Chapter Ten: The Tournament.
As Shadowdragon1317 said in the reviews: "Yay! Buddy brawl! Buddy brawl! Buddy…" Now for your moment of glory, you crazy reptile! A moment of excitement for the rest of you all out there! Heads up though there're going to be a few references to the TV series.
That morning Hiccup donned his ceremonial uniform, and Valka dressed herself up in a long sky-blue dress and a rather luxurious white wool cape with fur lining for warmth. Astrid was still stuck as a dragon for a little while longer and was grateful that she wouldn't be forced to adorn such formal attire.
Stoick and Gobber suited up in their respective houses and met by the arena. They shook hands as a promise that no matter what happened, they would still be friends. They looked around and found the villagers crowding around the arena.
"May the best man win." Gobber told Stoick.
"Agreed." He replied.
The gate to the arena opened and the two men entered the arena to a cheering village. The men took in their cheers until Hiccup stood in front of the stone chair he was to sit on for these events, his presence quieted the audience down as he announced: "Well we've got some exciting events planned for you all today! Today, Stoick the Vast and Gobber the Belch compete for the right to have Valka's hand in marriage. Some of these events will be similar to our Thawfest festivities, but the others are tests of strength that we've overlooked. Now, for our first event: Yak Hauling!" (Hey if Stoick can knock a Thunderdrum off its feet with a single punch, he can haul a Yak)
Mulch struck Bucket's bucket with his hook hand and the two men hoisted their yaks onto their shoulders and charged! The event was simple; with a yak on their shoulders, they had to run the diameter of the arena. Both men were strong, they were good runners (despite the fact that Gobber was missing a foot), and they had a lot of endurance… And the winner was…
GOBBER?! Hiccup and his village were impressed; sure they knew that Gobber was a fast runner, especially if he was trying to avoid a bath, but they just assumed that Stoick was faster.
"We have a winner! Gobber takes the first event!" Hiccup called out. He and Gobber's supporters applauded for their wonderful blacksmith, and he ever earned some jeering roars from the dragons; such dragons included Hookfang and, of course, Grump. At the end of the first event, Stoick quickly shook his hand as the other Vikings set up for the next even… archery.
Due to his loss of a hand, Gobber would be unable to use a regular longbow, so he was permitted to use a crossbow, but the real test was for his aim anyway. In this event, the contenders each got six shots, and the one with the best grouping won. Gobber took his six shots, and he hit the bull's-eye a couple times, and had a fair grouping. However, not only was Stoick's grouping tighter than Gobber's, he also telescoped an arrow on the bull's-eye with his last shot! The crowd was astounded, including Gobber and Stoick himself. The crowd was so in shock that they were silent. He could've heard a pin drop! Looking up to Hiccup and Valka, he saw that both mother and son were wide-eyed and slack-jawed, as were the mature Night Furies and Stormcutters surrounding them!
"Wow, ok… um… Stoick takes archery!" Hiccup announced. He applauded his father, and so did the supporters who'd come to their senses.
The next event was wrestling. At one point, a punch Stoick threw dislodged Gobber's false tooth. However there was a reason Gobber wore his hook hand that day. He snagged Stoick's ankle with it and successfully pinned him. Thus, it was Gobber's point.
Now Hiccup thought that a log run would work to Stoick's advantage when he was competing against a peg-legged blacksmith, but who would've thought that Gobber was so nimble? Both men were able to stay on the log for long enough for Hiccup to consider calling it a tie, but then, just somehow, Stoick lost his step and Gobber won again.
After these four events it was time to give the competitors a break for a little while. After all the next four events were dragon-related. Everyone went to the great hall where they had their lunch; while the dragons, including a draconic Astrid, raided the feeding stations and the sea for fish.
"I'm impressed of how well Gobber is doing." Hiccup told Valka.
"If Spitelout wasn't raking in the Thawfest medals, Gobber would've had a fair chance to be the one to bring them home. He and Stoick are actually pretty equal in their physical capabilities." She replied.
The four dragon events were the same as the Thawfest activities, plus they had to wrestle a Nadder. The Nadder wrestling seemed a little out-of-character for Berk, but Hiccup had their consent to allow two big Vikings wrestle with them. The winners of each event went as followed: Stoick, Gobber, Stoick, Stoick.
"Well this is very exciting, we have a tie!" Hiccup announced. The village was in awe. Stoick had learned a few more things about dragons during his time at the dragon sanctuary. He also had Shadowrath to thank for his skills.
"Luckily for our two competitors, I was prepared for a tie. You see, yesterday, Valka, Eret, and I went into the forest and caught a pair of wild Monstrous Nightmares. Tomorrow, the competitors will have to train and race them. Our friend, Aric, will spend the rest of the day preparing the course for you. All you have to do is take one lap of the course, the first one back to the arena wins the right to have Valka's hand." Hiccup announced.
At the end of the tournament, the two men shook hands and went over to the Haddock house for dinner. It was Hiccup's invitation, and Valka was planning on going for a long evening flight with Cloudjumper. The day's events had given her so many mixed emotions they gave her a headache almost as bad as Hiccup's first hangover.
"I admire the sportsmanship you two have shown during the events." Hiccup told Stoick and Gobber.
"We wouldn't want to lose a good friendship over a woman." Gobber replied.
"That's good to hear, if only Spitelout and Snotlout had your sportsmanship, then they'd be less of an annoyance during Thawfest." Hiccup told him. He dished out the yak steaks he prepared to his company while handing a large salmon to a draconic Astrid.
"So, how much longer are you going to be married to a dragon?" Gobber asked.
"The Dragonstone should be able to turn her back by tomorrow. How about it, Astrid, are you ready to get back to being your human self tomorrow?" Hiccup asked.
"If it means dressing up like you and your mother, then I think I can wait for one more day." Astrid replied.
"Okay, apparently being a dragon is preferable than dressing up in formal attire." Hiccup told the other two men.
"That's interesting, Valka never seemed to mind dressing up for formal occasions." Stoick stated.
"Well I'm not Valka." Astrid grumbled, but all Stoick heard was a growl of protest.
That night, Hiccup favored sleeping on a pile of furs with Astrid curled around him rather than their bed. It actually made him feel safer and therefore more relaxed, than sleeping on a bed.
"You do realize that if you're staying like this, I'm going to have you take a part in tomorrow's tie breaker with Cloudjumper and the Night Furies." Hiccup told her.
"From what I've heard from them, it sounds like fun." She replied. Within a short while, they eased into a peaceful slumber.
"Alright, who is ready for the tie-breaking event?" Hiccup announced. The crowd cheered. Hiccup raised his hand to silence them: "Remember, competitors, your tasks are to train a wild Monstrous Nightmare, and then take a lap through the course. However, one thing that I forgot to mention: the Night Furies and Stormcutters will be waiting for you, and will try to hinder you from winning. They've promised to not choose sides, at least the mature dragons… Your real threat is Midnightfire. A wild-behaving, Night Fury hatchling who listens to no one except her parents; and she shoots a really powerful plasma blast."
"I think I may need a fresh pair of skivvies when this is over." Gobber stated to himself. Stoick could barely hear him, as there was a wall separating the two of them.
"Release the dragons!" Hiccup called out before taking his seat.
The doors to the cages opened slowly, and the Nightmares rushed out of their cages. Both men waited for them to calm down before making their approach. After dinner with Hiccup they stopped by to visit Snotlout to get a few extra pointers on how to train a Monstrous Nightmare. The first approach was calmer: look at the dragon in the eye, let it approach you, and put a hand on its snout. The other approach was to bend its horns to the ground; they actually found this action calming. Stoick decided to go for the less aggressive approach, while Gobber was working to bend his dragon's horns to the ground. In effect, Stoick was the first one to train his dragon. He fit his given saddle on the beast, and took off. However, while Gobber took a bit longer, he wasn't that far behind Stoick.
Their first obstacle was to weave through giant ice stacks. Monstrous Nightmares were fairly agile for dragons their size, but their maneuverability couldn't compare to a Strike class dragon… Speaking of the Strike class dragons, where were the Night Furies? They were halfway through the ice stacks, and the only thing Stoick saw was Gobber gaining on him.
By the end of the first obstacle, Stoick and Gobber felt this great blast of wind from a Stormcutter! It was Cloudjumper… what a surprise. Since he was closer to the dragon, Stoick got the worst of the blast, and Gobber pulled ahead of him. When Stoick's dragon regained his bearings, the former Chief urged his dragon to go faster.
Luckily for Stoick, Shadowrath was the next dragon Gobber came across. He cut off Gobber's path, shaking up his Nightmare's flight pattern, and a pursuing Cloudjumper sent another thundering wing blast from behind Stoick, sending him in a wild tumble ahead of Gobber. It was a good thing that Stoick's dragon was good at regaining her bearings, this dragon held itself like a proud woman, so Stoick decided that he was riding a dragoness.
Gobber was catching up to Stoick now, and he commanded his dragon to deliver a strong wing blast to the side of Stoick's dragon. It knocked his dragon into the wall of a little maze they've just entered. Gobber gained a fair amount of ground before Stoick's dragon regained her bearings and zoomed after her opponent.
A pursuing Shadowrath pulled in front of Gobber, and cut him off again.
"Will ya pick on someone else for a while?" Gobber called out to the dragon, he was soon accompanied with Sapphire, but all they did was fly around Gobber's Nightmare and slowed him down enough for Stoick to catch up. This time, as Stoick passed him, his dragon sent Gobber a jet of flame that caught on the long braids of his moustache.
"You'll pay for that, Stoick!" Gobber exclaimed. His Nightmare caught up to Stoick's and his dragon sent Stoick a jet of flame. The other dragon saw it coming and sent Gobber a blast with her wings. It sent Gobber's dragon off to the side a few feet, and Gobber ended up covered in soot. Now Stoick was gaining quite a bit of ground, until a certain hatchling found him. She flew alongside them for a while before she discharged a blast sending shards of ice everywhere! She was soon joined with Toothless, who was simply focused on slowing Stoick down. He still remembered the sadness he'd caused the last time he gave a blast towards Stoick.
"Come on, Toothless, don't you want me to be a part of your family again?" Stoick asked. Gobber was catching up quickly, but Toothless decided that Stoick was a favorable mate for Valka. He shot a blast over to the wall of ice by Gobber, and he had to swerve in order to avoid it.
"I'm really hating this race right now." Gobber grumbled. His dragon picked up the pace, but then Midnightfire shot the beast in the tail! The dragon fell, giving Stoick plenty of ground to gain. Luckily, Gobber's dragon righted itself before crashing in the ocean. For the time being, he flew low, gaining on Stoick. Midnightfire and Toothless were also pursuing them.
Now they were out of the maze and were flying over open ocean. Gobber pushed his dragon to go as fast as it could before they entered the tunnels. To Gobber's luck, Midnightfire took his side and shot Stoick's dragon in the tail, allowing Gobber to gain on Stoick. Eventually the soot-covered blacksmith was right underneath the former Chief. Gobber urged his dragon to ascend as he raised a fist. Not only did Gobber cut off Stoick's dragon successfully, but he also delivered a good punch to the dragon's jaw. Stoick's dragon fell, and Gobber took the lead.
"I'm going to regret that pretty soon." Gobber told himself as he entered the tunnels with Stoick on his tail along with Midnightfire. The troublesome hatchling was now getting in Gobber's face.
Once Stoick caught up to Gobber, they were neck-and-neck, jets of flame were fired in attempt to cut the other one off, and at one point, Stoick managed to return the punch that Gobber gave his dragon. For the record, these Monstrous Nightmares knew that chances were that they were going to suffer a few injuries.
When they broke free of the tunnels, they now had to face all of the Night Furies, Cloudjumper, and now Astrid. She was the first Stormcutter to send the men a good wing blast to shake them up pretty good. The Night Furies also took their shots for the men to dodge. Now that they were over the village, they had both Cloudjumper and Astrid shaking them up! It was a rough ride, but now the arena was in view! The men were still pretty close, but with a great stroke of her wings, Stoick's dragon pulled in front of Gobber and…
"STOICK THE VAST WINS!" Hiccup announced. The village cheered for him as Gobber entered the arena. Both men shook their hands, and now the other dragons landed. They brought fish for Stoick and Gobber to give to the Monstrous Nightmares as a job well done.
"You did well, big boy, you did well." Gobber told his Nightmare as he threw cod into the dragon's open maw.
"Great job, girl, you were amazing." Stoick told his Nightmare throwing her some salmon. He patted the dragon's snout, as Valka entered the arena. She shook Gobber's hand firmly, then she turned her attention to Stoick, and she pulled Stoick into a tight embrace.
"Good job, Gobber, you gave it your best. Congratulations, Dad, you put up one heck of a fight." Hiccup said as he entered the arena, followed by the Night Furies and Stormcutters. Even Spitelout and Snotlout came down to congratulate the men.
While Stoick and Valka were receiving their praises, the villagers dispersed, and Hiccup felt a nudge on his shoulder.
"Hiccup, once we get home, I'd like to return to my normal self again." Astrid said.
"I'll be able to help you figure out how to change her back." Toothless told them.
It had been quite the exciting day. Valka spent the rest of it with Stoick, in his new house, while Hiccup and Astrid were in their bedroom with Toothless.
"Astrid, unless you don't mind me seeing you without your outer-skins, I suggest you grab a blanket." Toothless spoke.
"They're called 'clothes', Toothless, and you've already seen Hiccup and I mate already, so what is there to hide from you?" Astrid replied.
"Fair point. Hiccup you don't mind if she's not covered?" Toothless asked. Hiccup didn't reply. He snatched the blanket off the bed and threw it over his shoulder, and revealed the Dragonstone to Astrid in his armor as he told her: "The blanket is for in case you want it."
"Alright, now that we're all set, Astrid, touch the stone with your snout." Toothless instructed. When Astrid followed through, Toothless added: "Now just imagine yourself being human again."
Astrid pictured herself looking in the mirror and seeing a petite frame, blonde hair, and human eyes. Before they knew it, her form began to glow, and the Stormcutter was replaced with nude body of a beautiful human. Toothless smiled with satisfaction as Hiccup lifted her chin and kissed her lips. This was the first time he could kiss his wife in three days and he was going to milk this moment for all it was worth.
"I'll leave you two alone for a while." Toothless told them as Astrid started to pull off Hiccup's clothes. When the Night Fury left, Astrid threw Hiccup onto the bed. The poor, young, Chief had just barely taken off his prosthetic before he found Astrid on top of him.
Well I hope that the 'buddy brawl' was everything you all hoped it would be… Or at least close to it. And yay, Hiccup can make love to his wife again!