Invention Protection
By Underwaterwriter (aka Random-storykeeper)
Up in the folds of an early grey morning, Stoick arose early, as he always did. Gathering up his hunting supplies for this day's expedition, he messily stuffed them into an over sling sack half his hefty size. Flinging it over his burly shoulders before straightening out his ruffled red beard with his broad fingers, he made his way out into the outdoors, towards the ships. Today was the day the Chief Viking and his crew would set out farther onto the sea, in hopes that this time around, they would make a good catch.
The morning ground greeted Stoick with the fresh scent of October drizzle as he carelessly flauntered down the sloped hill, the supplies jiggling in his burly sack while the wet ground exhaled the water it absorbed overnight. The moment Stoick neared the blacksmith shop, he paused to eye it carefully. His son, Hiccup, had not been sleeping at home whenever Stoick awoke lately. Knowing Hiccup, Stoick thought to himself, if he wasn't in the house on an early grey morning like this, he would be here, probably.
As the Chief Viking neared the blacksmith shop, for he had to pass the same path it stood on in order to reach the ships, sounds of pounding and rustling came to life in his listening ears. Before Stoick could open the door, however, an eager teenaged boy suddenly thrust it open, nearly whacking his father in the face. Familiarity dawned on Stoick as the boy turned around, realizing his father's presence.
"Sorry I almost slammed you in the face, Dad," Hiccup said apologetically as his dragon, known to all Vikings as Toothless, casually sauntered up the hill to join Hiccup, "But all this time I was working to build something, and then I realized…I needed a spare axe!"
While shrugging, Stoick eyed his son curiously. "There is a spare one you can use at the door," he reminded Hiccup, whose hand went to his forehead in response.
"Of course!" Hiccup replied, looking ashamed for missing something as simple as an axe. "I mean, I should know that, seeing as it's in my own house. Guess I kind of rushed and everything…" Letting his voice trail off, the boy turned to make the journey back to his house, only to stop after taking two steps. "Oh, and uh…" he called, facing Stoick while pointing to the blacksmith shop, "You probably…shouldn't go in there."
"Good morning to you too, Hiccup," Stoick called helplessly, for the boy, with his Night fury, had now advanced his way up the hill to his home, out of earshot. Sighing the way parents did when their children went their separate ways, Stoick resumed walking down the hill, where the ships awaited him. After three steps, however, he paused, casting a longful glance back at the lone building.
You probably shouldn't go in there, Stoick heard Hiccup's voice saying in his head. Those words were enough to make even the Chief Viking curious.
You know, he considered, examining the blacksmith shop at a different angle, Hiccup has been acting strange lately. Always out of the house way before I am. Never allowing any Viking to come three meters within the shop anymore. His pudgy fingers stroked his beard as he added, And I thought I was the early riser.
Whatever Hiccup was up to, Stoick's gut feeling knew full well that his questions would be answered should he go through the door. Refusing this golden, untold opportunity would be like turning down a good hunt. And Vikings, as Stoick knew, never turned down a good hunt. At last, deciding against his son's warning, he pulled the wooden door open carefully, then silently slipped inside.
All remained silent except for the blowing winds that slammed the door behind Stoick. Only then did the atmosphere of the surroundings begin to kick in. Rows of supplies lined newly built shelves. Blueprints for ideas were neatly tacked to walls and spewing out of other shelves. A notebook with its pages open stared wide-eyed at the Chief Viking, revealing its splendour of detailed diagrams and designs.
As if that wasn't enough, Stoick took note of the lack of walking space he had not recognized as much from before. Most of it was now occupied by odd contraptions eagerly presenting themselves. Vigilantly, almost with fright, his large hand cupped the beams of a catapult-like machine, which looked quite appropriate for hunting down anything flying in the air. Each machine was exquisite, exposing a new dimension of his son that he did not know beforehand. Propped on top of a darkened anvil, Stoick observed that a new metal foot was in progress.
Hiccup, Stoick sighed in thought, his broad chest heaving deeply. Of all those years they'd known each other, there still was more yet to learn. Of course, Stoick always wondered what the boy would be up to in his spare time, and had a feeling it would be something like this, but above all, he never would have envisioned all this…work.
At the same time as he thought this, Stoick's gaze wandered over to an open notebook on the desk before him. Curiosity quickly got the best of him as his Viking hands were quick to grab the book, hastily flipping through the pages until he came across a light sketch of which seemed to resemble a fishing net. After studying it for several moments, he turned the page. More detailed diagrams of this idea came to life on the folds of the paper. A few more pages later, Stoick found himself at some scribbled words scrawled across a sheet.
Like a fishing net, but it's going to be more efficient, Hiccup had written. Sturdier pegs attached to the mesh and a metal lining around the ships may allow for more fish to be caught and brought back to the island. A few more pages later, Stoick found himself looking upon a new revision of the fish net design, then another, and yet another…
By now, the Chief Viking found himself profoundly intrigued. All this time he had known his own son had been different since the moment he could crawl, but even to this day, he never realized that those toothpick arms attached to a fishbone body could hold so much potential. This young Viking still seemed to go where others would not.
As Stoick thumbed the pages and continued to peek through all of Hiccup's designs, the reminders of an awaiting Viking crew only pushed farther and farther to the back of his mind. When he was about to read a new idea for Toothless' fake tail, he suddenly stiffened as the clanking of rusty metal and subtle Night fury grunts were becoming more prominent. Someone was approaching the only door in the blacksmith shop, and Stoick had an obvious feeling he knew who it was.
Frantically, his eyes shifted from place to place, looking for a spot that would compensate for his burly size. At a last minute decision, he inched his way against the back of the wall, his shaking hands quickly dragging across what looked like a giant wooden cart with a dangling hook, despite the fact that it only covered every part of him-up to his chest. Realizing he still held Hiccup's notebook, Stoick immediately used it to shield what was left exposed, just as the door to the blacksmith shop creaked open. Silently, Stoick exhaled in a feeble attempt to reduce his size and hopefully go unnoticed. There, coming through the door, was Hiccup, steadying supplies propped on the back of Toothless.
"Good, we're here now," Hiccup was saying to Toothless, a sort of relief edging his voice, "We should probably start now, 'cause you know," he paused to dump supplies from Toothless' back to the floor, "this fish net's not going to build itself."
The fish net, Stoick echoed in thought, inhaling sharply to contain his excitement. Squirming a little in an effort to satisfy an itch on his back, he managed to remain still for the duration of the time. Upon noticing Hiccup approaching his hiding spot, however, he held his breath and covered his peeking eyes with Hiccup's notebook again.
"Uh, Toothless?" Stoick heard Hiccup ask while rummaging noises played in the background, "You didn't happen to take my notebook, did you?"
Stoick heard wagging and footsteps traveling around the room. Inconspicuously, Stoick revealed one eye to see what was going on. The Night fury was wandering around the room suspiciously, sniffing and nudging the various contraptions with his nose. Frozen with fear, Stoick pressed his back against the wall as he saw Toothless narrow his eyes at the structure Stoick hid behind before turning his head and walking the other way, his dragon eyes still twitching. The Chief Viking, about to exhale with relief for the close call, abruptly sucked it in again when he noticed that this time, his son stood only a couple of paces away.
"I could have sworn I left it on my desk!" Hiccup cried, exasperatedly searching behind every nook and cranny of the catapult invention that Stoick first reached out to purposely touch. When his persistent search came up with nothing less, he proceeded on to the invention next to it: the wooden cart of which his nosy father was hiding behind.
Without even noticing the ruffled red beard peeking over the cart, Hiccup took a look into the storage component of his contraption, in hopes that he would find his notebook in there. When he realized it was not there either, he stood back for a moment, scratching his head. Toothless, on the other hand, was busily scurrying around the floor, still trying to find the missing notebook.
Quietly and unobtrusively as possible, Stoick's arm with the notebook slowly extended towards nearby Hiccup, just as the boy groaned in frustration and turned his back the other way. Frustrated himself, Stoick let out a rumbling grumble, which managed to catch his son's attention.
"Oh thanks, Dad," Hiccup said casually, taking the book from his father's hand. The presence of his dad in the blacksmith shop kicked in seconds later as jumped back, startled, and let out a small yell of fright.
"Dad!" This time, Hiccup's voice was stern. "What are you doing in here?"
For a moment, Stoick remained still, unsure of what to do now. Certainly it was too late to run to the ships now, let alone deny the fact that he was indeed here and simply passing through. With another grunt, Stoick pushed the wooden cart to the left and emerged from his hiding place. All this time, his son stood there blinking, awaiting an answer. At last, Stoick broke the tension.
"Did you really think you could leave the house every morning and not go unnoticed?" Stoick asked, his voice rising as though Hiccup was hiding a dark, dangerous secret that he failed to let his dad know about.
"Well, I could have gone unnoticed if you hadn't decided to come in here!" Hiccup pointed out irritatedly, causing Stoick to slightly retreat at the verbal attack.
"Hiccup," Stoick spoke sternly, which was only said to stall time. A hand found its way onto his son's shoulder as the two stared each other down, only stopping when a knock sounded on the wooden door of the blacksmith shop. Before anyone could answer it, however, the door swung open and Spitelout stepped inside, a large sack draped over his right shoulder.
"Stoick?" Spitelout said, facing the Chief Viking. "I thought I heard you in here. The men are waiting in the ships and the sun's about to rise out of the water."
Nodding at this piece of information, Stoick reverted back to his Chief Viking expression and began to make his way towards Spitelout.
"Make sure the men are fully prepared to leave," ordered Stoick, "We'll depart upon my arrival immediately."
Spitelout nodded and was gone in a flash.
Exhaling heavily yet again, Stoick's shoulders drooped as he picked up his fallen sack, slinging it over his shoulders. Seeing his father's expression of despair and disappointment, Hiccup stepped forward and jumbled the words out in one breath. "I guess I shouldn't be keeping so many secrets from you, Dad."
Stoick's face lifted. "And I shouldn't be sneaking around your work, son."
The opportunity seemed to fit so flawlessly as Hiccup and Stoick stepped forward to wrap their arms around each other, staging the perfect makeup hug. As Stoick let go of his son to leave, however, his son interrupted him with a question.
"You didn't happen to be looking through this notebook, did you?" Hiccup asked, holding the notebook up to his father's face while eyeing him suspiciously.
Stoick, of course, was in utter denial. "Of course not!" he lied with an exclamation, even laughing some in an attempt to throw his son off his path. Before Hiccup could say any more, Stoick quickly pulled himself out of the doorway and set out into the early morning once again, where the ships awaited him.
~YYY~
The moment his father was clearly out of sight, Hiccup raced to shut the door and flipped the notebook open to his latest diagrams of the enhanced fish net, slapping it profoundly on the desk.
"Good thing he didn't notice it-huh, Toothless?" Hiccup asked in a reassuring tone, gathering supplies from their appropriate storages in order to commence his newest project.
Toothless only growled in response, turning to narrow his eyes at the closed wooden door. Even dragons had their own suspicions.