Sorry about the delay, but it's hard to write while you're drugged up on novicain and god-knows-what-else the oral surgeons use. Well, good news is that I'm back, minus four wisdom teeth. I'm not particularly proud of this entry – the action is still a couple of chapters away.
How to Train a Dragon Rider
Chapter 10
Setbacks
The boat held only two vikings, both working to pull in their net.
When the bounty of fish landed on the deck, one of them said, "Well, that looks like the last haul. Plenty to go around."
He took his place at the helm, while the other viking went to the bow to keep watch.
With nothing in their way an obvious hazard, the man looked boredly down into the water at the front of the boat. The last haul of the season, finally able to go home for a nice drink. . .
He jumped when a spurt of water erupted in front of his face. He landed on the low floor of the deck, and gave a small shout. He quickly crawled back to the front of the boat.
He looked over the edge, but saw nothing. Wait – there was a swirling pattern. . . Could that be some sort of animal?
"Hey Briggs, come over here!" He shouted to the other end of the ship.
The man at the helm walked forward through the catch of still-flopping fish, and stood at his side. "What is it?" He asked.
"Look down there," The other viking replied, "what is that?"
As the two looked over the bow of the boat, a dark blue dragon slipped over the side behind them.
"I don't see anything." Briggs said. "Are you imagining things?"
The fury looked at the men, and then began helping itself to the fish on the deck.
"No, I swear! There's something there!"
Ceara swallowed a few, and then gathered a respectable mouthful in her jaws. She walked over to the side of the deck.
"Look, there's something!" One of the vikings said, pointing to a shape in the water.
"I don't see it." The other man replied.
Ceara slipped over the edge, into the dark water, disappearing into the gloom of the sea.
"I don't have time for this." The viking known as Briggs finally said. As he stood up and turned around, he noticed the decreased number of fish.
"Thor's hammer! Where did all the fish go?"
Hiccup looked down, his mind working harder than it ever had. From the opposite end of the stump, Fishlegs mirrored his thoughtfulness.
Hiccup slowly reached down, and grabbed one of his square pieces, moving it across the board. He held it there for a moment, looking around the piece to ensure its safe position, and let go.
Fishlegs grabbed one of his own pieces, a circular one, and moved it over one of Hiccup's pieces. He took that piece off the board.
Carmine walked up to the boys, interrupting their game. "Have either of you seen Ceara?"
"Nope." Fishlegs said, still looking at the board.
"Nu-uh" Hiccup added.
"Ug!" Carmine sighed. "Stupid dragon!"
Meanwhile, Snotlout fumbled with the bow Carmine had made last night. He clumsily nocked the arrow, and pulled back the string. He focused on the tip of the arrow, then at the target he had set up in the center of the camp.
He let go of the string, and the arrow flew forward, flying far over the target. It impaled itself in a tree just in front of an irritated Carmine
The shaft quivered in front of her nose, and she turned to see Snotlout smiling sheepishly. She growled menacingly, and began walking towards him.
Yoseph had the day off of training, and was walking towards the forest to meet with one of the other riders, who had snuck in during the night. It would take some time to hike to the area, as it was on the opposite side of the island from the village.
Ana had been carrying water to her house in a new clay pot. As she set the container down in front of her house, she noticed him walking to the edge of town.
He heard her call, "Yoseph!" And turned around. She ran up to him.
"Ana. . . Uh. . . Hi." Yoseph said.
"Hi, Yoseph. Where are you going?" She asked.
"Uh. . ." He hadn't thought of a cover story – stupid. He looked around, searching for an answer. He noticed an axe leaning against a nearby house. "The. . . The blacksmith. I'm going to the blacksmith."
"I'll come with you." She replied.
"You – no. You don't have to do that." Yoseph said.
"Yes I do. The blacksmith is that way." She said, pointing back inside the village.
Yoseph opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything. "Alright." He said, "Go ahead." Maybe if she went first, he could make it to the trees.
She raised an eyebrow, and kept pointing. Yoseph sighed, and began walking.
Ana stayed slightly behind him, preventing him from running. Wait – why would that stop him? He could easily outrun her. It just felt. . . Uncomfortable. He would have to wait until her back was turned to run. Stupid decency.
"So," Ana began, "how exactly did you escape?"
Yoseph stammered a bit before answering. After the Demen had failed to question him, he had almost forgotten his original cover story. "I found a sharp rock when I was working in the fields, and hid it in my pocket. They didn't find it, and that night, I cut myself out." He said. "Then, I escaped to the woods, and built a raft. I drifted until I got here." He gestured to the town around him.
"And that's when you fell, and got the bruise." She replied.
"Yes." Yoseph answered.
She moved forward slightly, and inspected Yoseph's face. "It's starting to go away. You should be okay in a few days."
Yoseph reached up and touched the tender flesh. "Yeah."
"So what did you do, all these years? What did they put you to work on, in the winter months?"
Pretty, annoying, inquisitive girl. She had already asked more questions about his supposed captivity than his own father. "I. . ."
Thankfully, nearby, a woman dropped a cluster of pots she was holding. Ana looked away and, seizing the opportunity, Yoseph darted between two nearby houses. He turned the corner, and looked down the street. He ran up to a barrel, and climbed from the top of it to the roof of one of the houses.
Ana turned back around, and ran through the ally after him. She looked up and down the street, then up at the rooftop Yoseph was hiding on. He climbed over the crest to the other side just before she swept her eyes over the building.
Ana growled loudly, and stalked back down the street. This was the third time he had run from her, the stupid, no-good boy. What was wrong with her? Most of the other boys in the village had tried to get her attention at one time or another. He had never been this strange before he left. . .
Yoseph breathed a sigh of relief, and cautiously made his way through the village. Before he could leave the shadows of the houses, he spotted Ana sitting on the sheep corral fence, watching the woods he had been trying to get to earlier today.
He would have to take the long way around.
Carmine waited for Yoseph at the rendezvous point until it was almost sundown, when he finally showed up.
"Where have you been?" She asked, "Did you forget we were meeting today?"
"Sorry." Yoseph said, breathing heavily. "It was. . . Complicated. I got here as fast as I could."
"So, how's the mission going? Find any great weaknesses yet?" She asked.
"No," Yoseph replied, "They've accepted me in the village, some more than others." He said, thinking of Cass. "There's still nowhere I can think of to look. I can't find a reason they've been attacking the other villages so much recently, and I can't find any way to stop it."
"So, we've got nothing." Carmine said.
"Pretty much." Yoseph replied.
"Why don't you check their food stores, see how much they have." She suggested. "I'll send Fishlegs in a couple of days."
"When you go back, be sure to tell Kleave about the furies on the island." Yoseph said.
Carmine waved her hand at him. "Don't worry."
Yoseph sighed. He would have to go back the long way again, in case Ana was still looking for him. He would have to hurry if he was going to avoid missing dinner.
"Yah!" Astrid yelled, as she threw her axe from dragon back.
They had found a clearing, and set up three targets on the ground. As Astrid's nadder dived over the area, she threw her axes, impaling them deep with the force of her throws and her forward momentum.
Hiccup waited from the ground (far, far away) for her to run out of weapons. When he had counted all of her axes on the ground (twice, just to be sure), he ventured out of the trees.
"Looks good!" He yelled.
Astrid landed nearby and alighted from her nadder, inspecting her handiwork. Two of the axes had landed on either of the side targets, and one in the center one. They were all clustered near the middle of their respective bulls-eyes.
"Let's see Carmine's arrows beat that!" She exclaimed.
As if in response, a fury roared nearby.
"Sounds like she's back." Hiccup said.
Sure enough, when they returned, Carmine's fury, Rubian, lifted her head in acknowledgement as they entered camp. Carmine was inspecting her bag of bows and arrows, a habit she had been keeping more often since the incident with Snotlout. For his part, he stayed well enough away, probably still bleeding from said incident.
Astrid asked the first question, "Anything?"
Carmine shook her head, and looked up at the duo. "No, nothing yet, but he has been accepted back into the tribe. I want to send someone back to Soare to report on the mission."
"Who?" Astrid asked.
"Whoever is being the least useful."
Hiccup looked around the camp. Fishlegs was sticking his tongue out in concentration as he painted his chessboard; Snotlout was trying to rebuild his hut, while the red fury played tug-of-war with him over one of the logs (the dragon had become much more openly opposed to him after the first few days), and Ruffnut and Tuffnut were locked in an arm wrestle that had gone nowhere in the last ten minutes. It would be a tough call.
Yoseph had been in many life-threatening situations in the past few years
He had spied on villages, he had fought enemy warships from dragon back, he had scaled cliffs and free-fallen from well above the highest mountain peaks.
Now, all his skills were being given a run for their money by a fifteen-year-old girl.
He hadn't felt so insecure in years – odd, because this was the first time in years that he had been in the village of his birth. He couldn't put his finger on why he had to avoid her, but he couldn't think of anything good that could possibly come from a chat with her. So, he kept on avoiding her.
He chalked it up to nervousness. At least it took his mind off the paradox of finding a weakness to exploit in his tribe.
He took different routes to training every day, checked his corners whenever he moved from street to street, and made a careful survey of the perimeter of the house before he walked out the door.
His father was unaware of all this – he didn't have a clue what to do with his long-lost child, so he resolved to do absolutely nothing at all. It worked out well for both of them.
His role as the 'best' dragon rider of Soare had been given to him for his ability to adapt, and come up with creative solutions to problems; however, Ana was quickly running him out of ideas.
But such is the way of the world.
Ana continued to be a pestilence, bent on finding Yoseph and learning about his time in captivity. All she wanted was to hear about his time being held prisoner – once, she had considered that perhaps Yoseph just didn't want to talk about it, but decided to keep pursuing him. If he wanted her to stop, he would have to tell her that himself.
Over the years, Yoseph had the acquired skill of reading body language, to tell where an opponent would strike next. It was his best defense in combat. But even he did not anticipate Ana's first real attack – all he could do was roll with it, and hope she didn't catch him too hard.
While he was eating dinner with his father, a mostly silent affair, they heard a knock at the door. His father stood up and answered it.
The house had a wall that separated the kitchen from the dining room. Yoseph heard his father open the door and ask, "What is it?"
"I'm here to see Yoseph."
His heard skipped a beat, and he nearly choked on his food. It was Ana's voice.
He quickly stood up and looked for a way out. There was no back door to his house, and the room had nowhere to hide.
He ran into his bedroom and shut the door, too loud. He could hear their footsteps outside.
He looked around, then up, the ever-present escape route. He jumped onto one of the posts of his bed, and up to one of the rafters. He hoped he could hide in the shadows near the ceiling.
Ana opened the door almost immediately, and walked in. His father stayed at the door. He said, "Hm. I don't know where he could have gone."
"That's okay." Ana replied. "I'll find him."
His father looked uncertain for a second, but left the doorway. Ana began searching.
She checked the obvious place first, the closet. She ran a hand through the meager contents, and moved on.
It was a small, bare room, but Ana seemed to search every inch of it. She bent down, and looked under the bed.
Odin's love, she's meticulous.
He wasn't so sure about his hiding spot any longer, and when he saw that her back was turned, he leapt to the ground as silently as possible and quickly rolled under the bed, hoping she wouldn't look in the same place twice.
It was unnerving to watch her feet as they paced around the room, but finally, she left. Yoseph strained to hear the front door close.
He stayed in his room the rest of the night. Thankfully, his father never brought the topic up again.
Author's Note:
Certainly not my favorite chapter, mostly just filler. Please don't say that Ana is a stalker, because she's not. I just got bored, and I wanted Yoseph to do something James Bond-ish with the ceiling rafters. Just blame me for my lack of creativity. Anyway, you get the point, Ana is getting a little suspicious.