Hey guys!
Am back again with a new chapter.
I'm so grateful for all my friends and followers here giving all the support they have. It really does mean a lot. Do keep asking me things as they will help me flesh out my ideas as I go and hopefully make the story better. check out my notes at the end for a very special announcement!
Not much to say about this chapter as it is a continuation of the previous scene and very special requested OC from a good 'travelling' friend (you know who you are!) makes an appearance.
Once again thank-you for all the support and your feedback regarding the dragons of the new riders.
Enjoy!
Scars
Chapter 12
Babysitters Part 2
"Look Helga, I know you don't want to do it but someone has to take care of Barf and Belch and there's no-one else left!" Astrid argued.
"Actually…."
Astrid turned, surprised to see Tuffnutt stepping forward, a very serious look on his face.
"…..there is someone else who could look after him!"
"Really? Who would be crazy enough to look after that overgrown gasbag?" Snotlout snorted.
"Someone with just the right amount of crazy to deal with the dragon belonging to the world's most deadly weapon!... That's me by the way!" Tuffnutt exalted as he pumped his chest out.
"So who do you have in mind Tuffnutt? Am I really not going to like this?" Astrid asked dubiously, already holding her temples, ready for the impending headache that usually accompanied one of Tuffnutt's plans.
"Yes! You are…really not….going to...like this!..." Tuffnutt declared happily before his brow furrowed, "…. wait what? No….that doesn't make sense…..hey! Wait! NO you are!….hang on let me get this right!...….you… aren't….not going to like this!...Yeah that works!" the male twin smirked.
"Just tell me!" Astrid growled.
"Well she's not here yet! But when…" Tuffnutt began before he spotted his quarry, "…..Oh there she is! Hey Morbid! Over here!"
The eyes of the dragons and riders all fell upon a downcast looking red-headed 17 year old girl that had just entered the arena. She was looking forlornly at the large baskets that were being carried out, from which multiple twitches and screeches could be seen and heard. The girl, broken from her observations by the male twin's call, walked carefully towards them.
"Hey Morbid!" Tuffnutt began as he strode confidently up to her, before noticing the morose girl's expression, "Why are you looking so….well 'morbid'?"
The visibly upset girl raised her face to the taller twin and spoke quietly, gesturing to the men carrying the baskets away. "The Terrible Terrors, their taking them all away on the voyage but they won't let me come! Who is going to look after them?"
"Don't worry I'm sure Bucket and Mulch can handle…" Tuffnutt began in his casual tone only to be interrupted.
"….REALLY!? Morbid the curious!?"
It was an intensely aggravated Snotlout gesturing wildly with his beefy arms, his nostrils flaring, "You're telling me that you're trusting a huge, insane, Hideous Zippleback to a blind girl whose only ever looked after a bunch of Terrible Terrors?! Can anyone tell me there is not a serious flaw in that plan?! Come on Astrid, even you must see that this is possibly the worst idea the twins have ever had!"
"Snotlout does make a point Tuffnutt." Astrid agreed.
"Finally! Thank-you!" Snotlout groaned sarcastically.
"Hey! Morbid may not be a rider but she's good with dragons, even if they are just Terrible Terrors!" Tuffnutt yelled aggressively "Aaaaaaaaaand! I came up with this idea all by myself! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Morbid is not blind! She…just doesn't see very well….there's a difference…which is great so she can't make out your ugly face! My fine fellow!"
"Tuffnutt!" Morbid interjected softly "I don't think they want me to do this…..I mean…I can just look after the some of Gothi's terrors…it's no big deal…and I have my house crew as well."
"Of course it's a big deal!" The Thorston twin responded loudly, "Like you said! We're taking all of your many many many little dragons so it's only fair that you get one big dragon in exchange! The plan is brilliant! Besides my Zippleback already knows you…you hang around the arena all the time aaaaaaand you know how to look after them. It's fool proof!"
"Yeah!" Snotlout scoffed "fool is right!"
"Hey!" Tuffnutt shouted almost in a rage, "I'm trying to do something nice here! Barf! Belch! get over here!"
The large green Zippleback shuffled forward and brought his twin heads down to closely examine the girl who looked after the Terrible Terrors that provided the air mail service in and around Berk. The girl lifted her face and the chittering dragon heads closely scrutinised the milky white eyes that marked Morbid's weak, afflicted eye-sight.
"You see!" Tuffnutt crooned, "it's just like I told you!...They love you…This was such a good plan!...Tuffnutt for the win!"
Astrid looked on curiously as the Zippleback seemed to be more than just familiar with the young woman, using their two heads to nuzzle her playfully from different angles. She thought back to how Morbid became involved with the dragons.
'Morbid the curious' had been afflicted with a condition from birth that meant she had terribly poor eyesight. At first some thought her milky white eyes marked her as an oracle sent by the gods. But after she proved to be ineffective in such things and Gothi was unable to heal her, Morbid was dismissed as an outcast of the tribe much like Hiccup had been, many believing her name well chosen, with the creepy, ghoul-like appearance her eyes gave her.
So she spent a great deal of her life in her room, her parents afraid of what would happen if she went outside. This made her a very insular, quietly spoken child. However that did not deter the young girl earning her moniker 'the curious'. For despite, or maybe because of her poor eyesight, she was always finding ways of getting out and exploring, trying desperately to find a grasp on the world to better understand it.
It was about 18 months ago when Morbid finally began connecting with the dragons and proved you didn't need to be friends with a large dragon to find protection from them. One night Berk had come under surprise attack from the Vandal tribe while Morbid had been sneaking about outside. Panicking she was chased down and trapped in an alley way by a group of the raiders. About to be taken prisoner, Morbid was suddenly surrounded and covered over by a huge flock of Terrible Terrors that, despite suffering many losses, fought the raiders off. Once the threat was gone the terrors let the teenager up, seeing her as one of their own.
After that the tiny dragons seemed to attach themselves to Morbid, Following her everywhere. So for the sake of keeping the airmail system running, she was made their custodian. Morbid quickly revelled in her new found purpose even if her duties were simple like cleaning the Terror's stalls, looking after their roosts and trying to ensure the little pack dragons didn't make too big a nuisance of themselves when not in the air.
Morbid learned a great deal from Fishlegs' work with the terrors and though still very shy and quietly spoken, she unintentionally became their chief protector. Most Vikings and dragons still looked down on the Terrible Terrors as greedy little pests and never felt too bad if any of them got stepped on or eaten. However Morbid was striving to protect them and show just how useful they could be. As if reciprocating her efforts, four or five Terrors took up residence in her house much to the shock of her parents that saw the tiny dragons helping her and making her short sighted life much better.
Though she was not considered a full rider, not willing to be trusted with a larger dragon along with her fear of heights, Morbid was a frequent visitor to the arena and when not dealing with her signature little dragons, sat quietly up in the viewing area listening intently to whatever was being taught.
Astrid looked at the hopeful young girl and felt for her. The leader of the Dragon Academy already felt bad for loosing Stormfly so she didn't want to inflict that pain on someone as emotionally fragile as Morbid.
"Ok Tuffnutt!" Astrid began evenly, "Morbid can look after Barf and Belch!"
"Oh come on!" Snotlout screamed punching his fist through a crate in anger.
"But only on the ground!" The shield maiden continued, hoping to placate the irate Jorgensen from doing something really stupid, "Whenever Barf and Belch are needed in the air for any reason they will accompany you and skyiule Helga!"
"Oh come on!" Helga moaned in her own way that was essentially like listening to a female Snotlout.
"No arguments!" Astrid ordered authoritatively "that's the way it's going to be! Understand?!"
"Fine!" Helga grumbled "But I'm not cleaning up after it!"
"That's fine with me." Morbid muttered a contented smile on her face.
"Ok Morbid, take your place." Astrid commanded.
Again Astrid couldn't take her eyes off Morbid. As Tuffnutt walked triumphantly back to his place beside Fishlegs and Snotlout, she noticed how Morbid instinctively placed her hands on the heads of the Zippleback so one was on her left side, the other the right and let them guide her to where she was meant to be. Astrid had her suspicions as to why Morbid was so familiar with Barf and Belch but decided it would make for more interesting conversation later on to pass the time on the long voyage. She smirked at what she might discover.
"And finally!" Astrid declared turning to the last person standing on a very empty looking side of the arena, "Lars Bucketson!"
Lars Bucketson was a strange boy, if aptly named for being the son of the man everyone knew as Bucket.
In the beginning, he was everything a young Viking child should be; Strong, Beefy, Tough, learned the art of the sword, a pious follower of the Norse gods, upheld his family's honour and enjoyed the respect of those that saw the evident potential in him. However all that changed when at aged 12 he was refused a dragon and he vented that anger on the only real target he knew. Little Gustav Larson, who at only 11, was for some reason allowed a Monstrous Nightmare and a place in the prestigious Dragon Training Academy. And so he relentlessly hounded the boy to force him to find a dragon for him or ensure Gustav didn't get to use a dragon himself.
This vicious bullying continued for several months and Astrid worried she would have another Hiccup/Snotlout situation on her hands. That was until Fanghook began protecting Gustav a lot more closely, leaving Lars to deal with his frustrations alone. So he tried what both Gustav and Paloma had done. He went out into the forest to track down and claim a dragon of his very own. Whenever he had the time, the blonde haired blue eyed boy would leave with a pack full of fish and a defiant claim he would master a dragon in record time. Yet every time, he would return home, His fish gone, his clothes torn, his body mired with cuts and bruises and eyes that spoke of enduring pain. Eventually the boy's obsession made him slightly unhinged and the respect the village paid him began to wane. As Gustav flew off on adventures with the riders, making a name for himself, Lars was left behind in obscurity and frustration, very much in danger of becoming as idiosyncratic as his artistic, bucket wearing father.
Finally, after a couple of years of desperate searching the boy just didn't return one night so the riders set out to track him down. No-one found him until the very next morning when to everyone's surprise three things happened: Both Gustav and Lars emerged from the forest supporting each other covered in cuts and bruises, secondly the two young men seemed more like brothers then enemies, their past animosity apparently forgotten and thirdly, Lars was accompanied by a male, golden yellow Deadly Nadder that had been named Goldflare.
Neither Gustav nor Lars ever spoke of what happened between them. The change in Lars had been so drastic, some thought he had been replaced by a doppelganger or Gustav had used Loki's infernal magic on the lad. Whatever the reason, the former bully had now become Gustav's most loyal and aggressive supporter, defending him from anyone that dared to challenge or threaten him in anyway. Even after 2 years neither teen spoke about what happened that night and no-one dared ask. They were just happy that it happened as it made the pair a true force to be reckoned both on the ground and in the air and Lars was able to rebuild his reputation.
"Lars! You and Goldflare will be paired up with Stormfly!...I don't need to tell you how big a responsibility I'm giving you Lars!" Astrid said with more aggression than she intended.
"Of course Astrid!" Lars replied, keenly aware of the fierce shield-maiden's tone, "Stormfly and Goldflare get along perfectly and I'll make sure to keep her in top condition!"
"You better!" Astrid smirked "I'd hate to travel back from the far side of the world only to find the first thing I have to do is bloody my axe on your sorry hide!"
"Of course Astrid!..." The hefty teen replied smiling, flexing his muscles and cracking his neck bones "…that is, you are welcome to try Hofferson!"
"Ohhhh sounds like someone's calling someone out! Fight fight fight!" Tuffnutt chanted.
"We'll see how strong your mettle is when I return Bucketson. It will give me something to look forward to." Astrid retorted playfully, almost tempted to take up the formidable teen on his sparring offer right now. But there were more important things to do, so she set it aside, ordering Lars to take Stormfly and go stand with the others.
Lars approached the Stormfly with Goldflare by his side and calmly petted the blue Nadder's head as she examined and sniffed him.
"You, me and Goldflare are going to have a great time girl eh?" The teen boy crooned as he tickled her jaw line, "We'll make sure your scales are nice and shiny for Astrid coming home and I'll give you lots of chicken so you can fly even faster during the dragon races!"
Much to Astrid's relief, Stormfly raised herself up at the prospect of being spoilt, squawking and chirping happily, her previous concern apparently forgotten.
Astrid turned and looked at the assembled menagerie and prayed that the choices she had made wouldn't backfire in her absence. She had so much hope for the young Vikings that stood before her and she couldn't wait to show Hiccup just how much things had evolved since he began the art of dragon training.
For the new generation were indeed a strange bunch of kids. Their first encounters with their dragons didn't involve them being escorted out by the veteran riders as several other Vikings needed to be, or them being introduced en masse as Hiccup did for her team on the day of the Red Death. The individual circumstances and personalities of the new riders had marked them out as a special group that after being nurtured, had flourished in way that was wholly different from the original riders and made the promise of a closer relationship with dragons all the more achievable.
"Alright riders! You've got your pairings! Now we hammer out the details of what you're going to be doing!" Astrid began referring to the detailed charts her, Gustav and Fishlegs had worked out on the way over.
It took about an hour of discussing duty rosters and going over patrol schedules with the young riders before Astrid noticed 'it'.
As the meeting progressed, Astrid noticed a marked change fall over the group. All of the posturing and cockiness, all of the stubborn, prideful and insecure antics that made up the new riders' eccentricities and quirks. They were all gone. Each and every rider was intensely focused on the task at hand, trying to figure out how to do their job as best they could. Gustav, with Paloma's arm wrapped discreetly around his waist, was the most serious of the group and ensured everyone knew what they were doing. Astrid felt a strong surge of pride as she saw the responsibility of being the Defenders of Berk slide on to the shoulders of these young Vikings with remarkable ease. It comforted her to know that Berk would indeed be in safe hands with the new riders and their dragons defending them.
With the meeting done Astrid felt they had all earned some fun time and so all the riders with the exception of Morbid went out on one last group flight together before the veterans were separated from their dragons for Thor knows how long. As they all raced through the dimming skies of Berk pulling all manner of aerobatic insanities, Astrid spent most of her flight-time quietly talking to Stormfly, reassuring the anxious Nadder everything would be alright and the dragon in turn nursed her hope that Astrid would return soon with her Hiccup in tow.
On arriving back at the arena, the new riders once again took charge of their extra partners and soon every one of the dragons were settled down in their respective pens in the arena, happy and content with the arrangements that had been made. Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Tuffnutt all said their own personal goodbyes to their dragons and with the younger riders set off for the great hall to attend their final meeting and leaving feast.
It would be a difficult ordeal for them to sit through, for the anticipation of the voyage ahead was reaching a fever pitch and everyone was itching to leave as soon as possible, albeit for different reasons.
As they climbed the steps to enter the great hall Astrid stopped and looked back over the new Berk that had been built in the past five years. She saw the dragon stables, the roof perches, the racing stands, the feeding stations. They were all things inspired by Hiccup that had changed her life and the life of her entire tribe for the better. It filled Astrid's heart with joy to know that soon she would show Hiccup that this could be a home he would want to stay in with his dragons, with his tribe, with her.
She would make sure of that.
"Hey Astrid! Come on! All the yak meat's going to be gone and Ruffnutt's butt is going to be even bigger than ever!" Tuffnutt hollered at the thought-bound shield-maiden.
Shaken from her thoughts Astrid turned and entered the hall.
Tonight was going to be a good night.
There you are guys
Well there's another chapter done!
Next chapter will be the meeting of the tribe and Stoick has something surprising to say!
COMPETITON TIME!
As a note of thanks to all the people who have been kind enough to drop a review or offer words of encouragement or engage with me through my writing and that my reviews will soon be entering the triple figures range, I am launching a small competition.
On the 24th of may 2015, using a random number generator against all the reviews I receive by then, I will pick a reviewer. Then I will, in collaboration with them, write and post a special one-shot story made to their personal requirements. you all know me and that I write 'longish' chapters so you will be getting a really decent sized story for your time if you so desire.
contest rules:
1- Any guest or anonymous posts unfortunately cannot be counted. Though I love the fact you are taking the time to read and write a review of my stories, I say this because I have no way of communicating with you. you have to be reachable through the PM system. no personal email information or ideas given for the one-shot through reviews will be used or accepted. I want to be able to converse with you privately to craft a great story that you want and to make it a nice surprise for everyone else.
2- It has to be based in the HTTYD universe as it's the only one I'm prepared to write fanfiction about. Modern AU's and other settings are acceptable as well.
I hope you guys are up for this and I cant wait to see what crazy idea will come from it. I'm taking a real risk doing this so I hope everyone enters into the good natured spirit I had when this idea came to me.
Any questions, reviews, PMs, feedback, ideas, requests are all greatly appreciated.
See you in the next chapter which should be up by Tuesday / Wednesday.
Until then take care of yourselves and each other!
