Chapter 3: Bonding
Fury
"So why didn't you?" Hiccup couldn't help but wonder why that Night Fury didn't kill him. He'd brought down on of the most elusive, deadliest dragons known to Vikings; and let it go, it had the opportunity to rip his head off but it didn't..Why? Putting down the remnants of his bola he set off to hopefully find the dragon. For dragon that had never been seen before it wasn't really good at covering it's tracks..That didn't seem right..
After a few minutes of trekking through Berk's thick forest, Hiccup finally reached what seemed like a cove. It was surrounded on all sides by a thirty foot cliff face and had a fairly large lake in the middle of it all. 'It looks like the perfect get-away, somewhere someone could escape all their problems,somewhere to lay back and relax, somewhere someone could be themselves...' It was as if the gods wanted him to find this place, and the Night Fury was the golden thread to it.
But where was the Night Fury? Surely it's here? The trail led him here..
"Well this was useless.." Hiccup said slightly annoyed.
Just as he was about to leave he noticed a black spot on the ground. Bending down to pick it up, he noticed that it wasn't just a spot, it was a scale; A Night Fury scale to be exact. but then again where was the elusive dragon?
All of a sudden a large body flew by, shocking Hiccup off his feet. It came back down, but clawed at the rocks in an attempt to climb out of the pit it was in.The Night Fury! was the only thought running through Hiccup's mind; That alongside fear and confusion. Fear for what would happen if he were to be seen. Confusion as to why the dragon didn't just flap it bat like wings and fly out of here.
The dragon pushed of the cliff face and glided down towards the ground. It made it's way to the lake and tried to catch a fish, but failed miserably. With a huff of frustration it scorched the ground it stood on and curled around itself.
Taking out his journal, he began to sketch the creature to the best of his ability. His confusion began to seep into the forefront of his mind. It ( the Night Fury) had multiple opportunities to fly away, but it didn't...Why? It was then he noticed the dragon lacked it's left tail fin..Looking back down to his drawing of the creature he notices the difference and rubbed off the missing fin, guilt starting to slowly make its way to him.
During his period in 'thinker mode' his pencil managed to slip out of his grasp and fell down into the cove with a 'clink'. He winced as the pencil hit the ground; The dragon turned to locate the source of the sound and noticed Hiccup upon the ledge. They're eyes caught, emerald green into acid green; The Night Fury slowly got up and strode over to the pencil, and tossed it up to Hiccup, who merely nodded in thanks, too stunned to say anything.
And with that both parties went they're separate ways; One to a life less appreciated and the other to never fly again...
Fury
Hiccup arrived at the great hall, drenched, on his way back to the village, Berk's "perfect" weather decided to annoy the lad...life...
He pushed the doors of the hall open and walked in, water dripping off of him. The teens and Gobber were seated around a table talking about their 'lesson' they learnt that day. Gobber shot a stern look towards Hiccup as he circled around to take a seat, leaving Hiccup alone on the adjacent table.
"Alright. Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?"Gobber asked."I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble." replied Astrid not even looking away from her food.
"Yeah, we noticed." said Ruffnut sarcastically with an eye roll.
"No, no, you were great. That was so "Astrid"." said Snotlout trying his best to flirt with Astrid.
"She's right, you have to be tough on yourselves."Said Gobber annoyed with the boy constantly trying to assert his "Vikingness" and the...warrior..."Where did Hiccup go wrong?"
"Uh, he showed up?" "He didn't get eaten." Answered the twins like it was the most obvious answer.
"He's never where he should be." Said Astrid, completely uninterested with the whole discussion.
"Thank you, Astrid." Said Gobber with an exasperated sigh. He took an old book and tossed onto the table. "You need to live and breathe this stuff. The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of."
"No attacks tonight. Study up." And with that he left; but not without hearing the teen's disappointment, well most of them.
"Wait, you mean, read?" Said Tuffnut "While we're still alive?" Continued his twin.
"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Idiot..
"Oh! I've read it like, seven times." said Fishlegs eagerly. "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face. And-And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week-" He was cut off by Tuffnut before he could finish.
"Yeah, that sounds great. See, there was a chance I was going to read that..." "...But, now..." Both him and his twin shared a look of boredom before taking off
"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." Said Snotlout as he too left.
Trying to keep up with the rest of his 'friends' , Fishlegs picked up his tray and ran behind the others spewing out more Dragon facts"Oh, and there's this other one that has these spines that look like trees...Leaving a nervous Hiccup and a bored Astrid;
"So I guess we'll share?" Hiccup asked hopefully. To which Astrid simply answered "Read it." while pushing the book towards the boy.
"All mine then. Wow, okay. So, I'll see you, uh... "The door slams, leaving Hiccup on his own with the dragon manual in the dark-ish hall. "tomorrow."
Late at night
Hiccup returned to the great hall in the cover of darkness, while most of the village was asleep. He placed the book o one of the tables and placed his lamp beside it. Opening it halfway through he read the inscription of the page.
"Dragon classifications. Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class." He turned the page and read it's contents.
"Thunderdrum: This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight."
"Timberjack: This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight."
"Scauldron: Sprays scalding water at its victim. Extremely dangerous."
"Changewing: Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight." He quickly glanced through the stained pages with a lot of graphical violence..
"Gronckle, Zippleback, The Skrill..related to Skrillex by any chance?.., Boneknapper, Whispering Death. Burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside-out. Extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous, kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight..." he kept running through each page and skipped to the end till he reached a page that had NO pictures and VERY LITTLE information on it.
"Night Fury: Speed, unknown. Size, unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you." An apt description of the dragon he found and was found by not just once but twice, strangely enough.. He placed his drawing on the page and with that the light went out..
Meanwhile with Stoick and the others..
It had been a day since they had left Berk. Stoick had led his band of warriors towards a thick wall of fog. One that lay like a large wall hiding all manners of death traps and mysteries behind it
"I can almost smell them. They're close. Steady."He gave out orders as quietly as he could before ordering his men to turn into the fog."Take us in."
"Hard to port..." His orders were quickly relayed and almost instantly each of the ships turned into the fog; "for Helheim's gate." Helheim's Gate...
Fury
The next day with Hiccup..
The teens were running around in a maze of sorts, most likely their next challenge/class. While all the other teens were running around and hiding, Hiccup just stood by and asked the oddest questions..
"You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies." He was roughly pushed aside as some of teens ran by. "Is there another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet? WHOA!" He was interrupted by a Nadder perched on one of the walls. He scrambled away from the place as the dragon went to find another target.
"Focus, Hiccup! You're not even trying!" Gobber shouted out to the boy.
Returning his focus to the rest of the class he said "Today is all about ATTACK! Nadders are quick and light on their feet! Your job is to be quicker and lighter!"
Fishlegs cowered in a corner"AAAAAH! I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" He said.
Meanwhile the twins ran into one of the passages and came face-to-face with the beast. It momentarily noticed them but squawked when it somehow lost track of them even when the twins were smack in front of it.
"Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike!" Gobber called out to the kids.
The troublesome duo were "trying" to remain still and in the dragon's blind-spot."Ugh! Do you ever bathe?" Ruffnut said as she lightly shoved her brother
"If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot!" Replied her twin who shoved her with even more force. Soon the two broke out into a mini brawl and got in each other's faces.
"How about I give you one?!" said Ruff to Tuff...Both of them seemed to have fallen into their own world and failed to notice the Nadder a few feet in front of them. It squawked as if to say "You done yet?' as soon a the duo came back into it's vision. It roared and the twins scrambled off as the dragon set chase after them.
"Blind spot, yes. Deaf spot? Not so much. Heh, heh, heh." Said Gobber chuckling at their predicament...What a nice teacher...
Meanwhile Hiccup had stopped yet again to ask more about the Night Fury "Hey, so how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"
"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale." Replied Gobber annoyed "NOW, GET IN THERE!"
"I know, I know, but hypothetically-" Hiccup was cut off by Astrid who alongside Snotlout were crouched beside a wall trying to hid from the dragon who had peeked in their general direction.
"Hiccup! Get down!"
They moved as soon as the beast turned it's attention away from them and rolled past the gap towards the other set of walls..Hiccup tried to replicate the maneuver but failed as he wasn't strong enough to take his shield with him during the roll. He fell flat on his back a groaned at his luck when the dragon turned it's attention on him.
Quickly he got up and ran with Snotlout and Astrid, taking a different path along the way. Trying once again to impress Astrid, Snotlout stopped Astrid from charging the Nadder.
"Watch out, babe. I'll take care of this." He threw his War hammer at the dragon full force but it missed the beast entirely and hit the wall behind it. The dragon let out what seem like a draconian laugh and resumed it's chase; Snotlout spewing out all manners of excuses.
"The sun was in my eyes, Astrid! What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I could do that, but I don't have time right now!"
Hiccup meanwhile had stopped YET AGAIN to pry more information on the Night Fury; Oblivious to the teens and dragon heading his way. "They probably take the daytime off. You know, like a cat. Has anyone ever seen one napping?" During this time Astrid was being chased through the maze by the beast. It soon knocked down some of the wall and those bumped into other walls creating a domino like effect.
"Hiccup!"Gobber screamed out in warning as the final wall fell and as Astrid jumped off it with the Nadder right behind.
"HICCUP!"
She fell onto Hiccup as soon as he turned towards her falling body. He had raised his shield slightly in surprised defense as to not get impaled by her axe, thus lodging it into the shield.
"Oooh! Love on the battlefield!" Tuffnut teased.
"She could do better." Said his sister
"Just... let me... why don't you..."Hiccup tried to reason with the young shield maiden on top of him, his face flushed with embarrassment, all the while Astrid yanked on her axe to somehow get it unstuck. Tugging on it more she, shoved her foot into Hiccup's face and yanked even harder (A/N : No dirty thoughts here kids..) as she heard the dragon charging at them.
With a frustrated growl she ripped the axe off Hiccup taking the shield with it, turned around and smacked the dragon straight on, breaking apart the shield completely. She stood there pant hard, clutching her axe handle harder she turned around...
"Well done, Astrid." Sh completely ignored Gobber's compliment and went straight towards Hiccup who was picking himself up.
"Is this some kind of a joke to you?!"She shouted pointing her axe at him "Our parents' war is about to become ours! Figure out which side you're on."
She left him standing there with a thoughtful look on his face.
" Figure out which side you're on"
Hiccup had left immediately after training, Astrid's words fresh in his mind. He knew what had to be done now...Even if it meant going behind the village's backs to do so.
He made his way to the food storage and decent sized fish form one of the baskets.
In the cove..
Equipped with a standard Viking shield he slowly crawled through the crevice between the cliff; the entrance into the cove..Well one of many..He threw the fish onto the ground in font of him and waited for a few seconds before scampering in. However as he was about to enter his shield got stuck in between the narrow pass.
Sighing in frustration he ducked under it and walked over to the fish and picked it up. He took a look around , mouth agape in awe of the beautiful scenery around him. It looked a lot more beautiful now that he stood in the center of it all.
While he took in his surroundings he failed to notice the Night Fury perched upon a large boulder, ready to pounce at any given time. it let out a low growl causing hiccup to freeze. Turning around he saw the Night Fury climb down from the rocks. It sniffs at Hiccup and the fish, slowly approaches, then retreats upon seeing Hiccup's knife.
Brushing his hand over the sheathed dagger, he receives another growl but unsheathes it nonetheless and drops it to the ground. It growls again and gestures for him to toss it into the lake. He uses his foot to accomplish this the dagger hit the water's surface it slowly relaxes and approaches Hiccup, mouth open wide. It looked as though it never had teeth; Gums like a newborn baby...
"Huh. Toothless. I could've sworn you had... teeth."Suddenly the dragon unsheathed it's teeth and chomped down on the fish narrowly missing Hiccup's arm. It ate quickly and looked at Hiccup with an inquisitive gaze before crawly forward as if to see if he had more fish.
"Uh, uh, no, no, no. I-I don't have any more." he stammered as he was pinned (not really) to a small-ish boulder.
It then regurgitated half of the fish onto Hiccup's lap and motioned him to eat it. Grimacing at the sight he raised it up and took and small bite out of it. It the proceeds to direct Hiccup through biting and swallowing he does it and gives a small smile towards the dragon just for good measure. The Night Fury then tries to return Hiccup's smile, which shocks Hiccup YET AGAIN. Raising his hand as to touch the Night Fury he receives a snarl and with that the flies away or at least tries to.
A few hours later and a lot of failed attempts at touching the dragon,Hiccup gets bored and draws a rough image of the Night Fury in the sand. He feels a presence and turns to see said dragon behind him watching intently. With a huff the dragon walks away to return with a branch and uses said branch to 'draw' Hiccup in the dirt. The dragon sets the branch down and waits patiently for a 'review of its work'.
Hiccup receives a low growl when he steps on one of the lines, and another when he does it again. Repeating it a few times he finally steps over the lines to finally reach the Night Fury. Hiccup offers his hand but a growl wards him repeats the motion while looking away, and after a few moments of painful nervousness the dragon finally trusts Hiccup enough to touch it's nose to Hiccup's hand.
Opening his eyes Hiccup sees the dragon touching him, it's warm, smooth scales melding together..But his daydream is cut short as the dragon snorts and runs off leaving Hiccup behind.
"...And with one twist, he took my hand, and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face: I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg." Hiccup had just reached one of the catapults to join the rest of the dragon training class and Gobber for dinner. Taking seat with food from the hall he halfheartedly listened to the other's conversation.
"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon? Like if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed the dragon from the inside by... crushing his heart, or something." Fishlegs suddenly remarked, receiving odd looks from the rest of the teens, minus Hiccup and Astrid.
"I swear, I'm so angry right now! I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight. With my face!" Snotlout said taking a large bite out of his leg of chicken.
"Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." replied Gobber.
Getting up Gobber left the teens to their own with a bit of Gobber-vice "Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be, too. Tomorrow we get to the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?
"It's gonna be me. It's my destiny. See?" Tuffnut suddenly proclaimed receiving a gasp from Fishlegs "Your Mom let you get a tattoo?"
"It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark."Tuffnut corrected receiving a look that said 'really?' from his sister."Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before."
"Yes, it was. You've just never seen me from the left side until now." Tuff replied in defense and a hint of smugness..
All the while no-one but Astrid noticed Hiccup leaving with a thoughtful look on his face..
Reviews are greatly appreciated and thank you to all you guys who followed, Favorited this story and me. Also, a huge thanks to you guys for being patient with me. See you all next time..
