A Place to Call Home
Chapter 11
"Okay, you dragons!" Snotlout announced, pacing in front of Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf and Belch like a general in front of his soldiers. "Since Hiccup and his dumb Night Fury are not coming back for a while, I'll have to find a way to teach you amazing stunts so Mildew will include you in a performance, and I can watch from box five with the best champagne in the house!" They were outside the stables, since most people had already gone home at nine o' clock P.M.
Hookfang looked away, Meatlug yawned and Barf and Belch glanced at each other, then at Snotlout with a look that read 'are you serious?'.
"Snotlout, I don't think there's any opera with dragons planned for the season." Tuffnut said, glancing at the three dragons. "And knowing Heather, she's going to throw a fit like Ruffnut when she doesn't sleep."
Ruffnut put her hands on her hips. "Look who talks, Mr. grumpy pants."
"I'm not grumpy!"
"You are!"
"I'm not!"
"You are!"
"Guys! Instead of arguing about stupid things, you should be thinking about something! I want that champagne!"
"If you're talking about sneaking into Mildew's office and changing the next performance without him knowing, that's not going to be easy." Fishlegs pointed out.
Snotlout thought for a moment. "I was actually going to suggest that we bribe Mildew to let a dragon in, but your plan is much better."
"What? But-"
"Now we need to find an opera in which a dragon appears. And we need it now!"
"There's Siegfried."
"Siegfred?" Snotlout repeated rather inaccurately.
Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Siegfried. The one about a boy so stupid he could not discover what fear was. It has a dragon on Act 2, I guess they could use one of these." She pointed at Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf and Belch.
"Perfect! All we need is the music sheet!"
Fishlegs tried to speak, but was interrupted by Tuffnut. "Now that you mention it, I think I saw the music sheet on the storage." The male twin stated.
Snotlout continued. "And one of us will have to distract Mildew and keep him away from his office, then another will sneak in and replace the sheet of the next performance with the Siegfred-"
"Siegfried!" Tuffnut and Ruffnut corrected him with a pinch of annoyance in their voices.
"Well, the music sheet, and Mildew will notice they'll need a dragon for the performance, he'll ask Hiccup to lend them a dragon, and the we'll watch from the best box with the best champagne, just like the rich people do!"
Fishlegs finally snapped. "HEY! Don't you first be thinking on which dragon is most suitable for this?!" Hookfang and Meatlug glanced at the other, Barf and Belch did the same with the other head. "I mean, what if they can't stand being in public? What if they get nervous and someone gets hurt?"
"What are you talking about?! A dragon with stage fright? That's ridiculous! They're not like humans, their brains are the size of a nutshell!"
Hookfang hissed. That was the last straw. The Monstrous Nightmare walked back into the stables, not before smacking Snotlout's nose with his tail.
Hiccup opened his eyes, and turned his head around to see the Poisonous Whiptail had allowed him to touch him. Toothless stared at them with awe, but his anxiety and precaution drifted away, he could sense Nighthawk's hostility disappear.
"It's alright, boy." Hiccup walked closer, now without any doubt, to the Poisonous Whiptail. "Mind if I see those wounds?"
Nighthawk growled softly, his spines bristling slightly, which Hiccup took as a 'no'. Apparently, he did not like when anyone kept staring at his wooden pegs or scars. Still, Hiccup couldn't wonder outloud. "What kind of person could do this atrocity to you, boy?"
Glump gulped from the shadows. It was now or never, besides, Nighthawk was not going to speak the human tongue in presence of Hiccup, and the boy needed an explanation. "The gypsies, that's who." He said, walking away from the tunnel and into the room.
"Glump!" Muk hissed in horror. "What are you doing?! Get back here!"
Hiccup stepped back, and felt Nighthawk's large frame against his back. Toothless walked closer to him and gave a comforting purr, as if telling him not to be afraid. But the boy was rather surprised to see a Goblin living down there.
"Y-you… You are…"
"A Goblin, I know." Glump confirmed Hiccup's suspicions. "I'm not the only one here, Muk is a Goblin too."
Said Goblin smacked his forehead with his palm, cursing Glump for ratting him out. Still, he knew there was no way out of this, and with a grim sigh, he stepped out of the darkness, allowing Hiccup to see him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude into your…" Hiccup looked around in a rather uncomfortable pose. "… Home."
"Don't worry about that, you're already here."
Muk muttered under his breath. "He should go as fast as he came in here."
"So, he's yours?" Hiccup pointed subtly at Nighthawk, who simply looked away without making a sound.
Glump shook his head. "No, he doesn't belong to anyone. He and the other dragons are simply good friends of ours."
"Well, at least someone finally understands-" Hiccup blinked. "Wait. Other dragons? There are more?"
"That's your cue, guys." Muk coldly glanced at the tunnels. "You shouldn't leave the lad with the doubt, should you?"
Reluctantly, Voltaire was the first to step out of the shadows, his vermillion eyes set on Hiccup warily. Shack followed suit, trailing behind the Skrill. Silk had to push One-Eye forward, however, since the Monstrous Nightmare refused to go forward by himself. Hiccup could not believe what he saw. All these dragons had missing or deformed parts of their bodies. He guessed the Skrill and the Terrible Terror were born like that, but the Monstrous Nightmare lacked an eye, the peg he had instead of a leg looked like it had been connected to the bone and the Changewing had an entire wing missing and had a fake tail sewn into his rear.
"I can't believe it. Who did that to them?" he couldn't help but ask. "You mentioned gypsies."
"A freak show, to be more precise." Muk replied dryly. "As you can see, they did not spend a good time there. Have you never seen a dragon freak show, boy?"
"No. I never liked them. They're far too cruel."
Shack tested the waters and trotted to Hiccup's side, sniffing his prosthetic leg. Hiccup kneeled and attempted to put a gentle hand on the Terrible Terror's head, but the small dragon backed away in fright. However, Shack came closer and sniffed Hiccup's hand; he became tense when Hiccup put his hand on his hand and petted him. After a while, the Terrible Terror softened up and let out purrs of pure delight.
"So this is what is like to be petted…" Thought Shack.
Toothless sensed the uncertainty in the others, so he decided to try and calm them down a bit (in Dragonese, of course.)
"Don't worry, he is truly a nice person." He told Voltaire reassuringly.
Silk sighed. "Tell that to One-Eye, look at him"· Silk pointed to the Monstrous Nightmare. One-Eye was leaning against the wall, giving Hiccup a look of contempt. "He is not going to be easy to befriend."
A speck of white ran clumsily from the tunnels in direction of the human. She ran past Muk, past Voltaire and past Glump, stopping right in front of Hiccup, curiously staring at him. Hiccup immediately recognized it.
"Hello there, little guy!" He smiled upon seeing the white fury hatchling once more. "It's nice to see you again."
Voltaire immediately reacted and rushed towards the pair; Toothless protectively stood in front of his human in case Voltaire was going to attack, but Voltaire simply grabbed Snowdrop by the tail and took her away, much to the hatchling's confusion.
"huh…" Hiccup didn't know what to say at that. "I guess she doesn't like me-"
"He. It's he." Muk corrected sharply. "Don't mind Voltaire. Snowdrop is like his own daughter, so don't worry if he doesn't let you near her at first."
"But where are our manners?" Glump pulled Muk closer until they were a few steps away from Hiccup, much to Muk's dismay. "My name is Glump, this is my friend Muk!" Then he pointed at One-Eye, Silk, Shack and Nighthawk respectively. "Those are One-Eye, Silk, Shack and Nighthawk. The Skrill is names Voltaire, and the night fury hatchling is Snowdrop."
"So the white fury is a she? But hey, where are her parents?"
Toothless lightly smacked his human with his wing. Glump's smile vanished, and the rest of the dragons silently crept back through the tunnels they had come from. Stormfly, however, trotted towards Hiccup, purring softly.
"I'm afraid it's a sad story, Hiccup."
Hiccup was about to ask why when something else caught his attention. "Hey, how do you know my name? This is the first time we have met, I believe."
Muk snickered at this as he released his arm from Glump's grasp. "Have you never heard the saying 'the walls have ears', lad?"
"Wait a second, you mean, all this time, all the missing food, the sightings, the bones in one of the walls…?"
"Ya, ya, and ya. That was us."
"I'm confused. You mean to tell me you have lived her for… how much time?"
Toothless tolled his eyes. Stormfly let out a collective sigh of frustration. Muk and Glump glanced at each other in dismay.
They would have to start from the beginning.
Astrid huffed as she gave her hair more retouches, holding it up in a gentle bun of blonde hairs. She was wearing her best dress, mint in color with sparkles of black and white trims and collar. The sooner she was done with this, the better. Her parents, Monsieur Emile and Madame Beatrice Hoffren would often send letters to the finest families in Paris, making arrangements for their daughter to have a date with one of their sons, despite Astrid's insistence that she didn't need a husband, she could do well by herself, but her parents insisted that it was for the best. She was old enough to marry, and besides, a few families were asking her hand in marriage to their eldest sons.
As she walked away from the opera house through the crowded streets (the place she was supposed to meet her 'date' was not very far, only a few streets away, so she insisted she did not need a carriage), trying her best not to stain her dress in the mud. However, she had to turn into a dark alley to use as a shortcut. The moonlight was not as bright in that place, and even people seemed so sense like there was something lurking in the dark; after all, people had reported sightings of an unknown beast covered in a black cloak wandering through the streets, and citizens were told to be careful.
"Well, well, well… hello pretty thing."
Astrid bolted upright at the voice, seeing three large burly looking men standing before her, all smelling of alcohol, cigarettes, and vomit. It was enough to make Astrid gag. "Been a long time since I've had a woman," one of the men remarked. He had a large gut that hung over his trousers and his clothes reeked of sweat and urine. –it was understandable why a woman hadn't gone near him for quite some time.
"Come with us, pretty," another man belched, reaching out for her. Astrid stepped back, lifting her eyes skyward and wondering why this was occurring precisely on this night. The man burped again and took a few more steps towards her. "Come on, we can go somewhere quiet… we'll pay you well."
The other two snickered at the comment, while Astrid stared wide eyed at them. They thought her a prostitute? She would have punched them in the mouth for speaking such atrocious things at her if they were not bigger than her.
"I'm not for sale." Astrid hissed. Unfortunately, they were blocking the only way out of the alley and when the three of them stood side by side, it was like standing in front of a brick wall. She was trapped and she knew it… she just couldn't show that she knew it.
One of the men frowned at her statement. "Our money is just as good as any other people," he grumbled. "Come on… been a long night, and we want some company."
"No," Astrid stated, sharply this time, her jaw set, her eyes steady, while her mind was screaming for help.
"No?" one of them growled. "Why not? Are you saying that Antoine Aloisen isn't good enough for you?"
She cried out as suddenly a man lunged at her and caught her around the middle, holding her wriggling and struggling body against his over-grown beer gut.
"I got he Antoine! I have her! And…" he grunted as she continued struggling against him. "She's quite a hellcat, this one!" he laughed.
"LET ME GO AT ONCE!" She screamed. "MY FATHER WILL KNOW ABOUT THIS! YOU WILL ALL ROT AWAY IN A CELL IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO!"
"Well, well, we got ourselves a lady from the upper classes." Antoine shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, well. All women are whores, that's my motto in life. Whores to be used whenever you need one," he chuckled. Astrid's eyes narrowed with hate at the man's words. She kept wriggling and squirming against her captor who was now showing signs of struggle with holding onto her.
"God almighty, she's a hellcat! Careful Antoine, she may lash out!"
Antoine spit on the ground, a sign that he had no worried whatsoever. "Let's open this pretty package!" the other man cried out, reaching for Astrid's dress. Astrid struggled even harder when she realized he man's intentions.
"Ah!" cried out the one holding her. "Stop it!" he ordered, although she continued to struggle. "It felt having her delicious rump wiggle against me, but now it's hard to hold onto her!"
"Shut up!" Antoine growled, and pushed the man out of the way. "I'll unwrap this flower… and I get her first."
"No fair!" protested his third companion. "The last time we had a woman, you had her first! She was too tired when she got to me!" Antoine simply grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and glared at him. The man quickly relented. "Fine, you can have her first," he whimpered cowardly.
Astrid's eyes went wide when she saw the evil smirk on the man as he reached out and much to her horror, grabbed both sides of her dress and ripped it apart, leaving her only in her corset and undergarments. She screamed in protest beneath the hand that covered her mouth, not believing this was actually happening.
"Mmmm…pretty," Antoine grinned, eyeing her body from behind the pale white fabric that covered her. His large grubby hand reached out to touch her, and Astrid summoned up all her strength, before swinging her leg out and kicking him HARD in the groin, and then when he dropped to his knees, in the chin. The man holding her cried out Antoine's name, and at that point, Astrid bit down HARD on the stallion's hand, causing him to yowl in pain. His blood dripped from her mouth, and she wriggled herself loose from his grip. Before the other man could advance upon her, Astrid pushed the now howling man towards the other, and the two ran into each other, causing them both to fall down. Without another look, she took off, she just had to get out of the ally, she just-
"AAAAAH!" she screamed as she felt a something hit her ankle and knock her down to the muddy ground. Antoine, who was still gripping his balls in one hoof, had reached out and tripped her, succeeding in twisting it in just a way that would cause her to sprain herself. She would not be running now.
"You little BITCH!" he spat, his large body flopping on top of hers. "I'll teach you! I'll show you!" Astrid screamed and cried, her face now wet with tears as she could feel his dirty hands reaching into her undergarments, seeking out her legs which she kept tightly shut. "You'll like this, I promise you that," he grinned wickedly, his disgusting mouth coming down on hers. Astrid was able to move her head away just in time, and she screamed as she felt his tongue and lips on her skin. She wriggled, squirmed, kicked, bit, and scratched, whatever she could do to free herself. "Hold her down, damn it!" Antoine yelled to one of his friends. "And shut up!" he shouted, shaking Astrid roughly, before raising his arm to backhand her.
Astrid prepared herself to feel the stinging fire across her cheek, but it never came. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Her eyes flew open at the sound of one of Antoine's friends whimpering in fear, and standing just over her, she saw a cloaked figure, gripping Antoine's arm in a claw-nailed hand.
"I wouldn't, if I were you." He growled dangerously, Astrid could tell he was about twelve years old judging by the pitch of his voice.
Antoine stared up at the dark being before him, his eyes wide in both horror and shock. He was told Goblin's tales back at his hometown, Grasse, but he never truly believed them. Yet, now as he gazed up at the… thing clad in black, with a cloak billowing around its body, and its face covered in the shadows, save for the infamous bat ears, he knew… he knew this was an infamous Goblin. A son of the Mountains.
The man who had his hand bitten rose and with a shout charged at the Goblin, but he easily side stepped the man, who went headfirst into a pile of garbage. The other man rose and attacked, but Weevil whirled around before lashing out with his leg, kicking the man in the gut, causing him to double-over, and then proceeding to elbow him hard in the spine.
With those two on the ground groaning in pain, Weevil then turned his attention on Antoine, who was still on top of the soprano. "If you release her now, I'll let you and your friends live… if you do not… Well, I can guess by the look on your face that you've heard about what my kind does to people like you."
Antoine stared up at the Goblin, his mouth open but no sound coming forth. However, a grin slowly spread across his features as he saw one of his friends rise up slowly behind the Goblin, holding a long shard of wood in his hand, aiming it at Weevil's head. "I don't take orders from a bat-face freak," Antoine spat.
Weevil sighed. "You just did a very stupid thing, monsieur."
Weevil's senses were keen, like a wolf, and he bend just in time as the man swung at him with the wood. He kicked the man hard in the balls, then took the wood from his hands and used it as a club against him, hitting him hard across the face with it. Antoine stared in horror and turned his attentions to his other friend who was still groaning on the ground. "Don't just sit there! FIGHT THE BASTARD!"
Astrid took the opportunity to bite down on his hand, causing him to yowl in pain and remove his filthy body just somewhat off her. With all her strength, she kicked her knee up which made contact with Antoine's groin before screaming at Weevil, "BEHIND YOU!"
Weevil whirled around at that second to escape the lunge caused by Antoine's other friend, who was holding a knife. The blade did however make contact with Weevil's cloak, earing a large hole in it. He growled and grabbed hold of the man's hand, twisting it till he dropped the blade. "I love this cloak," he hissed, before kicking the man with his foot, sending him backwards into a wall.
Yet once again, as soon as he was done fighting one man, the other recovered and leapt to his feet, attacking Weevil again, this time throwing his whole body on top of the Goblin's. Weevil was not prepared for this attack, and therefore taken by surprise by the burly man's strength. He winced, but did not cry out in pain as he felt the man punch his lower back. He threw his cloak off then wrapped it tightly around the man's head, causing him to throw blind punches in the air, to which Weevil kicked the man hard in his left shin, before punching him even harder in the jaw.
Antoine was now recovered and grabbed Astrid by the hair, causing her to cry out painfully as he lifted her off the ground. "YOU!" he shouted at the Goblin. Weevil turned around warily, seeing Antoine hold the woman tightly in one arm, while the other revealed a pistol to which he now held to her head.
Astrid who had been struggling stopped as she felt the cold metal of the pistol touch her temple. "DON'T TAKE ANOTHER STEP!" Antoine ordered, thrusting the pistol hard against Astrid. "OR I'LL BLOW HER BRAINS ALL ACROSS THIS ALLEY!"
Weevil did not say a word; he simply faced Antoine head on, his back to his other enemies, knowing he was vulnerable to whatever violence they wished to send his way. He stretched his arms out from his sides, revealing a knife that hung from his right hip. "PUT THAT ON THE GROUND!" Antoine ordered, indicating to Weevil's knife. Weevil did not make a move, but calmly, removed the knife and, with excruciating slowness, placed it on the ground.
What game was he playing? Astrid had a feeling he knew what he was doing, or at least she hoped he did. She wasn't sure what was going to happen to her. Why was he risking his life for hers?
"Now…" Antoine said, trying to sound calm, but anyone could tell he truly wasn't. "You don't move… you let me go… and I won't hurt the girl," he explained, backing down the alley with Astrid still held tightly to him.
"Let the girl go first," Weevil ordered.
"SHE COMES WITH ME!" Antoine shouted, before quickly calming himself. "When I know you're not following me… then I'll release her… but right now, she comes with me."
"No," Weevil whispered, shaking his head. "That's not how it works." Astrid gasped as she watched him take a step towards them.
"STOP RIGHT THERE OR I WILL SHOOT HER!"
Weevil paused… and then took another step.
"I MEAN IT!"
Astrid squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the hot tears pierce her skin as they ran down her face.
"Why not point that gun at me?" Weevil reasoned.
Antoine stared at the Goblin in shock. Weevil took another step closer.
"STEP BACK!" Antoine shouted, now aiming the pistol at Weevil.
And that was what he wanted. In a flash, Weevil's hand stomped down on top of the handle of the knife in which he laid on the ground, causing the blade to leap in the air, and before Antoine could react to what was happening, Weevil gripped the knife and lashed out, cutting Antoine's fingers that held the pistol, the blood spewing out like a fountain and splattering Antoine in the face.
"MY GOD!" he screamed, falling to the mud and gripping his lifeless bleeding hand to his body. "MY GOD!"
Astrid stared in shock at what had just happened, her own face and body splattered with Antoine's blood. She gasped when she saw Antoine's friends rise to their feet, each groaning in pain, each clutching the bleeding wounds on their bodies, but nothing they had compared to what Antoine was suffering. Weevil turned immediately and lifted his knife at them. "Leave now," he growled. "My kind are not normally this forgiving… in fact, we never are… so I advise you to take this rare opportunity, and flee for your lives." He growled, before adding, "And don't bother coming back for your friend."
The two men didn't need to be told twice. They fled the alley with their tails between their legs, like the cowardly dogs that they were. Antoine was still wailing like a banshee on the ground. He reached and grabbed his now dismembered fingers, cradling them like a mother would cradle a baby. He removed the pistol from the now lifeless fingers, and gazed up at Weevil in rage. Suddenly, his sobs turned into a cry of fury and he lifted the pistol to Weevil's heart.
"NO!" Astrid screamed, grabbing Antoine's shirt sleeve with her hand and tugging hard, causing him to reel back, but it was too late. The pistol had fired its shot.
Weevil whirled around at the sound of Astrid's scream. When he saw what Antoine was doing, he wasted no time, took the knife and slashed at the man's throat, causing his life's blood to spill out over his chest. The pistol had been fires, but the bullet did not make the contact it had intended. Astrid quickly released the gurgling Antoine, stepping away as she watched him convulse and his life leave his body, till he lay still like a rock in the mud.
It was raining. Astrid wasn't sure when it had started, but her now hanging hair was sticking to her face and she could feel what was left of her clothes clinging to her body like paper. She lifted her eyes then to the Goblin, not sure what to say or do, but gasped when she saw him fall to his knees before her.
"Good God, w-w-what is it?" she asked, going to his side in an instant. She caught him before he crumbled to the ground, her arm going around him, trying to prop him up as best as she could.
His breathing was heavy, ragged almost. He was groaning in pain, and… blood. There was blood on the sleeveless purple best he wore. She had thought it was Antoine's blood, but no… it was coming somewhere on him!
She pushed back his best, gasping in horror at finding the source of the blood. The bullet hadn't missed him like she had thought. Antoine was pointing at the Goblin's heart, but instead, the bullet had hit him just below the shoulder. Astrid's clothes were soaked and caked with mud; they would not do good for a bandage. She then began to rip a piece of his cloak and pressed it against his shoulder. "You need to hold this here," she instructed. "Please… you need to hold this over the wound… you… monsieur? MONSIEUR!" His eyes had rolled back and he lay unconscious in her arms.
She wasted no time but bent her head over his chest. Yes, she could still hear a heartbeat, although it was very faint. She had no idea where she would be able to find a doctor that would treat a Goblin. No, the only option was to take him with her to he Opera House. True, she knew she could run away from this place and pretend nothing had happened… but she refused to lower herself to such selfishness. She would not let a human being… or a Goblin, who had risked his life for hers, die in the mud. He was much younger, so pushing his arm over her shoulder and carrying him back to the Opera House was not so hard.
Madame Gothi. She knew some healing techniques; she had seen her use them on dancers who injured themselves during rehearsals. She could help him, she had to!
She only prayed that she would get there before her rescuer perished.