How to Train a Dragon Rider
Chapter 7
Days Past
Hiccup found Yoseph, once again, on the roof of the house he had slept inside of. He was reclining against the slope, stargazing.
"Why don't you go to your own house?" He asked.
"This is my house." Yoseph replied, still looking at the stars.
"Oh." Hiccup though for a minute, and realized that it made sense. Yoseph had run away, so he wouldn't have had parents on the island. "Where did you sleep last night?"
"Up here. I like sleeping under the stars." He replied. Not all that surprising, really.
Hiccup tried to find a way up, but could not see any nearby ladders. He remembered how Yoseph had climbed up the columns in the meeting hall. He tried to put his hands and feet into the cracks between the logs of the house, but his metal prosthetic wouldn't keep a good grip, so he was stuck to using his hands and one good foot to climb.
After his first unsuccessful attempt, Yoseph said, "Go away."
Hiccup tried again, and Yoseph made no move to stop him. This time he climbed up two logs before he fell, landing on his butt. He tried again.
This time, he made it three logs up, and Yoseph slid down to the edge of the roof. He held down a hand to help Hiccup, and together they heaved the young viking over the lip. Yoseph then climbed back to his original spot on the roof, and lay down.
Hiccup, not knowing what to say, sat down next to him.
"They told you?" Yoseph asked. Hiccup nodded. "Yes."
"I hated that place." Yoseph began, "I spent thirteen years of my life learning how to kill a man in the most gruesome ways possible. Thirteen years of lessons about how to carry as mush loot as you can, but leave enough so that they can survive, then some back in the next few seasons and do it again."
Hiccup nodded. "I guess that would be pretty terrible."
Yoseph continued. "I was a nobody – I couldn't swing an axe right, I couldn't throw a spear right, all I learned how to do was avoid my classmate's weapons. Probably the one useful skill I took from that there."
Hiccup nodded. He could sympathize with Yoseph's past experience – it wasn't too dissimilar from his own, before he had found Toothless.
"Then, I went on my first raid." He went on. "And that's when I made up my mind to leave."
Even waiting in the boat, far back on the shore, the young boy could sense the destruction. He could hear the screams as women and children fled their homes, the metal-on-metal screech as some of the men tried to fight back. He could see the smoke, tainting the sky.
"My dad's gonna get more than yours!" One of the other boys in the boat with him said. Another rebuked, "Your dad's gonna bring back some lame wheat. Mine's gonna bring back something gold and expensive.
The boy was silent. He hated this place, hated what his father did. Hated what everyone here did.
Yoseph narrated his story.
"I packed as much food as I could into a bag, the night before I left. I didn't know anything about surviving in the wild back then. I had no plan, I just wanted out. That night, I waited for my father to fall asleep.
"Now, back then, the Demen still weren't a very popular tribe. We had enemies, and the night I chose to run was one of the worst coincidences of my life.
"I had the bag over my shoulder, and I was waiting at my door for the time I thought my father would be asleep. I was almost ready to go, when the attack hit.
"There was a fireball outside our house. The other tribe had brought their catapults, and started with them. I still don't know which tribe attacked us that night.
"Anyway, my father woke straight up and ran out the door. When he was gone, I followed, and looked out the door after him.
"It was chaos. There was fire everywhere, and enemy vikings were charging down the hills from all sides. They must have landed on the beaches on the other side of the island. When they fired their catapults, they woke up the entire village, and our men were fighting back.
"I should have stayed in the house, and left running for another day. But this was years ago, and the most dangerous situation I had ever been in was sparring at the arena. I was scared.
"So, I ran. I went for the docks, and thought I could steal a boat and leave the island before they reached me. I was wrong.
"They had men hiding at the flanks of our village, and after the first charge, warriors started to appear everywhere. I couldn't find a street free of the fighting, so I just ran wherever I could. That was the first time I ever really had to dodge blows that were meant to kill me.
"I almost made it to the docks, and I thought I was home free. But one of the other vikings caught me. I thought I was dead for sure."
Yoseph was pinned to the ground, and though he struggled, there was no way he could escape the burly viking. The man pushed him down with one hand, and with the other he drew a knife.
Yoseph closed his eyes. He knew he was done for.
The man on top hesitated, looking at the boy beneath him. He lowered his knife, and cut the strap of the bag that was around the young viking's shoulder. He got up, and took the bag with him.
Yoseph opened his eyes – the man had spared him. Yoseph had always been taught not to spare anyone unless absolutely necessary – Was the fight going that bad for them, that they were letting his people live? Were there already too few to recover the village?
No, he could see many fights still raging in the streets. The battle was not being won or lost yet.
But filled with adrenaline, Yoseph only had time to think intermittently. In his first taste of life-or-death combat, most of his actions were just instinct.
He got up and kept moving, and found a shield and axe on the ground. He took them – without his pack, he could carry the extra weight.
When he reached the docks, he stopped and stared for a moment. One of the huge, burning catapult projectiles had slammed into the cliff above the huge wooden ramp, and was raining burning debris down on what was left of it.
Yoseph looked at the smoldering mass for what seemed like an eternity, though it was only for the space of a few seconds. He had to get down to the docks. This was the only way.
He dropped the axe – it was just dead weight, and he was unlikely to find anyone left on the ramp. He began walking down.
He reached the first obstacle about halfway through the first section. The impact of the fireball had ripped away most of the planking, save for a single lengthwise support beam hugging the cliff.
Yoseph walked forward. He pushed as far to the rock wall as he could, and began to sidestep down the logs, the shield above and in front of him, to block the torrent on sparks and debris falling before him.
He reached the part where the bridge narrowed to the single beam, and slowly advanced. Halfway to the opposite end, he almost tripped, but managed to regain his balance.
He made it. He hurried down, where the ramp curved back on itself, again under the grounded projectile. This time, the ramp was further out, and he would have to go directly under the falling torrent of hot, smoldering rocks and burning clumps of oil.
He looked forward, and took a deep breath. He ran, holding his shield up and angled to the side. He felt the impacts of the falling wreckage, but the wood of his shield held up.
He looked up at the smoldering catapult projectile again, and saw a small fireball falling towards him. He lifted the shield more to protect his head, and stopped the missile.
He finally made it to the other side, and continued down the ramp.
"I made it to the bottom, and found a small boat. I was never very good at sailing, and I knew that I couldn't pilot one of the larger ships."
"And then did you find your way here?" Hiccup asked.
"Nope." Yoseph replied. "I got in the boat and put up the sail. I didn't know what direction I was going in, but later, I guessed it was probably to the northwest.
Yoseph woke up in the boat the next day. He stood up and looked around, but found no sign of any other ships, or the harbor he had set out from.
He remembered the events of last night, but when the memories came rushing back, he showed no outward sign of it. He had wanted to get away, and he had. Now he just had to figure out what to do.
He looked for the closest island to him, and pulled on the rudder stick. The small ship turned, and slowly made its way there.
When he reached the island, he tried to beach the ship, but with little success. He managed to heave the anchor overboard, and decided that it would do.
As soon as the beach ended, the trees began. He walked up the short incline, and into the forest. He didn't know what he was looking for – he still hadn't made any sort of plan.
He started talking to himself. "Oh, let's just go see what's on the island. There are probably no snakes to bite you, or bears to maul you. Heck, if you're lucky, there might not even be a dragon to spit fire on you and roast your guts. Whoa!"
He tripped, and fell onto a toppled log. "Ug. . ."
He pulled himself up, and jumped off on the other side. He continued his slow trek through the woods.
In a different part of the forest, a shape crouched to the bottom of a pond. It looked above itself, searching for movement. The only visible parts were its bright eyes, the rest of its body camouflaged to the surroundings.
It leapt, and its head exploded out of the water. It hauled its body out onto the beach, where it swallowed the fish it had caught.
It looked back into the water, but before it jumped in, it cocked its head to the side. It heard an unusual sound – then, it turned around, and walked into the forest.
"Let's just leave home, with no supplies, and live by ourselves out in the wilderness. . ." Yoseph continued on.
He heard a noise behind him, and jumped. He looked towards the source of the sound, and saw a sapling shaking.
He looked around at the nearby trees. He could see nothing out of place. He let out a heavy breath. He was just nervous. There was nothing to be worried about.
But this wouldn't stop the dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach. No matter how positive his thoughts were, his gut refused to unclench, and Yoseph remained on alert.
Despite his lookout, two neon blue eyes tracked him through the forest. Eventually, he lost some of his edge, as the small amount of adrenaline seeped out of his system.
He tried to rally his thoughts, and form a strategy. However, he couldn't get past the fact that he had no supplies, no shelter, and no experience in the wild. He decided to return to the ship, and see if he could salvage anything from it.
He turned around, and began walking in the direction that he had come from. The eyes froze, unlinking, still unseen. He kept walking, closer and closer to the dragon hiding in the bushes.
Did he got around this tree, or was it the one over there? Maybe –
Suddenly, he tripped, as the surface he had stepped on pulled itself away.
"Ah!" He screamed, as he fell face-first to the ground. "Oof!"
He heard a snarl behind him, and turned around to see a dragon growling at him. He had stepped on its tailfin, and now that its cover was blown, it carefully sized up its prey. It moved in a slow circle, stepping closer, but ready to jump away at any second.
Yoseph had no weapon, and his mind raced as the dragon stalked toward him.
He slowly reached back with his hand, searching for anything he could use. He found a tree, and pushed on it to help himself up.
He didn't dare move as the dragon approached him, and he averted his eyes when it was almost to him, thinking it would pounce.
The dragon stopped, and looked the small boy up and down. He was obviously scared, and alone. He had a small cut on his arm from when he had fallen.
Yoseph waited, and waited. He heard the creature start moving again, and closed his eyes tighter.
He heard the rustling sound of bushes being pushed aside, and finally opened his eyes. The dragon was gone.
He looked down. There was half a dead fish, covered in saliva, sitting at his feet.
"After that, I saw her more often. She took me in. It wasn't long before she really was my dragon, and eventually, it was her that led me here." Yoseph gestured to the village around him.
"Wow." Hiccup said.
Yoseph looked back up to the sky, and began thinking again. The he said, "I have to go talk to Kleave."
He jumped off the roof, and left Hiccup. The young Berk viking pondered the story he had been told – unlike Hiccup, who had taken in the injured Toothless and brought him to the village, Ceara and Yoseph had had the opposite roles. He thought that there must be more to the story – but he would leave Yoseph alone for now. At this moment, his first priority was getting off this roof without breaking his good leg.
