This is a short story I wrote a couple of months ago. I like it fairly well. I must say that I had not read any other fan fictions before I wrote this, but now that I have, I can see many similarities. Please do not think I took ideas because I did not. Still, I guess this proves that great minds think alike! Anyone who has written a Skrill based story deserves a lot of credit! It is a great plot point, so I want to congratulate everyone else that I have seen who has also used a Skrill in their stories. This story is about twelve pages long in normal font, so it might be hard to read through in one sitting. Please enjoy!
Storms and Strike Class
How to Train your Dragon fan fiction by Toothless the Nightfury
Note: Set to have happened between episodes 6 and 7
Chapter 1
“We need to get back soon bud.” Hiccup was looking nervously at the tremendous storm clouds brewing over his head. He and Toothless had been out practicing distance flights. Hiccup was determined to keep Toothless’s record at flying faster, higher and longer than any other dragon. He had picked a bad day for it...
Hiccup rode Toothless quickly over the open ocean. He could barely see the outline of Berk. Toothless was making tiny clicking noises and then twitching his ears. Already the sky was dark, but it was only midday. Toothless peered into the increasing cloud cover. Before long even his dragon eyes would not be able to see in this dense black. It began to poor down with rain. Hiccup looked back to insure that Toothless’ tail fin was still working well. Suddenly there was a flash and a massive crash of thunder. Hiccup and Toothless nearly fell out of the sky from shock. “Get us out of this cloud bud! We’re both going to get fried!” Thor must have been in a bad mood that day. As Toothless dived down close to the surging waves, he and Hiccup got a good view of what was over them. The sky looked like a churning cauldron of black angry clouds. Lightning struck the water constantly and the thunder was deafeningly loud.
By now both rider and dragon were very uncomfortable. Toothless was struggling hard against the wind. It would have been easy for him years ago, but now with Hiccup on his back he was much less streamlined. Hiccup was drenched. The wind was sending stinging sheets of rain into both their faces. It was pitch black; the only light was given by the furious lightning crashing into the sea. “Give us some more light bud!” Hiccup yelled over the storm. Toothless’s sonar was barely able to function over all the thunder. He gave a rumble of agreement and fired an acetylene bolt out into the open air. It gave off a brilliant light, but it also collided with something. That something let out a heart-stopping screech before disappearing into the blackness...
“Oh no...” said Hiccup. There was a long pause. Even the storm seemed frighteningly quite after that screech of pain and rage. Hiccup and Toothless were craning their ears out into the imposing, storm-filled darkness. Hiccup’s mind was racing. He knew that only one dragon felt at home in this kind of storm. He also knew that he had never heard that kind of screech, so whatever they had hit was a species that Hiccup had not encountered personally. Everything remained tense and then the inevitable attack came.
A bright flash of lightning was shooting down out of the clouds above. Literally riding the lightning bolt was the figure of a truly amazing dragon. Hiccup only had a split second to recognize it and it was a Skrill. The dragon and lightning bolt barely missed Hiccup and Toothless, but it was close enough to make every hair on the back of Hiccup’s head stand on end with static electricity. Hiccup’s mind flashed back to the book of dragons. What had it said about the Skrill? They were strike class. They were highly intelligent and rare dragons. They have terrifying speed and a unique form of attack: they shot lightning. By the time Hiccup had calculated this, the dragon was back and as furious as ever. “Apparently this Skrill has a hot temper...” thought Hiccup. The Skrill’s body lit up brightly as it channeled a bolt of lightning along its bright white breath. Toothless dodged the blast, but the electricity arched after him as if it was homing in. It struck his tail and channeled all the way up to Hiccup’s prosthetic foot. Hiccup received a horribly sharp pain in his leg and a jolting feeling in his chest. He let out a cry, and that was enough for Toothless. The enraged Night Fury ripped through the air at speeds that the Skrill could never hope to outrun. Soon Toothless was right behind the now retreating Skrill. Hiccup tried to calm him down, but Toothless would suffer no harm to Hiccup. Toothless let off a volley of bright blue blasts. Each one soared after the Skrill and exploded in terrific bright blue and purple flames. Two of them hit dead on, and the Skrill fell from the sky in a ball of fire. Before Hiccup could get a grasp on what had happened, he had to maneuver Toothless through the high rocky crags outside of Berk. They were almost home and the danger seemed past.
“Toothless, that was spectacular and all, but next time fire warning, not killing shots.” Hiccup was not sure whether to be thankful or upset. On the one hand the Skrill would certainly have killed them, but on the other it was an accidental battle. As they landed back in Berk village, they quickly noticed that everyone was not in their homes. Apparently Gothi had predicted a truly terrifying storm. Hiccup and Toothless ran up to the great hall. It was unlocked. Gobber and Stoick opened up the huge doors. Hiccup could see that many of his friends were relieved to see him. Stoick kneeled next to Hiccup and spoke in a slightly worried tone. “Hiccup, thank Thor you’re alright! Gothi predicted this practically minutes after you left. I am relieved to see you’re that you made it home safe.” Stoick noticed something strange about Hiccup’s metal foot. It was black and Hiccup’s leg looked burnt where it connected to the foot. “What happened son?” Stoick asked in concern. “Toothless and I were attacked. I will explain later. Right now I am soaked. Could I possibly dry out?”
Huddled around the fire pit, the Hooligans listened to Hiccup’s tale with great interest. Fishlegs was particular fascinated. He would chime in adding unhelpful little details about Skrills and their behavior. When Hiccup finished his story, everyone looked surprisingly relieved to hear that Toothless had shot the Skrill down. Hiccup didn’t approve of this, but it was obvious why the Vikings felt this way. Skrills were feared dragons. They were very, very rarely brought down and they were the only dragon who attacked in rain storms. If there was one dragon the village felt was too dangerous to have around, it was a Skrill.
Hiccup sat next to Astrid and the rest of the teens. He was not as pleased as the rest of the village. Just because a dragon was unpredictable didn’t mean it was good to kill it. He looked at Toothless. Did the Vikings ever in their wildest dreams think that a living Night Fury was better than a dead one? Not before Hiccup. He wanted to remove the old stereotypes, not enforce them. Now Hiccup began to really hope that the Skrill had survived. By the next morning, that hope would be gratified, but it would not be a pleasant gratification.
Chapter 2
The storm continued to rage and rip through the village all night. When the Vikings awoke next morning, Stoick walked over to inspect Bucket. His bucket was extremely tight around his forehead. Stoick knew this was not good. The tighter Bucket’s bucket got the fiercer the storm. If the storm was really going to continue, then the Hooligans would need far more supplies. Stoick walked over and discussed the problem with Gobber.
“No problem!” came the cheery response of the ridiculously optimistic Gobber. “We can just wait for a small break in the weather, and then Mulch and I will go and get the livestock out of the barn. They’re not scared of the dragons anymore, so I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t bring them in here.”
“Right… you wait for a break in this storm and then head out.” replied Stoick. “And between you and me, I am glad that Toothless took down that Skrill. Can you image what a mess he would make if he were still around?”
The pause in the storm came and Gobber and Mulch ran out into the rain. They struggled up the now muddy hill toward the barn. The animals seemed fine. Mulch was just about to open the first stall when he had a horrible sensation: the hair on the back of his neck was beginning to stick up. Suddenly a bolt of lightning rocketed down from the sky and struck the barn. It startled all the animals, but it did not cause any serious damage. “Well that could have been worse.” noted Gobber.
It got worse. Within the next two minutes lightning had struck the building seventeen times. Now the damage was becoming serious. Several animals had been killed and the barn roof looked like it was about to fall in. “What in Thor’s name is going on?!” said Mulch as he looked hopelessly at the barn. Gobber had already guessed. The Skrill had returned and for some reason was destroying Berks buildings. But Gobber knew that was not their main concern. He had fought dragons all his life, and he knew one thing for certain: If the Skrill was destroying their buildings, he would be perfectly happy to kill them as well.
“Mulch, we need to get back to the hall! This is not the storm, it’s a rouge dragon!” Just as Gobber finished his sentence there was an alarming crackling noise. A large dragonish shape swooped over their heads and blasted out a bolt of lightning. It struck Gobber. He was a seasoned veteran of dragon wars, he had lost his limbs in battle and kept on fighting, he had brought down more dragons than he could count, but this was an experience he had never prepared for. The electric shock engulfed his body. He felt sharp pain, a sudden jolt through his chest and then everything faded to black. Gobber the Belch collapsed on the hilltop. Mulch watched in horror as the shape reappeared and landed only meters away from the fallen Gobber. The Skrill looked to Mulch like a Night Fury that had been twisted into a nightmarish creature. It had no front legs, so it walked on its wings like a bat. Its head and back were covered in wickedly sharp spikes. On either wing it had a huge sword like claw and in the front of its face, staring straight at Mulch, were two small, piercingly intelligent eyes. Mulch would have rushed to Gobber’s aid, but he was far too slow. The creature inhaled deeply, sparks crackled down its body and then it blasted the unfortunate Mulch.
Chapter 3
“Where are they? If they don’t get back soon, they’ll be caught in the storm.” Stoick was pacing with impatience and anxiety. The Hooligans needed those supplies. “Perhaps they need a hand.” he mused. “Perhaps there has been a slight accident with the livestock. I guess I should go find out. I am chief after all and this is no time to avoid the weather.” Stoick was just getting ready to go out when an idea struck him. It was a truly horrible realization. This was Gobber. This was his best friend and by far one of the best, most vikingly Vikings on Berk. Would a little accident hold Gobber up for four hours? Unthinkable! This must be something big. This must be a serious accident or a dragon raid. Stoick stood up in his most authoritative pose and bellowed out, “I think Gobber and Mulch must be in trouble! Everyone who can come and help me must do so at once. Hiccup, bring your friends and their dragons! I think we may have an emergency on our hands.”
“Oh sure, now the great chief Stoick the Vast is always looking to his son for help.” grumbled Mildew. “What ever happened to the mighty Viking way? Ever since your boy got us on dragons we have settled things in the precious dragon way.” Stoick tried to look like he ignored Mildew.
“You got it dad. Gang let’s get on up. If Gobber is in trouble then we need to get there fast.” Hiccup was in his element. Emergencies happened every day in his academy. Not as serious as this, but still they were good practice. He could get his friends on their dragons and operational in a heartbeat.
“You know this could be that Skrill.” said Fishlegs. “I read that Skrills are really smart and they have an emotional side of the brain. If you guys shot him down that side of his brain may be causing him to act really, really mad.”
“Yes, thank you Fishlegs.” Hiccup said in return as he hopped onto Toothless. “But if the Skrill is actually intelligent then I want to reason with it. Perhaps we can make up. I mean if anyone can train dragons I can. The rest of you villagers seem to want to fall back on the old ideas of dragons in a heartbeat. This might not even be a dragon attack.”
With that Hiccup and the rest of the teens took off. They headed straight for the livestock area, but the wind and rain were still terribly strong. The dragons had to fight their way. When they landed at the barn everyone one was silent in shock. Gobber and Mulch lay on the wet ground. Their clothes and metal appendages were blackened and they were staring blankly into the sky.
“No, no, no, no.” Said Hiccup, as he leaped off Toothless and ran up to Gobber. “You can’t be dead. Not you.” Then just as Hiccup was about to lose hope, he noticed something very odd. Both Gobber and Mulch were twitching. They were shaking slightly all over. The other teens and there dragons came up to make an inspection. “Is Gobber dead?” asked Tuffnut. “No, no. I don’t think so.”, replied Hiccup.
Then to everyone’s huge relief and shock Gobber leaped up off the ground and yelled a terrifying war cry. He charged the teens dragons, which all sidestepped and let the discombobulated Viking run between them. He turned around lost his balance and fell in the mud again. The teens all ran up to him.
“Gobber! You’re okay? What happened?” Hiccup and the teens were bursting with questions and concern. “Oh… Me? I’m fine. Never felt better. Where do you suppose that dragon got to?” Gobber looked around as confusedly. “I could have sworn I saw him just a second ago.”
“Uh, Gobber I think you were unconscious.” Astrid said in the most tactful way she could.
“Me? Unconscious? Not on your life! I was just about to show that rogue dragon a piece of my mind” Gobber was starting to talk more quickly. Hiccup rolled his eyes. He pointed at Gobber’s seared and blackened metal arm and then looked back at Mulch who was still lying on the ground. “Ah... Hrrrmm… So maybe I was out of it for a little, but I’m fine now. You can all quit fawning over me.”
The teens went over to Mulch who had a similar routine. He woke up, thought he was in battle, asked about Gobber, swore that he had not been unconscious and so on. The only difference was that he had seen Gobber fall. This put the nail in the coffin for Gobber who was still a bit skeptical that he could be knocked out so easily.
“But why didn’t the dragon finish us off?” asked Mulch. “I mean, he was standing right over Gobber.” Mulch and Gobber both looked at each other. The Skrill could easily have ripped them to shreds. Why didn’t he?
Hiccup saw his chance. “Dragons do not always go for the kill! Don’t you see? He’s not interested in killing either of you. I bet he is just letting off steam. He would be angry with Toothless, but that does not make him some sort of monster.” Hiccup smiled and leaned back towards Toothless, who was humming softly. He had once again gotten through to the older Vikings.
“By Woden you’re right!” said Gobber. “We need to tell the village! Mulch can you believe it? We survived the attack of one of the deadliest dragons we know of. I’ll bet you could train him Hiccup. I’ll tell your dad all about it. What would Alvin think if we had a Skrill, eh?!” Gobber was obviously excited. He was the type of man to take an idea and run with it. What if people talked about how he and some other, well you know, unimportant people found and tamed another Strike class dragon? Wouldn’t Stoick be impressed? Wouldn’t Alvin be angry?
“Well that’s nice Gobber,” said Mulch “but I’m still not feeling all that good. Could any of you kids give me a ride home?”
“Will you not tell Stoick that we tipped that whole herd last week?” Asked Ruffnut, “Sure.” replied Mulch. “Ha! I knew we wouldn’t get in trouble for that!” yelled Tuffnut in ridiculous excitement. Mulch sat on Barf and Belch’s back, and the dragon lifted off the ground back into the storm filled air.
Chapter 4
Hiccup and the other teens got to work freeing the animals. Hookfang and Meatlug strained to lift the now badly damaged roof. As soon as they had gotten it high enough Gobber, Astrid and Snotlout ran into the barn. They grabbed as many yacks and sheep as they could carry before rushing back out again. As soon as they were out the two dragons let go of the roof and it collapsed down again.
“This isn’t very safe!” yelled Snotlout as the debris from the roof came flying out at them.
“Ah this is nothing!” said Gobber as he pulled a sheep loose from some wreckage. “You should have seen the time Stoick and I got trapped in Dark Deep. Now that was not exactly what most people would call safe.” Gobber cheerily lifted a huge chunk of the barn and released two more animals.
By this time the rest of the Hooligans and Stoick arrived. They were armed to the teeth. Stoick walked up to the still rather frazzled Gobber and inquired what had happened. Gobber told the tale in as much action packed detail as he could. Stoick looked concerned. He glanced over his shoulder at Hiccup who was getting Toothless to dig a sheep free. The Skrill was still out there and it was angry at his son. If it was dangerous enough to take out a building and two fully grown Vikings, then Hiccup’s life was in peril. Stoick called to his son. “Hiccup, I want you to head straight back to the great hall. It’s not safe here for you. That dragon is dangerous and I don’t want to see you have another encounter with it. Do you understand?”
“Yes dad. I just think...” but Stoick had turned and was giving instruction to the other Vikings. Hiccup did not know what was best. He was the head dragon trainer. He wanted to train this dragon and fix the problem. Running from it would not do that. He also caught the idea in Stoick’s tone that training this dragon was out of the question. Hiccup sighed. He still did not have any idea what to do with the situation. Everything seemed to make things worse. The Hooligans were more convinced than ever that the Skrill was a monster, and the Skrill itself was still incredibly angry at him. He walked over to Toothless and hopped on. “Come on bud, we’re going home.” Toothless looked up at the sky cautiously. It had stopped raining, but the storm clouds still hung thickly in the air. Toothless crouched low and then shot off into the air.
The trip was not a far one. It would have taken them only a few minutes, but something had been watching them. The Skrill had never really left the area and now he saw his chance. Hiccup and Toothless were alone. He flew quietly over them making sure to stay in the cloud cover. He began to generate static, but he had not counted on one thing: Toothless was a Night Fury. Toothless had noticed something odd as soon as they had taken off. His sonar and excellent hearing had both quickly alerted him to the Skrill’s presence. When the Skrill attacked both Hiccup and Toothless were ready. It blasted a massive arch of electricity down at them and Toothless rolled quickly out of its way. Luckily the electricity did not catch his tail fin. Hiccup’s mind leapt into action. “Toothless we need to outrun him if we can! Tire him out!” Toothless gave a quick backward glance at the now approaching Skrill and then tore through the air at amazing speed. The Skrill had not anticipated this. He had been expecting a counter attack much like he had received over the ocean. He let out a frustrated shriek and launched into pursuit. Hiccup looked back over his shoulder. They were almost to the academy, but that was still a fare distance from the great hall. They were faster than the Skrill, but only just. The Skrill was charging up another blast. With the current angle he would have no problem hitting them. Hiccup looked desperately for options. He couldn’t think of anything. Toothless could hear the crackling of the Skrill’s breath. He was about to panic. It seemed as if they were out of options. Ten seconds max until electrocution and death. What were they to do? The crackling got louder and louder. Just then Toothless had to dodge around the large vertical chain that held up the academy roof. The Skrill fired. A brilliant white bolt of lightning shot from its open mouth. It had won. It was sure of it. It did not know why, but it had seen its lightning bolt home in on this dragon before and this bolt would not miss. Then two things happened that the Skrill did not expect. Its lightning bolt veered off course and struck the large chain that Toothless had just dodged and milliseconds later the confused Skrill collided head on with this unexpected obstacle. It let out a stunned gurgle and plummeted out of the sky.
“Go back bud!” Hiccup was looking over his shoulder. He was tremendously relieved. That was probably his closest call since battling the Red Death. Toothless looked slightly confused at Hiccup’s command, but he obeyed all the same. He whipped around in an elegant somersault and flew back towards the downed Skrill. Neither Hiccup nor Toothless would have expected the unusual landing place of the Skrill. It would take all Hiccup’s dragon training skills to solve this problem. The Skrill had landed in the chain roof of the academy and he had tangled himself into a giant electrified chain knot hanging above the arena floor.
Chapter 5
Hiccup landed Toothless at a safe distance from the arena. The Skrill was struggling madly in the chains. He shots bolts of energy from his mouth at the cruel coils that were wrapped around his body, but the chains remained unaffected. This only led to more fury. Soon the Skrill was so enraged that his static was electrocuting the whole arena. Lightning struck the tangled web of chains as the Skrill tried desperately to get free. Hiccup was crouched behind the defensive Toothless as they watched the creature struggle. Eventually the Skrill let out one last pitiful roar and then held completely still. He just hung in the chains breathing hard. Hiccup decided to approach him. He and Toothless approached the academy and entered it through the stone hallway. As soon as the Skrill saw Toothless his rage began to return and he electrified the chains again. Toothless began to growl, but Hiccup put a calming hand on his lowered head and said, “Keep calm buddy, I’m gonna need you to help me get him out of this. Trust me bud.” Hiccup looked around. There was no way he could free the Skrill. He would need help, but every moment the Skrill struggled the more it injured itself. “Calm him down bud. Keep him relaxed. I’ll be right back.” Hiccup ran toward the exit. He had an idea on how to get the Skrill out, but he would need help. Toothless looked after him and then turned his head back toward the still growling Skrill. Toothless began making odd little gurgling noises and head mannerisms towards the Skrill. After a while of this the Skrill began to calm down. Toothless was now making quite a lot of different quiet noises, and occasionally the Skrill would respond with a gurgle or a whine. The dragons were communicating. Toothless could get his point across to the Skrill very easily. They were both extremely intelligent, and Toothless had just finished explaining how the accidental battle had happened in the first place. The Skrill seemed to believe him and even forgive him, but at the moment there was really nothing else he could do. This was at least enough to calm the Skrill down. Now they had to figure out how to free him.
By this time Hiccup was running as fast as his prosthetic would let him. He was heading back towards the barn. It was a good distance off when not flying, and by the time he got there most of the animals had been freed and only Gobber and Astrid remained to survey the damage. Hiccup ran up to them and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Panting hard he looked hurriedly around for his father, but Stoick had left. Well there was no option now. He would have to go behind his father’s back once again. He looked to Astrid and said, “Astrid I need your help. There is a dragon trapped in the chains over the Dragon Training Academy. It is probably badly injured. Stormfly’s fire can melt the chains, but we need to hurry!” Hiccup’s tone was serious, so Astrid leapt up onto Stormfly’s back without question. She reached down to pull Hiccup up, but Gobber had taken notice. “Exactly which dragon is trapped, eh Hiccup?” He asked. Hiccup cringed. “Well, it’s kind of a Dragon Training Academy emergency, so I can’t stay around to chat.” Hiccup tried to get up on Stormfly, but Gobber persisted. “Oh… An emergency? Nothing to do with the Skrill is it?” Gobber was coming close to guessing, so Hiccup dropped his guard. “Gobber the Skrill is trapped in the roof. We can’t just let him die! Please don’t worry my father with it. I really think I can train him and fix all these problems.” Gobber’s brow furrowed. He did not like it when Hiccup did these kinds of things without Stoick’s permission, but at the same time Gobber was an understanding Viking. He also was extremely impressed with the Skrill as a dragon, and he still had the idea of how amazing he and the Hooligans would look if they had two Strike class dragons. Gobber made up his mind and then looked sternly at Hiccup. “Now Hiccup I must not let you encounter that dragon again unprotected. Your father was clear about the danger, so to keep you safe,” Gobber’s expression lightened, “I am coming with you.”
Hiccup took a deep sigh of relief. “Oh thank you Gobber! Now we really need to get going.” Astrid reached down and pulled Hiccup onto Stormfly. “We’ll meet you there Gobber.” Astrid yelled as Stormfly jogged forward, flapped twice and then launched forward into the still stormy air.
Chapter 6
By the time Hiccup and Astrid landed in the Dragon Training Academy, the Skrill had completely tired itself out. Toothless had calmed him enough to keep him from attempting to attack them, but that was about it. Unfortunately the Skrill was still very frightened and annoyed and when Skrills are frightened they generate and attract electricity and lots of it. Every now and then the Academy’s chain roof would be struck by a lightning bolt. This did not harm the Skrill, but Hiccup knew that coming anywhere near the knot of chains could prove fatal. That is why he had brought Astrid and Stormfly. Nadders have extremely hot fire. Stormfly and Toothless were the only dragons in the Academy that Hiccup knew could burn through these chains. It would not be easy or safe to release the Skrill, but Hiccup was determined.
The two dragons started burning through the chains. Unfortunately the sound of Toothless’s fire terrified the Skrill, and it sent an electric bolt in Toothless’s direction. Luckily the Skrill was unable to aim while hanging in the chains and he missed badly. The blast still angered Toothless, but Hiccup quickly calmed him down. “Easy, bud. You will both have to make up if we want this to work. Just let Stormfly handle the chains. You keep the Skrill calm.” Toothless understood the message and began again to make odd noises in the direction of the stranded Skrill.
Stormfly’s fire was working wondrously. The bright white flames caused the metal chains to gradually turn from grey to silver, to red, to orange, to white and then with a loud popping sound the links of the chains burst apart. Still all dragons have a shot limit, and Stormfly had to take many breaks during this tedious process. When she was nearly done Gobber arrived. It was just as well that he did because there was another problem becoming obvious. The Skrill would soon be on the ground, but the chains would still be around his body. Stormfly would not burn close enough to risk harming the Skrill and this meant someone would have to untangle it by hand. As the last chain popped Gobber looked nervously at the downed dragon. Toothless continue communicate with it, and it did not try to escape. Toothless gave Gobber an anxious glance. This creature could still be electrocuting the chains, and Toothless was growing to be rather fond of Gobber. He did not wish to see this Viking take a jolt that could prove fatal for the sake of a rival dragon. Still Gobber was not a coward, and his nervous expression soon changed to a glimmer of excitement. “Safety is overrated.” He said as he looked cheerily at Toothless and the two anxious teenagers. He reached forward cautiously. With his one good hand he bent down and slowly touched his fingers to the loosest chain. Nothing happened. The Skrill continued calmly looking from Gobber to Toothless. It seemed puzzled, almost wonderstruck. Gobber quickly freed the Skrill’s wings, legs, chest and tail from the cruel knots of iron.
The Skrill was now completely unbound, but it remained motionless on the stone floor. Hiccup and Gobber looked sadly at the huge gash marks the chains had made on the dragon’s side and legs. Hiccup also noted the serious burn marks created by Toothless’ flames. The Skrill eventually lifted its head weakly and made an odd gurgle at Toothless and Gobber. It’s once contracted and frightening pupils had dilated slightly. “Ok. I think he knows we’re friends.” Said Hiccup in huge relief. “Still he will need to stay somewhere tonight and it has already gotten late. I’ll stay with him here this evening.” Gobber looked over to Hiccup with concern. “Now Hiccup your father will never let you do that. After all this dragon could still be-” He stopped mid-sentence. The Skrill was obviously listening and even comprehending Gobber’s tone. “How about I stay with you?” Gobber finally asked. “Sounds great! Astrid, please go and tell the rest of the village that Gobber and I have decided to stay the night at the academy. No need to tell my dad why unless he asks.” said Hiccup a little pleadingly. Astrid gave him a disapproving look but agreed all the same. “I’ll be back early tomorrow and you better both be alright.” she said as she mounted onto Stormfly’s back. “Don’t worry about us we’ll be fine.” said Hiccup as she took off into the night air “I really hope.”
Chapter 7
That night was one of tension. Stoick was barely convinced to not go and drag Hiccup back when he heard the news. The last few storm clouds were still hanging in the sky and Hiccup, Gobber and Toothless were intending to spend the night with a dragon that had attempted to kill all of them just hours before. Not exactly an easy atmosphere to fall asleep in.
Hiccup and Gobber helped the Skrill limp into the largest cell in the dragon training academy. It would keep him out of the rain. Hiccup told Gobber that they should stay in the cell with him. Gobber was not so sure about this idea. “You remember that this is still a wild dragon don’t you Hiccup?”
“Yes I know, but he seems to really be warming up to us. I think that if we leave him in here alone he will feel captured. Trust me Gobber. We need to stay with him if we are ever going to train him.” said the determined Hiccup.
Gobber consented. He really did want to train that dragon, and if that meant being in danger, then once again safety was overrated. He and Hiccup bundled up as well as they could in one side of the cell. The exhausted Skrill had already collapsed into a deep sleep on the other side. Toothless looked warily at the creature. He was much more confident about the Skrill’s good nature than he had been, but doubt still gnawed at his analytical mind. Toothless was fine with risking his own injury, but when Hiccup was involved he became uncomfortable. Toothless paced back and forth for a few minutes; then he curled up beside Hiccup. Hiccup was already tired from the day’s stress, but both he and Gobber were still slightly afraid. It seemed like the creature sleeping opposite them could easily be shamming. Any second those beady little eyes could snap open. The thought of having a sword-like claw stabbed into your chest at night is not a pleasant one. Still, Hiccup was confident in his decision. “We’ll be fine bud,” he said to Toothless soothingly, “just get some rest. I am sure the Skrill understands.” With that Hiccup leaned his head back and went into a gentle sleep. Gobber was not so trusting, but soon even his eyelids drooped. The great Viking warrior’s chin fell onto his chest, and soon horribly loud snoring was coming from deep within his throat. Toothless was the last to sleep if sleep he did. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly. Soon all was still, well except for Gobber’s snoring.
Late, late into that night, the Skrill stirred a claw. Then just as the Vikings had feared, his sharp little eyes snapped open. He tried to stand, but found it difficult. His leg was badly injured and he whined quietly in pain. Toothless opened his eye slowly. He kept perfectly still and watched as the Skrill limped towards the two sleeping Vikings. Toothless prepared every single fiber of his being to leap into action, but he remained motionless. The Skrill’s claws made an awful scraping noise as they were drug across the stone floor. He was now only feet away from Hiccup. Still Toothless watched. The Skrill lifted its wings with their terrible, long claws. It stretched them wide over its head and then let them down again yawning groggily. The Skrill did a sort of half turn and then laid down at Hiccup and Gobber’s feet. Toothless let out a breath of relief. He would not be sleeping after that, so he calmly kept watch as the others slept. The storm was leaving and the sun would shine through in the morning.
Chapter 8
Hiccup woke up to Gobber’s gurgling snores. He looked across the cell, but there was no Skrill. He started to call for Toothless, but then he noticed Toothless was also absent. He jumped up, stretched quickly, reattached his prosthetic and walked out into the chilly morning air. The storm had passed altogether, and this was one of those mornings on Berk that were bright and beautiful. To Hiccup’s great surprise and relief, Toothless and the Skrill were sitting facing each other and happily gurgling back and forth. Hiccup could not have been happier. The dragons seemed to be extremely happy. Toothless was sitting back on his tail, and his eyes and ears were clearly displaying his cheerful mood. The Skrill was standing uneasily on one leg supporting his weight on his wings. They seemed to be having a conversation and a pleasant one at that. Hiccup walked up to Toothless. The Skrill looked towards him and then continued gurgling with Toothless. Hiccup put his hand happily on Toothless’s side. “Looks like you’ve made another friend bud! Man I can’t believe this is working out. Still: Only one way to check for sure.” Hiccup walked back and woke Gobber up. Gobber was groggy at first, but he soon remembered the gravity of the situation.
“Gobber, the Skrill is docile and he’s out with Toothless. If you want to touch him, I think you can.” Gobber walked out and he really did not know what to do or say. He was in awe. Hiccup grabbed his huge muscled hand and walked him towards the Skrill. The dragon gave him a quick glance, then looked at Toothless, then looked back at the Viking. With very little resistance it lowered its head. “Gobber, its time.” said Hiccup.
“Hiccup, are you sure. I mean am I ready. I mean, oh for the love of Thor! What am I saying?! I, Gobber the Belch, am going to train a dragon!” Gobber reached his hand forward and touched the kneeling Skrill.
At that moment two things happened. Stoick, Astrid many other Vikings strode into the ring, and the Skrill and Gobber bonded. Stoick looked on in wonder as Hiccup smiled. He and Toothless had proved yet again that dragons and Vikings could live together in peace.
The next weeks were extremely happy. Toothless and the Skrill, who Gobber named Shock, flew together in friendly competitions. Gobber got the Skrill to display his amazing electrical abilities over and over again to the great admiration of crowds. Mildew sulked and huffed but was not about to stand up to Gobber. And the Thorston twins were extremely excited to discover that they could absorb static by stroking Shock and then touch other Vikings to give them a jolt. Gobber and Shock flew together for many hours, and Hiccup was always happy to allow them to participate in the academy lessons.
But happy times are often brief. Shock began to act fidgety and irritable after his wounds healed. Even Toothless could not calm him down. Hiccup soon discover why. Shock was desperate to chase storms. It was in his nature and as the wicked Mildew had so distastefully put it, “Nature always wins”. Soon a storm blew over Berk and Shock was dying to leave in it. But he would not abandon Gobber. The two of them stood out on the cliff edge and watched the lightning strike the ocean.
Hiccup and Toothless walked up to them. Shock was growling and whining at the night sky. “Huh, just like the storm we met you in, isn’t it Shock?” said Hiccup. Shock looked over at Toothless and seemed to shake his head slightly at the memory. Gobber shifted his weight from foot to peg-leg and rubbed his prosthetic hammer arm. He knew what he wanted to do, but he was terribly afraid to do it.
“Shock. You may leave if you want.” Gobber stammered. Hiccup started. He had never seen Gobber so upset. This was worse than when Hiccup had fired him from saddle making! Gobber continued, “I have let a dragon go before, my old friend Nappy the Boneknapper, but he has never come back. Shock, please come back to give your old man a visit every once and a while, eh.” Shock nudged Gobber with his snout reassuringly. Toothless purred. Hiccup had a feeling that Shock agreed. After Gobber gave Shock one more good pat, the dragon let out a triumphant screech and dove off the cliff. He pulled up just before he hit the water and rocketed up into the clouds. His roars echoed through the sky and nearly drowned out the thunder. He did several brilliant dives down lightning bolts before stopping to give Gobber one last look. Then he was gone, vanishing in a brilliant flash of lightning and clap of thunder.
The storms that had once meant fear and danger to the Hooligans brought back an old friend for Gobber in the years to come. The two looked forward to crossing paths, and when Shock did visit, the dragon races between Hiccup and Gobber were worth the risk of the stormy sky. After all: “Safety’s overrated.” isn’t it?