AN: So here comes chapter 10, with the awaited answer to the cliffhanger. I present to you... Rejection!
Disclaimer: I recently bought the word 'disclaimer' on ebay. Ha
This can't be happening. This was never supposed to happen. No. She can't die, she can't die. She's too stubborn to die like this, she's too strong to die. This can't be happening. I wont let her die.
Even if she doesn't recognise me any more.
"DON'T HURT HER!"
Every muscle devoted itself to throwing my body mass towards the pair as the shout tore itself from my throat. I rammed Meatlug with my full strength, causing the lava shot she had built up to discharge into the wall mere inches away from Astrid's head. The impact hurt. A lot. But I was prepared for it, while Meatlug wasn't. The impact knocked her onto her side, dazed.
I shook my head to dispel the dizziness, and positioned myself between the dragon and the warrior. I noticed that Gobber had frozen in mid hobble-sprint, somehow balancing on his peg leg, slack jawed and blinking rapidly. When I made eye contact with him, as if he broke out of a trance, he wobbled and crashed down to the floor. As Gobber faceplanted the floor, Meatlug rolled back onto her feet with a blaze in her eyes.
"Don't. Hurt. Her." I said, calmly but firmly, desperate to avoid backing down from the angry Grunckle. I had to remind myself that I can actually survive a fight with a dragon now. Maybe not win said fight but definitely survive it.
"What are you doing?! I had the perfect opportunity to kill that thing!" She shouted.
"That 'thing' doesn't deserve to be killed" I tried to reason.
"It tried to attack me first, so it's fair game." She snorted. I looked at her incredulously.
"Fair game? Is that how you view us? Fair game? Let me tell you something, that is exactly how Vikings view you dragons!" I retorted.
"Ha! That proves it! They don't recognise our society, our castes, our customs. They aren't able to understand any of our ways" She growled darkly.
"Think about it, what do they see? You come at night, killing people, stealing food and making chaos. The only thing they can see is a fire-breathing monster. What would you expect them to see?"
"They have never tried to understand us, they ju-"
"Just as you have never tried to understand how Vikings think" I interrupted "It works both ways, and I seem to be the only one who understands this" I finished darkly.
With a growl, she turned and stormed back into her cage. Once I was sure that she wouldn't be trying to hurt Astrid again, I relaxed a little and turned to face her. It surprised me to find her looking so vulnerable. She had curled herself into a ball, covering her head with her arms. I could hear her breathing rapidly and shakily. As I turned to face her properly, I accidentally breathed on her, ruffling her hair. She flinched and looked up.
I don't think she was expecting to she me so close, as she jerked her head backwards, smacking it against the wall. She stared at me wide eyed for a moment, her hands scrabbling around the floor as if searching for something. I backed up a little when I realised that she was searching for a weapon. I knew I should have expected that sort of reaction from her, but it still hurts that nobody trusts me.
When I moved back, she stopped her searching and looked at me strangely. Probably can't believe I'm not about to rip her head off. She stood up slowly, keeping herself pressed up against the wall. I crooned gently and took half a step towards her, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.
"Get back" She spoke breathlessly, looking scared out of her mind. The words brought a sharp pang in my heart, but I still took the required step backwards, checking quickly that nobody was trying to sneak up on me. Satisfied that nobody was close enough to strike at me, I turned my attention back to Astrid. She didn't seem to be as afraid as before, so I repeated my earlier croon.
The reaction was not the one I wanted.
"This can't be happening" She breathed, before taking off for the exit. I would have happily gone after her, but Gobber quickly planted himself between myself and her rapidly retreating form. I saw the other trainees running after her, but Gobber was making sure I couldn't follow them outside.
"You ain't going anywhere, dragon."
"Astrid, wait! I can explain…sort of" I called after her.
I tried to push Gobber out of my way to give chase to Astrid, but he tackled me and pushed my head into the ground. I grunted in protest, and tried to wiggle out of his grasp. I couldn't worm my way out of his hold, he had the advantage of experience. And weight. It's hard to move when someone is practically sitting on your head.
I didn't give up though, the thought of Astrid abandoning me is too much to bear. I just changed tactics. Instead of trying to push away from the Viking, I started to push into him. The unexpected change obviously caught him off guard, as I managed to knock him down to the floor.
When he hit the ground his grip around my neck loosened. With a bit of effort, I twisted out of his grip and ran for the exit. Before I had made three steps, something tangled itself around my legs and dumped me on the floor. Groaning, I twisted to see what had happened.
I immediately recognised the vines and rocks as a bola, one of my special ones in fact. Stronger than the average bola and a thicker net to completely entrap the victim. The victim here being my back legs. Reaching down, I tried to use my claws to saw through the vines. I paused in my work when a shadow fell over me. I twisted to look at who it was and saw Gobber's silhouette with another bola twirling in his hand.
"Hey" I grunted, and resumed with sawing through the bola. I heard a small clack behind me, and turned to see what made it out of curiosity. The bola that Gobber was holding was dangling from his hand, the rocks tapping each other from their previous momentum.
"What are you?" I cocked my head at that question to indicate confusion. "You act like a dragon, then you act like a Hiccup, then you do something that doesn't match either. What are you?"
I rolled my eyes "That's me. One of a kind!" I said, forgetting he couldn't understand me. I returned to sawing through the vines.
"You have to be either the dumbest dragon I've seen…" I poked my tongue at him for that. "…or still be the crazy Hiccup I knew." I gave him a firm nod.
"You can't fight, you make stupid mistakes like turning your back to a potential enemy, you walk like a cripple." He continued "And you still haven't realised that it would be easier to chew through that bola." I glared at him during his little speech before reluctantly curling down to chew at the vines.
I have always been hesitant with putting stuff in my mouth due to the traditional Viking hygiene standards, and knowing that Gobber has put his grimy hands all over them was nearly enough to repel the thought. But I really would like to have feeling back in those legs.
Chewing on the vines, I felt them break in a matter of moments, and immediately tried to move my legs. When I felt ready, I rolled back to my feet, stumbling for a moment as my circulation returned. I immediately turned and walk over to where there was a small pile of sand on the floor by the wall. I used a paw to spread it out a little and started to write a few clumsy runes.
YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED
I looked up at Gobber, who had kept himself between me and the exit, to see how he would react.
"I know what happened" He started carefully "But I don't know whether Hiccup still exists"
I knew that that was the best I could expect from him, so I smoothed out the sand to write a little extra.
I AM WHO I AM
I gave him a few moments to read it before rubbing it away again.
NOT WHAT I AM
He looked at me strangely for a few moments before finding his voice. "Then I will have to find out who you are"
He walked back wards to the exit, I did not follow him. When he reached the portcullis lever, he spoke again.
"Dragon training begins tomorrow" He rested his hand on the lever "It'll be your turn next"
The portcullis slammed shut.
AN: So how do you think this should go? How badly should he get beat up? How will Astrid be? Muah haha ha ha...