A/N: Hello all and welcome back to Unhinged. I know it has been a while but fear not i will be here for a bit before switching stories. So for those of you who play a certain game made by Ubisoft you will probably recognize the weapon i have Hiccup make. The reason i started playing said game and thought it would be cool. Anyway enjoy and let me know what you think.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Mexican ;p
They had been on Dragon Island for about two months now. Two months since their exodus from Berk. In that time no one had come to try and find them which is just what they wanted complete and utter silence from the island.
When they first arrived they had to stay in the caves of the former dragon queen while they gathered the wood necessary to build a hut for themselves. They decided to save on materials by building one hut but with two separate bed rooms per Hiccup's request.
That had taken one month to build as they made a two story hut with Hiccup's room up top and Astrid's on bottom. In addition to their bed rooms they had also built a kitchen, an office for Hiccup to do his drawings and designs and a small storage room towards the back.
The forge was next to build. That had been tricky since there were certain things that Hiccup simply couldn't bring with him. So he had to do one thing he really didn't want to do. He had to go to a Viking inhabited island and either buy them or steal them.
He ended up wanting to see how stealthy he could be and decided he would try to steal the items he needed. He ended up going to Meathead Island and stealing from the forge master there. Maybe not the best place to see if he was as stealthy as he thought but hey have to start somewhere and they are called the Meatheads for a reason.
That whole ordeal had taken two weeks to complete and another two weeks for him to get the forge up and running on the island.
They were finally moving the last of their items into the hut that they had brought with them. Hiccup had brought most of his clothes and a seemingly endless supply of journals and sketch books and a map of the entire Archipelago. Astrid on the other hand was a little more practical then Hiccup. She had brought most of her clothes as well, but she had brought more knifes for skinning animals and plenty of furs to use as either towels or blankets.
After setting up their rooms and bringing in the furniture that Hiccup had built in the forge Astrid was ready for a break Hiccup however was not.
"Come Astrid time is wasting and I want you to teach me how to fight." Hiccup said with enthusiasm for the 10th time this week
"Hiccup how can you want to start right now the sun is almost setting and I'm tired let's start tomorrow." Astrid said with a slightly annoyed tone
Hiccup's brow furrowed into a frown but he didn't say anything he just scoffed and went out the door slamming it. Astrid let out a groan as she got up from the couch that was in front of the fire place and followed him out the door.
She made her way to the forge as where else would Hiccup go. Just as she approached Hiccup was coming out of the forge with a sword, and really long looking dagger and a bow with a quiver of about 20 arrows. Astrid stepped in front of him stopping his steps.
"Just what do you think you are going to do with all of those Hiccup?" Astrid asked
Hiccup met her eyes with his own and it sent a cold chill down her spine the way he was looking at her. If looks could kill she would be in a million different pieces. Hiccup simply responded in an emotionless voice.
"To do what neither you nor anyone else wanted to do with me." He said as he pushed passed her.
Astrid turned to see where he was going only to see a make shift training area about 50 yards down the way. There were logs that they ended up not using in the construction of either the hut or the forge so Hiccup had driven them into the ground somehow. He set his weapons down on the ground in a neat line.
Coming back up with the sword in his right hand and what Astrid could now see was a short sword. In his left he started to maneuver through the make shift training course. Ducking and dipping between the logs and slashing them as he went along Astrid was surprised at what she saw.
If neither she nor anybody trained Hiccup how to fight how the hell did he look so damn good training with weapons she didn't even know he could wield. He didn't look like he was training or even trying to maneuver through the course. He looked so natural and it looked rather like dancing then anything. His feet moved with his body with such coordination that even on two feet would have been tough yet here Hiccup was doing it with one foot and a metal leg.
When he reached the end of the course he stabbed the last log though it looked like he punched it instead with how close he ended up and how little force he got behind it.
"Damn it!"
Hiccup screamed as he stomped back through the course slashing deep into each log he passed. He stopped back at the bow and quiver full of arrows and rattle off shot after shot. He missed a few but hit 16 of the 20 shots. He didn't say anything neither pleasing nor displeasing.
He sat back down swords at his side and the bow on his back as he stared at the course. Astrid came over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
He whipped his head around eyes glaring, and for some reason filled with tears.
"Why can't I fucking figure it out Astrid? I can get through the course just fine it's when I reach the end and go for the finally blow I end up too close and end up either punching the log and hurting my hand or I either end up past the log and nearly miss it entirely." He said still staring at the course.
Astrid took what he had into consideration and began to think of a solution. She had to. He was pissed off and angry at her that she wouldn't help him all week so he had been dealing with this by himself and stewing over it. She needed to give him some kind of answer.
"Hiccup? When you end up too close and end up punching the log what is your stance like with the sword in your left hand? Astrid asked.
Hiccup got up slowly and started to move through the course again. Astrid caught on to what he was doing and rushed to end of it and waited by the last log. As he came closer and neared to finally strike Astrid noticed something in his stance.
Just before he reached the last log he jumped slightly off the ground using his good foot as the leverage with his left leg in the air and bent slightly. His right hand came forward with sword perpendicular to him as if he was blocking a blow and his left hand came back. He brought his left hand forward and sure enough it looked like he was going to punch the log. But Astrid noticed that around the handle his fingers came off it slightly and the sword was being held by just his thumb. As his sword neared the log he realized that he would end up punching instead of stabbing it and shifted his grip quickly which ended up in a pathetic stab into the log.
Sighing in defeat he dropped the swords again and screamed in frustration.
"What the Fuck!"
"Hiccup wait before you freak out I think I have a solution to your problem." Astrid said trying to calm him down.
"I'm listening Astrid." Hiccup replied panting hard.
"Well right as you get to the last log you end up jumping slightly off your good foot, you bring your right sword across your body like you are blocking a blow and you bring your left back." Astrid started.
"And as you bring your left sword toward the log you look like you are going to punch it, but you don something strange with the grip of your sword." She said in a slightly confused voice
She now had Hiccup's attention as he wasn't aware of this before.
"You lift all of your fingers off the grip and hold the sword with just your thumb and you look like you are going to palm strike the log. But then you realize this and you try to shift back to stabbing it instead of punching it." She explained
"So what if you either shorten the blade to adjust to this or…" She as she furrowed her brow trying to concentrate
"What if you put the blade on the underside of a gauntlet so it comes out from under your palm and wrist so you don't have to stop mid strike and adjust?"
As she was talking Hiccup was looking down at his sword and mimicking what she was saying. Upon hearing her suggestion his eyes lit up as he pulled out a sketch book he had buried somewhere in his armor. And began to draw what Astrid had suggested.
If he was going to put the blade under his wrist it would have to be small like a dagger and be able to fold along the side of his arm so he would stab himself. He could keep the short sword in his left hand just when he went for the killing blow this blade would come forward.
It would have to be able to spring forward somehow maybe his wrist gauntlet could have some cables that bring the blade forward.
He had a rough sketch in his book before he slammed it closed, gathered his weapons and rushed towards the forge.
Just before he had left Astrid saw a look in his eyes that she hadn't seen since she invited him to go to the beach with her. Excitement.
Hiccup never returned home that night. He ended spending all his time in the forge. He had finished what Astrid had suggested he build and he was quite proud of himself.
He was admiring the gauntlet and was in the process of putting it on. Once on his wrist he tested it out to see if it would bring the blade forward or not. He placed his left arm out in front him and brought his wrist up. Sure enough the blade sprung forward and stuck out a good six inches from his wrist. When he put his wrist back down the blade slid back under his arm and into its sheathe that he made.
Stepping outside he could just make out the first rays of sunshine start to peak over the horizon. He looked over to his make shift training course and could see enough of the outlines to be able to run through it. He stood in front of the course and began to run through it.
Astrid had no idea what time she fell asleep waiting for Hiccup to come home. What woke her up was the sound of metal striking wood with such force that it could be heard all the way from the training course. Opening her eyes slightly she made her way sluggishly to the door only to see that the sun hasn't even fully risen yet. Annoyed that this noise had woken her up she looked around to see what was making it.
Her eyes fell onto to Hiccup as he made his way through the training course. Her eyes shot open as she rushed to see what the hell he was doing. She ran to end of the course to the last log and waited for Hiccup to finish. As he neared the last log she could see the familiar stance he took when he was about to palm strike the log only this time during his strike he didn't adjust his sword. No, this time he flicked his wrist up and a blade sprung out from under his wrist and plunged its way into the log until his hand was flush with the log.
Both of them were equally stunned that this had worked so well. As Hiccup removed the blade and his wrist from the log Astrid was struck with a sense of pride for Hiccup and guilt for herself. If she would have helped Hiccup, not just now but all those years ago he never would have had to figure this out by himself.
Hiccup was staring down at the blade he had just created and just like Astrid was feeling two emotions at the same time though his were just a bit different. He was feeling pride in his work and that he finally figured out how to beat this course. Yet he was also feeling angry that it took Astrid a week to even suggest a possible solution and that only happened after he finally stormed out.
Sure she had given him the idea that allowed him to beat the course. But she still didn't train him at all and her reasoning angered him more. 'I'm tired' is what she said.
'Right because being tired always stopped her from training' he thought to himself.
Hiccup's pride though was shining through more than his anger for beating this course and forging this blade was something he did all by himself.
