A/N~ Hey Everyone, Sorry It Took So Long, The Charger On My Computer Broke, So I Wasn't Even Able To Write! It Was TERRIBLE! But Here's The Next Chapter! I Hope You Like It! XD
Warning: Nothing Much In This Chapter That Needs Warning, But Hiccup Meets New People In This Chapter, A Lot Of Description On The Place He Finds, But I Hope It Doesn't Get To Tedious, I'm Sometimes Known As The Queen Of Details, Which Can Sometimes Be A Bad Thing. XP
Disclaimer: Nope, Sorry Everyone, I Don't Own HTTYD, But If I Did, I'd Give Everyone Who Reviewed This A Copy Of Both Movies, & Every Episode Of The Shows For Free!
Ch. 3
The Trading Post
~5,657~
The sun was setting as Hiccup and Toothless finished setting up their home. They'd eaten a breakfast of fish and berries before setting to work. They'd chopped down some trees, Hiccup finding the best ones for building things they needed: tables, chairs, shelves, doors, and a bed, and Toothless would knock them down and drag them back to the waterfall, which they had decided was going to be the area they called their home. The first thing Hiccup had made was a door, using tall and skinny trees, cutting them in half before binding them together with some rope he made. He did this until the trees made a wide enough plank that would fit across the door. It took a little maneuvering, but they finally got the door into place, though Hiccup did find it a bit difficult to open and close, it being so heavy, Hiccup decided to leave it open unless they were going to sleep. He decided not to make one for the other opening in the cave. He would make a better one once he had better materials, but for now, this would do.
They had lunch, because making the door took nearly half the day. They had fish again, and ate more of the berries Hiccup had brought, though Hiccup decided to burry the last few dozen along one edge of the forest that surrounded their new home. Might as well keep the food close. Hiccup thought as Toothless dug small holes for them to plant the berries in.
The next thing Hiccup decided to make was a bed for himself. Toothless had dragged in a large rock for himself to sleep on, scalding the top to make it warm for him to lay on while Hiccup worked. It took the rest of the day for Hiccup to finish his small bed. It was the perfect size for him, unlike his bed back on Berk, which could easily fit Toothless. Stoic had hoped that he'd go through a growth spurt at some point, but was disappointed once again.
Toothless had caught a small boar while Hiccup was figuring out where to put his bed in their cavern. They roasted the boar over a fire, which Toothless lit; the blue flame of a Night Fury gave the charred meat an electric flavor, one that was, in fact, quite delicious. They ended up falling asleep in front of the fire just outside of the cavern next to the waterfall. They had fish for breakfast again before Hiccup made a table, a chair, a bedside table and a several small shelves, all of which, were of very good quality.
Hiccup, deciding that they needed to section off the cave, made curtain holders and, using Toothless, put them on the ceiling, though they didn't have the material to make curtains at the moment. They arranged the beds, a shelf, and the small table off to the far left corner, dubbing it the bedroom, and moved the table, chair and the rest of the shelves to the opposite corner, making that the kitchen. He'd make bigger shelves and other things later, once he had more stuff. He put all the things he brought away, his favorite pillow in his room, the tools he'd nicked from the forge on one of the shelves in the kitchen. The place was starting to look like a home and Hiccup was proud of his work.
He was so proud in fact, he decided to take the rest of the afternoon off and go swimming with Toothless. They both made it to the rock in the middle of the lake and rested there for a while before swimming back, missing lunch entirely. The rest of the evening was quiet as Toothless and Hiccup relaxed, watering the berries and frying more fish for dinner. They slept inside this time, on their respective beds, which were right next to each other.
The next day, Hiccup decided he wanted to explore the islands around The Fortress, to see if there were any trading posts nearby or islands with villages he could sell his stuff or buys things he may need. They ate breakfast, some fruit they found on a small nearby island, which Hiccup dubbed Fruit Island. They stayed there for awhile and sampled the different fruits. Hiccup found that he rather liked the meat of the mangos and the pineapples, though the skin of the mangos was slightly bitter and the skin of the pineapples wasn't edible. After eating their fill they flew are for a few more hours.
There wasn't much, one more small island with a few dragons, but mostly other wild animals; deer, rabbits, boar, squirrel, and other smaller mammals. He named this island Animal Island. They headed back to The Fortress for the night, once again eating fish for dinner. The next day they decided to explore again, though it was more likely just an excuse to fly around in the beautiful weather. Despite the Freeze only a few weeks away, it was warm and cloudless, perfect for flying.
They flew for hours, zooming over Animal Island before heading West. About an hour and a half away from The Fortress, in the opposite direction of Berk, there was a rather large Trading Post. It was about half the size of Berk, very large for a Post, so Hiccup thought that it must be the central trading town of the area, the only other one Hiccup knew of was one a few days boat ride past Berk. That's how they usually were set up, a half a month or so boat ride apart. Hiccup was lucky this one was so close to The Fortress, or it would be hard to make a living.
Now that Hiccup knew he was close to a place he could get anything he needed, he just needed to figure out something to trade or sell. They flew back to The Fortress and Hiccup began looking through the stuff he had brought to sell, sure he had a few silver and copper coins, even one gold coin he'd gotten for a small set of hammers he'd once made on Berk, but he wanted to keep those for emergencies, or things that he couldn't trade for. Remembering the island they'd past full of rabbit, Hiccup decided it would probably just be easier to catch a few of them to trade, he'd even catch them lunch. Hiccup quickly fashioned a net out of some ferns and tree branches, and made half a dozen small crates to put the rabbit in once he caught them.
Then Hiccup realized that he had rather a big problem. He couldn't just ride Toothless to the island, they would be attacked. He'd need a boat. Cursing to himself, it would take at the LEAST a day and a half to make a small boat, one that would work good on the lake, and if he was going to transport half a dozen rabbits, he was going to need more than a small one person dingy. It would take him a few days to make a decent sized boat that was sea worthy, and probably even longer to make one that was sea worthy and able to hold all those rabbit. Hiccup sighed, resigned, and got to work.
It was a week later that Hiccup finally finished his boat, and if someone asked him, he would say it was one Hel of a boat. It was easily ten feet long and 5 feet wide in the middle. It was 5 feet deep and had a middle floor, making the bottom compartment to hold things. There was an area in the back that could be fashioned into a platform and there were holds in the sides of the railings that fit a longer poll that held a small roof made of tree branches and ferns to block out the sun or rain.
With the boat finished, and tested in the lake, Hiccup had Toothless put it in the sea, with it holding everything they needed to capture the rabbits, and they headed out to Rabbit Island to catch them selves something to trade.
The near two hours to Rabbit Island was nice, the sun was shining and when they'd realized that flying straight to Rabbit Island was faster if they didn't go to Dragon Island first, as it was a bit out of the way, saving them almost half an hour travel time. Hiccup set up similar traps as the first time they'd visited the island, only more. This time, they caught a staggering 14 rabbits. They had an early lunch, roasted rabbit, before putting the remaining 11 rabbits into the small crates and loaded them up in the boat, which had been dragged up onto the beach.
When they were close enough to the island to see the boats and buildings, near three hours later, Hiccup decided that Toothless should hide on one of the rocks that stuck out of the water that surrounded the Island. As they passed by a large rock, probably double the size of a house, Hiccup unhooked Toothless and the dragon landed on said rock. Hiccup climbed down the rock and onto the boat, pulling out the paddles.
"Be back in a bit Buddy." Hiccup swallowed as he started paddling towards the island. "This wont be so bad."
Hiccup heard Toothless growl after him, though it sounded more like a dragon version of a chuckle. Hiccup just hoped that no one asked any questions about someone as young as him traveling by himself. He'd thought up a story he could tell people if asked, but if they listened close enough, they could poke holes in his story. He also hoped that the people of this island wanted to buy or trade stuff for his rabbits, for if they didn't, he was screwed for today and he'd have to find something else to trade for.
It took him a good twenty minutes to row to the island docks. Once there, he was helped by a middle aged man named Grout. He was a large man, taller than Stoic the Vast, but not as fat, pure muscle. He had a large scar on one side of his face, it went from his hairline, just barely crossing over his left eyebrow, and down to his chin, cutting into his small, neat beard. He had wild back hair that if combed, would probably extend to just before his shoulders. He had bright blue eyes that stood out and probably glowed in the dark. Though he looked dangerous and imposing, he was nice, sarcastic, and straight forward, quite like Gobber and himself in attitude. Grout helped Hiccup dock his boat and unload his crates.
"'Ay there boy, need a hand?" Grout asked.
"Uh..." Hiccup didn't know if this was a trick or not. "I guess."
"No need ta be hesitant, I'm the dock keeper." Grout said, "Grouts da name, just Grout, no last name. Pleasure ta meet ya...?"
"Uh, Hiccup." Hiccup introduced, tossing the rope attached to the front of the boat to Grout. "Hiccup the Free."
Grout raised an eyebrow at the last name, but said nothing, and Hiccup already kinda liked this man, if only for the fact he didn't question him.
"Well, Hiccup the Free, what ya here for?" Grout asked, tying the rope to the dock. "Business or pleasure? Or a bit of both?" Grout waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and laughed as Hiccup blushed.
"B-business... definitely business." Hiccup stuttered, trying to keep his blush from spreading. "I-I've got some rabbits to sell or trade."
"Oh? We haven't had rabbits here in a long while. They'll sell like hotcakes." Grout told him.
"Really? That's great news!" Hiccup smiled, relieved he hadn't captured all those rabbits for no reason. "I've got quite a few to get rid of."
Grout helped Hiccup unload the 11 crates of rabbits from the boat to a small wheeled cart, of which there were many put off to the side for carrying goods from the docks to the trading stalls.
"Where is the, uh, trading area?" Hiccup asked, not quite sure where he should go or if he needed to get permission first. "Or do I need to talk to the chief first."
"You'll prolly need ta talk to the Advisor o' Trades." Grout said, looking at the rabbits. "It's at the Town Hall. I'll take ya."
"Really? You'd do that?" Hiccup asked, happy yet suspicious. "In exchange for what?"
"HAHAHAH! You're a smart one ain't ya?" Grout laughed. "Tell ya what? You give me one of those rabbits, and I'll let ya dock your boat, rent that cart, and I'll take ya ta see the Advisor o' Trade."
"Really? That's all?" Hiccup asked surprised. "For just one rabbit?"
"Yeah, I like ya Hiccup, I think I'll be seeing you a lot in the up coming time." Grout smiled, offering his hand to shake.
"Then you've got yourself a deal Grout." Hiccup couldn't help but smile back as he took hold of Grout's hand and shook it firmly.
Hiccup gave Grout one of the rabbits, keeping the crate for himself, leaving him with an even 10 rabbits left. He waited while Grout put the rabbit in his hut on the other side of the docks. Once Grout came back, they headed toward a large hut that towered over the village with it's several floors: Town Hall. Hiccup had never seen anything like it. It must have had at least 5 levels. None of the buildings in Berk had more than 3 levels, and that's only if he counted the attics as a level.
Hiccup had never seen anything like it in all his 15 years, even in his visits to other villages with Stoic. The building's first floor was more like a barn; large double doors took up nearly the entire front wall and opened up to a large room with a dirt floor. There was a line of windows in the back and one to the left side, all of which had a person behind them. There were benches to the right side, all filled up with either vikings or goods. There were also quite a few vikings walking around holding crates or pulling small carts like the one Hiccup had, and there was someone at most of the windows getting help.
"Impressive ain't it?" Grout chuckled at the awestruck look on Hiccup's face as they entered the building.
"Yeah. I've never seen anything like it in all my travels." Hiccup said, whipping his head around, looking at everything he could.
"Then ya haven't traveled very far." Grout said. "All Trading Posts' Halls are structured the same."
"Well, I've only ever been to one other Trading Post, but we weren't there to trade our goods." Hiccup said, he remembered when he went with Stoic to talk to the Chief about getting some help against the dragons, Grout steered them toward the window off to the left.
"Then what were ya there for?" Grout asked curiously, what kind of people went to a Trading Post to NOT trade?
"..." Hiccup hesitated for a moment before quickly coming up with a lie. "We had money then, so we didn't bring anything to trade. We just bought a few things before leaving."
"...I see." Grout said, though Hiccup could tell that the man hadn't bought his lie, but he let it go for now. "Anyway, here we go."
"Grout! What brings me this pleasure?" The young woman behind the window asked with a laugh.
"Well hello my Darlin', good to see ya." Grout leaned against the window with a charming smile, obviously trying to charm the woman as she laughed.
She looked young, not as young as himself, but not as old as Grout, probably in her mid 20's. She had braided blond hair that reminded Hiccup of Astrids, but that's where their similarities ended. Instead of Astrid's soft features and small button nose, the woman had sharp cheek bones and a larger, rounded nose, but they worked together to compliment her beautiful green eyes, which were vastly different from Astrid's sky blue eyes. Her eyes were actually close to Hiccup's own emerald green, only slightly darker.
"Oh? And who's this with you?" The woman asked, looking at Hiccup with a critical eye, making Hiccup squirm.
"Um... Hi Miss. I'm Hiccup." Hiccup introduced himself, thrusting his hand out in front of him. "Hiccup the Free. Nice to meet you."
The woman eyed Hiccup's hand suspiciously before looking at Hiccup and seeing him blushing. She smiled and raised an eyebrow before taking the proffered hand and shaking it.
"Well, It's nice to meet you, Hiccup the Free." The woman said with a smile. "My name is Gabble Bulwark. I am in charge of inspecting goods and providing spaces for vendors to set up their trades. I'm guessing that is what Grout has brought you here for?"
"Yes Miss." Hiccup smiled in return.
"Please, call me Gabble, most everyone does." Gabble smiled brightly at him. "Now, lets see what you've got to trade."
Gabble stepped out from behind her window and walked toward the cart behind Hiccup. She opened up one of the crates and pulled out the rabbit and examined it.
"Is this all you have right now? Rabbits?" Gabble asked admiring the rabbit in her hand.
"For now, yes." Hiccup answered. "I'll probably bring other things another time. Is that a problem? Do rabbits not trade well? Grout mentioned they'd not had any in awhile. Am I only allowed to trade one thing?"
"Oh no, quite the opposite actually. Most people usually bring more than one thing to trade. Just incase something doesn't sell, they have other things to fall back on." Gabble commented, putting the rabbit back in the crate. "If it's just these rabbits, you'll do fine. Rabbits are pretty rare around here, Grout was right, we don't get them that often."
"Really? Why's that?" Hiccup asked, wondering if the Trading Post didn't know about the island of Rabbits just a few days away by boat, or hours by Night Fury.
"The islands to the North and the East, whom are our major traders, don't have the proper land to raise rabbits, not much grass grows there." Gabble answered as she made her way back behind her window. "Only when we get people from far away islands to the West do we get rabbits, and usually then it's only furs already made into gloves, shoes, or hats. We hardly ever get live rabbits. I think its been close to ten years since I saw a live rabbit."
"Then it seems I chose the right thing to bring haven't I?" Hiccup laughed at his luck. "What else does this island hardly ever see?"
"Well, we don't get much glass, though we can make that for ourselves fairly easy, but not much exotic foreign glass comes though, too fragile to travel I guess. And we don't see very many fruits. We'll get some apples or melons here or there, maybe twice a year or so, but that's about it." Gabble complained. "And I really like fruit too. Plus, it's always too expensive. Apples are 1 Silver a piece! Outrageous!"
Hiccup thought back to the island he'd found a few days ago while exploring. It had many different types of fruit, Apples, Banana, Melons, Pineapples, Mangos, and a few other's he couldn't remember the names of but had read about in a book once. He silently thanked the heavens for his good luck. If he could trade rabbits and fruit, something this Trading Post rarely saw, he would be able to get anything he needed.
"I think ya got this now, right Gabble?" Grout asked. "I gotta get back ta me docks."
"Yes, I've got this Grout." Gabble smiled. "Stop by anytime. It's always nice to see you."
"See ya later little Hiccup." Grout said playfully and patted Hiccup's head. "It was nice meetin' ya. I'll keep an eye on your boat for ya."
"It was nice meeting you too Grout." Hiccup smiled, despite being treated like a little kid, it was actually nice for a change rather than be treated like an outsider or a disappointment. "And thank you for everything!"
"Not a problem!" Grout yelled as he left.
"He's nice." Hiccup said.
"Sure is. A little cooky and flirtatious, but very nice." Gabble said with a smile. "Now, lets get you a stall."
Gabble pulled out a map that showed the Trading Area and all it's stalls.
"Lets see... Most are crossed out and very few are big enough to hold crates of animals." Gabble murmured to herself. "Will you be here for only a little while or are you going to be returning often?"
"I'll be returning. I just moved onto one of the near by small islands to the East," Hiccup half lied. "So I'll probably be here daily."
"Alright then." Gabble said, glancing over the map. "How do you feel about a medium sized stall?"
"How big is that? I'd like to be able to fit all of my crates inside." Hiccup asked.
"Well, the small stalls are for things like trinkets and jewelry, they're usually only about 5x5 feet, the medium stalls are usually for clothes and shoes and swords and things like that of great quantity. They're usually around 8x8 feet." Gabble explained. "And there are two sizes of large stalls. The smaller ones are usually for small animals like sheep and goats, and larger weapons or rugs or for venders whom also have large quantities of goods, those are 10x10 feet, while the larger ones are for large animals like cows, pigs, yak, and oxen, and they get to be as big as 15x15 feet and have a lot of space behind them with a small fenced in area for the animals."
"I think a medium stall will be perfect. I don't have much stuff right now anyway." Hiccup smiled.
"Right, I think I'll place you right here, pretty close to the middle, but not too far from the docks." Gabble said, crossing out an unmarked booth. "Now, I have to tell you, once a week we come to collect a payment for the use of the booths."
"How much is it?" Hiccup asked worried. "Do I pay in money or can traded items be used?"
"Usually it's in money, but we will take traded items. A small sized stall usually rents for 4 silver a week, a medium 8 silver and a small large is 12 silver, and the biggest large is 16 silver a week." Gabble told him. "But one rabbit would do for a week's worth of pay."
"Really? A rabbit is 8 silver, but that's almost 1 gold!" Hiccup asked astounded that a rabbit on berk was only 2 silver and here it was 4 times as much. "That's crazy!"
"Yes, well, rare items are rare items." Gabble shrugged. "And honestly, some rabbits go for even more, up to 12 silver depending on the breed and size. I remember a long, long time ago, one even went for 15 silver. It was huge, probably the size of a small sheep with huge ears, easily a foot long. I think they called it a jack rabbit. I'd never seen such a thing before."
"W-wow." Hiccup stuttered. "15 silver for a rabbit. That would be insane!"
"Yes well, like I said, rare items are rare items, and we pay what they're worth to us. Now lets get you all set up." Gabble said, coming back around the window and shutting it and putting up a small sign that said: Be back in 20 minutes.
She led the way through the streets towards the trading area. The trading area split the town in two with a large road, stalls of all sizes on either side. There were people everywhere, pulling carts and animals alike. There were fine silks and clay works, weapons of all types and animals he'd only ever read about and never seen before, like goats and pigs, and something that looked a bit like a yak but with less hair, he thought it might be called a cow, but he couldn't be sure. Hiccup nearly tripped when he saw one stand that had a garment that had a few dragon scales on it.
"Pretty isn't it?" Gabble asked when she noticed what had caught Hiccup's attention. "It's not very often that that trader comes to town, but when he does, he always has at least one garment that has dragon scales one it. Rumor has it he travels to islands where dragons live and gather the scales that have fallen off of the dragons and takes them home. If it's true, he's one brave soul, stealing scales from dragons."
"You don't say." Hiccup murmured to himself, thinking that he'd have to talk to that man sometime, but not now, later.
"Here we are!" Gabble said as they reached a decent sized stall. "This will be your stall, you can make a sign if you want, to advertise what you're selling or trading. Some people only trade, while some only sell for copper, silver, or gold, I'd specify that too, if I were you."
"Thank you so much Gabble." Hiccup smiled up at the woman. "You've been a great help."
"Oh, I'm just doing my job." Gabble waved off his thank you. "Now, it's pretty late in the afternoon, but I think you'll do fine."
"I'll be sure to come earlier next time." Hiccup said, pulling the cart around the back of the stall, it fit perfectly behind the stall. "Thank you again and I'll be sure to visit with a gift."
"Oh you will do no such thing!" Gabble said as she walked away. "I shall see you later!"
"Bye!" Hiccup called back, as he was left alone in his stall to set up. "I'll have to make a sign later, for now I'll just put the crates where people can see them and advertise verbally."
Hiccup set up a few of the crate with rabbits in them on the counter and started yelling.
"RABBITS! RABBITS FOR SALE AND TRADE!" Hiccup yelled, though in the loud noise of the Trading area, it could barely be heard. "RABBITS! RABBITS!"
It was a good twenty minutes before someone noticed his stall and approached.
"Wha'ya sellin' laddie?" A short, round man with long, dirty hair, a sack on his back, and a large axe in his hand asked as he hobbled over.
"I've got rabbits for sale, I also take trades." Hiccup smiled, hoping he could sell a rabbit so soon.
"Rabbits?" The man asked, shocked as eyes widened. "How many do ya got?"
"I've got ten with me right now." Hiccup answered politely. "If you're buying with silver, they're 7 silver each."
"And what will you take for a trade?" The man asked, squinting to look in his small moneybag.
"Well, what have you got to trade? I'm sure we can make a deal." Hiccup smiled, getting a bit excited. "And I'm willing to go down a bit in price. I'm also willing to trade for something less than a rabbit if you have money to compensate for it. I'm flexible."
The man's eyes widened again, obviously not used to people deviating from price or mixing it up like Hiccup was. The man reached in to his sack and pulled out a large piece of folded cloth, Hiccup thought it could easily be ten feet long and 15 feet wide, of moderate quality. Hiccup instantly thought of the curtains he wanted to make to separate the rooms in his cave and figured the cloth would be a perfect start.
"I have this cloth which cost me 8 silver and 11 silver pieces." The man said, a little nervous he didn't have the exact amount.
"I can give you three Rabbits for that." Hiccup said, smiling as the man put the coins on the counter with the the cloth.
"I'll take them." The man said, looking very happy.
Hiccup grabbed up the coins, counted them before putting them in his money pouch and taking the cloth to examine it more closely, finding it was both bigger and of better quality than he originally thought, and putting it in the cart. He dragged out three rabbits and gave them to the man, whom put them in his bag.
"Thank you young man." The man said. "It has been a long time since I've had rabbit and the pelts will make wonderful gloves."
"No, thank you Sir." Hiccup replied. "That cloth will come in handy. Please come again."
The man walked away, and now that Hiccup had sold to one customer, it seemed more people noticed his stall. He quickly sold the rest of his rabbits. One to an elderly couple whom had said that they'd had rabbit on their first date, he'd traded them for a pair of very well made leather gloves with sheep skin lining the inside.
He'd traded 2 rabbits to a shepherd for 2 of his sheep, and sold another to a woman for 7 silver. He's traded the last 3 to a farmer for a small crate of oxen meat. The man whom traded him the meat told him that if he had any more rabbits, he'd gladly trade one of his oxen for 6 of them. Hiccup said he'd be happy to do that trade if the farmer was there tomorrow, they'd set the date.
Hiccup looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was setting. He'd been there for just over 3 hours and he'd gotten rid of all ten of his rabbits and he'd gotten quite a score. He packed up all his trades into the small crates that had held the rabbits and loaded them into the cart, which he then pulled back to the docks, it was quite a ways to the docks, probably half a mile, and half an hours walk pulling the cart. He was happy to do it though, the cart wasn't that heavy, even with all the stuff in it. Hiccup was pretty strong compared to his relatively small size. His legs were very strong from running away from people and dragons, and his arms were small but well muscled from working in Gobber's forge for the last 5 or so years, so pulling the cart wasn't that hard. When Hiccup got back to the docks, Grout was there to help him load his stuff back into his boat.
"Got a good score I see." Grout smiled as he handed Hiccup one of the sheep. "Got rid of them all did ya?"
"Yep, every last one too." Hiccup said excitedly. "Once one person stopped at my stall, more and more did. And this stuff will come in handy! I've been eating nothing but fish and rabbits for awhile now, I can't wait to eat that oxen meat."
"Well, I'm having rabbit tonight and I'd be happy to take some of that oxen meat off your hands for you." Grout joked. "But I have to say, you did very well for your first day, and it wasn't even a full one at that."
"I know, I'll have to bring more next time." Hiccup smiled. "By the way, how much is it to dock here and rent a cart?"
"Well, normally to dock for a whole day it's 5 silver and to rent a cart for the whole day it's 4 silver." Grout said. "But considering you weren't here for the whole day, I charged you a discounted price."
"Sweet. I'll bring you a rabbit next time too." Hiccup said happily as they loaded the last bit of stuff into the boat. "Bye! See you tomorrow!"
"Oh Hiccup, if you'd like, you can rent a space, one of the spots here so you don't have to worry about not getting a spot to put your boat." Grout told him. "It's only 15 Silver, or two of those rabbits for a month. The same for a cart. For 10 Silver a month I can set one a side for you."
"Really? You can do that?" Hiccup asked with a smile. "Sure, that sounds great! Here!"
Hiccup dug into his money pouch and dug out 10 Silver coins and handed them to Grout.
"I'll bring you two rabbits tomorrow for the dock spot." Hiccup told him, and getting a nod he got into his boat. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yep." Grout smiled and untied him from the dock and tossed him the rope. He grabbed another rope and a wood sign and carved Hiccup the Free into the wood and tied it to the rope, and then put it across the spot Hiccup had just left.
Hiccup rowed out to the rock that he'd left Toothless at and when he didn't see him he whistled. Toothless came from behind the rock and started whining happily at seeing Hiccup.
"Hey Bud!" Hiccup said as he tossed the rope to Toothless, who caught it and pulled the boat closer to the rock so Hiccup could climb out. "Got rid of every rabbit Toothless, I even got dinner for us tonight!"
Toothless grumbled happily, eyeing the sheep who baa'd at him.
"No, not the sheep Toothless, they're here for their wool." Hiccup laughed. "No, I got some oxen meat."
Toothless wasn't sure what that was, but was excited at the word meat.
"Come on Bud, lets go home." Hiccup said, hopping onto Toothless's back and tying the rope tied to the boat to Toothless's saddle and they flew home. Hiccup was happy he had a place that he could both call home and that felt like home. And he lived with his best friend, life couldn't get any better.
E/N~ So? What Do You Guys Think? I Know It Was Mostly A Filler Chapter, But Hiccup Had To Find The Post Somewhere, But Don't Worry, Time's Going To Start Speeding Up & There'll Be A Few Major Time Skips In The Next Few Chapters To Get Things Moving. XD
Also, I Have A Pole Up On My Profile, It Pertains To This Story, So If You All Could Check It Out & Vote On It, I'd Be Very Grateful! XD
