The Dragon Manual

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(Y/N)'s P.O.V

"So why didn't you two?" Hiccup mumbles under his breath, kneeling down and holding the bola in his hand.

I look at the other bola, my brows furrowed in confusion. "I don't know."

Hiccup grunts as he rises, walking a few paces off as I quickly follow, looking around the lush forest as we idly talking about random things.

"I never did thank you for saving me," I mention after a bit, recalling how he jumped in front of me when the Gronckle was about to strike. "Thank you, Hiccup. That was... Really brave of you."

He bashfully grins, making me lightly smile as he looks away with slightly pink cheeks.

"I-- It was nothing, really," Hiccup stammers, rubbing his neck with a nervous chuckle.

"Yes, it was," I smile, making him pause as he looks over at me. "Seriously, thank you."

Feeling a little braver, I quickly peck his cheek in thanks before quickly walking off, him following after a moment.

...

"Are you looking for them?" I question as I duck under a branch, squeezing between a tight space.

"Maybe," Hiccup replies after a moment, sighing softly. "I just... I don't know. Something isn't right."

I hum and nod, peeking around him as he suddenly stops.

"Wow..." I breathe out, admiring the large clearing blocked off by tall walls. A pond stood in the center, bird fluttering around before taking off. "Okay, this could be a really cool hang out for you and me," I grin, looking around.

Hiccup lightly laughs and nods in agreement.

We both look around the clearing with awe, Hiccup softly sighing and rubbing his forehead.

"This was stupid-- what did I think, we were just going to find them again?"

"Hey, this wasn't stupid," I disagree. "I mean, we found this amazing place."

"Yeah," he mumbles in agreement, his eyes flicking down. He frowns lightly with furrowed brows, slowly kneeling.

I watch with a head tilt as he picks up what seems to be a black scale, making me gasp softly before I notice some blood splattered on the wall besides him.

"Hiccup--" I gasp, jerking backwards and slipping next to Hiccup as a dark figure swoops in front of us, roaring fiercely.

The Night Fury scrambles to try to climb up the wall, the other dragon roaring softly and trying to push him up. The dragon grunts with effort as he tries to carry the Night Fury before he yelps, licking at his wounded arm as the Night Fury safely glides back down on land.

The other dragon glides down after him and joins him, snorting softly and whining lowly as he nudges the Night Fury lightly.

Hiccup pants softly before smiling with awe, slowly climbing down and helping me as I follow. I yelp as I hop down, gasping and sighing in relief as I nearly slip off, Hiccup grabbing under my arms and pulling me back before I could.

The Night Fury takes off again, the other dragon following next to him and pausing as the Night Fury falls from the sky with a whine. The dragon watches with drooped ears as the Night Fury tries flying off again, only to fall once more with a loud whine once more.

"Is... he hurt?" I softly question, quickly ducking as the dragon's ear flicker and he looks our way.

Hiccup does the same, slowly peeking over and tapping me to show it was safe to look.

He quickly takes out his journal, motioning for me to do the same. I nod, doing so and roughly sketching the odd dragon as he does the Night Fury.

The Night Fury flies off once more, roaring in anger and frustration as he falls. The other dragon quickly swoops under him and breaks his fall, the two crashing on the ground, the Night Fury landing on top of the other dragon. The dragon grumbles and and groans in pain as the Night Fury climbs off of him, the Night Fury chittering and shaking his head as he huffs.

I look at Hiccup's drawing before glancing at the Night Fury, noticing the tail was off. Instead of two symmetrical fins on the end of the Night Fury's tail, there was only one. He notices this as well, and rubs the extra fin away, leaving behind smudged charcoal.

"Why don't they just... fly away?" Hiccup questions quietly with interest, watching as the Night Fury fires a plasma ball out of frustration.

The other dragon snorts before playfully smacking at the Night Fury, making it roar lightly and do the same before running off. The dragon chases him, the Night Fury leaping around while huffing softly. The Night Fury leaps over the dragon, the dragon skidding to a stop and moving to chase him before his front leg gives out from under him. He falls onto his front with a whine, shifting a bit as the Night Fury skids to a stop, turning and looking back with a soft chitter.

The dragon rumbles back in response, slowly rising and licking at his arm before shaking out his neck and head with a snort.

The Night Fury perks up and roars softly, turning around and crouching with a low rumble. he wiggles his body as the dragon's ears perk up, the dragon taking off as the Night Fury fires a playful plasma blast.

The plasma ball strikes the other dragon's feathered wings as he flies off, but he was unaffected, the dragon snorting with amusement as he flies over the Night Fury.

"His wings... didn't burn," I realize, quickly writing it down and describing the silver glimmer that occurred with each flap of his wings, the sun glistening off the feathers.

The dragon lands with a little wobble, softly roaring as the Night Fury lays down with a huff.

"They're playing like... they're siblings," Hiccup softly says, watching the dragon once again playfully whack the Night Fury on the nose before flying across the pond.

The Night Fury follows, whining as he only makes it a few feet in the air before slamming onto the ground with a whine. The dragon quickly lands, softly grunting and nudging the Night Fury with his nose with concern.

The Night Fury huffs before both notice movement in the pond, both swiftly diving their heads in and failing to catch a fish.

"I don't think they're related," I whisper, gasping as the dragon's ear twitches once again and he swiftly turns and looks at us.

Hiccup jumps, dropping his pencil with a gasp, catching the Night Fury's attention.

Both stare up at us, curiosity in their eyes. The odd dragon watches me closely, making me questionably wave.

"Did you just wave to a dragon?" Hiccup whispers incredulously, making me snort lightly and nod.

The dragon's ears perk slightly as he tilts his head, his eyes narrowed and his body language stiff and tense. I blink rapidly as the dragon slowly raises his injured leg, seeming to move it side to side for a moment. He lowers it back down, his ears flattening as he snorts and turns away.

"... Did he just wave back?"

Hiccup opens and closes his mouth, stammering before shaking his head in disbelief.

I watch as he looks down at the Night Fury, tilting his head slightly. The Night Fury seems to mimic him, Hiccup's eyes widening slightly as he watches the beast.

...

..

"All right. Where did Astrid go wrong today?"

Gobber's voice could be heard as Hiccup and I rush to the dining hall, thunder bellowing in the night sky.

"I mistimed my somersault dive," Astrid replies as Hiccup opens the door, gesturing for me to go in first. I smile and playfully bow, entering first as he chuckles. "It was sloppy, and threw off my reverse tumble."

I squeeze out some water from my hair, sighing and doing the same to my clothes before straightening them out, snickering at Hiccup's flattened hair.

"Yeah, we noticed," Ruffnut sarcastically replies.

I quickly ruffle it so it wasn't so flat, making him groan in protest and lightly smack my hands away as he fixes his hair, a stifled laugh leaving me.

"No, no. You were great," Snotlout disagrees, making me roll my eyes at how much he was kissing up to her. "It was so Astrid."

Gobber gives Snotlout an annoyed look, shaking his head.

"She's right, you have to be tough on yourselves!" Gobber replies as he nods to Astrid, pausing and watching me and Hiccup approach the table.

Ruffnut swiftly scoots over, blocking the seat I wasn't going to take. I snatch the plate of food, sighing softly as Hiccup does the same, Snotlout blocking the seat besides him.

"Come on," I quietly mutter to Hiccup, avoiding Astrid's stare as I pull Hiccup to an empty table.

"Where did those two go wrong today?" Gobber questions the others, making me sigh.

"Oh, great. Singling us out," I look up with exasperation, laying my head down on my arms as Hiccup sighs and rolls his eyes lightly with a nod of agreement.

"Uh-- They showed up?" Ruffnut questions sarcastically.

"He didn't get eaten and she won't date me," Tuffnut offers, making Hiccup choke on his drink while I cringe in disgust.

"They're never where they should be." Astrid finally answers, her tone seeming genuine as she keeps her eyes on her plate.

I scoff softly and silently mock her, Hiccup noticing and his eyebrow raising with an amused look on his face.

"Thank you, Astrid," Gobber dramatically thanks. "You need to live and breathe this stuff."

He walks past us, looking between us with a firm glance as Hiccup faces forward, my face neutral as I sigh.

"The dragon manual," Gobber tosses a large book onto their table after clearing the dishes from it. "Everything we know about every dragon we know of."

Thunder roars across the sky, making me perk up with a nod.

"No attack," I whisper, yawning.

"No attack tonight," Gobber unknowingly parrots, making me grin at Hiccup as he shakes his head with a smile. "Study up," he finishes, walking away and out of the hall.

"Wait, you mean read?" Tuffnut demands, his voice holding disbelief.

"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut groans in annoyance, sighing.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout angrily demands, making my eye twitch as I process his words.

"Oh, I've read it, like, seven times. There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face," Fishlegs starts, making us all slowly turn and face him. "And there's this-this other one that buries--"

"Yeah, sounds great," Tuffnut interrupts, snapping his hand in a silencing gesture before he leans back. "There was a chance I was gonna read that..."

"But now..." Ruffnut boredly trails off.

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff," Snotlout rises, leaving the hall as the others but Astrid follow while overlapping conversations.

I sigh softly, rising from the table and walking towards her while rubbing my neck.

"If you want, the three of us can share--"

"I've read it," she snaps dismissively, interrupting me as she quickly rises before rushing out.

"All ours, then. Wow," Hiccup mumbles, joining me with false joy in his voice. "Guess we'll see you..."

The door slams shut, making me wince with a sigh as I sit down in front of the manual.

"... Tomorrow."

...

Everyone eventually leaves the hall, and after an hour of talking we decided to take a look at the manual to see if there was anything on the Night Fury and the odd dragon.

I hum softly as Hiccup sets a candle down next to the book, sitting besides me with a sigh as he opens the book.

"Dragon classifications," he reads, looking over the list. "Strike class, fear class, mystery class."

He turns the page, gasping and swiftly flattening it as it threatens to turn back over. I smile, setting my hand on the book and gesture with my head for him to continue.

"Thunderdrum," Hiccup continues as I look over the frightening-looking dragon. "This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools."

"When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that... Can kill a man at close range," I read, shivering lightly at the image.

"Extremely dangerous, kill on sight," Hiccup mumbles, looking at the words in red before skimming through a few pages, allowing me to hold them down before continuing. "Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings."

"They can slice through full-grown trees?!" I whisper in disbelief, looking at the image as I shake my head.

"Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." Hiccup mumbles, turning another page. "Scauldron. Sprays... Scalding water at its victim. Extremely dangerous--"

We both yelp as lighting and thunder sound off, looking towards the doors and trying to calm our beating hearts.

"Well... That scared me," I sigh a laugh, looking back at the book as Hiccup clears his throat as he turns the page.

"Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight."

He flips the pages as I read off some of the names, "Gronckle, Zippleback, the Skrill..."

"Bone Knapper," Hiccup gulps, quickly turning the page. "Whispering Death..."

I blink rapidly at the terrifying dragon, swallowing thickly as he continues.

"Burns its victims, chokes its victims, buries its victims."

"Turns its victims... Inside out..." I nervously laugh, quickly reaching over and turning the page.

"Extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous," Hiccup reads off, turning multiple pages at a time.

"We get it, dragons are dangerous," I sigh, shaking my head. "Kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight."

We land on a blank page, making me gasp softly at the title.

"Night Fury," we say at the same time, looking over the blank page.

"Speed unknown. Size unknown," Hiccup reads the small print.

"The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself," I read, my finger skimming the words before pausing. "This dragon always manages to strike twice in two different locations."

"Two different locations... it's not just the Night Fury. It's that other dragon!" Hiccup realizes, making me nod.

"You're right! His friend flies with him!" I agree, nodding and taking out my journal, opening it to the dragon page and setting it on the empty spot next to the Night Fury's page.

"Never engage this dragon," Hiccup continues reading, sighing softly. "Your only chance... hide and pray it does not find you."

He takes out his journal, opening it to the Night Fury page and setting it besides mine with a soft sigh.

We both look at each other with uncertainty before looking back between the two dragon drawings.

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