to confirm the boy’s hypothesis.

They all considered what he’d said, and couldn’t deny that the theory would explain some things.

“So you’re saying we should just beat every dragon we find into a coma?” Camilo joked, earning him a pluck from Mirabel.

“But…we didn’t answer the question.” Mirabel stated. “What do we do with them?”

Hiccup stopped, and really looked at what he was seeing.

Isabela, Luisa, and Camilo.

The Snaptrapper, the Crimson Goregutter, and the Changewing.

The similarities between their abilities and dispositions were striking. And it already seemed a bit of a connection had been formed.

Tentatively, the Madrigals were warming up to their former opponents.

The Changewing had grabbed Camilo’s wrist with her prehensile tail, and was shaking it about. It almost looked like a handshake.

Luisa was gently removing the Goregutter’s muzzle, muttering soft little whispers as she did so. His droopy eyes proved that the soothing was working.

Three of the more sociable Snaptrapper heads were receiving chin scratches from Isabela, while the commanding head grumpily looked away.

Hiccup and Mirabel watched these interactions, smiles forming.

And Hiccup knew what they were going to be doing.

Originally, his plan only included the dragons that were being contained at the arena.

But now…

“Congratulations!” Hiccup cheered, gaining all their focuses. “You all get to join dragon training class!”

Eighteen pairs of eyes widened at this statement…

Then glanced at each other. Wondering just what the boy was talking about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Kill Ring wasn’t the Kill Ring today.

Today, Hiccup was going to use it to prove to the Berkians that people and dragons could come together.

Astrid had kind of already done that herself, but she’d kept her draconic friend a secret.

Yesterday, when he realized that the dragons from his training days were still being kept, an idea just wouldn’t leave his mind.

There were three rideable dragons, four if you counted each Zippleback head individually.

And four Viking teens.

If he could just show them that dragons were worthy of kindness and respect, and that in showing them these things, they’d give it right back…

If he could just show them the things people and dragons could accomplish when they worked as one…

It may just change the minds of not only the teens, but of the entire village.

The midday sun shown brightly through the caged covering of the ring, casting segmented shadows on the cold hard ground.

Five Vikings and four Madrigals entered the arena, their nostrils filled with the scent of the salty sea.

Stormfly, along with the three dragons from the previous night, were perched outside. Watching the humans with interest.

Hiccup stood in the center, alongside Toothless, as his new students arrived.

Class was in session.

“Welcome to dragon training!” He grinned, turning to face them with a flourish.

Fishlegs quivered with anticipation, the twins were ready to see anybody get damaged, and Snotlout flexed his muscles in Astrid’s face. Much to her disgust.

Isabela, Luisa, and Camilo were all pondering the dragons they’d met recently. And Mirabel couldn’t help but think about those enigmatic eyes.

Hiccup begin his speech, that he’d spent perhaps too long preparing. “Behind these doors, are the dragons we will soon be riding into our battle against the Red Death. But this isn’t just about fighting…”

He began stroking Toothless chin, making the dragon wag his tail in contentment. “Dragons are incredible creatures! And if you can manage to establish a bond with one…I can’t even find the words to describe it!”

“Ha! He’s such a crappy teacher, he can’t even find words!” Snotlout scoffed. Astrid jabbed him in the gut with the handle of her axe.

Ignoring the interruption, Hiccup gestured to perhaps the most eager of his students.

“Fishlegs, you’re up first!”

Jolting at his name, he quickly shuffled up to Hiccup.

“So what’re you thinking, ‘Legs?” Hiccup asked. “Nightmare? Zippleback?”

It took the boy a moment to realize he’d been asked a question. “Oh! Uh…”

He examined the surrounding area, glancing at all the cages around them. “I-I’ve always found the Gronckle fascinating! Its diet consists of mainly rocks, with an assortment of differing minerals-”

“Gronckle it is!” Hiccup interjected, before the boy could start a ramble.

With that, he began making his way over to one of the doors. Placing a hand on its lever.

Right before he pulled it, he gave Fishlegs a firm look. “Remember, this dragon probably thinks we’re here to fight it. It’s gonna be spooked. Just try not to look like a threat.”

Despite his increasing anxiety, the rotund boy nodded. Gravely serious.

The lever was pulled, and the doors opened.

The Gronckle was sleeping, curled up into a tight little ball. Looking even more spherical than usual.

At the sudden light, and the sudden noise, it awoke. Uncurling and scrambling onto its feet. Facing the two humans in its pen with distrust.

It backed away, retreating into the shadows. All while snarling at them.

“Now hold out your hand…slowly.” At Hiccup’s instruction, Fishlegs attempted to earn the dragon’s trust.

It eyed the rotund boy with caution, sniffing at his palm. Eyes darting around for any traps or weapons.

It then locked eyes with the boy, its pupils both thinning into harsh slits. Thoroughly terrified, Fishlegs shut his own eyes and looked away.

And the Gronckle calmed down a bit.

This boy didn’t seem threatening. A Terror throwing a tantrum was scarier.

And…he kinda smelled like chicken.

Finally relaxing, the Gronckle placed its rough hide onto the boy’s palm. And his eyes exploded with wonder.

Vibrating with giddiness, it took every ounce of willpower within him to keep from flailing about in excitement. He didn’t want to scare the creature.

“Th-This is-I mean it’s-I don’t even- “He was too elated to even form proper sentences. “WOW!”

The Gronckle’s own mood was enhanced by his positive one, and it began shimmying in place. Shaking its bulbous tail around, wide tongue lolling out of its mouth.

Snotlout and the twins were awestruck, despite how hardcore they preferred to appear. The Madrigals were simply fascinated by the fact that they were seeing a Gronckle up close without it trying to eat them. And Astrid grew a small smile, happy that Fishlegs finally got to experience what she’d experienced.

“Earning a dragon’s trust is surprisingly easy…” Hiccup started. “All it takes is respect, patience, and understanding. And you’ve got a friend for life.”

“A giant, flying, fire-breathing friend!” he joked.

He then faced the crowd, smirking.

“So, who’s next?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiccup could confidently say that the first day of dragon training was a rousing success.

Both he, and Astrid at times, taught the others everything they knew about taming the creatures.

From properly petting it, to avoiding sneezes of flame, or what to do if your dragon vomits its lunch on you.

And it seemed that everyone present had established a connection with a dragon.

Fishlegs and the Gronckle hit it off immediately, he’d spent the whole class rubbing its belly and feeding it stones. Even when trying to listen intently.

He’d even been the first to give a dragon a name, Meatlug. Because apparently, it resembled his mother’s Berk-famous meatloaf.

Snotlout had opted for the Nightmare, reasoning that the biggest baddest Viking deserved the biggest baddest dragon.

At first, he ignored Hiccup and Astrid’s advice. Yelling at the serpent, and demanding it obey him. He received a scorched bottom in response.

Only when he got over his own ego did the Nightmare come to trust him, and the two brutes actually seemed to enjoy each other’s company. They’d spent half the day play-wrestling, and sometimes actually just wrestling.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were obvious choices for the Zippleback, even though Tuffnut protested. Asking how they were supposed to both fit on one of its necks.

It took longer than it should’ve to make him understand that they could use both necks.

The two pairs of siblings shared a mutual understanding, that only twins could grasp. The simultaneous love and endless irritation that being a twin provides.

It didn’t hurt that the Zippleback seemed to have a lust for chaos as well. Which, along with Camilo and the Changewing, brought the number of destructive forces to five.

Speaking of which, Camilo had assumed sort of a mentor role with the Changewing.

She had a love for pranks, just as he did. But what she lacked was a creative mind. She usually resorted to the basic disappear and reappear from behind routine.

“You need a new act…” The shifter said, stroking his chin with thought. Then, a devious smirk formed on his features.

“Alright…” He whispered. “Here’s what we’re gonna do.”

Camilo watched from afar as the Changewing disappeared, skittering over to where Snotlout and Astrid were stationed.

She was trying to show him how to properly brush your dragon’s horns, and he was unusually focused on the current task.

Standing on the wall behind them, the dragon lashed her tail and slapped Snotlout in the back of his head.

“OW!” He cried, before turning to Astrid with a sneer. “What was that for!?”

“I didn’t do anything.” She replied, confused.

He huffed, but accepted her answer. Turning back to his own work.

Astrid did the same. And now that she wasn’t looking at him, the dragon whacked her this time.

She cried out in pain, whipping to the stout boy with a fierce expression. Sure that he’d attempted to get a bit of revenge.

No one smacked Astrid Hofferson.

With a snarl, she leapt at him with a flying tackle. Before clobbering him with the brush she was holding. Their dragons scrambled to try and break up the scuffle.

Camilo was on the floor laughing, and when the Changewing rejoined him, she was hissing with laughter too.

“Now that was funny!” He wheezed, and the scarlet dragon whole-heartedly agreed.

He held up his hand, for a high five. Inquisitively, the dragon slowly raised a paw to meet it. Intrigued by the behavior.

Luisa was sat against a wall, the Goregutter’s massive head resting in her lap. His eyes fluttering, as he drifted in and out of sleep.

She could hardly believe that this was the creature that was terrorizing the village last night.

“You’re not so bad, big guy…” She softly spoke, stroking his snout. “You’re just a big softy!”

Though supposedly, he was rather small by Goregutter standards. She wondered how big the others of his kind could get...

The praise got him excited, and his tail began to flail about with joy.

Unfortunately, the axe-tipped tail whipped right into Tuffnut. Launching him into a wall.

Luisa winced, and the dragon looked terribly ashamed. Hiding his face in her lap.

“Hey, its okay. You didn’t mean it…” She tried to reassure the disheartened beast. “But…we gotta work on controlling your strength. Everyone’s smaller than you, you gotta be careful…”

She’d learned this lesson a long time ago. And she was determined to help this dragon through it as well.

But for the moment, she rested her own eyes as she continued to pat the creature. Feeling the cool scales and his gentle breathing beneath her fingers.

Meanwhile, Isabela figured something out.

Three of the four Snaptrapper sisters were pretty cool. The leftmost head was a sweetheart, if a bit ditzy. And the two rightmost heads, while capable of being temperamental, were friendly as well. Once they got to know you.

But the head that commanded the others was a total diva.

When all the others were getting pet, she'd snap at Isabela’s fingers. When the others were entranced by her plant producing qualities, she’d set the blooms ablaze. And currently, she was refusing to take food out of Isabela’s hands.

And if she didn’t eat, nobody ate.

Isabela could see it. The other heads, eyeing the fishes she was holding with great hunger. They hadn’t eaten in a while. But their leading sister wouldn’t allow them to eat individually.

They ate as one, or not at all.

Bristling with frustration, she spoke directly to the leading head. “Would you get over yourself?” She demanded.

“Look at them, they’re starving!” She gestured to the three wilting heads. “But they can’t eat because you feel like holding a grudge!”

Her words seemed to offend the lead Snaptrapper, who started hissing with anger.

“I’m so sorry for defending myself and the village from a fire-breathing reptile! Oh, when will I learn?” She spoke, sarcastically. Before taking on a more serious tone.

“Look, if you don’t like me then fine. But think about what you’re doing to your sisters.” She spared a glance to Mirabel, who was currently interacting with the Terrible Terror. Giggling as it climbed up her leg.

Old, regretful memories started cropping up. And she couldn’t fight the dour expression she was forming. “…You really don’t want to be the big sis who lets her little sis down…”

The Snaptrapper seemed taken aback. Surprised by how much the girl seemed to care for the well-being of her sisters.

The other three heads looked to the tallest one, pleading with pitiful eyes. And finally, she relented.

Craning her neck downwards, she snapped up the fish Isabela was holding. Distributing them between her sisters, before eating one herself.

Three of the heads then began nuzzling her, thanking her for the meal. The fourth head abstained, as usual. But it wasn’t glancing at her with disdain.

Not anymore.

A short while after this, Mirabel was asking Hiccup a question.

He held her dragon scale in his hands, as it glinted in the sunlight. “…You said it had round, yellow eyes?” He asked.

She nodded. “And golden scales…”

He scrunched his nose, deep in thought. “What about its fire? What type was it?”

She shrugged, not exactly being the master of fire. “I dunno. But it was a blast of flame! Not like acid, or an explosion or…lava barf.”

“So…do you know what it is?” She questioned, tentatively.

He scrutinized the scale, thinking over everything she’d said…

And slumped over. Defeated.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have enough details.” He admitted. “There’re a lot of dragons that could fit that description.”

She sighed as well. She was hoping he could help her find her mystery savior.

He frowned at her disheartened expression, and frantically tried to offer an alternative solution.

“B-But I know where you could maybe get some answers!” She perked up at this, and awaited his elaboration. “The book of dragons! It’s got everything we know about every type of dragon we know of.”

“Though…most of it is wildly inaccurate…” He groused.

“Okay, that would be great. If I could read your language.” She pointed out.

He waved off her concerns. “The words are useless anyways. Just look at the pictures, see if anything jumps out to you!”

And as the class concluded, the dragons being sent back to their newly-cleaned and furnished cages, she set out to do just that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mirabel sat in the Great Hall that evening, as rain beat down upon the world outside.

A candle lit her table, so she could properly see what she was doing. She couldn’t believe these people didn’t have electricity. How far back were they, technologically?

Her family was out, trying to figure out where they would house the dragons they’d found. Leaving her alone in the hall with her current objective.

The book of dragons sat opened, filled with words she couldn’t understand. But they didn’t matter.

All she needed was a picture. Just one picture that resembled her illusive protector from the night before.

She flipped through pages, observing the various dragons depicted in frightening states. Turning swiftly as she eliminated candidates.

There was one that looked like a snake covered in spikes, with a wide-open maw filled with vicious teeth. Its eyes looked blank, and almost soulless. That couldn’t be it.

There was also a flat creature that seemed to greatly expand whenever it was screaming. She dearly hoped Dolores never encountered this thing. The illustrations looked to imply that it didn’t breathe fire, so this couldn’t be the one either.

She then found a picture that made her chortle.

It was Toothless, clearly. But he was depicted all wrong. His eyes were bulbous, and unsettling. His teeth were gnarled, and his ear-flaps were drawn more as a set of devil horns.

With exaggeratedly long claws, ridiculous spikes along his back, and comically sinister wings, it was clearly the scrawling of a biased Viking who’d only caught a glimpse of the Night Fury.

Nothing like the big puppy she knew and loved.

Toothless obviously wasn’t the dragon she’d met, so she kept flipping.

She searched and searched the book, finding nothing that reminded her even a bit of the dragon in the armory.

She was nearing the end of the book, and was about ready to give up. Finally, she found the very last dragon listed in the encyclopedia.

And her eyes widened.

It was a big dragon, though not huge. Bigger than Toothless, but smaller than the Goregutter.

It had a flat face, almost resembling an owl. A brow-like crest rested on its forehead, and a regal frill splayed out from behind its head.

It had a sturdy body, with a long tail ending in three tail-fins. And most peculiarly, it had four wings. Two sets on each side of its body.

With its four wings on full display, it almost looked like a…

“Mariposa…” Mirabel whispered to herself, as she examined the image.

But what was most striking about it to her, were its eyes.

Its big, round eyes.

She suppressed a gasp, as she realized that she’d found her mystery dragon.

She’d have to ask Hiccup to translate the name, but she knew this was it. Those eyes were too distinctive.

But now that one question was answered, another one appeared.

How was she going to find it?