Carrying Heather's belongings wasn't exactly the easiest chore in the world. Well, considering I've got limbs about as thick as toothpicks and that I can barely lift anything that is about half my size, it wasn't all that surprising that this job was going to be difficult.
Walking back up the catwalks and onto the island with all this luggage in my arms wasn't how I thought today was going to go. But hey, Heather and her family are moving onto the island! I'd say that just a little labor is worth it. Ever since we helped her save her parents, I have kind of felt responsible for her. Now that I know that she will be within talking distance most of the time, I feel better.
As we reached the top and walked into the village I realized that because Heather knows us, we COULD have brought Toothless. She knows him and likes him. She wouldn't have run off screaming. Well, maybe her parents would have, I don't know. Besides, he could have helped me carry their suitcases.
Heather and her parents carried some of their bags while Astrid and I carried most of them to be polite. Where I was scrawny and weak, Astrid was tough and looked like she could handle carrying even more bags. 'Here, take mine', I thought.
Finally we reached an empty house and determined that this is where they will live. "I'm so excited," cheered Heather as she burst through the door. Before I walked in, I looked over to the house on the right and noticed something. "Well well Astrid. Looks like you've got a new neighbor." "Yes. I've noticed. This should be fun."
We each walked into the house and dropped the luggage. I let out a huge sigh and allowed the air to refill my lungs. My dad walked in behind us and patted me on the back, pushing all air back out. "Thank you son. Now I must have a talk with Heather's parents. You and Astrid may resume your dragon training now." "Dragon training," asked Heather as she put down the last of her bags. She looked at us excitedly. "Would it be ok if I were to watch you?"
I smiled. "Of course. And hey, when you're ready, we'll be able to find your own dragon." She let out a little squeal. "I hope it's a Nadder like Astrid's!" Astrid laughed at the comment. "I'm sure we'll be able to find a Nadder for you. A Nadder suits you. Come on, let's get going to the arena." "Bye Mom. Bye Dad. I'll be back soon." Her parents waved to us as we walked out the door and into the woods. The three of us walked side by side with me in the middle, Astrid to my left and Heather to my right.
"This is so exciting! I can't wait find and train my own dragon!" I let out a little laugh. "I'm excited too. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here." "Hiccup's right," agreed Astrid, "we have other things to talk about. Like why did you and your family decide to move here?" She stroked her black braided hair.
"Well, my mom and dad own a fishing business. Because we come from such a small village and my dad had already taught everyone there how to catch fish, they didn't need us anymore. So, in order to make a living, we had to expand. I suggested that we move here and set up our business and, here we are." She outstretched her arms to signify that 'here' meant Berk.
"That sounds great Heather. From now on, when I need a fresh Cod, I'll come to you." She let out a little laugh. She tends to do that. A lot. I didn't mind though. It was kind of cute. "And I've got a question," I started. "Why didn't you say that it was you who was coming to the island in that message?" I saw Astrid nod, sharing my curiosity. "My mom and dad suggested that we say who we were, but I insisted that we let it be a surprise for you. Was it a surprise?"
"Oh, I was surprised alright." Her and Astrid laughed at this. "Yep, and it takes a lot to surprise my Hiccup here," Astrid said as she intertwined our fingers and kissed my cheek. She put extra emphasis on the 'my' as if to say that she owned me.
Heather's eyes looked like they were about to exit their sockets and she gasped and almost tripped on a stray tree root. "You two are together now?" Her left hand was over her mouth and her right one was pointing directly at us. Astrid and I looked at each other, then back to Heather and nodded.
She literally jumped in the air and shouted in absolute delight. When she calmed down she looked at us and continued to talk. "I knew it! I knew it I knew it I knew it! The moment I saw you two from under my boat, I knew you two shared something!" Astrid and I were smiling and laughed as she yammered on about how happy she was for the two of us.
She calmed down again and talked in a regular voice. "So, how long have you two been together?"
My mind went back to the night of the festival and how we kissed on the dance floor. "For a few months," I said. I looked over to Astrid and noticed she was blushing a little. "So," Heather started. "Tell me about it. When did this all start?" I cleared my throat a little. "Ah, Heather, it's kind of a long story. You probably don't want to hear it." "I don't know, we've got time," said Astrid, clearly wanting to see me make a fool of myself in front of Heather.
"Thank you, Astrid," I growled, not wanting to explain the story to Heather. It just seemed a little awkward to me. But the look on Heather's face clearly said that she really, REALLY wanted to know. I sighed. "Ok look, it started like this."
I told Heather about the festival we held and how I have wanted to ask Astrid to it for a long time but I was too afraid to. Once I got to the part where I actually asked her to the festival, Heather interrupted. "That's so cute! Whoops, sorry. Go on." We are getting closer to the arena now. I told her about the actual night of the festival and how Alvin showed up and captured our dragons. She let out a little gasp of fright. I assured her that everything turned out fine. Alvin had been the one who kidnapped her parents and forced her to deceive us. So, naturally, she wasn't too fond of him.
After I told her that bit, Astrid took over and told the rest of the story about how I unlocked the dragons and saved her from Alvin himself. Heather let out a sigh of relief. "And I suppose that you two have been together ever since. That's great! But I have one question, what happened to Alvin?" I let out a little snort. "Let's just say that we won't ever be hearing from him again. A 'friend' of ours took care of him." I knew she didn't understand what I meant by saying friend, but she did understand that it meant that Alvin was gone. Forever.
"Wow, look at you Hiccup. Defeating the Outcast chief and getting the girl. You're a regular hero, you know that?" Before I could protest at that statement, Astrid spoke up and said, "He sure is. He'll try to tell you that he isn't a hero and that he was just doing what anyone else would do, but don't listen to him." Both Astrid and Heather giggled again. Not only are the two of them getting along now, but also I think they're forming some sort of clique.
Feeling a little uncomfortable, I changed the subject. "Well, what about you Heather?" She looked at me confused. "What about me?" "Do you have a special someone yet?" She let out a little snort. "Nah. Not yet. But hey, I'm perfectly fine by myself. A special guy would be nice to have, but I can handle myself just fine." As she said that, she began to raise her chest and chin a little in order for her to display her confidence.
Astrid and I both laughed. "Well alright then. Hey, the arena is right up ahead. Let's get going."
The green grass suddenly stopped and was replaced with stone. The bridge to the arena was just ahead. We walked across the bridge and reached the other side.
That's when we heard the screams.
The three of us ran as fast as we could to the entrance. When we got there and ran inside, we found the source of the screaming: Jack. He was attempting to ride Meatlug now. He was spinning in complete circles in the air and holding on to the Groncle's back with all his might. Over the screams I could hear Fishlegs shouting out words of encouragement. Whether it was to Jack or Meatlug I wasn't sure. Meanwhile, Snotlout and the twins were enjoying the little show that Jack was putting on for them.
It's going to take a freaking miracle to get this guy to ride a dragon.
Meatlug let out a fireball from her mouth and it hit the wall, leaving a charred circle on impact. The force of the blast from the dragon made Jack lose his grip. His hands slipped off of Meatlug's reins and he fell to the floor, again. He landed with a loud thud in the center of the room, a little harder than the last few wipeouts he's had. Astrid, Heather and I let out a gasp in unison.
Before I could run over to his side, I heard "Oh my goodness!" Heather ran straight towards him before I got the chance to. At the sound of her voice, the other teens looked in her direction and their jaws dropped. They clearly weren't expecting her to be coming to the island either. She ignored their stares and made her way over to Jack, who was beginning to stand up on his own. "Hold on, hold on. Let me help you." She reached under his arm to help him up. He seemed a little dizzy. "Thank you," he muttered. Once he got to his feet, he looked over to the person who helped him up. Then, both of them froze.
For what seemed like hours the two of them just stood there, looking, staring, and analyzing each other's faces. Jack's jaw was now dropped and Heather looked a little out of breath. Time unfroze for the two of them once Snotlout walked over to the two of them with outstretched hands. "Well look who's back on the island. Couldn't take another day without me babe?" Heather looked disgusted.
With a simple raise of his hand, Jack pushed Snotlout away from the two of them. "Hey," he simply said. "Hey," she returned. Jack offered his hand. "Uh, my name's Jack." Heather looked at it and took it. "Heather."
Astrid and I were watching in disbelief. Looks like little miss 'fine by herself' found someone. And pretty quickly I might add.
The two of them kept shaking hands, completely oblivious to the fact that they were even doing it. They just stared at each other in an awkward and never ending silence. I had to end it. I walked over to them and put my hands on both of their shoulders. "Well, now that the two of you are formally introduced, let's get back to work, shall we?" As I said that, they both snapped back into reality.
"Oh, yeah. Uh, sure. Yes. I'm ready," they both stuttered.
"Alright everyone, you've clearly noticed Heather. She will be living on Berk with us from now on." The teens gave a cheer, except for Jack who was still staring at her. Heather blushed a little. "Does she need a place to stay? Because my place is always open," said Snotlout in the most creepy voice I have ever heard.
I quickly intervened. "She already has a place to stay. Thank you Snotlout for your kind offer," I said, trying to shut him down.
He backed up. I looked at Jack and Heather. "Hmm, looks like we've gotten two new students today," I said. Heather looked at me hopefully. "Would you like to join the Academy?" She first looked at me, then back to Jack. "Yes!" "Great." It was painfully obvious that these two wanted to get more acquainted, so an idea popped into my clever little noggin.
"Now Heather, You've been on the island before and have some riding and training experience. Jack on the other hand has not. I've got my hands full with the others at the moment. So, how would you like to be Jack's dragon training instructor?"
They both gasped and looked at me with wide eyes. I saw Astrid in the corner of my eyes with a smirk on her face and her hands on her hips, clearly admiring how well I'm handling my sudden role as matchmaker.
Jack and Heather looked at each other quickly then back to me again. Then they both replied in unison.
"Yes!"