How to Train Your Friend

Chapter 2

Aerodynamics of Compulsion

Sunlight rose and fell over the island of Berk for many weeks after Hiccup and Toothless watched the ship carrying their letter to Jorvar leave the dock. It had been nearly two months since Hiccup felt a part of himself drift out to sea with his letter, and so far, there had been no signs that his summon was heeded. There was nothing that he could do regardless; life on the island of Berk went on as normal. Stoick brushed off that the letter had been sent to begin with and returned to focusing on his duties as chief. Hiccup did his best to continue teaching the students of the Berk Dragon Academy all that he had to offer as far as training, but more than often his mind would drift like the ship into thought and get lost at sea. His small feats of loss that were demonstrated at random times didn't go unnoticed by the other dragon trainers.

The most prominent stand out that he was hurting was the fact that every time training was done for the day, Hiccup would retreat with Toothless around the island, scouring for ships and other boats, hoping to hear some news or to find his friend. However, every day ended the same as the one before it. He'd maybe find one ship every few days, but it'd just be traders coming to or from the island looking to make a profit. At one point he had found a ship whose crew said that all merchant instructed with delivering a message were usually tardy about it, as they sail for money, not closure. And so his dampened mood remained, and there was still not a thing that Hiccup or his Night Fury Toothless could do but stay seated, and hope that Jorvar would come through.

This trend of depression continued to accelerate in Hiccup's mind as he sat on Toothless' back on yet another aimless day of waiting for Jorvar to show his face on the island of Berk. The water was dimly shimmering with the sun that was still high in the sky, as the clouds were rolling overhead against the strong blue, daytime ceiling. Hiccup fastened himself to his Night Fury, his equal, his friend. He then gave Toothless a mild kick in the side and made him swiftly fly to another rock to panorama around the crags and formations that lined the island. Still, there was nothing he could see, just endless ocean, like a prison wall keeping his friend out of his grasp.

Hiccup and Toothless suddenly heard another cry, one that was very distinct and was quite the head turner. They spun around and saw Astrid dive out of the sky, obviously, she was riding Stormfly. They dipped in danger and broke the wind that was rushing past them to gently land on the ground next to Toothless. Hiccup could see the concern on Astrid's face, and he immediately knew what this conversation was going to be about. "You're always running off like this after class. Is there something you want to talk about?" She made a hand gesture over her shoulder, swatting a fly or otherwise, Hiccup received the message.

"It's just that…" Hiccup knew that all of the friends that Astrid had ever known were all still on Berk, so she wouldn't understand his dilemma, but she was still a good friend, and it was tough to hide anything from her. "I figured that Jorvar would've at least sent some indication that he saw the letter by now. I mean…even if he decided not to come back, he could've at least responded. I know that Vikings are stubborn and all but…but…" Hiccup couldn't finish the thought, he was too frustrated. Toothless sensed the aggravation, and nudged Hiccup from below. Hiccup felt the movement and smiled. "Thanks bud…I'll be fine though…"

"Well…" Astrid began. "Maybe the wait will go by faster with a little friendly competition. How about a race…?" She teased, as fast as she knew Stormfly was getting with her steady diet of chicken, she knew that it still wasn't enough to beat Hiccup on his Night Fury. Hiccup shot Astrid a look of confusion and oddity, and he seemed to respond without saying anything, but Astrid refused to give him a choice. "Great…" She boasted loudly. "See you there…" And with a gale of win, Stormfly and her rider were gone. Hiccup fixed the ruffle in his hair the wind had caused, and Toothless growled, eager to protect his title as fastest dragon on Berk.

"Fine…let's go bud…" Hiccup said and clicked Toothless' tail into place. Not a second later, they were slicing through the air, gaining swift ground on the Deadly Nadder that was already far ahead of them.

Hiccup leaned forward as to reduce the air drag and increase his speed. Astrid turned around and saw them getting closer to her, and she moved up and whispered into Stormfly's earhole. With a subtle motion, Stormfly swirled her tail in a circular motion and let loose several spines off of her tail, darting backwards towards Hiccup and Toothless. It was one of Astrid's nasty tests; she was always doing that to Hiccup. "Toothless…plasma blast…!" The order escaped Hiccup's mouth in timelessness, and Toothless shot his signature bolt at the spines and they each blew to bits separately. Toothless flew up next to Stormfly and Hiccup gave Astrid another glance, this time of determination. "So…where is the finish line to this race exactly…?" He asked her, the wind breaking the voices that echoed.

"I was thinking your house…first to land in front of your house wins." And she spun underneath Hiccup and increased her speed, plowing through the air towards Hiccup's house in the main village.

Hiccup refused to lose at his own event, there was no beating their team, everyone on Berk knew it, and even Snotlout admitted it on rare occasion. Hiccup changed the tail setting for Toothless and ducked even further down to make themselves more aerodynamic, and after that, everything was a blur. Astrid saw a scalding black flash tear through the sky next to her, and the aftermath of wind didn't even hit her until a few seconds later. Hiccup held his grip, as he'd only gone this fast on Toothless for the rarest of occasions. The sky and land came at them like lightning, and Hiccup felt the land beneath his feet in the blink of an eye. Astrid flew down to meet him a few moment later, accepting defeat, but Hiccup knew that this was only to take his mind off of Jorvar, even if it was for just a minute. The She-Viking and dragoness grounded themselves and walked up to Hiccup, extending a hand.

"Well done Hiccup…you're still the fastest on Berk." Astrid was an honest Viking, but Hiccup was hesitant to shake hands.

"I know why you did that Astrid, and I appreciate it, I really do." Hiccup smiled, and reconsidered the handshake, but Astrid withdrew her hand and instead approached Hiccup in full body and embraced him in a whole hug. Hiccup wrapped his arms around Astrid and squeezed, feeling her friendship radiate like the heat of dragon's fire. Astrid returned the grip, slightly harder than Hiccup, but she could tell that he didn't mind. It lasted several moments, and Hiccup was the first to pull away. "Suddenly…life isn't so bad without Jorvar." Hiccup proclaimed with a treasured grin. Astrid put her hands on her hips and grinned with one side of her mouth like she always had, and then she felt herself grow compassionate.

The moment was broken by Fishlegs suddenly hovering by on Meatlug and yelling their names. "Hiccup…Astrid…!" They nailed their gaze in, and then both looked to their hovering friend in unison. "There's a boat heading towards Berk, it's about to dock…we think you'll like who's on it!" And Fishlegs flew away with his Gronckle. Hiccup looked at Astrid; he saw that she was slightly disoriented, for if the Viking he was hoping for was on the ship, her short lived effort would be wasted.

"Astrid…if Jorvar is down there…it won't make a difference. I really am grateful for what you tried to do." Hiccup tried to give her the condolence that she deserved, but Astrid only seemed disappointed.

"It's fine Hiccup…let's go meet your friend." And she walked towards the dock planks. Hiccup only sighed.

"Stay here bud…" He told Toothless, "I think we should wait to tell Jorvar about Berk training dragons."

It was a joined effort, but both Hiccup and Astrid made their way down to the dock to welcome Jorvar, if it truly was him. As they walked down the wooden bridges to the docking area, they saw the ship was still coming in, as it was close, but hadn't fully anchored. Hiccup stood his ground as he watched the ship finish its venture and halt its sails and drop anchor, tying itself down and fastening the lines. Hiccup and Astrid both held their breaths, and then they breathed relief, it was him. The still young Viking proudly hopped off the ship, leaving his parents onboard behind and running to Stoick. Stoick scooped him up in his arms and hugged the little lad like he had been his own son, even though after the letter was sent he had ignored him. All of Hiccup's other friend ran to greet Jorvar as well while the parents gave their strength to get Jorvar's belonging off of the ship they had arrived on. From far away, all Hiccup could hear was idle chatter. Astrid sensed his distress.

"Something wrong Hiccup…?" She asked him.

"I just thought of something that I hadn't considered before." And Astrid got closer, intrigued. "What if…when Jorvar finds out that we train dragons now…he starts acting like Mildew? What if he hates dragons with a passion, claims he'll never ride them?" Astrid patted his shoulder.

"You're overthinking this thing again Hiccup. If he's half the Viking you've built him up to be, he'll be a fine dragon trainer." Hiccup wanted to believe her, in this moment, with his friend only a few short steps away, how could he not?

Hiccup and Astrid finished the walk down to the dock where Jorvar had landed, and Hiccup tried his luck once more. "Jorvar…!" He screamed and waved his hand up high. Jorvar turned around and through Hiccup's entire group of friends, he saw him. Jorvar's faced became bioluminescent, a crackling fire, a shooting star across the sky. This was the reason he had come back, this was the moment he had endured weeks of sea travel for, it was all for this moment when he would be reunited with Hiccup again. Jorvar sliced through the small crowd of Vikings gathered around the ship and barged towards Hiccup.

"Hiccup…!" He hollered towards him, his playmate, and childhood ragdoll. Hiccup couldn't run well, not with his metal leg, so he steeled himself to the ground and waited. Jorvar nearly set the wood of the dock on fire he was running towards Hiccup so fast, and before either of them knew it, Jorvar dove into Hiccup. Both toppled to the floor boards of the pier, and both cracked up laughing as Jorvar got up off of Hiccup and pulled him to his feet. "Gees Hiccup…" Jorvar started. "I can't believe it's you…! You look so much different, I hardly recognize you bud." Jorvar was a kindhearted spirit; he wasn't one to use such words as bud, pal, or dude.

"I know…I feel different too. But you Jorvar…" Hiccup said and gestured to all of him. "You've changed even more than I had. What happened to that whitening hair of yours?" Hiccup asked Jorvar. It was true, Jorvar appearance had changed. His hair was now browner than it was white, and his eyes had changed from green to a green-gray mix. He was still slightly taller than Hiccup was, but that was nothing more than a mild age difference. He wore a well-crafted fur vest and boots, and silky shirt and pants. It was definitely a notable change in the would-be dragon trainer, something Hiccup was itching to tell him about.

"I'm not sure what happened to my hair…it just kind of…stopped going white. Weird huh…?" And Hiccup nodded. Jorvar then took noticed of Astrid standing behind Hiccup. "Astrid…I see you haven't changed at all."

"Nice to see you Asvald…" Astrid said with a sneer. Jorvar backed off immediately, but then spun right back around to Hiccup.

"So Hiccup…now that I'm back on Berk…what are we going to do first? Go swimming…? Hike the trails…? Raid some dragon's nests…?" This was where the inevitable truth was going to come out, Hiccup could sense it.

"Yeah…about that Jorvar; look there's been a really big change on Berk since you've been gone and I think it'd be best if you just…" Jorvar was paying full attention, as he was very curious, but the loud and grinding roar of Toothless, peering over the edge of the cliff and jumping down after a short glide, slamming onto the dock and running up to Hiccup made Jorvar's fear manifest. "Yeah…we uh…we train dragons on Berk now…" There, he had said it, the truth was out. Jorvar was feeling a mix of shock and petrification, and his body reacted the only way it could. The bump was heard, and Jorvar's body was flat on the dock.

Stoick took notice of this and walked over to Jorvar and picked his body up and placed it over his shoulder while Gobber closed his parents' mouths. Stoick hauled Jorvar past Hiccup and Astrid and chuckled over his shoulder. "He took it better than I thought he would…"And he laughed harder walking up the dock planks.

"Yes…a Viking fainting at realizing his home has drastically changed is drop dead hilarious…" Hiccup said, Toothless and Astrid following Stoick up to their house. It was there that Jorvar would be given refuge until the truth sunk in, which by the looks of things wouldn't be for days.