Okay, I can't help but to give a big thanks to BloodBendingDancer. Amazing reviewer and follower.
Alyssa: Yeah, Shadow and I really appreciate it!
Shadow: *nods with a grin*
Alyssa: See? Oh, others that are grateful are Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, Snotlout surprisingly-
Me: Very surprisingly.
Alyssa: Anyway, we're all very grateful.
Me: *cracks a grin* Mm-hmm, especially myself. Now, let's get onto the story.
"Sorry, I'm late." I walked into the academy with Shadow by my side. "Shadow and I went fishing and we noticed that there was an eel in the net. Those things sure are slippery." Shadow shuddered at the thought of the eel that slid out of my hands and fell onto his face.
"So, Hic, where were you?" I asked, walking up to him.
"Well, I was just about to ask everyone which dragon makes the best welder." He said then looked at the others, "Any answers?"
"Oh, Deadly Nadder." Astrid said. Fishlegs followed it up with his dragon intellegence, "Its magnesium flame burns up to the heat of the sun!"
I nodded, "Correct. Point to Team Astrid." Hiccup said, putting a point for them on the board. "The current score is now 100 to ten." Astrid and Fishlegs laughed, "And you started with ten." She said. "Oh yeah? Well, the games not over." Tuffnut said then wondered out loud, "Wait, what team am I on?"
I threw my head back at the chalkboard behind me, "Okay, Team Snotlout, what is the shot limit of a Hideous Zippleback?" Hiccup asked, Astrid and Fishlegs snickered, "I don't think they can count that high." She said.
"Wanna bet?" Ruffnut challenged, "Barf, Belch!" The Zippleback picked up its heads and fired six times above the heads of the opposing team. "There's no need for that." I said.
"Looks like it's about three." Tuffnut said, holding up two fingers. "Told you we could count that high." Ruffnut grinned. "Actually, it's six. You're half right." Hiccup said, "Five points." "Yes! We're up to thirty!" Ruffnut said with excitement, high-fiving her brother and Snotlout.
"Next question, what happens when you fire at the owner of a Deadly Nadder?" Astrid asked, "Stormfly." Her Nadder got up and tossed a few tail spikes at the opposing team. The spikes pinned them up against the wall.
"No fair, she didn't give us time to answer!" Tuffnut said, dangling from the spikes that held him against the wall.
Snotlout jumped from the wall and walked over to a sleeping Hookfang. "I have a question; what happens when I sick Hookfang on you?" He got on his dragon who set himself aflame when woken up. Snotlout immdediatly got off and ran to the water that was laid out for the dragons, sitting in it to cool off.
"What happened there?" I asked, "Hookfang never flares up like that when you're riding him." Hiccup followed it up. Snotlout looked up at Astrid who had just made her way over to us, "You know, Astrid, there's room in here for two." She shoved him under water and I chuckled. "Girl power. Don't mess with it." I said, walking away with Astrid.
"To think that I was concerned." I rolled my eyes, she had nodded. "Tell me about it. I don't know why I even bother."
"This longsword, ladies and gentlemen, can now be used as a butterknife." Gobber explained to his large crowd.
Ever since we've made peace with our dragons, he's been out of a job but he still makes his weapons. I guess he's trying to sell them as kitchen utensils. Poor Gobber, seriously; he's been pretty much like family to me, seeing him like this pains me.
"Well, this is a dark day." I heard a crotchety, old man's voice through the crowd. "No, no, no." I whispered and pushed through the crowd to see the person that has no business being here talking to Hiccup.
"What are you doing here, Mildew?" I asked, stepping between him and Hiccup. He shook his head, "Not much, just checking in on poor, old Gobber. He's been out of a job thanks to the dragons. I guess this peace wasn't such a good idea after all."
"Get out of here." I said, putting my back to him. "Just go." A loud clanging noise that was followed by the sound of breaking wood caught my attention. I looked over to see that Gobber used Big Bertha to break a hole into someone's home. That displeased most customers and they began to leave.
"No, you haven't even seen the full set yet!" Gobber called, "I've got a whole dungeon full!" I drew back a little bit, seeing the pain and rejection in his eyes. Nothing made me feel worse than that look on his face.
"Poor Gobber." I said out loud before a large, black figure joined my side. "Hey, Shades." I looked over at him, trying to ignore the fact that Mildew was speaking again. Shadow looked at Gobber with confusion then back at me for an answer.
"Gobber's been out of business ever since peace has been made with the dragons." I said, "He's trying to sell all of his stuff but no one's buying it because they think there's no need for it anymore." Shadow put his ears down and looked back at the weaponry.
"What's up?" I asked, he walked over to Gobber boldly and sat in front of him. "Oh, Shadow, right? What can I do you for?" He asked. Shadow waved his tail and looked at the maces and axes. "Don't worry, these things won't hurt you anymore. Besides, if they did, you're rider would take care of them." He added the last part quietly but I still heard it.
"Hey, Gobber." I said, walking over like I hadn't seen anything. "What'cha doing here?" He sighed, "Not much. Just failing in trying to sell... again." I looked at the weapons, "You know, it's been a while since I've got to use a sword. Is this one for sale?" I asked, holding up one of the long swords. "Well, if you have money then yes." He responded. "No problem." I said, patting my pockets. "Uh, sorry, Gobber. I forgot that I was broke." I chuckled nervously, putting the sword down.
"It's fine, lassie. The sword isn't worth much anyway, just like my life now. Just take it." I shook my head, "No, don't talk like that. Just because you're down now doesn't mean you will be later. You need rain to enjoy the sun, right?" After a moment of silence I continued. "What I'm trying to say is; we all go through hard times but they get better. Some people may not think so but I know so. I'm pretty much living proof." Gobber's eyes shifted along the ground, "Okay, lassie. I'll give it another try." I jumped up with excitement, "Now, that's what I'm talking about! Never give up! The strongest will prevail!" I said and jumped onto Shadow's back, he flew off not a moment later.
"Do you really think it worked?" I asked him, he nodded; he seemed pretty sure about it. I looked over my shoulder, "I sure hope you're right."
A moment of silence had passed between Shadow and I; we just flew with each other for a while, both of us were probably thinking about Gobber. "Gobber taught me what I needed to know so I could make Hiccup's leg." I said randomly, Shadow perked an ear and looked back at me. "He taught Hiccup what he knows, that's kind of how he made Toothless's tail."
Shadow looked at the ground when I mentioned the tail, I forgot that sometimes it's a touchy subject. "Sorry, buddy." I said, furrowing my brows. "I just hate seeing good-old Gobber like that. All sad and everything."
Sometime the next day, Shadow and I were flying over town and I saw Gobber pounding metal against a wooden ship. "What's he doing?" I asked, "Hey, go see what he's doing." Shadow flew down to Gobber's side as he finished hammering the last nail in.
"Oh, if it isn't little Aly. What can I do you for, lassie? I just finished fixing up this ship." He said then hit the ship with his hammer-hand again and sent it into the water but sadly, it didn't stay above water, it hit the water and sunk.
"Well, that's another thing to add to the list. 'Recover sunken ship'." He wrote it down and I got off of Shadow to step up to him, "Gobber, what are you doing?" He looked up at me from his list, "Oh, Stoic gave a list of things to do. He's made me his right-hand man." He said proudly and I thought, Well, all you've got is your right hand.
"So, what chores were given to you?" I asked then heard a voice behind me yell, "Gobber!" Uh-oh, Stoic doesn't sound too happy. I turned to see him and Shadow stepped aside to let him and a few angry villagers to get past.
"What are you doing?" He asked with frustration.
"Oh, I just had to add something to the list. The ship that I repaired was unstable and sunk to the bottom of the ocean." He replied.
"Okay, so what exactly happened with everyone?" I asked, kind of dreading the answer.
Back at the Haddock house, I decided to help around the house because Stoic made it obvious that he was frustrated with todays events and pressed two ice blocks to either side of his head.
Hiccup appeared just in time, "Wow, a two block headache?"
"Hiccup, the day was uneventful." I infromed and his head tilted, "How so?" I shook my head, saving Stoic from speaking. "Well, Gobber named a baby girl Magnus. Neither of us said that she didn't look like a Magnus but just try telling her parents that. Not to mention that he tried using a mace for a teething toy." Hiccup's eyes widened to the max, almost looking like they'd fall out of his head.
"Don't worry, she wasn't hurt." I informed. "And Gobber tried to fix a wooden ship by replacing it with metal. Then there was a domestic dispute between Mulch and Bucket, he gave them clubs to settle it." Hiccup's eyebrows remained raised as I kept talking.
"It was... pretty hectic." I said. "Who's idea was that anyway?" Hiccup drew his head into his shoulders. My eyes drooped, "You're kidding, right?" He shook his head, "No, Al. Here's what happened..."
Stoic sat in his chair, trying to get some rest after all of the chores that the cheif is in charge up. It was a very hectic day for him and after explaining his day to Hiccup, he muttered, "Sometimes I wish there were two of me."
Hiccup's eyes widened and the wood he was placing into the fireplace fell. He grinned as he turned towards his father, "There are two of you, dad." He said with excitement.
"Is that another crack about my weight?" Stoic asked a little offended.
"No, I mean Gobber." He explained.
"Hiccup." I shook my head, "Why would- nevermind. I probably would've done the same."
"You would've done worse." Stoic muttered. My eyes narrowed slightly as I didn't look back at him, "Yeah, I would've." I said with slight offense and looking at the ground. Hiccup patted my shoulder, "You know he doesn't mean it. It's the headache talking." I rolled my eyes.
"And how did it work out just before he went out? How'd he respond?" I asked Stoic who removed one of his ice blocks. "He first thought that I wanted him to club people first and ask questions later." He repsonded, my shoulders drooped.
"So, what are you gonna do about him?" I asked Stoic who put both blocks of ice down. "I'm not going to do anything. You two however," I cocked an eyebrow, "Please tell me he's not gonna-" I began but Hiccup cut me off, "He is."
"You're bringing Gobber here?" Fishlegs asked. I nodded, "Sure." "Well, guys, he's out of a job. Why not let him help us with the dragon academy?" "I can think of a few good reasons." I muttered but Hiccup kicked my shin... with his metal leg.
"Ow!" I pulled my leg up and glared, "I wasn't gonna name them!" "Gods, Al. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kick you that hard." He apologized and I rubbed my hurt leg. "You shouldn't kick me with that leg at all!"
Then the door to the academy opened and Gobber entered, dragging a cart full of dragon-killing weapons. Shadow's eyes narrowed but I shook my head, he obeyed and sat back down. Wow, I know why he got so upset. These things reek of blood.
"Um, Gobber? Why'd you bring your..." Hiccup trailed off then Gobber finished for him. "What? Killing things?" I nodded, "I'm sure we don't need those."
"You kids don't understand; we teach them by threatening to kill them. That's how my daddy taught me how to swim." He said and that was all the more disturbing. "Gobber, do you need to talk to somebody?" I asked sympathetically. His head shook, "No, let's get started shall we?" He took one of his large maces and slammed it into the ground, "School's in session!" Everyone's dragons, exculding Shadow and Toothless, panicked and ran out of the academy then flew off. Their riders followed to go and get them. "Yeah, I never really liked school much either." Gobber grinned. I looked down at Shadow, "This is gonna be a long day."