Suggested story of the week: 'Boundless' by PsychicWonderKitty

First Day

Unlike Hiccup, Gobber was all too ready to start the first day of camp. Throughout all of breakfast in the Great Hall, he chattered on about what fun they would have when they ran into a coyote, or fell into a beehive. Slapping his knee, Gobber would chuckle, "Good times! Still, all those stings itch when it rains... only the left side, though." And then he'd start scratching his arm or other unnatractive parts of his body. Hiccup soon lost his appetite.

Finally, when the A-team was all done with breakfast, Gobber led them out of the Hall and to the forest. Spitelout would take care of the at-camp matters while Gobber was the main leader of the small group of Dragons. He would take charge in the more active activities. Lucky us, Hiccup inwardly grumbled to himself.

"Alright, then!" said a grinning Gobber, rubbing his hands together as he stopped near the entrance of the forest. "Welcome, to Dragon Training, where I train yeh Dragons all about how to survive in the wild!"

Tuffnut swallowed. "And have actual fun right? Or do I need to go to the Bouncy House across the street?"

Snotlout snickered, and the boys high-fived. Meanwhile, Astrid rolled her eyes, muttering, "Boys…" Hiccup nodded along until he realized that what Astrid said also applied to him.

Hiccup glanced over his team-mates, then spotted Fishlegs. A tiny wriggle of hope caught him. Last night, before the dog and all and all the craziness, the creature had howled! Fishlegs had heard it, and knew Hiccup wasn't someone who went around shooting things in the middle of the night. Fishlegs could vouch for him to Gobber or his father that Hiccup had been trying to help.

A few elated seconds later, Hiccup came up to Fishlegs, who seemed strangely calm despite the fact that Gobber of all people was leading them into a perpetually dangerous forest.

"Hey, Fishlegs?" asked Hiccup, a little tentative, yet eager to ask his question.

Fishlegs glanced at Hiccup, then smiled, unnerving Hiccup. The husky boy had been hysterical last night… what had made him so tranquil now? "Oh, hey, Hiccup," he said, casually offering a wave.

Hiccup nodded in acknowledgement, despite the creeping feeling that something was off. "Yeah. Look, um- so do you remember anything about camp last night? A strange sound?"

Fishlegs shook his head. "No, I actually don't... for some reason, I was given some sort of- of drink to calm me down last night. I don't know why, and no one will tell me." He shrugged. "Maybe I had a nightmare and they don't what me to remember it. But I'm fine now. It's actually nice not to feel so... so tense, you know? I'm naturally an anxious person, so it's almost weird not to feel worried as much. But it's all cool now… though the nervousness is kind of coming back to me in little pinpricks… ah, well, it was bound to happen sometime."

Hiccup's heart sank as he realized the truth. Fishlegs had been put to sleep last night with something that had erased all memories for the past what... twelve hours? So that meant he didn't remember the howling last night... the creature… the dog. Hiccup shivered when he thought of the thing… its snarling, stinky muzzle hovering right over his face… its green eyes narrowed into enraged slits... brimming with such rage that it burned through Hiccup's mind… He didn't want to ever have that happen again…

...but strangely, he did want to see the dog another tim. He was curious... the one feeling he could not conquer. He could get past anger, frustration, sadness… but upon seeing something abnormal, he could not just forget it.

"Come on, Dragons, onward!" Gobber cried, marching into the forest. "We are Dragons, and… DRAGONS… ARE… FOREVER!"

Sighing, the campers repeated, "Dragons are forever...," in a much duller tone. They trudged after their counselor, who was resilient through all of their groans. As the group walked, Gobber began to point out different plants and trees.

"That one's a Ponderosa Pine, the main type of tree yeh'll get out here," said Gobber.

"Has an open nature," Fishlegs muttered, almost reciting it to himself, "found in all the mountain states."

Gobber flicked a finger towards another tree. "Douglas-fir..."

Fishlegs was ready, and fired. "Most abundant in the Northern Rocky Mountains..." Hiccup shot him a strange look, and the others smirked with derision.

"Red alder..."

"Colonizes disturbed by-"

"Would yeh stop that?" Gobber exasperated, at the end of his rope. Fishlegs shrunk in submission, muttering his consent. Gobber nodded, almost tenative that Fishlegs would start calling off names and information again. "And... Pacific dogwood."

Fishlegs leaned over to Hiccup, and out of the corner of his mouth, whispered, "Found in shady, low elevation sites." Hiccup merely blinked in response. Did Fishlegs think he cared about this stuff? Studying the boy, he decided not. Fishlegs just needed to tell someone about what he had learned. Hiccup respected that.

Gobber began to sing as he walked, mostly old camp songs that didn't make much sense... "I've got my bow, and I've got my gun, and I've got my wife whose face makes people run, I'm a Dragon through and thrrrrrooouuugggghhhhh!"

Soon, they were pretty deep into the forest. They had passed the Fence awhile ago, and Hiccup was relieved it wasn't the same part of woods as it was when he had came in earlier than morning. That dog might still be around… and Hiccup really didn't want the others to see it. He didn't know why… but he just didn't. Maybe he was afraid that people would call him weak for saving the dog… maybe he just wanted to keep those moments to himself.

"Stop," Gobber suddenly said, pausing in his walk. The A-team obeyed and circled around him to listen to what the man had to say. "I hope," said Gobber, "that yeh've been paying attention during our walk."

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked, her brow furrowing. Hiccup had to agree with that... not just because Astrid was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen…

"Well..." Gobber smiled. "Yer first training exercise will be... navigation! I hope yeh have been paying attention during the walk, because yeh're going to hafta navigate yer way back teh camp... no maps, no compass, no nothing. Just yer good ol' noggin!" He rapped his forehead.

Snotlout gaped. "Wait, aren't you going to teach us first?"

Gobber shook his head cheerily. "I believe, in learning on the job..."

The campers immediately started to protest, ranging from, "My dad will hear about this!", "This is ridiculous!", and, "Oh my gosh oh my gosh we're gonna die!"

That was Fishlegs.

Gobber held up a hand to quiet them all down. "Now, settle down now, everyone... settle down… we're only a fifteen minute walk away. It's nothing! When I was a Dragon, my camp leader took my team out two hours away! Yeh can do it... Oh, and one more thing..."

Hiccup sighed. "What?"

Gobber grinned. "Yeh only have about... twenty-five minutes teh get back... or yeh fail the first day!" Before the campers could process that, he cried, "Start!"

Everyone at once began to complain again, but quickly realized it would do no good. Gobber was stubborn, and would not change his mind. And they were wasting time quarreling. They needed to plan… or they would fail…. and no one wanted to fail.

"Alright, everybody," Astrid called, "come here."

An elated Hiccup wandered over to Astrid, trying his best to stand near her. She looked mildly disgusted, but allowed him to stay. The others gathered around her within a matter of seconds, and soon they were all there. "Okay," said Astrid, "we need a plan. To get back, we need to all work together, because none of us have been trained in this yet. As much as I hate to admit it, I need most of you to get back."

She said the word 'most' while looking at Hiccup. He swallowed, then looked down with dejection.

"First off, we'll try and go back the direction we came," Astrid told them, her hands on her hips and looking like she bossed around them all every day. Hiccup remembered her at school, always taking over group projects and sports teams. "That's our best chance."

Snotlout smirked. "Of course it is, babe, you're always right..."

Astrid turned her head to send over a death glare. "Gee," she said sarcastically. "You sound like a greeting card." She then shoved him to the ground. "Stop it. Do you want to be left behind?" she growled, crossing her arms to make herself look even more intimidating- a truly impressive feat, as she was scary enough as it was.

Snotlout quickly shook his head, then stood up. "N-no…"

"Busted...," Ruffnut snickered, and even Tuffnut grinned. Fishlegs just stepped back, not wanting to be around when Astrid wasn't there to keep Snotlout in check.

"Follow me," Astrid ordered, waving her hands to the group, then marching off down the indistinct trail they had took before. Hiccup made a move to follow, but Snotlout suddenly grabbed his arm, holding it tight.

"I don't think so, Hiccup," he whispered. Gobber was too busy smiling after Astrid and the other three to notice. "Find your own way back... or else." His grip squeezed tighter on Hiccup's arm for emphasis, and the victim winced. That would certainly leave a bruise. "Am I clear?"

Hiccup suddenly jerked his leg out and kicked the other boy. "Crystal."

Snotlout gave a murderous glower, hiding a wince. He yanked Hiccup close and spoke quietly in the teen's ear. "You're gonna regret that, Useless. You'll see… when no one else is around… I'll get you."

"Wow," said Hiccup, feigning a feared look that was obviously fake. "I'm so scared."

After another glare, Snotlout released his cousin a moment later, then stalked after Astrid's disappearing figure. Hiccup was left alone, save Gobber.

His counselor turned to him in surprise. "Why don't yeh go with the others, Hiccup?"

Hiccup struggled for an excuse. "Me? Nah... I'm waaayyyy too- too intelligent to go with them. No... I think I know the way back myself, so... so I'm just going to go a different direction. Yeah."

Gobber squinted. "Uh-huh… listen, Hiccup… bit of encouragement..."

Hiccup crossed his arms, curious. All of Gobber's 'encouraging' advice wasn't very motivational. "...what?"

"Don't worry about any of the others," Gobber continued. "They'll see yeh as sick- or insane even- and go after the more Dragon-like campers. Yeh have nothing teh worry about!"

So he had seen Snotlout threatening his cousin. And he wasn't… concerned at all? A bit hesitant at letting Hiccup roam camp alone? Hiccup sighed. "Thanks, Gobber."

"Anytime! Now, go on out there and, well... do what yeh do."

Smiling weakly, Hiccup backed away into the trees until he was out of sight. After a few moments of aimless walking, he sat down on a tree stump and rubbed his temples. "What am I gonna do?" he wondered aloud, sounding miserable. He couldn't do this. He never could. He'd always be the weakest... the worst at everything... useless... Hiccup the Useless... After a minute of self-pity, he sighed and stood up, the truth heavy on his shoulders. He had to get back to camp, or he would fail. Gobber had said. With a glance at his watch, he was told that he now only had twenty minutes left to get back. It was a fifteen minute walk... so only a five minute time period for error.

"You can do this, Hiccup," he said to himself. "You can do this. You are a Dragon. I am a Dragon!"

Determined, he turned on his foot and began to walk. He could hear the other campers' fading chatter, so he went that way. If Snotlout couldn't see him following the group, then he'd be fine. Until Snotlout cornered him, that was… which was yet another thing he had to warn himself of.

He was suddenly struck with a delightful idea.

What if... what if he got back before the others? What if Astrid emerged from the trees only to find Hiccup casually leaning against a cabin, twirling a flower... and he would lean in, hand her the blossom and say, "For you, milady..." And Astrid would swoon into his arms while Snotlout realized that Astrid despised him, yet loved his cousin, and be happy for them. Fishlegs would grin and congratulate the pair's new relationship, and the twins would bonk heads in celebration... yes, that was right.

He smiled dopily, so lost in his fantasy that he wasn't looking where he was going. Hmm... but where would he get the flower? Were there any around here? Or maybe he didn't need a flower... perhaps some chocolate. Girls liked chocolate, right? Or was it poems? Maybe a nice haiku would-

"AHH!"

Hiccup stumbled over a root as he walked, not having seen it before. His left knee slammed into the ground hard, and he tumbled down to his stomach. He groaned in pain, inwardly cursing his foul luck.

"Hiccup?" said Gobber's voice from somewhere behind him, sounding fretful. "Hiccup!"

Moaning, Hiccup pushed himself to a sitting position, his legs out at awkward angles. "Here, Gobber..."

The trees rustled from a few yards away, and his counselor materialized from them. He looked concerned as he came over, then realized when he saw that Hiccup had simply taken a tumble. "I heard yeh yell, and was afraid some bear had seen yeh."

"No, I just- wait, hold-up! There are bears here? Why were we not told about this?"

Gobber seemed not to hear him. "But no, yeh just tripped over a root, that's right... look, Hiccup…"

The camper sighed. "What?"

Gobber continued, "Hiccup, out here, yeh have teh pay attention... We aren't in Girl Scout territory, we're in the wild. Things… things can easily happen without anybody hearing about it for a long while. Yeh can't go dilly-dallying in the forest, chasing butterflies. Rules are made fer a reason. Do yeh understand me, Hiccup?" His eyes were wide, almost panicked. Hiccup was confused. Why was he so worried about these woods?

"I do," said Hiccup. "But what's the problem?" He momentarily thought of the Red Death, but quickly brushed that suspicion off. The frightful creature didn't come out during the daytime... right?

"What? Nothing!" Gobber scoffed. "But be careful, Hiccup..." He then muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Don't need another vanished camper..." His gaze snapped back to Hiccup. "Promise me that yeh'll be on high alert from now on if yeh're in the woods alone like this."

Hiccup nodded. "I promise, Gobber… but why? What exactly are you so afraid of?"

For once, Gobber averted his eyes, his figure drooping. "There are some things," he said, his soft voice surprising Hiccup, "out there… some things that… that if a camper was injured by it, that could endanger the entire camp."

Hiccup frowned, not quite understanding. He had a million questions, but only one came out… "You said 'it'."

"What?"

"You said 'it'," Hiccup repeated. "You said 'some things,' but then you said 'it.' It's not a bunch of things, it's just one, right?" A trickle of fear ran down his spine. "Gobber… It's not… it's not the-"

"No!" said Gobber hurriedly. "Not… what yeh're thinking of… heheh, Hiccup, yeh know, that big brain of yers is bound teh get you into trouble sometime or another…" He chuckled, a little nervous in his manner. Then he cleared his throat and tried to change the subject, "Anyways, yeh weren't even supposed to be out here alone. Most every year, my campers all join together- cute, really- and go back the way they came. They get lost nearly every time, of course, but at least they're together... and that means they're safe. I don't know what possessed yeh to go alone."

Snotlout did, Hiccup thought with a scowl, then winced as his knee shot up a jolt pain.

"Yeh alright?" asked Gobber, offering a hand to the camper.

Hiccup took it, and Gobber pulled him to his wobbly feet. He grimaced again when his leg felt the pressure of the ground. "Yeah," he said through a clenched smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Gobber cocked his head. "Yeh're a terrible liar."

"Well… so are you…," Hiccup tried to retort, but upon a dubious look from Gobber, he sighed. "I know, I know... Look, I just bruised my knee when I fell, I think. Nothing too bad."

Gobber studied him, then decided the boy wasn't lying. "Well, we'll let our camp doctor, Gothi, take a look at yeh when we get to camp. I'll lead the way… and what with the BB gun incident last night, and all, yeh don't have to do the exercise today. I think yeh've had enough adventure in the past twenty-four hours..."

Ohhhh, thank goodness, thought Hiccup as they trudged through the woods, Gobber slightly helping him walk. He had escaped today's torment. Of course, the price was a badly bruised knee, but it seemed like a fair trade to him. It was better than getting lost in a wild forest that went on for goodness knew how long.

About ten minutes later, the pair reached the Fence. Gobber unlatched the gate to let them through, and Hiccup took that into mind for future visits beyond the barrier. He couldn't climb over it every time he decided to sneak out. Which, he figured, would be a lot.

The other five minutes, they could see the edges of camp come clearer and clearer. They soon arrived at the "Healer's Hut" where Hiccup was told to sit on a table while Gothi checked his knee out. It had an ugly purple bruise blooming already, not making Hiccup feel any better. Gothi gave him an ice pack for the injury, but it still throbbed heavily.

The other campers had actually arrived a mere few minutes after Hiccup and Gobber did, saving the counselor the trouble of going back to look for them. Because of that, Gobber stayed with Hiccup, chatting merrily to Gothi like nothing was the matter. The other campers were sent to Arts and Crafts for a bit, and would later get a tour of camp.

Gothi didn't speak during the treatment, which unnerved Hiccup. He eventually whispered to Gobber, "Why- why doesn't she speak?"

Gobber answered, "She can't. Poor old thing went through a tragic period of like when she was little, and now she's a mute."

Gothi suddenly turned to Gobber and flashed a series of curious hand motions at him. At first, Hiccup thought it was offensive, until Gobber told him that it was sign language. She had said that Hiccup would be fine as long as he took it easy. Also (according to Gobber) she had said, "Even on the first day, these children manage to get themselves hurt!" Well, it was more like, "First day. Children. Get. Hurt." Gobber frequently had to piece it together, though he often misunderstood, earning a whack from Gothi's walking stick.

As Gobber and Gothi 'talked,' Hiccup looked around the room. It was mostly bare, except for a sign on the wall that read, "Sometimes, what you need is right here in front of you." Hiccup almost scoffed. The phrase was so… so cliché now. Underneath the sign was a framed picture of a bunch of hound dogs that Hiccup couldn't quite stop looking at. He still hadn't gotten over the shock of earlier this morning with the black dog in the woods… maybe Gothi knew something about dogs that would tell him why one from earlier hadn't bitten him.

"Well," Gobber suddenly said, turning to Hiccup. "I think it's time we go. Gothi has a lot of patients, see. Kids always manage to get into scrapes in the first few days..." He patted Hiccup's shoulder so hard that the victim believed that made bruise number three (Snotlout's, the root's, and now Gobber's... no, Hiccup wasn't counting… the pain was a reminder itself). "Just remember, Hiccup," he began, then leaned in. "Nature will always... always..."

He lowered his voice, sounding dangerous.

"Go for the kill..."

"...so, why didn't you?" Hiccup wondered. He was kneeling down in the spot in the woods that he had been in earlier. Flecks of blood and fur still lay about from the dog. After being released from Gothi's care, he was told to just take it easy the rest of the day. He could go to Arts and Crafts, or work on making traps... but he had chosen to go out in the woods again. The campers were allowed to, as long as they stayed inside of the Fence. Of course, he had broken that one rule now without a second thought. Ha. And he didn't even feel guilty.

He thought about his question again. Why hadn't the dog bit him? It was wild. It was hurt and feeling threatened. It would make absolute and perfect sense for it to attack.

But it hadn't.

So... why? What has convinced the dog not to, and to just run off? What force of nature had changed any wild animal's instinct? It… it didn't make sense… And Hiccup didn't like that. He liked things that seemed possible, as he was more a an of science than anything. He still had his fantasies, yet he felt grounded enough.

He didn't quite know why he was so concerned. Most people would just be happy that they were still alive and unbitten. But, no, Hiccup had always been... different. He couldn't stop thinking about the encounter with the dog in the woods. He just… he needed to see that dog again. To answer all of those questions he couldn't stop pondering. Curiosity would not let him rest until then.

Suddenly, Hiccup heard a crashing somewhere ahead of him. He looked up to see... nothing but lots and lots of trees. He cocked his head, then pushed himself to his feet, wincing as his bruised knee was strained. But he continued wandering on, curious. What had made that sound? Soon, he reached the edge of some cliff... no, not quite a cliff... a hill. He looked down in it, seeing that there was actually a cove below, a large lake engulfing most of the area, including right underneath the ledge he was standing on. Huh. He didn't know that there were any-

"RHHHHHHAAAAAAWWWWWFFFFFFFF!" Hiccup heard a long, mournful bark. Surprised, he jumped back. The cry had come from inside of the cove. He crouched down to be out of sight, pretty sure that he knew what was in there, then actually looked around for it.

His breath caught when he saw… it.

The black dog from before was trying to scramble up some rocks to get out of the cove, but it was always a few feet too short. Hiccup realized that after it ran away from him earlier this morning, it must've fallen down here and wasn't able to get out… His thoughts mused with ideas of how to get the dog out, but he quickly silenced them. He shouldn't help this dog. It was wild. And hadn't he already done enough with the bandage…?

After another try, the dog gave up and walked away over to the lake. It stared hungrily at the water, then suddenly lunged its head down and snapped around. It was looking for something to eat, Hiccup knew. After a few seconds, it pulled its head from the water, then prowled away. Hiccup noticed that its tail still had the makeshift bandage wrapped around it, and was glad that his wrap had held. He had been afraid that being the wild animal it was, the creature might've torn it off. But no, it held strong, and didn't appear to have bled through… also good. The dog then curled up near some rocks and set his head down with a whine, defeated. It couldn't get food because it was trapped in the cove, and it was too difficult to catch fish alone. It would die here, slowly starving to death, or killed off by something that could get in and out of its prison.

Hiccup settled down to a more comfortable sitting position, then pulled out his notebook from his pocket. He had shed his jacket in the summer heat, but the notebook was small enough to fit in his jeans' open pouches. He also drew a tiny pencil from his other pocket, then sat back and studied the dog. By nature, Hiccup wanted to remember interesting things so he'd never forget them, so he always kept a pencil and some paper nearby to keep their memories. This... this dog was beyond interesting. He wanted to record what this thing looked like, and other attributes... maybe figure out what breed it was, which might why it hadn't bitten him… if it was a docile breeds of dog, that would sort of make sense.

He sketched quickly, as he was used to having to be fast with this. Soon, he had a rough sketch of the creature that satisfied him. He looked it over, then at the actual dog for any mistakes. He noticed one, and quickly erased it. There… Now the dog only had half a tail. He couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed, as the wound was his fault in the first place.

As he was studying the drawing, his grip relaxed on his pencil, and it fell down from his hand into the cove. Hiccup desperately scrambled to grab it, but it was too late. A few seconds later, the pencil hit the water below, making a splash and sending ripples flowing out.

The dog's head snapped up, staring right up to Hiccup. Green eyes met an equally emerald gaze. Hiccup winced, shrinking back. He expected the dog to bark at him, howl with rage... but no. It just laid there. The dog simply looked at him.

It looked at him...

Not at the scrawny brunette teenager, but the creative spirit inside of Hiccup. Who he truly was, deep within. Hiccup felt a ripple of his hidden self, as well, startling him… And he could see the dog, too. A lonesome hunter that prowled the forest by moonlight, living under the law of nature. Nothing would tame it. Yet… there was something compassionate inside of it. A spot of light. Hope. Love. Warmth. These this would all show, Hiccup somehow knew, if someone showed these to the dog. Oh my… this bond… it was strong… almost freaky… Hiccup was getting unnerved by this. But he was speechless. He… couldn't… move...

His throat at last allowed him to release a gasp, breaking the moment. Yet the dog continued to watch him… watch him with its unblinking stare…

I'm having a pretty tough week with sickness and other things I'd rather not mention, so some nice reviews would be great. :-) Thanks for reading, guys, you always make me smile... see ya next Friday, and I hope you're still enjoying this.