Chapter One: Handicap

A soft breeze drifted through the valley, ruffling Hiccup's dark hair as he stood beside his closest companion, the Night Fury, Toothless. The black dragon nuzzled closer to his human, a soft purr emanating from its throat. Hiccup patted Toothless' head and turned to look at the rest of the group; the dragon trainers had returned to Berk for a few days to collect some supplies and Hiccup's father, Stoick, had decided to grasp the chance to do some training of his own with them. The Viking stood at the front of the group, long auburn beard rustling in the wind and his ever-faithful companion Gobber by his side.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were perched atop their dragon, Barf and Belch, and were currently deciding who had the longest tongue as they pulled obscure faces at one another. Snotlout was arguing profusely with Hookfang, who seemed to be enjoying setting his trainer's tunic on fire. Next to the squabbling pair, Fishlegs and Meatlug were both enjoying a snack; the Viking picking at berries on a nearby bush and his dragon devouring every boulder in sight. Astrid and Stormfly were beside Hiccup and Toothless, the former sitting on the blue Deadly Nadder as it sat patiently.

"Okay," Stoick finally spoke up, his bellowing voice easily reaching the trainers, "Time to let you know what's happening."

He turned to Gobber, who had just finished screwing on his hooked hand, and gestured for him to speak.

"Right, yes," Gobber cleared his throat and continued, "Well, today we have some extra tricky training for the six of you," Toothless made a soft whining sound and Gobber corrected himself, "Sorry, twelve of you. You'll be-"

"-Does that mean our dragon counts as two?" Tuffnut interjected.

"It does have two heads," Ruffnut continued.

"Fine!" Gobber sighed, "Eleven of you."

"Does that mean we only count as one?" Tuffnut looked at his sister, disgusted at the thought.

"Gross!" Ruffnut slapped her brother's helmet and it spun wildly, "I don't want to be associated with you!"

"Look, everyone counts as themselves, okay!" Hiccup shook his head tiredly, "Can we just find out what Gobber has to say, please?"

The twins started to bat at each other's helmets but Gobber continued nonetheless.

"As I was saying, you'll be doing some extra tricky training today. You'll each have to make your way to the other side of the island, collecting three items each along your way."

"Ha!" Snotlout scoffed, "Easy! Hookfang and I could do that with our ears closed!"

"Don't you mean 'eyes'?" Astrid asked.

"Eyes, ears, we'll close everything! We're that good."

Gobber ignored the ever-enthusiastic Snotlout, "There'll be some obstacles along the way, courtesy of some wild dragons, and some surprises. So keep on your toes!"

"And," Stoick's bellows filled the clearing once again, "You'll each have a handicap. To make things interesting."

Tuffnut slapped a hand to his helmet, "But I don't want a cap, I like my helmet!" His sister nodded in agreement as Gobber stepped up to each rider.

Once beside the twins, he pulled out a length of cotton from his pocket and handed it to Ruffnut. She looked at it blankly.

"Tie that around your brother's eyes," Gobber ordered.

Barf leaned closer to Belch and Ruff did just that, enjoying it all the while, leaving Tuff completely blind.

"You will have to guide Tuffnut as you make your way across the island and you, Tuffnut, will have to trust your sister completely.

"Who said that?" Tuff flailed his arms wildly and flopped off Belch onto the ground with a grunt.

Next was Fishlegs. Gobber instructed him that he could not ride Meatlug for the duration of the exercise much to Fishlegs' horror. His dragon, however, seemed quite content with the idea of having a break from carrying the chunky lad as he chomped on another boulder.

Gobber moved on to Snotlout and Hookfang.

"Whatever it is, we'll deal with it," Snotlout stuck out his chest and grinned widely.

"You, Snotlout, cannot get off your dragon until you reach the other side."

Hookfang's lip curled, showing his sharp teeth, and Snotlout's grin faded a little. They weren't exactly known for their perfect relationship and he was not looking forward to having the angry Monstrous Nightmare attached to him at all times.

Astrid and Stormfly looked confident as Gobber stepped closer to them. Astrid knew there was nothing she and her dragon couldn't handle.

"You two will have no weapons." Gobber held out his hand and Astrid handed over her trusty axe, as well as a few daggers and a small slingshot she'd been keeping in her boot.

"That's not too bad," Astrid flicked her hair over her shoulder and patted Stormfly's head, "At least we still have your attacks."

"Afraid not, Miss," Gobber shook his head, "As far as this mission is concerned, Stormfly has no arsenal, understand?"

The blonde girl pouted but nodded her head nonetheless.

Finally, Gobber hobbled over to where Toothless and Hiccup were standing. He seemed to glance back at Stoick as though to ask permission for something and then held out his one hand to the boy. Hiccup raised an eyebrow and looked at Toothless before turning back to Gobber.

"What?"

"Hand it over, Hiccup."

"Hand what over?"

Silently, Gobber looked down at Hiccup's leg with an almost apologetic look in his eyes. Hiccup's eyes bulged and he jumped back.

"My leg?! But I can't walk without it! And I can't fly Toothless!"

"That's kind of the point, Hiccup."

"Isn't there something else?" Hiccup looked almost frightened as he looked from Gobber to his father and back again, "Maybe you could tie my hands behind my back or something?"

Stoick slapped a heavy hand to his son's shoulder, "This exercise is to help you know how to cope when you're helpless. You'll get it back when you're done."

Sighing, Hiccup leaned on Toothless and untied his metal foot. He hopped awkwardly and handed it to Gobber reluctantly as Toothless steadied him. Astrid looked down at Hiccup from her place atop Stormfly and gave him a reassuring smile. It didn't help, however, as Snotlout was almost falling off Hookfang as he guffawed, tears streaming down his face.

"Oh, this is priceless! Someone hand me some charcoal, I need to capture this moment forever!"

"Alright!" Stoick opened his arms, "Now that you're all prepared I'll show you what you need to find on your way across the island." He held out three small wooden discs, "You each have to collect three of these discs with your dragon's symbol on them and bring them to me on the other side. If you don't have all three when you reach me, I'll send you back until you do! Understood?"

"Um, what discs?" Tuffnut wobbled across the clearing, straight into a tree as Ruffnut giggled manically.

"And remember," Gobber chimed in, "This isn't a race! It's training!"

"Yeah right," Snotlout kicked his legs and Hookfang raised into the air, "See you on the other side, losers!"

Fishlegs patted Meatlug's hide and started to stroll towards the treeline, "Come on, girl. Slow and steady wins the race."

"Tuff!" Ruffnut squawked from atop Barf as her brother stumbled towards the sound of her voice, "This way, idiot!"

"Which way?!" Tuff's shoulders slumped and he tilted his head to try and hear his sister more clearly.

"OVER HERE!" Barf cringed back as his rider's voice echoed in his ears.

"Alright," Tuff stopped moving and positioned himself in the direction he believed his sister was in. Then, without another thought, he charged, full speed, across the clearing. Thankfully he ran into his dragon before he ran into a tree and bounced backwards onto his rear. He got to his feet and raised his hands triumphantly, "Yes! I knew that would work! Belch, lift me up!"

Belch did just that and finally the twins were on their way, albeit a little lopsidedly.

"Okay, Stormfly, let's go!" the Deadly Nadder rose silently into the air, "Good luck, Hiccup!" And with that, Astrid was speeding off, into the trees.

Hiccup turned to Toothless, resting his weight on the dragon, "Okay, bud. We can do this."

Without thinking, Hiccup went to mount his dragon and put weight on a leg that was no longer there. He flopped to the ground heavily and stared up into bright green eyes that were highly concerned.

"Well, that was dumb."

Not without difficulty, Hiccup managed to perch himself on Toothless precariously and was quite pleased with his accomplishment. He inhaled deeply and held on tightly to the reigns.

"Okay, bud, let's go."

Not used to his rider being so unstable, Toothless bounded forward and flapped his wings, ready to take flight. Hiccup bounced around on his back like a rag doll, the strap for his prosthetic leg dangled uselessly beside the empty space where his foot should have been and he tried to shout over the furiously beating wings,

"Whoa! We can't fly like this, bud!"

Pleading green eyes turned back to look at Hiccup and a low rumbling vibrated along Toothless' spine. He flapped his wings once more but quickly understood that it was a useless gesture, finally giving in and walking slowly towards the treeline.

Once all of the riders were out of sight, Gobber turned to Stoick, "Do you think we were a little too harsh?"

"Nonsense!" Stoick slapped his friend's back and nodded firmly, as though trying to convince himself as well as his companion, "They'll be just fine."