Chapter Six
Inside the port's tavern, men crowded around the small creature. It shook and shivered. It was cold and scared, Unsure what to do, In its mouth, it held tightly to the piece of paper. It whined and growled, but the men, with their horrible stench and yellow teeth laughed.
"What's the hold up here! Can't no man get a drink around here!" Alvin stumbled inside, the men parted ways and watched as the ferocious man come closer.
"Well, what do we have here?" He leered down at the creature, quickly he grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and held it up on eye level. "And what's inside yer' mouth?" Snatching the paper, the small dragon screeched and bit at anything in its reach, Alvin grunted and threw the small dragon into the wall. It stumbled and hissed, but remained crouched down, unmoving, afraid.
Alvin laughed at the picture, littered in notes and comments from the one who drew it.
"Why, I'll be! It's from one of our dear... Exploration group." He laughed, the men inside the tavern chorused around him in drunken laughter. "Maybe we should visit our friends and make... certain arrangements, don't yer' think?" He asked no one in particular. He stuffed the drawing inside his pocked and prepared to walk out, thoughts of booze temporarily out of his mind.
"Ey' Alvin! What about here monster?" One of the men asked, mindlessly kicking the small dragon.
"DAGGUR!" Alvin bellowed, Daggur made his way in-between the crowd and smiled in a sickly sweet manner.
"I need a new handle fer' my knife." He laughed and walked out. Daggur turned to the cowering dragon and laughed, taking out his small dagger, he grabbed the dragon from its wings and made his way out of the tavern.
"Try to make it a quick kill, we're not in the mood to hear pig squeals." Another man said, absentmindedly taking a swing from his drink. Daggur didn't respond, instead, he threw his head back and laughed.
Jack was in a sea of confusion and turmoil. Toothless curled around him, the many dragons rested soundlessly. Snorts and whistles resounded around the nest, sounds that otherwise rocked Jack into slumber, but on this particular night, the rhythmic sound of breaths and puffs did nothing to calm his fast beating heart.
When he closed his eyes, instead of seeing the comforting darkness, he saw bright green eyes. In his hands, he felt the softness of his skin, even after long gone. He felt the warmness on his side. He shivered and rolled to his side. Hiccup was different from all the other creatures, hunters, he'd ever seen.
Jack wasn't stupid. He knew there was an attraction, and a small part of him, begged, needed, to know if Hiccup felt it as well. Jack knew that no dragon would mate with him. He'd tried to court many, but was always refused. As much as he loved everyone from the nest, and everyone loved him, he knew, deep inside that he wasn't attractive like the others.
Jack had no wings to impress his peers, Jack had no claws to defend his intended, Jack did not have enough strength to defend himself!
He sighed. He didn't know what to do, or how to feel. Toothless always told him otherwise. Their mother always told him how much she loved him despite his strange appearance. She loved him so much, that she even left her bones, left the last of her strength for jack to have, in order to defend himself. If it were not for his mother bones, for his staff, he would have never been useful. Jack would have been a waste of space. The nest would have kicked him out, regardless of their love. A useless dragon, was dead dragon.
Jack held out his hand in front of him. With the light of a new day, he imagined the feel of Hiccup's hand on his. He imagined closing his hand around Hiccups. without knowing what else to do, he loved his hand and pressed his lips to it. wishing with all his might that is was Hiccup.
Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup.
The name repeated inside his mind. He need to see him, to see him smile, to hear his voice, to feel his skin.
Silently, he grabbed his staff and inched away from His, and Toothless' nest. sliding down, he lifted the ferns as silently as he could and slipped under, taking a quick breath. He was going to see Hiccup.
Determination filled his inside, He knew where his nest was, He could meet Hiccups family, and then He'd take him to see his.
Through the trees he went, bird here and there singing, the day was starting, flowers bloomed and the animals awakened from their slumber.
By the time Jack reached Hiccup's nest, the sun was high in the sky. He saw Hiccup, and the two other hunters moving about. Jack's step suddenly faltered. A strange feeling ticked at his insides, like a million little bee's buzzed under his skin. He crawled over the trees and decided to watch, to make sure to enter correctly, unsurprising. After all, His Hiccup was nice, His Hiccup was gentle, But those other hunters, He was not so sure.
From the moment Hiccup awoke, He went about his notes, drawing and writing, making sure to get the detail from his mind just right, though this new research was not about dragon's.
After the fiasco from yesterday afternoon, Him and his friend went about to fix and salvage what was left of the campsite, thankfully, the silverware took the worst, and everything else was fixed. Hiccup almost cried for joy when he found his last spare unscratched.
No longer caring for decency, after all this was an Island, not civilization, he rolled his trousers a little higher than usual, He didn't wear his necktie, or coat, the sleeves on his white shirt were rolled over his elbows, and, he giggled, he wore no shoes! It was all exciting for him, of course he wished his friends would join him.
Fishlegs still wore the stuffy suit from yesterday, and Astrid sat silently polishing her pistol, unnecessary as it was. Fishing out His chalkboard, he walked, barefoot! he giggled again, and placed it right where the sun's light hit it in the early afternoon and began to make the outline of Jack's figure. Tall, but crouched over, toned, wild. Fishlegs whom later wondered next to him as he worked began to examine the picture and ask question, of course Hiccup was happy to answer.
"Oh Hiccup! This is such a great discovery!" Fishlegs laughed when he explained how Jack had talked to the Commons. "A man with no language, No human behavior!"
"An no respect for personal boundaries!" Hiccup sighed exasperated, His cheeks turning pink.
"What do you mean?" Fishlegs asked confused. Hiccup shoved his face near Fishlegs', noses touching, Fishlegs sputtered, face turning red at Hiccups too close for comfort proximity.
"He was this close to me! Starring at me!" He explained. "He seemed confused at first..." Hiccup took the chalk once more and continued to work on the drawing, speaking, his voice becoming softer and gentler.
" Like he's never seen a human before.." He began to draw his nose. slowly, Hiccup began to draw his eyes. " And his eyes were intense, and focused, and..." As he kept drawing, Hiccup's thoughts were lost to the blue eyes of Jack he saw in his mind's eye. "and.." Hiccup smiled, his voice becoming softer still, almost as if talking to himself. " I've never seen such eyes..." He sighed.
Fishlegs watched him, something akin to jealousy bubbling under his skin but pushed the feeling down, he cleared his voice. " Oh, shall I leave you and the blackboard alone?" He laughed awkwardly, Hiccup snapped back into reality and chuckled.
"Fishlegs, stop it!' He laughed, Such things were only for fantasy. " The point is, think of what we could learn from him, we must find him!"
Astrid, whom had listened to everything Hiccup had said, sighed in exasperation, and held her gun tightly.
" Professor! We are here to find dragons, not indulge in one of Hiccups boyish fantasies" She glared at Hiccup over Fishlegs' head. Hiccup felt insulted.
"Fantasy! I didn't imagine him!" He walk stormed after Astrid as she walked away, contempt to have had put in her two cents.
" Jack is-" As he was about to confront Astrid, from above the trees a rustle was heard, and in a blur, Jack's crouching form appeared, warmth filled Hiccups chest and crossed his arm, looking penitently at Astrid. "Real." He gave he a cocky smile.
Fishlegs beyond himself stammered exigently, watching as Jack stood straighter and approached Hiccup, lifting his hand, Hiccup mocking the movement.
"Its, him, its him! It's, Jack!" He yelled.
" Watch out Professor, Hiccup stand back!" Astrid pointed her pistol at Jack's heart, Hiccup, with a yell of no, jumped and pushed the point of the pistol away, just as Astrid pulled the trigger, the sound of the boom echoing in the area. A moment of silence, then.
"Astrid" Hiccup smiled, Fishlegs and Astrid looked around to find the voice whom had said her name, Jack stood close to Fishlegs, and said it again. "Astrid!" Jack puffed out his chest, as if proud of saying the name. Fishlegs laughed, and Astrid remained confused.
"H-have we met...?" She enquired "How does he know my name...?" Astrid asked in awe, looking at Jack fully now.
Hiccup chuckled and gestured to the pistol, that was still held tightly in Astrid hands.
"He thinks it means the sound of the gunshot!" He laughed, Jack's attention was brought back into Hiccups and walked forward. With both of his hands, he held Hiccups face, and leaned in his forehead, touching Hiccups.
"Hiccup" He whispered. Hiccup giggled, and his face felt warm, but made no movement to move away.
" Yes, hello, Jack" he sighed. Fishlegs laughed heartedly.
"I see what you mean about boundaries!" He laughed again as Jack suddenly pulled Hiccup close into his body, both of him hand on his waist, and rested his chin on top of his head. Thought he action lasted for only a minute, he moved away and circled around Astrid, studying her and watching her pistol.
"What is he doing?" Astrid felt uncomfortable with the starring, Jack straightened his back more and held a stance familiar to Astrid's. Hiccup laughed.
"Look at him Hiccup! Moved like a dragon, but acts like a man!" He approached them both. "He could be the missing link!" He laughed again, Astrid pushed Fishlegs to the side, and idea in her mind. "Or our link to the dragons!' She said, excitement dripping from her voice. She let go of Fishlegs shoulder, and stood in front of Jack once more.
"Where are the Dragons?" She asked sternly. Jack, though didn't answer and instead opted to fondle the braid of her hair, indignant, she stepped back, but Jack followed, focused on her braided hair
She pushed him off and held his wrist tightly.
"DRA-GONS!" She yelled, Jack puffed out his chest and yelled as well. "DRA-GONS!" He smiled.
" Shouting won't help, Astrid, He doesn't understand our language" Hiccup explained calmly, secretly enjoying the show.
" Then I'll make him understand" Astrid smiled at the challenge. walking over to the chalk board, she wiped the boar clean and drew, in a very cartoonish way, what resembled a dragon, all the while muttering to herself.
" If I can teach a parrot to sing, then I can certainly teach this savage a thing or two" She turned to Jack, who looked at the chalk board curiously, smiling, the pointed the chalk to the board.
" Dragons!" She said again. Jack reached over and took the chalk from her hand, looking at it she repeated. "Dragons." Astrid smirked.
"Oh I think he understands! He's got it!" Fishlegs jumped in anticipation. Jack jumped on the chalkboard and began to quibble around it, laughing and repeating the words "Draaaaaagons!"
"Or maybe not..." Fishlegs shoulders slumped.
"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Astrid snatched the chalk back. " Oh, no, no, no, no!" Jack copied once more, he made a wild grab for the chalk. Astrid stepped back, but Jack clung to her harm, to the point where he hung into her body, reaching over to catch the chalk again.
Astrid snarled, and Jack hissed, both wrestling to keep the chalk. Once Hiccup was done being amused by the sheer oddness of it all, sighed and finally snatched the chalk from Astrid's hands and held it above his head, both her and Jack looked at him.
"Astrid, I think I'll take it from here." He smiled.