(Hiccup's POV)
The training arena in Berk smelled like smoke, dirt, and fear.
Mostly Hiccup's fear.
He stood beside the other teens in the center of the ring while Gobber the Belch paced in front of them with his usual crooked grin.
Behind them, the gates of the dragon pen rattled as something inside scratched and snarled.
Gobber clapped his hands together.
"Today," he said loudly, "you'll be facing a Terrible Terror."
The other students reacted immediately.
Astrid Hofferson cracked her knuckles.
Snotlout Jorgenson smirked confidently.
Fishlegs nervously adjusted his helmet.
Hiccup just swallowed.
The gate creaked open.
A small dragon burst into the arena with a screech.
It skittered across the ground and flared its wings, hissing at the group.
Gobber pointed his metal hook toward it.
"Remember what I told you!" he shouted. "A dragon will always—"
"—go for the kill?" Snotlout interrupted proudly.
Gobber shook his head.
"No! A dragon will always go for the weakest target."
Every head slowly turned.
Toward Hiccup.
The Terrible Terror followed their gaze.
Hiccup sighed.
"Right. Of course."
The dragon shrieked and lunged toward him.
Hiccup jumped sideways, barely avoiding the snapping jaws.
The dragon spun and chased him across the arena.
"Why," Hiccup shouted while running, "does it always have to be me?!"
Gobber leaned casually against the fence.
"Because you're small, you're weak, and you smell like fear!"
The dragon leapt again.
Hiccup stumbled and fell backward into the dirt.
The Terrible Terror pounced—
—and slammed face-first into the shield Astrid shoved in front of it.
Astrid knocked the dragon aside with practiced ease.
The creature scrambled away, hissing.
Gobber blew a whistle.
"Enough!"
The Terrible Terror handlers quickly pulled the dragon back behind the gate.
Astrid turned toward Hiccup with an irritated look.
"You're welcome."
Hiccup brushed dirt off his tunic.
"Appreciated."
Gobber stepped into the arena.
"You lot are supposed to learn how to fight dragons," he said, shaking his head. "Not dance with them."
Hiccup glanced toward the gate where the dragon had disappeared.
His mind drifted back to the forest.
To the hidden valley.
To the Night Fury.
The dragon he had just named Toothless.
The one that hadn't tried to kill him.
Gobber clapped a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.
"You'll get your turn soon enough," he said.
Hiccup forced a weak smile.
"Looking forward to it."
Later That Day
Hiccup sat alone on a rocky ledge overlooking Berk.
The ocean stretched endlessly beyond the cliffs.
He flipped open the small notebook resting in his hands.
Inside were rough sketches of the dragon he had seen in the forest.
Toothless.
He studied the drawing carefully.
The wings.
The tail.
The missing fin.
"If I could just fix that," he muttered.
The wind carried the distant sound of dragons far out over the sea.
Hiccup closed the notebook slowly.
Training in Berk taught one thing.
Fighting dragons.
But what he had seen in the forest suggested something very different.
And tomorrow…
He planned to go back.