Chapter 9

"Soon will be your test. You will have to chose whether or not you will kill a dragon. And also. Remember Hiccup, Toothless is your friend. Trust him like he trusts you and never...." He paused

"never... doubt... him..."

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It was midnight by the time Hiccup got back to the forge and Geralt's words still echoed in his mind. What did he mean by this? He leaned down onto his desk and started to flick his charcoal pen up and down from boredom. He did not feel sleepy at all.

After a few minutes of continues flicking, Hiccup made a small mistake, which lead to his pencil turning slightly and going of course. It was only then did he realised the head peaking out at him from the door of the forge.

"Dad, you're back!" He addressed the head poking inside "Gobber's not here, so..." He trailed off not knowing how to continue the conversation from there, while trying to hide of the blueprints he created for Toothless' wing.

"I know. I came looking for you" Stoick mentioned which surprised Hiccup quite a bit. His father would usually keep some distance between him because of the awkward tension they would be left in.

"You did?"

"You've been keeping secrets." Stoick stated which led Hiccup into crouching over the papers "I have?" He asked in a worried tone. Was he and Toothless found?

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?" Stoick sad with his usual expression, which Hiccup had started to refer to as the 'You're in deep trouble' expression

"I... I don't know what you..." Hiccup tried to ask, hoping, with all of his might, it wasn't about the dragon he had stashed in the forest.

"Nothing happens on this island, without me hearing about it." He said threateningly.

"Oh?" Hiccup let out quietly, while clinging onto a slight sliver of hope.

"So, lets talk... about that dragon" The words shredded any hope he had left. Knowin his father he was in deep 'sh*t'.

"Oh Gods... Dad, I'm so sorry. I - I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how to uh..." He stopped trying to find an excuse seeing his father start to chuckle, before it became a full blown out laughter which stunned Hiccup. He had barely ever seen his father laugh like so.

"Y-you're not upset?" He asked in confusion, at which Stoick shouted loudly.

"What? I was hoping for this!"

"Ah, you were?" Hiccup was bewildered, what was going on? Was this his father, or was a dragon imitating him.

"And believe me... It only gets better. Just wait till you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time... and mount your first Gronckle head on a spear." He shouted out with excitement

"What feeling! You really had me going there, son. All those years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen." His words were coming out non-stop, and through all of his excitement he failed to see how his words hurt his son." Odin, it was rough. I almost gave up on you. And all the while you were holding out on me. "Oh, Thor almighty!" He shouted out once more, before taking a seat at one of the chairs near him.

"With you doing so well in the ring... we finally have something to talk about." He finished, which led the conversation into an awkward silence. It seemed he had hoped that his son would be able to talk to him about his feeling in the ring, however it looked like that will still 'take some time' He thought to himself, before remembering something.

"I uh, I brought you something... to keep you safe in the ring." He mentioned, in a less confident and more anxious way.

"Wow, thanks." His gift however amazed Hiccup. It was a Viking helmet. And although he could have built a better on himself. It was one given to him by his father so it held more meaning.

"Your mother would wanted you to have it. It's half of her breast plate." His words made Hiccup grab the helmet by the horn and no longer have any contact with the metal itself.

However Stoick continued. He pointed at his own helmet, while mentioning "Matching set. Keeps her... Keeps her close, you know?"

"Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held your end of the deal." He said proudly which made Hiccup more awkward than embarrassed as he was not truly changing, he was doing the opposite.

Hiccup realised that the conversation had come to an end and so, to prevent any more awkwardness he chose to fake yawn loudly as an excuse.

*YAWN* "I should really get to bed." He said right after, which led to the embarrassing goodbye.

"Yes, good, okay, good talk."

"Yeah..."

"I'll see you back at the house."

"Great. Thanks for stopping by and... the uh... breast hat." "I hope you like the, umm,... the hat." They said simultaneously

"Well, good night." His father said before leaving the forge, his bulk figure causing a few of the item to move around and fall onto the floor. But overall Stoick was satisfied with the talk as well as his son's performance.

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The dragon ring, the next day.

"Stay out of my way. I'm winning this thing!" Astrid yelled at Hiccup menacingly.

"Good. Please. By all means." Hiccup honestly replied. He did not want to kill the dragon, and Geralt's words were not helping at all. He stood up and upwards towards his father, who nodded expectantly towards him.

Astrid, on the other hand, was too preoccupied hiding and keeping track of where the dragon was. She started to close in on the dragon, using the wooden planks as cover, to be stealthy.

She paused for a moment, "This time! This time for sure!" She muttered convincingly before jumping up, and dashing towards the dragon, with her axe raised above her head.

Only to realise, that the Gronckle was out cold on the ground, with Hiccup right beside him.

She stared at the lying dragon, before crying out: "No! No, son-of-a half troll, rat-eating munch bucket...!"

"Wait! Wait." Stoick called out to the crowd, which silenced it after a second

"So... later." Hiccup muttered hoping to get away, but Gobber already had his hook attached to his shirt. "Oh, oh! Not so fast!"

"I'm kinda late for..." Hiccup pleaded him, but was interrupted

"What!" Astrid yelled out, while placing the sharp axe, near his face, and threatened. "Late for what, exactly?"

"Okay, quiet down. The Elder has decided." Stoick called out once more, while gesturing at the small elder, in front of him.

Gobber placed his hand over Astrid, at which she just shook her, before he placed his hand over Hiccup. The Elder took a good look at him before, nodding slightly, which led the entire crowd into cheers.

"Boy, you've done it! You've done it, Hiccup! You get to kill the dragon!" Gobber screamed out excitedly, while the rest of the trainees grabbed him and threw him into the air.

"That's my boy!" Stoick called out proudly.

"Yeah! Yes, I can't wait. I am so..." Hiccup uncomfortably said

"...Leaving"

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Hey guys, Hope you enjoyed this chapter

Check out my other novel ATLA: The Master

Cya tomorrow...

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