A/N: I apologize for the long wait. Lately I have a lot on my plate, but I'll try to update more often.
Also, I was asked if this was a Hiccup x OC, and I just want to make it clear that it is not. I intended for the two of them to develop a brother/sister relationship. Thank you for reading.
*cough* Hiccstrid forever *cough*
Chapter 7 Tiny Twerp Torch
"Oh, this is so exciting!" Fishlegs squealed in exhilaration. "Documenting two new species! Learning all about them!"
Tuffnut frowned dumbly at Fishlegs, "Wait. Learning?"
His sister stubbornly folded her arms, "No thanks."
We were all gathered in the arena bright and early to add Torch and Luna into the book of dragons. Since Torch is a never before seen dragon, Fishlegs got everyone down here to add the pipsqueak to the Dragon Manual. As for Luna, I learned that her species, Nox Winds, were thought to be imaginary; so instead of being in the Dragon Manual, Nox Winds were just talked about in stories. Years ago some little boy spotted her breed and told the whole village about the sighting, but since it was a cloudy night no one else ever saw it, they thought he was seeing things. Or at least that's how the story goes. Almost every day Fishlegs begged me to let him do some tests on Luna so he could document her. But she firmly told me no. She didn't like the idea of being "tested". But when everyone wouldn't stop doting over the new dragon, she got a little jealous and gave in. Fishlegs went over the moon.
Torch sat on a barrel in the center of the room with Luna standing next to him. We all grouped around them. The other dragons watched behind us while Toothless sat on a cliff over looking the arena, but stared straight ahead, obviously not in a good mood.
Hiccup got out the Dragon Manual and flipped through the pages. "It's incredible, there's nothing in the book that looks anything like him."
"We even get to determine what he's called!" Fishlegs gushed. "That is – that is a really big responsibility! I don't know if I'm ready for that."
"I am!" Snotlout pointed a thumb to his chest, "I'm gonna name the snot out of it!"
Rolling my eyes I muttered under my breath, "That'll be a riot."
Astrid snickered as Snotlout glared at me, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Knowing that we would probably see soon enough, I pulled out the measuring tape, "Are we doing this or not?"
Astrid took the other end and we got on ether side of Luna. She spread open her wings and I carefully measured.
"Wow, 50 foot wing span."
Hiccup wrote it down as Astrid measured Torch, "20 inches for the wings."
"That's a big wing span." Hiccup muttered as he wrote it down.
"Mine is bigger." Luna grumbled as she pouted.
Snotlout pounced in front of us, "Big Wing! Big Span!" He raised his arms in the air dramatically, "Big Wing Span!"
I smirked at him, "I rest my case." I was met with a glare.
Fishlegs grinned as he pulled out a roll of paper, "My I have the honor of administering the claw test?"
He unrolled it and held it in front of Luna who sliced it with her wing talons. Hiccup, Fishlegs, Astrid and I leaned in to examine it. It was a slightly jagged and rough where her black talons ripped through.
Fishlegs studied her talons, "Huh, their black instead of ivory. And so is her teeth!"
Luna scuffed, "You just noticed that, dragon boy?"
Astrid looked impressed, "That's new. No other dragon is like that."
I grinned at Luna, "Well aren't you special?"
She puffed her chest with pride, glad about being noticed. After Hiccup wrote down some notes, Fishlegs held out another roll of paper for Torch. He stared at it curiously before he took a couple of swipes at it. The paper was cut clean and sharp.
Fishlegs leaned down at the little guy, "Look at these talons! They're razor like."
Snotlout shoved into him, "Sharp Claw! Razor Feet! RAZOR SHARP CLAW TALON FEET!"
Tuffnut raised a skeptical eyebrow towards his sister, "Hold on, is he serious?"
Well that was sad. Even the twins thought his idea was stupid, and believe me that was saying something.
Fishlegs put an arm over Hiccups shoulders, "You know what comes next don't you?"
Amused, Hiccup looked up from his writing, "No, not really."
"Only the single most important test to determine their reaction to eels! The eel reaction test!"
Fishlegs walked over to basket next to the barrel where Torch sat. After picking up an eel, he held it out to Luna. She screeched in panic before flying outside the arena with everyone's dragons following behind her. He then held it out to Torch and my jaw dropped when he ate it! We all gapped at the pipsqueak as Fishlegs bounced up and down.
"He ate it!" Fishlegs danced around the room, "He ate the eel!"
Snotlout jumped in front of us, "Eel Eater!" He shrugged at me, "Come on, that's perfect."
I turned to Hiccup ignoring the loud mouth, "I thought dragons were terrified of eels."
He shrugged with a dumbstruck expression, "I- I thought they were." He turned to Fishlegs, "Has there ever been a dragon who wasn't afraid of"-
"Never in recorded history!" Fishlegs slowly waved his hand in the air, "We're in uncharted waters my friends."
Hiccup stroked the tiny dragon, "You hear that, Torch? You're one of a kind."
Fishlegs frowned, "Now we need to get it to fly."
Hiccup thought for a moment, "Maybe if Torch saw Toothless fly." He looked up at the cliff and called out, "Toothless, lets take a ride, bud."
The dragon only glanced at him before staring straight ahead again.
Snotlout laughed at him, "So much for the dragon trainer." He walked over to Hookfang who cautiously came back in, "We got this." He sat on his saddle before smirking at me, "You might want to take notes, babe."
I gave him a scowl that would peel the flesh off Satan himself.
Everyone watched with little to no surprise as Snotlout screamed for his life when Hookfang flew out of control. Outside the arena Hookfang did crazy spins, loopy loops and back flips with Snotlout barely hanging on.
Finally the grinning dragon swooped back inside landing none too gracefully in front of us.
"Ok," Snotlout gasped for breath as he straightened his helmet. He turned to Torch, "Your turn. But don't think you have to live up to that."
Torch got the memo and glided to the floor. He walked around in circles while his oversized wings slapped against the stone floor.
Ruffnut was disappointed, "What's he doing?"
Astrid shrugged, "Maybe something's wrong."
"Aw, man," Tuffnut whined. "We broke him."
Hiccup watched with concern, "Maybe he can't fly."
But before our eyes Torch flopped around in circles getting higher and higher in the air while dazzling blinding sparks fizzed and popped out of his mouth. We were all awed and speechless as he circled the whole arena in graceful hypnotic wing beats. For a dramatic end, Torch came to the middle of the arena and spun faster than a top as he landed on the ground, extinguishing his sparklers.
Hiccup was the first to speak while Torch flew into his arms, "You are one incredible little dragon."
"Wow," Ruffnut pointed to the floor, "Look at that burn mark!"
Where Torch had spouted out blinding sparks of fire, now laid a small black smoky spiral. It was actually a pretty neat design.
I had too admit, I was impressed, "His fire was just like a firework on the 4th of July!"
Everyone gave me a dumbstruck expression while Hiccup asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, uh…it's a colorful explosion that people set off on a holiday where I come from."
Tuffnut lit up. "No way! Where can I get some of that?!"
"Did you see how it flew?" Fishlegs gapped at us, wisely changing the subject. "It spun like a typhoon!"
"And he came back just like a boomerang!" Astrid spared her enthusiasm.
"Hot Spinner!" Snotlout jumped right back in, "Flaming Come Backer!"
"No." Fishlegs shook his head as he received an idea. Then he spoke slowly and waved his hand through the air with a dramatic flare, "Typhoomerang."
We all smiled, silently approving the title…except Snotlout. He frowned stupidly, "Typhoomerang? No, I don't get it."
Astrid rolled her eyes to high heaven as I held in a crack about his brain capacity.
As Luna walked back into the arena, I turned to Fishlegs, "Do you need Luna to fly for your test?"
Fishlegs stared down with his hands behind his back as he shuffled his feet, "Well…a few days ago I may have sorta studied Luna's flight pattern when you weren't looking."
I face palmed, "Why am I not surprised?"
Luna roughly nudged me in the back, "If we're done here, can we go eat?"
"Good idea." I crawled onto her back before calling to Hiccup, "If you need me, I'll be at the beach on the other side of the island."
The Viking made no gesture to show he heard me. He was playful scratching Torch behind the head as the annoying small fry squeaked with delight. The others were practically melting at the spectacle as they made awing sounds.
I called a bit louder, "I'm taking Luna to the top of the mountain to freeze to death."
Surprise, surprise, they ignored me. Muttering about liquefied brain cells, I began to understand Toothless' mood. Luna eagerly flew towards the beach, too hungry to care about Hiccup or the others.
"Are you gonna eat that?"
Grinning, I threw what was left of my cooked fish high over Luna's head where she caught it in mid air. The sun was high in the sky where it reflected of the sparkling sea. I sat in front of a small fire on the cool damp beach, just finishing the fish Luna caught. Right after she gulped down my leftovers, the playful dragon bounded into the rolling waves and splashed around like a child. While the weather on Berk wasn't normally warm and sunny, there were no clouds out today giving the sun room to shine and I grew accustomed to the gentle cold wind. Even if it was freezing, Luna wouldn't have cared. Dragon scales were so thick that the freezing sea water didn't bother her in the slightest. I also learned that her scales were fire proof like most other dragons.
The only sounds were a few sea birds soaring high in the sky, calm rolling waves, wind blowing ever so softly, the fire quietly cracking and Luna's playful splashing. Feeling relaxed I sprawled out across the cool sand and let my thoughts wander.
I probably haven't been as worried as I should have been. Now that I thought about it, I should have hyperventilated ages ago. After all, by some unknown cause I have been whisked away from my home and into another world where a make believe creature is my best friend and I have no idea how to get back. My mom is probably ill with worry. I should have lost my mind!
Slowly I closed my eyes. Maybe I did go crazy. Maybe all of this is just hallucinations. Perhaps I'm really just strapped to a bed in a mental hospital while lost in my own psychotic mind.
"Ow!" I flinched with pain when a mosquito the size of a bird bit my arm. I squished the nasty little thing realizing that figments of my imagination couldn't possibly hurt or cause a drop of blood to appear above my elbow. Flicking it away, I once again settled on the sand.
So if all this was a real reality, there had to be a way back. I reasoned that if there was a way here, then there must be a way back.
However it was possible, I knew it must have something to do with the strange choker around my neck. Not once have I taken it off. Every night as I went to sleep I kept thinking about what happened that night and how it brought me here. Grandmother's last words echoed in my mind like a phantom from a nightmare, Keep this close, and never take it off. I just needed to figure out how it worked.
I was close to falling asleep when someone tapped on my shoulder.
Looking up, I was surprised to see deep light brown eyes staring back in my misty green ones.
"Hi." A masculine voice greeted.
"…Sup."
Brushing the sand off, I stood up to my full height. The boy in front of me was a whole two feet taller, but he looked like he was close to seventeen. The sun haloed his messy dirty blond hair. His soft eyes sparkled at me with curiosity.
"You're that foreign girl aren't you? The chief's ward, right? I heard you helped round up the animals back during the blizzard."
I stupidly blinked at him. I didn't realize the people here had heard about me. Realizing he was waiting for me to answer I stood up, brushed the sand off my pants and nodded my head. "My name is Caroline." I took in his friendly face, "I don't believe I've seen you before. Do you live in town, or perhaps on one of the farms?"
"Neither." He stabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the dense forest behind him. "I live in the woods with my aunt and uncle. My mom died years ago and my dad travels around a lot. But he does pop by every now and then. I mainly only go in to town to sell boar and deer meat." He shook my hand, "My name is Avaric."
He glanced over my shoulder at Luna. "What kind of dragon is that?"
"I've been told she's a Nox Wind."
His eyes bulged as he stared at the blissful dragon splashing in the sparkling waves. "No way!"
I grinned at him, "Luna's pretty impressive, huh?"
We watched as she bounded onto the beach to pursue frantic seagulls, kicking sand high in the air before following them into the sky.
Taking another glance at Avaric, I noticed a bow and a quiver filled with arrows. A leather satchel hung from his shoulder. "You hunting?"
"Shot two squirrels."
Under my breath I muttered, "Shame you didn't get one that was flaming."
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"So," Avaric smirked as Luna cannonballed into the sea, "I'm out here hunting. But what are you two doing out here?"
I shrugged, "I like to get away and think about things. It's a nice fishing spot for lunch too."
I heard a low growl and realized it was his stomach.
Avaric adjusted his satchel, "Speaking of lunch I should go home and cook up my squirrels." After noticing my small discussed frown he added, "Not a fan of squirrel?"
"Never ate squirrel."
He looked surprised at fist, "I'm guessing no one eats them wherever you're from?"
I chuckled, "No one I know eats them." Although I had my suspicions about the burgers at McDonalds.
As he walked to the edge of the woods he turned and waved, "I'll see you around."
I watched until the trees and shrubbery blocked him from view and sounds of his footsteps died away.
"Hold still, Torch. I'm trying to draw you."
Night had fallen and upstairs in Hiccup's room, Torch scurried around with Hiccup's Viking helmet on. Sitting at his desk with his notebook and charcoal pencil, Hiccup careful sketched out a detailed picture of the tiny dragon. I sat on the edge of his bed while Luna napped by the fire pit downstairs. Toothless sat on the roof, refusing to come inside.
"Hiccup, I'm telling you," I glared at the shrimp of a dragon, "There is something seriously wrong with that dragon!"
My friend looked up at me as if I cussed, "Come on, Caroline. Don't be so small minded."
Fuming with a temper, I rose to my feet. "Your best friend is sitting miserable on the roof while a flaming squirrel sleeps in his bed!"
Surprise, Surprise, Hiccup was too busy playing with Torch to notice my scowling face or hear a word I yelled.
With a frustrated groan I stomped downstairs.
Stoik was sitting by the fire carving out a wooden duck. He looked up and I unintentionally scowled at him.
He threw up his hands in a defensive manner, "I didn't do it!"
Sighing heavily, I sank down to Luna's sleeping form. "I'm sorry, Stoik. Your son can get on my nerves."
I thought I saw the sliver of a grin on the chief's face. "I've noticed."
Resting on Luna's side, I slowly began to fall asleep to the crackling sounds and smoky smell of fire. Stoik bid me good night and retired to his room. I cracked open my eyes a moment later to see Hiccup walk down the stairs with a sour expression.
Without much hope, I called to him in a persnickety voice, "And what, pray tell, has gotten you in a foul mood?"
He held up his pencil to reveal the charcoal had broken off. "Toothless jumped through the window, bumped into me and broke it." He rummaged around the table looking for more charcoal.
"Serves you right." I mumbled while closing my eyes.
"Did you say something?"
"Oh, nothing."
There was a frozen silence as Hiccup repaired his pencil. But then there was a loud clatter coming from upstairs in Hiccup's room. Sharing a worried look, we both raced upstairs to find Toothless chasing Torch. But what really made our eyes bulge was that part of the floor was on fire!
"Toothless!" Hiccup cried out in shock.
Thinking fast, the two of us each grabbed one of his bed sheets and patted the flames out. We coughed as the thick smoke drifted out the window.
Torch jumped into Hiccup's arms as the young Viking frowned at his dragon, "What is going on here? Toothless why did you do this? What is wrong with you?"
There was hurt in the dragon's eyes before he yelled, "I didn't make the fire!"
In one swift motion, Toothless bounded out the window and headed for the forest. Despite our calls for him to stop, the dragon didn't look back once.
When he was far out of sight I rounded on Hiccup, "What the heck is wrong with you?!"
Shock was in Hiccup's eyes, "What do you mean?"
"Open your eyes, Hiccup! Do you honestly think Toothless would set your room on fire?! It was obviously tiny twerp Torch!"
The nuisance was purring and nuzzling into Hiccup's arms. He glared at me, "Torch wouldn't do that! Toothless is just jealous or something."
I pointed at the scorch marks on the floor, "So according to you, your best friend set your room on fire in a petty fit of jealously?"
Hiccup returned my icy glare, "I don't know what's wrong with him! I am worried, but he needs to chill. Torch is injured after all. He needs to learn to be a good host."
With a high pitch growl, I stormed down the stairs. Luna opened her sleep filled eyes. "What's going on?"
Still boiling mad with Hiccup, I simply shook my head. "Let's just go to bed. Hopefully things will be better in the morning."
But things weren't better in the morning. Not only were Hiccup and I still angry with one another, but apparently Toothless hadn't come home last night.
