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.*･｡CHAPTER SEVEN.*･｡

——

Their penultimate challenge had arrived quicker than any of the teenagers had anticipated. The weeks of training and education had wound them up where they were now; seven teens had become three, leaving a trio of whom the elder would decide was best. Whoever was proved the superior out of that three would get to kill the dragon, the very next day.

   No one had thought that Hiccup would have made it into the final three — Astrid certainly hadn't.

Vega peered over at the blonde curiously, watching as she angrily waved her axe around in a airy motion that looked strategic, but was really just to express her anger. The girl was a stark contrast to Hiccup, the latter standing in the corner awkwardly and adjusting the new helmet upon his head. He had never worn it before and it was far too big for him, slipping and sliding anytime he moved unless he held his head perfectly still. He tried to juggle his sword and shield in his arms, and Vega couldn't help but sigh. How had he made it to the final three?

   As the trio rounded up together, seated behind one of the wooden obstacles placed in the centre of the arena, Astrid took her last chance to try and intimidate Hiccup into failing: a fairly dumb idea, but one Vega hoped would work deep down, nonetheless. She needed to win.

    "Stay out of my way!" She demanded, shoving him aside ever so slightly. Vega steadied herself as she got ready to fight, listening as Astrid threatened the boy. "I'm winning this thing."

Hiccup fell back but pulled himself up, waving a hand as Astrid rushed away. "Please, by all means!"

Vega quirked a brow at his words as he stood up and turned to where his father stood in the crowd, sending him a lopsided smile as he adjusted his helmet for a second time. The girl sighed, allowing her starry eyes to survey the crowd, the only support system within the Berkian's being Snoutlout's wink and charming smile. She scowled and looked away, shaking her head. It was gross and pretty distributing — as it always was — but somewhere within her heart, she appreciated it.

Her parents weren't there to watch her physically and that hurt, but she knew that they were looking over her, nonetheless. Vega could only hoped that she wouldn't let them down — it was time to her to make them proud, her last chance to prove that she was capable of following in their footsteps; she was going to kill that dragon.

Before any of the teenagers could comprehend, the fight had been declared as begun and they were running through the arena with hurried breaths and ragged heartbeats. Each of them hid behind a barrier and awaited the dragon's presence. They were expecting a Gronckle at most, perhaps another Nadder since the first challenge against the blue beast had gone terribly. Vega highly doubted a Terrible Terror would be the determining dragon, the last one before the finale, but she wasn't so sure. Everything about the arena had always been a surprise — the teenagers had never quite expected what they had gotten. It could have been anything.

After a few minutes of hearing no noise other than the squeal of the gate, Vega took a deep breath and leant ever so slightly to the right, her eyes looking past the barrier she hid behind and scanning the ring. What she eventually saw, however, had been nothing like she'd expected.

Grim Gnasher.

Vega's jaw dropped as she stared at the beast. It was a mix of awe and horror, which feeling specially she couldn't quite decide, and she found herself unable to move as she watched it.

The sunlight danced along the purple hue of it's scales, refracting against each and every slick surface, lighting them up as though they were stars in the night sky. She had never seen a dragon with horns that glistened silver, nor with shimmering skin, and the girl couldn't help but stare, gormless, as the creature sniffed around the area. Vega never thought she would have admired the look of a dragon as much as she did this one, and the prospect made her stomach crawl. It didn't feel right; she was supposed to hate dragons — she did hate them. What was so different about this one?

There hadn't been all too much information about Grim Gnashers in the dragon journal, only basic information that was easy to remember. They were fast with a speed level of twelve, and attack of ten. These dragons generally tended to feast on dragons that were smaller than them, and always hunted injured prey so that it couldn't flee. If you had no way of defending yourself, then you were a goner.

Vega took another breath and nodded to herself, "No venom, crazy jaw strength, only five shots."

She frowned - was she turning into Fishlegs?

Leaving no more time to dwell, Vega rushed out from behind her barrier with a stitched, haphazard plan in her mind, immediately slamming her axe against her shield as she rolled to hide behind another wooden slat.

Hiccup looked over at her in confusion, having not even heard a dragon enter the arena and wondering why she had burst into action but she looked away before he could question it. The only answer to his silent query was the sound of a heroic yell from Astrid as she dove over her barrier, launching a wooden plank at the animal, causing it to squawk. Vega grit her teeth. There was no way that she wasn't going to win this, she wouldn't stand for it. So, she did the only thing she could think of to win.

Vega sprung to her feet and ran straight towards it, a battle cry passing her lips.

Though, the teenager hadn't gotten far before the dragon lurched forewords, swinging its tail and knocking her off of her feet. The crowd gasped as the Vega Storm went down with a groan, having never imagined such a thing to happen before their very eyes. She groaned as her vision grew fuzzy from the impact of her head against the stone floor. She faintly heard Snotlout scream, Hiccup calling out for her as though she were already dead. When she eventually opened her eyes, she may as well have been.

The Grim Gnasher stood above her, head so close to her own that their noses may as well have been touching. She let out a faint cry and re-shut her eyes, convinced that this would be the last time she would ever live, and that her final moments would be being mauled by a dragon before she had even graduated Dragon Training. Pitiful.

When moments turned into minutes, Vega's breathing slowed. Her fear transformed into confusion, heartbeat no longer as rapid as it should have been. Why hadn't it done anything?

Slowly, Vega allowed her left eye to open just a fraction, only to find one staring back into her own. One that should have been angry and viscous, an eye that should have told more about the dragon's blood-thirst than any other trait it would ever posses, but it wasn't. It was curious.

Vega now laid under the dragon even more puzzled than before, both eyes open and searching. She wasn't sure what she was searching for: maybe a reason that she hadn't already been eaten or shot at, a reason this dragon was looking at her in the exact same way she was looking at it. The girl was searching for why this creature seemed soft, why it's face seemed so full of wander at what it had caught. It looked down at her and, for a second, it was almost as if it knew her. Like it had seen her before, some time ago, and it's memory was being restored as the time ticked by. Something in its eyes told her that their souls were connected somehow, that Vega had known it in another life.

   She was stunned as she searched. Vega knew those eyes.

    "Hey! Big, purple dinosaur!"

   The dragon's attention was snatched away from Vega, it no longer purred and watched, instead its eyes narrowed and it swung around. Vega was thrown aside with a moan, the creature now fixated on Astrid. She twirled her axe.

   Vega coughed the dust out of her lungs and pulled herself from the ground. She ignored the stinging she felt from the skin of her knees and watched closely as Astrid took a swing at the dragon, landing a hit before darting to the left in order to avoid a shot. The fire hit the wall of the arena and the villagers watching gawped as the blonde girl successfully hid behind one of the many barriers, just like she had done before.

Unable to decide if Astrid had done what she did to save Vega's life or to show off for extra credit, the brunette shook her head from side to side, dirt falling from her curls, and lifted her axe in hand. She threw it towards the dragon, crowd applauding as it span, but her pride of the throw was shut down as the Gnasher deflected it and fired a shot at her. She lifted her shield and ducked, feeling the force of the flame push her backwards. Vega let out a heavy breath and proceeded to follow Astrid's example of hiding behind another obstacle. Cursing lightly, the girl peered around the side and watched as Hiccup stood from behind his own.

Immediately the Gnasher headed for him, growling and hissing as it began to circle.

"This time-" Vega coaxed herself, squeezing her eyes shut and evening out her pants for air. She scrunched up her face and softened it, "This time for sure!"

Without so much as a thought, the young Viking threw herself out from behind the wooden barrier and headed for the dragon, snatching her axe from the ground on the way. She let out a battle cry as she hurtled her body as fast as her legs could take her, only to skid to a halt before she collided with the dragon laying on the floor.

Her breathing hitched, "No-"

"No!" Astrid screamed hysterically, stamping her feet and throwing her axe around as thought it were nothing. She hit the wooden barrier with ferocity, splinters of wood flying around. Vega was too shocked to even notice the fragments landing in her hair, "No! Son of a half-troll, rat-eating, munge-bucket!"

She stared at Hiccup as though he had powers that the rest of them couldn't even dream of possessing. He let out a small laugh and scratched the back of his neck. Vega nearly hit him, there and then.

Before Astrid could destroy the village, Gobber rushed forewords and gathered the trio, "Wait, wait!"

"So, later-"

"Not so fast!" The blonde man grabbed Hiccup by the back of his collar and dragged him back to the group, not letting him run off like he usually did.

"I'm kind of late for-" Hiccup was quickly cut off.

"What?" Vega seethed, pointed her axe at him. Her shock had finally worn off and she could feel the anger radiated from her body; cheeks crimson, eyes wide, stars ablaze. "Late for what, exactly?"

"Okay, quiet down!" Stoick silenced the crowd, all three teens now looking up at him. "The elder has decided."

Gobber raised his hand above Astrid's head, to which the elder frowned and shook her head. Vega looked down when she heard a thump and rose a brow at the blonde, who now laid upon the floor in a heap. She'd fainted. How very Astrid.

He then proceeded to waver his hand above Vega, the elder looking indecisive as she debated what the verdict would be. After a long minute, she eventually shook her head and they moved on to Hiccup. It didn't take any time at all for the elder to nod enthusiastically and for the crowd of Berkians to go wild. The rest of the teenagers rushed down and into the arena, grabbing the boy and throwing him over their shoulders.

"You've done it, Hiccup!" Gobber spoke in both shock and pride, "You get to kill the dragon!"

Hiccup looked towards his father, the man seeming the happiest he'd been in a long time. Vega didn't fail to notice the pure pride that emitted from Stoick and her shock of the situation turned into sadness. "That's my boy!"

As the group paraded Hiccup around, Vega found herself falling to the floor, legs numb and paralysed as the sting of failure set in. She peered down at her axe and cringed at the reflection she saw: a loser, a failure. A disappointment. She hadn't won, hadn't been able to make her parents proud. It was no longer a plan to win and kill that dragon tomorrow, there was no chances left. Vega had failed.

"Yeah! Yes-" Hiccup waved a meek arm, "-can't wait."

Starry eyes now venomous, Vega looked over her shoulder to see him be pulled out of the arena, his voice echoing in the distance. She scowled.

"I am so..."

• • •

"...leaving."

Vega rose a brow as she watched the boy haul a basket of items over his shoulder and dump them on the ground. She tapped her axe lightly against the rock she sat on, listening to Hiccup talk to himself like the fool he was.

   She had followed him to this part of the forest one day after training, when he had claimed that he had left his shield behind when he hadn't even brought a shield. It hadn't been too hard to not get caught — Hiccup was pretty oblivious to the world around him while they walked, his face full of concentration and his arms full of metal and paper. Vega followed him for a good thirty minutes of time, eventually finding the cove that they sat in right now.

   When she had peered through the opening, watching closely as he pulled himself down the rocks and onto the sand, Vega could only assume that this had been what he was hiding, or at least where he had been going every time that he rushed off for hours at a time. Upon not seeing anything worth reporting to anyone, nor anything that proved her theory of him having an unfair advantage, she had scoffed and left; walking back to the village with a harsh stare and a deep frown. She had at least expected to find something, but had wound up finding nothing at all. It was unknown, what exactly he had been doing down there, but she hadn't had the patience to wait for him to come back up.

   Having not seen him on the shoulders of Fishlegs or in the presence of Snotlout for the first time since he had won their penultimate challenge, Vega had marched on down to the place that she knew he would arrive eventually. There was still nothing out of the ordinary about it this time, and that had only made her angrier.

   She was prepared to give Hiccup a piece of her mind. The girl was going to demand to know how he had won, how he had beat her in something so important, and how he had gone from Horrendous Hiccup to Dragon Slayer.

   It was impossible, Vega knew it was, so she had to know what he was hiding. She had to know because she had lost because of it. She had let her parents down.

   Vega was devastated; she needed to take it out on someone.

    "We're leaving." Hiccup repeated to no one in particular, causing her to frown at him. Who the Thor was he talking to? "Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation. Forever."

   When the boy lent down to organise his things, Vega took it as the perfect time to slide her axe along the rock, making him yell and jump out of his skin in panic. Hiccup looked up at her and blinked for a minute, as though unable to believe who he was seeing in the sunset light, before his jaw dropped. He was so screwed.

    "What the-" he gasped out, taking a couple of steps back as she stood upon on the rock and inspected her weapon. He cringed and let out a sheepish laugh, nose wrinkled as he figured what to say, "What are you doing here?"

    "I want to know what's going on with you." She shrugged almost carelessly, launching herself from the rock delicately and landing on the ground in front of him.

   Vega took slow steps forward, starry eyes narrowed and blazing, taunting him as she twisted her axe in her hands methodically. Hiccup stumbled as he tried to keep up with her pace, tripping on a rock or a twig. "You know, I've been training for this my whole life. I'm good. That's because I worked for it, because it's in my blood. But you..."

   She paused, inspecting him with her eyes. "No one just gets as good as you do, not in weeks. Especially not you." Vega grit her teeth, "I know that you're up to something, Hiccup. What the Thor are you hiding?"

   Unable to find an excuse, Hiccup gawped at the girl emptily and mumbled an incoherent response. Vega frowned deeper.

    "Start talking!" She demanded, slamming the end of her axe into the ground. The boy stuttered words as she continued, "How did you get good? What- are you training with someone? Getting help? An unfair advantage? Who is it?"

    "Training?" He asked in confusion, as though it were a dumb suggestion.

   Looking down at his harness, Vega scoffed. She pulled up the shoulder pad before dropping it back down, "Does it involve this?"

    "This? Uh-" Hiccup faltered as he waved his hands around rapidly, pushing himself away from her before she had the chance too throttle him. He wasn't sure whether she would do it or not, but he guessed it was better not to test it out. She seemed angry. "I know this looks really bad, but you see-"

  Vega's head shot up at the sound of a scuffle, coming from somewhere across the stream. Her eyebrows furrowed as she grabbed the collar of Hiccup's shirt, throwing him down to the ground in front of her. He groaned but the girl ignored it, stepping on his side as she made her way to the river bank, glancing out at the open air with squinted eyes, axe protectively at her side. Vega ignored him as he stood up with a grunt, making his way to her left, flinching when he thought that she would push him again.

    "You're right! You're right-" he began to inform her, rushing after her when she made her way to the waters edge with a straight face. "You're right, I- I am through with the lies! I've been making outfits!"

   When she didn't respond, he tried again. "So, you got me!"

   Rolling her eyes, the brunette girl attempted to carry on, pursing her lips when he put himself in her way. She reached out a hand to move him out of her space but he quickly grabbed it, placing it on his chest and blocking her body each time she tried to get around him. "It's time that everyone knew. Drag me back, go ahead! Here we go-"

   Hiccup was cut off with his own yelp as Vega gripped his hand, twisting his forearm backwards until she heard a satisfying crunch. He felt to the ground in a heap.

    "Why would you do that?"

    "That's for the lies-" Vega stated as she kicked him in the gut, watching him fall back before he had even gotten up. "And that-" she dropped the base of her axe onto his stomach, watching his legs fly up, "-is for everything else."

   The growl of a dragon made her pull the weapon back up protectively, heading forward only an inch before she saw it. In the shadows, across the water, stood a Night Fury.

   Hiccup sighed, "Oh, man-"

    "Get down!" Vega gasped as she put an arm around him, tugging him back to floor with a thump. His body hit the ground a second time and he groaned, her body on top of his frail frame making the blow even worse.

   Vega hoisted herself up as the creature leapt towards them, growling and baring it's teeth. She held her axe up in the air and swung it, "Run, run!"

   Before it could hit the animal that stormed towards her young frame, Hiccup there himself into the air and kicked her axe out of the way, holding a hand up to the Night Fury behind him. The animal screeched to a halt, breathing heavily at the girl who looked up at the two as though she had gone insane.

    "It's okay!" He assured the scrambling girl and turned back to the creature, raising his hand gently, "It's okay She's a friend,"

   She was?

   Hiccup turned back to Vega who had gotten back to her feet in a crouch, slowly shuffling away at the dragon tried to get to her from under his arm. The boy slid foreword as the animal moved, heels kicking up dirt, "You just scared him."

    "I scared him?" The brunette raged but stopped herself, eyes wide. "Who is him?"

    "Vega, meet Toothless." Hiccup introduced the pair, the first still terrified and the second still angry. "Toothless, Vega."

   Her heart stopped in her chest as she realised what was happening; Hiccup had befriended a dragon. A Night Fury, of all of them! He hadn't been lying that night, he really had knocked one down, and now he had been meeting it everyday after training, and was planning to runaway with it now that he had won? Was he serious?

   With her lungs bursting for air, Vega turned and ran. She wasn't sure where she was going, perhaps to snitch on him, maybe to save her life and get someone from the village to kill the dragon before it killed them.

   Vega didn't know where for sure, but she did know that it was going to be anywhere but there.

    "We're dead."

——