Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
Chapter 9:
-Hiccup-
Although he couldn't see Horrendous's face, he could tell by his tone of voice that he was happy about whatever idea he had come up with. The man had looked at the arena, and that alone had Hiccup skeptical if he was going to be happy about what was going to happen or be very concerned.
"Horrendous? What exactly are you thinking about?"
The man turned to him, Hiccup could pretty much see the lights shining in the older viking's eyes through the man's mask.
"I assure you that you'll like it. Just come with me after dinner to the arena."
Hiccup looked away for a moment, collecting his thoughts.
"Okay. Don't make me regret this."
-Horrendous-
He sat in a corner watching as Hiccup went about adjusting and sharpening various tools and weapons. Gobber was hidden somewhere out back playing with the new gronkle iron dagger, his laughs and giggles occasionally ringing out over the noise of Hiccup's work.
Looking down, he carefully finished polishing Astrid's favorite axe. Inspecting it and finding the gleaming blade acceptable, he lightly tossed it from hand to hand. The heavy weight of the weapon made him smile a little, remembering how the village mostly abandoned such metals once the formula for gronkle iron was rediscovered.
Hiccup himself was adamant that only he work on the axe, so he was very reluctant on allowing Horrendous to do anything more than buffing it to a shine. Carefully hanging it on the pegs of the forge wall, he admired his handiwork before a small cough made him turn around.
-Stoick-
The man before him froze for a moment when he noticed his stare, before nodding his head in greeting.
"Good afternoon…"
A moment later his son was at his side, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Hi dad, what brings you to the forge today?"
Stoick looked between Hiccup and Horrendous, the latter with an abnormally stiff posture and a strange silence.
"I came to see how our guest is doing and to see what has Gobber so excited that he making more noise than the twins."
Horrendous wavered slightly, unable to look the chief directly in the eye.
"I am doing fine d…sir. I only had one lesson with the students so far but I believe I can get them ready in no time."
Stoick nodded, hearing Gobber's laugh.
"I will be gone for a few days, and leaving tonight. Hiccup, keep up with your training. Horrendous, make sure he does…"
He made to leave but paused and turned to Horrendous.
"Oh, before I forget, Gothi would like to meet with you tomorrow after dragon training."
With a nod, Stoick left the two younger vikings to follow the laughter of his friend. He found the smith playing with a small dagger, throwing it or slashing at random objects. He raised his eyebrows when Gobber hacked at an old sword, the old blade falling into clean pieces with each cut.
"I can see why you are so happy. Where in the world did you get that thing? I don't believe Trader Johann had been near Berk in weeks."
Gobber smiled toothily, pulling the dagger out of his arm socket and handing it to the chief.
"It's so light!"
"I know! Never thought such a metal existed! I really need to ask where Horrendous got it!"
Stoick inspected the blade again, now noting its similarity to Horrendous's leg and weapon.
"Looks like I may be right about him! Say Gobber, what you think of the lad now that he had a lesson?"
Gobber thought for a few moments.
"He seems trustworthy enough. Hiccup doesn't seem to think of him a threat at the very least and I trust your son's judgment."
Stoick nodded in agreement.
"Listen Gobber, I am heading to the Berserker tribe for a few days. Oswald has lately been feeling paranoid for some reason and wanted some company for reassurance. Don't know why but I can't refuse another chief who needs help."
"Can't say I blame him given his tribe's…interesting history. Did you want me to accompany you?"
Stoick shook his head.
"I still need you to help watch over the trainees. Spitelout can take care of the village until I return."
"And what about Horrendous? I thought you would rather remain here to watch over him during his stay."
"He hasn't done anything threatening that I am aware of, and from the gossip I've heard, the younger ones are fascinated by him. I don't think he needs an escort anymore, but keep a close eye on him while I'm gone."
The blacksmith nodded, taking the dagger back from the chief.
"Understood."
-Hiccup-
After his father left, he frowned at Horrendous's words. He definitely was about to call Stoick something else than 'sir', but it seems only he picked up on the strange slip of tongue. Hiccup spent the rest of the afternoon working in the forge, his mind pondering the mystery that was Horrendous.
The man mysteriously appears in a flash of light, and takes down a Gronkle with what Hiccup is sure is a few clippings of dragon nip. Next the elder has a strange interest in him, an oddity considering her general apathy in the personal lives of the village residents. Finally was Toothless's reaction to the man.
While he guessed that dragons on principle were…distrustful…of vikings, Toothless's actions for the most part weren't hostile. Dragons, like vikings, had an attack first ask questions later approach to new things. Yet beyond the initial blast that brought Horrendous falling into the cove, Toothless never attacked the man at all, not even with a threatening growl. Now that he thought about it, Toothless was acting more like he was having a small tantrum than feeling particularly violent.
That settled it, he was going to confront Horrendous that night and demand to know who, or what, he was. So as soon as he was done eating his meal, Hiccup immediately made his way to the arena, making sure that no one was following him. When he arrived, he found Horrendous leaning against one of the pens with a basket next to him. Before Hiccup could even begin to talk, Horrendous interrupted him.
"How would you like to truly meet the other dragons?"
Author Notes: And another chapter uploaded! Okay, as you may or may note already know, I am not good with writing accents, so just pretend relevant characters such as Stoick and Gobber have them if you don't already.
Next and more important note, as for the next few chapters, this is where we start getting really messy. Please be patient and bear with me as plot wise these will formally cement the differences between the timelines. Coupled with preparations to return to school means potentially longer delays between uploads.
Please read and review! I need them to get through these next couple weeks!
