(Hiccup's POV)
Dragon training was starting to make sense.
Which was exactly the opposite of what it should have been doing.
Hiccup stood in the arena with the other students while Gobber paced in front of them, gesturing toward the dragon cages.
"Every dragon has something that sets it off," Gobber said. "You just have to figure out what it is before it eats you."
The gates opened.
A Monstrous Nightmare burst into the arena with a roar.
Flames flickered between its teeth as it stomped toward the students.
Everyone backed away immediately.
Everyone except Hiccup.
He watched the dragon.
Not its teeth.
Not its claws.
Its posture.
The way its wings shifted.
The way it inhaled before breathing fire.
Something clicked.
"Wait," he murmured.
The dragon lunged.
Hiccup grabbed a shield and slid sideways.
The Nightmare blasted fire where he had just been standing.
Hiccup remembered something from the forest.
Toothless reacting to something in the pond.
Something slippery.
Something long.
Something the dragon had absolutely hated.
He reached into the supply bucket near the arena wall and pulled out a long eel.
Gobber blinked.
"Lad, what are you—"
Hiccup tossed the eel straight toward the dragon.
The reaction was immediate.
The Nightmare recoiled violently.
It shrieked and backed away, shaking its head as if the eel were the most horrible thing it had ever seen.
The entire arena went silent.
Astrid stared.
Fishlegs looked stunned.
Gobber slowly folded his arms.
"Well I'll be…"
Hiccup grinned nervously.
"Trial and error."
Later That Evening
The hidden basin had become familiar now.
Hiccup stepped into the clearing with a basket of fish as the waterfall trickled softly into the pond.
Toothless looked up immediately.
"Hey, bud."
Hiccup tossed a fish.
Toothless caught it.
Hiccup sat on the rock beside the pond and flipped open his notebook.
"Okay," he said. "So apparently dragons hate eels."
Toothless snorted.
Hiccup scribbled the note quickly.
"Toothless hates them. Nightmare hates them. Possibly universal dragon thing."
Toothless flicked his ears.
Hiccup leaned forward slightly.
"Which means I'm either discovering dragon psychology…"
He tossed another fish.
"…or I'm incredibly lucky."
Toothless caught the fish again.
Above the clearing, hidden among the branches overlooking the pond, the bat-winged dragon watched quietly.
Her ears rotated as she listened to the strange noises the human made.
Below, Toothless seemed calmer now.
More relaxed around the boy.
The bat-dragon's tail flicked thoughtfully.
The human was learning quickly.
Learning things that most humans never bothered to notice.
Below, Hiccup flipped another page in the notebook.
"Next test," he said.
He leaned forward slightly.
"Let's see how you react to—"
Toothless suddenly stiffened.
His head snapped toward the trees.
A low rumble rolled from his chest.
Hiccup froze.
"What?"
The Night Fury stared toward the forest edge.
High above them, in the branches where she had been watching for days—
The bat-winged dragon had shifted.
Just slightly.
Toothless' eyes locked onto the trees.
For the second time—
He knew something else was there.