We'd made it back to the village from Toothless Cove in record time. As I'd asked her to, Astrid headed off to gather the others while I returned to the forge to continue working. I was just pumping the bellows as she led the group in, directing them to the workbench she normally sat on while I began toiling away over the coals.
I stayed silent, focusing as much as I could on finishing the tack while Astrid broke the news to them. They didn't handle it nearly as well as either of us had, and Toothless's assurance that we'd have a few days at least to prepare did nothing to raise their hopes. Despite that, I put down my work and turned to address everyone.
"Look, I know this probably seems like a lot for us to handle, but considering our ultimate goal it really isn't that bad. I mean, it's bad, don't get me wrong. But it's not as hopeless as you're probably thinking." I tried not to look as uncertain as I felt, though I had my doubts it was working. "We've got a few days to prepare for this, probably, and that means a few days to figure out how we're going to-"
"Hiccup," Snotlout interrupted me, "what do you think six kids can do about this? None of us are ready to fight off a raid. What we should be doing is warning the village so everyone can get ready!" With that, he leaned up from the wall he'd been resting against and turned to head for the door. Astrid cleared her throat and shot him a dirty look, grabbing her axe's handle in the process. He stopped immediately, apparently realizing she wouldn't hesitate to use it on him if he tried to leave. With a frustrated growl, he slumped back against the wall of the smithy, all the while staring daggers at me. I tried my best to ignore him and continued on.
"We have to approach this situation at a different angle. Trying to explain everything as it is to the village will probably just complicate things, not to mention raise a lot of questions as to how a group of trainees predicted a dragon attack when every previous generation of Vikings couldn't." I was sneered at yet again as Snotlout attempted to shut down what I was saying.
"Complicate? Moron, if we tell them about this they can hide the animals before it happens!" I stared at him for a moment before sighing to myself.
"Yeah, and then the dragons knock down every building in the village until they find what they're looking for. Normal Viking tactics aren't going to work here, especially for the six of us, so we're going to have to do something different. I'm thinking that if we can give the dragons what they're looking for, they'll leave the village faster and we'll have a lot less cleaning up to do. Either we let them take half of our supplies for the winter months or we start gathering food now so we have enough to cover the both of us." I turned back to the forge when I was finished speaking, determined to complete my work. I had a feeling I'd be needing better, fireproof riding equipment for what was awaiting us in the days ahead. As I heated the coals back up I noticed a small whining sound coming from the floor where Fishlegs was seated.
"Uh, Hiccup, I'm not trying to accuse you or anything, but are you implying we... Let them take our food? Isn't that kinda bad?" I glanced over to him across the hearth, wiping some sweat from my brow before addressing the question.
"Fishlegs, I'm implying we help them raid us." I could see the look of near-mortification of the faces of everyone in the smithy, but I powered on despite it. "I know it sounds crazy, but like I said, they never end a raid without taking what they need. We'll have to make up for the animals they do take, but it's not like we have any other options right now. That is, unless we can come up with something else." I turned my attention back to the saddle again, using a bit of pressure to meld some particularly difficult scales when Astrid's voice yanked yet again at my concentration.
"Hiccup, I understand what you're trying to do, but if we don't at least try to defend our supplies half the village is going to starve to death over the winter. We can't just let them take what they want!" For the first time in days, she seemed genuinely upset with me. I'd always hated seeing her angry or let down, but now wasn't the time to worry about it.
"Except we are going to just let them take what they want. We don't have a chance to stop them ourselves, but we can use their strength to replenish what we lose. Or did you forget that I'd intended to eventually take the dragons out of the kill ring?" Five sets of eyes locked on to me as they began realizing what I was talking about. "I'm not sure it'll be enough to make up for our losses, but we're going to be short on food this winter regardless. We might as well use the dragons to our advantage."
I continued working on the saddle while splitting my brain in two over the idea of saying something to my father. On one hand, not telling him could end horribly for the village, but on the other hand, telling him could end horribly for me. I had a feeling he was skeptical of my unexplained victories in the ring, and the last thing I wanted to do was give him any more reasons to be suspicious of me. My mind continued with this tug-of-war, stopping only as Snotlout piped up again. He was considerably calmer, though, and with a closer look I could see him eyeing Astrid's weapon of choice.
"Hey, why don't we just tell the village we saw a bunch of dragons flying to Helheim's Gate? Wouldn't that work?" The suggestion was simple and straightforward, which was probably why I hadn't considered it. Yet again I stopped working, only this time it would hopefully be the last interruption I'd face.
"Actually... That might not be a bad idea. If someone tells my father that they saw a flock of dragons flying past Berk, he'll raise an alarm to be on guard, but he probably won't touch any of the livestock. I doubt he'd think much of it, either, as long as it isn't me who tells him. All we'd have to worry about at that point is getting the raiding dragons to leave." I fell into a moment of silence yet again, this time trying to cobble together a strategy when Tuffnut broke my concentration. Despite a mild irritation at being interrupted once more, I listened to him.
"Well, if that's the plan I guess Ruff and I can handle it. We've got a bet to lose, and after that we can tell Stoick about the dragons." He stood up from the bench with his sister, giving a stretch as Astrid turned to them.
"So Stoick was okay with the terms of your bet, I take it?" Regardless of the tension that had been mounting in the room, some smiles began to emerge. Not even the threat of a raid hanging over us was enough to cut through the excitement of bonding with dragons rather than maiming them.
"Yes he was!" Ruffnut exclaimed. Her usual mischievous smile had returned in full force as she shoved her brother to the floor. "Everybody was laughing about it, too. They kept acting like we were about to get screwed over for a month because there's no way we'll win this bet."
"Damn straight." Tuff popped up from the ground as he spoke and shoved his sister through the cloth-covered doorway. The sound of her tripping over some buckets and hitting the ground entered the smithy, followed by a few choice curses. With a bit of a hop in his step, Tuffnut made for the source of the sounds just outside. He stopped halfway to the door and turned to us to finish his thought. "We'll go get our 'punishments' now. Chief said that if we can't make it a day, we'll have to stand guard every night we're not training, starting tonight. So that's good." Ruff walked back in as her brother finished speaking, all the while staring angrily at the back of his head.
"Yeah, let's go finish this in the presence of witnesses. I'll be sure to make it believable." With a stiff arm she reached out and grabbed a handful of Tuffnut's hair, yanking him through the cloth. Their bickering and fighting made its way out of earshot as Snotlout grunted and looked at me.
"So what the Hel are we supposed to do? It's too damn hot in here to stay and I don't have anything else to do today." I glanced from Snotlout over to Fishlegs, who I noticed looked just as uncomfortable in the immense heat.
"So, I take it one time in here is enough for the both of you?" I chuckled lightly to myself, finding a bit of humor in knowing that 'weak little Hiccup' as I'd been known could handle the forge's heat better than the others. "Well, we're going to need a basket of fish for the actual taming process, so I'd appreciate it if one of you two could gather some. And remember: no eels. Other than that, you're probably best off finding a quiet, secluded place and grabbing a bit of sleep. I'm sure the twins will do the same, assuming they can after-" I was stopped by a commotion coming through the door. From the sound of my father's angry voice, the twins had lost their bet spectacularly. "After that."
Snotlout gave me another glare before pushing off of the wall he'd been leaning on and walking out the door. Fishlegs followed him, looking more unsure of than upset with my plan. I continued working after they left, all the while hoping things would start looking up once we began taming the dragons.
"Do you think it'll be enough?" Astrid asked bit later, her question miming what was going on in my own head while I worked on the saddle.
"Astrid, I really don't think we have a choice." I glanced away from the forge again, locking eyes with the girl in front of me. "If my father finds out what's really going on now, we're all dead. The best we can do is hope he takes the twins' warning seriously enough to prepare for-"
"HICCUP!" My father's voice rang out through the walls from the village square. With a startled jump I quickly gathered the supplies and hid them in my workshop while Astrid tried her best to clean the messy state the workbench had been left in from the others sitting on it. I hurried back into the main forge area to help with the cleanup when my father's voice came from just behind the cloth hanging over the entrance.
"Hiccup, You're done with the forge for the day! Gobber's got a bunch of emergency repairs that need to get done now. You've earned some rest before Dragon Training really begins and I want to see you enjoying it. Now clean up and get moving." The sound of his heavy footfalls leaving the smithy area eventually faded as Astrid and I finished tidying up what was left of the mess the others had made.
I hadn't had the quilt down from in front of the forge entrance for more than a second before Gobber walked up pulling a cart filled with bent, broken and otherwise damaged weaponry.
"Ah, Hiccup. Looks like Stoick already toldja I've got work ta do. An' there's a lot of it, too, so you an' Astrid needta get outta my way for the evenin'. Go on, shoo. Ya need yer rest fer the big boys." He directed both of us to the exit before quickly returning to the weapons cart. Astrid and I left, deciding to head for the cove for another round in the air with Toothless after realizing we had nothing else to do. Our walk through the brush was silent until we were far enough away from the village to be sure no one could hear anything we'd say. Once out of earshot, Astrid turned to me.
"So, what exactly is the plan for all of this? Or do we even have one?"
"To be honest," I began as I scratched my head, "I don't know what the rest of you will be doing. As for me, though... I'll be in the air. After all, it's the only place I'll be useful." I almost expected her to be mad at me for the comment, but instead she just nodded in agreement.
"I had a feeling you'd say that. But then again, it's where you belong, so I can't blame you." She gave me a slight smile and tugged on my sleeve. "But maybe we shouldn't think about that right now. We can strategize as a group later on. For now let's keep our minds off things." I didn't have any time to respond before she pulled me into a run toward the front entrance to the cove.
Compared to the time we spent in the air earlier, our second flight of the day was relatively uneventful; Toothless still didn't have any new information on the raid, and after the jarring interruption earlier Astrid didn't quite feel up to any more freefalling. We decided instead to coast gently through the clouds while the sun set below the horizon, both of us watching in awe at the spectacle of nature. I tried drawing the scene once again in my journal, but the combination of stirring winds and Astrid's constant questions about my artistic skills kept me from giving it the detail I wanted to. I gave up entirely once the sun had set, stuffing my journal into its harness as we soared above the twinkling lights of Berk. After admiring the sight for a little while longer, we swooped down for a landing in the cove and then made for the kill ring to wait for the others.
We arrived to see the already-gathered group of trainees just outside of the entrance gate, all eagerly awaiting our first taming session. Even Snotlout, despite holding a basket of foul-smelling fish, seemed excited to get started. Before we finally entered the ring, though, I took a quick look around to make sure we were indeed alone. Satisfied that no one was watching, I addressed the group.
"Alright. Now, I've never taught anything before, but it can't be that difficult, so let's get into the ring. But first... Ruff, Tuff, are you sure no one's going to come check on us?" Despite the lack of prying eyes, I was still wary that someone from the village would wander over at some point to make sure the twins were doing their jobs properly. Even with the forewarning the dragons could offer, I was afraid it might not give us enough time to escape unnoticed. From the identical grins on the twins' faces, though, I had a feeling my concerns were unnecessary.
"Don't worry about it," started Ruffnut. "The Chief kept going on about how us being out of the village's hair for a month is going to be a good thing. I don't think anyone would willingly come over here unless they thought we were in danger. Score to us for being annoyances." The two of them head-butted each other as Fishlegs made to pull the lever of the kill ring gate. The sound of the rising chains clanking away seemed louder than normal, but once the gate was fully open my ears were met with nothing but silence. With a sigh of relief, I led the others down the walkway to the interior gate, which Fishlegs opened by hand with a bit of help from the twins. Once we were all inside, they lowered the gate and caught up with the rest of us, now close to Stormfly's cage door.
Before I started our first lesson, I couldn't help but notice that the arena was completely silent save for the soft growl of anticipation coming from within Stormfly's enclosure. I had a distinct feeling the other dragons were listening to every word we said, waiting as patiently as they could for their turn. With that thought in mind, I decided to begin.
"Welcome to Dragon Taming. For lesson one we're going to do a little bit of bonding, and we'll start with Stormfly. Everyone step back and give Astrid some room. Snotlout, leave the fish here." Snotlout dropped the fish basket at my feet and joined the others in doing as I'd asked. With the four of them in the center of the arena and out of the way, I opened the basket for Astrid and made my way to the wall switch that would unlock Stormfly's enclosure.
"I'm ready." Before I could say anything, Astrid had a large cod in her hand and was staring down the door. I nodded and pulled the lever, actuating the lock and popping the cage entrance open a little. Stormfly's snout came out first, taking a quick huff of the air before pushing the enclosure open all the way. Her growl was beginning to sound more and more like a purr as her eyes finally met with Astrid's.
Without much in the way of caution, Stormfly walked right up to the confident Viking girl and carefully grabbed the fish from her hands before eviscerating it in one bite. With a lick of her lip, Stormfly leaned down to look Astrid straight in the eyes before offering her snout to the girl and crooning. Without a word, Astrid brought her hand to the dragon's head and began scratching her just under the jaw, to which Stormfly responded with some happy chirps. Astrid laughed along with her, apparently still in awe of the situation. The pair seemed so natural together that I momentarily forgot I was supposed to be teaching the others about bonding.
"Hiccup, go let the other dragons out. Astrid and I are going to be fine. Besides, they're just as excited as the lot of you are, and I don't know how much longer they'll stay quiet." Stormfly's message ended with a simultaneous grunt of agreement from every other dragon cage, signaling to me to get on with letting them all out.
"Well, that's essentially how it's done," I said as Astrid began running her hands through Stormfly's feathers. I left the two of them to it and walked over to the Gronckle's cage, gesturing Fishlegs to follow me. With quite a bit of hesitation, he did so.
"Suddenly I'm not so sure about doing this, Hiccup." I gave him a blank stare before pointing to Astrid, who was currently sitting on top of Stormfly and scratching away at her neck. Fishlegs looked from the two of them to me, apparently trying very hard to find an excuse to back out of this. "Well, that's- That's not- The Gronckle might not-"
"Fishlegs," I said, stopping him mid-panic, "Calm down. It'll be fine." I threw him a fish and grabbed the lever to the cage lock, where I waited for a signal from him. He was shaking slightly and pale in the face, but despite that Fishlegs slowly nodded for me to open the door. With a loud click, the lock released and the Gronckle slowly pushed her massive head into the ring. She let out a pleased growl when she saw Fishlegs and even happily warbled at the spectacle that was Astrid and Stormfly.
"Took you long enough. That cage can get really cramped." Her eyes swiveled from me back over to her prospective rider, and with a grunt she began walking toward him. "So this is who you've paired me up with? I can't say I have a problem with it. Those twins are too obnoxious and I don't care for the other one's attitude much."
"Hiccup, that... Sounded like a growl. Maybe this isn't such a-" Once again he stopped mid-sentence, silenced by the Gronckle grunting at him once more. He stood there, pale-faced as ever, but remained still enough to slowly raise the fish up as an offering. It seemed all he could will himself to do, considering the circumstances.
Cautiously, the Gronckle moved forward and took the fish from him. I kept watching as Fishlegs put his hand up to the rock-like dragon as a final peace offering. After a few tense seconds she let out a purr of approval and pressed her head to his hand, much like Toothless had done with me.
"See, Fishlegs? That wasn't so hard." He gave a nod to my statement but refused to take his eyes off of the dragon he was now petting. He was apparently awestruck with the situation, too overcome to say or do anything more than stand there and blankly pet the Gronckle's snout. She seemed very calm, though, so I felt confident that I could leave them be.
I turned to look for the twins, only to first see Snotlout standing alone near the gate of the arena. I tried to gesture him over instead, he just crossed his arms and looked away from me nervously. With a sigh I pushed his stubbornness out of my mind and focused again on the twins, who were both already over by the Zippleback's cage with a few fish in each of their hands. Grabbing the lever with his teeth, Tuff unlatched the Zippleback's door and jumped back near his sister.
The massive dragon quickly pushed the doors to her enclosure open and ambled out into the night air. Four sets of eyes stared the twins down, apparently waiting for them to make the first move. Unafraid, the twins both offered up their fish to a separate head and waited impatiently for them to respond. Both heads quickly snapped up the fish, only to lean back down and open their mouths in wait for more of the same. With some loud laughing they continued feeding the dragons.
"This is everything my five-year-old self ever dreamed it would be." Tuff gave another laugh as he approached his dragon head, giving it a rough tackle and scratch down. The head was caught by surprise, letting out a spark in reply to Tuff's actions. Despite the roughhousing, the Zippleback seemed unbothered by the twins. "Cool, it's the sparking one. Hey Ruff, my dragon's cooler than your dragon." I shook my head and let out a sigh at Tuff. Not this again.
"Idiot, they're the SAME dragon."
"Yes, but also, no."
"Then why does it have two heads?"
"Technically we're hive-minded, not unlike bees-"
"Who cares? It only has ONE body!"
"Do they do this a lot?"
"But two heads mean two brains, and that means two dragons."
"You don't have ANY brains, but you're still only one person!"
"This is getting tiring."
"HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE TWO BLACK E- HEY!" To my surprise and amusement, both of the Zippleback's heads simultaneously grabbed the two Vikings and held them both upside down from their legs. With a chuckle I approached the three(four?) of them.
"Looks like the Zippleback knows what she's doing. You two need to stay quiet, and stop arguing for once. You're here to bond, not bicker." The twins were replaced on the ground before the Zippleback's heads nodded in unison, agreeing to what I'd said. Once more they stared the twins down, only this time it was for them to quietly start attempting to build trust. Satisfied, I walked over to Snotlout.
"What are you looking at?" Snotlout's attempt at anger wasn't very convincing, and it was becoming clearer and clearer that he was even more afraid of meeting his dragon than Fishlegs was. Then again, it wasn't unexpected, since he'd be bonding with the largest dragon to frequent the skies of Berk.
"Snotlout, this isn't the time to have second thoughts. Besides, once you get this over with you'll be wondering why you were so afraid to do it in the first place. Now come on."
"And risk getting eaten?" he spat defiantly. I ran a hand down my face as a certain memory resurfaced.
"Look, we can either do this the easy way, or I can have the twins throw you into the Nightmare's cage. Your choice." Perfectly on cue like actors in a play, Ruff and Tuff appeared with their dragon in tow. Snotlout tried to scoot a bit away from them only to be stopped by the sound of a Nadder growling at his backside. Standing frozen in place, he finally crumbled.
"FINE! Fine, I'll do it. Not like I have a choice, anyway." He stomped off to the largest gate in the arena, though still keeping a bit of distance from Fishlegs and his Gronckle, who were now both lying on the cold stone floor. The others had gone back to what they were doing while I grabbed the half-empty fish basket and dragged it over to Snotlout, who took a handful of mackerel and waited for me to open the Nightmare's door.
With a click the lock disengaged, but the doors remained shut. Curious as to what was keeping her, I approached the enclosure and began pulling one of the doors open. From the small gap that appeared came the Nightmare's commanding voice.
"Tell the one you're pairing me with to open the doors himself. I won't be ridden by a coward." I fought back a smile as I returned to where Snotlout was standing. Knowing him, he wouldn't take kindly to being called a coward, even if the one saying it was a dragon.
"Looks like you're on your own with this one. The Nightmare told me she wants you to open those doors, because she refuses to let a coward be her rider," I repeated to Snotlout, whose face changed to a brighter shade of red. Surprisingly, he ignored me, instead choosing to address the Nightmare personally.
"Oh, so I'm a coward, am I? Let's see how cowardly you think I am now!" With that, he ran to the Nightmare's enclosure and yanked open the heavy steel doors as best he could. The moment the gap between them was wider than the Nightmare's head, however, she popped it out, grabbed Snotlout and pulled him into the cage, fish and all. Her tail snaked out into the arena and pulled the doors shut with a quiet thump.
"The boy will be fine. I'm just toying with him," I heard her reassure me over Snotlout's hysterics and immediately cracked a smile. I never imagined the dragon would actually hurt Snotlout, since it was essentially a death sentence, but even I had an unfortunate gut reaction to the movement of the creatures. I pushed the feeling aside and went back to the task of teaching.
As I gazed around the arena, I couldn't help but notice that no one appeared to have realized what the Nightmare had done with Snotlout. I also noticed just as quickly that they were all doing very well with the bonding process. I decided to walk around to each of them so I could take the notes I'd need to build their saddles, as well as answer any questions they might have. Neither the twins nor Fishlegs had anything to ask, so after a few minutes of measuring and planning, I left them to head back to Astrid and Stormfly.
"Well aren't you two just adorable?" I tried teasing her a little with some sarcasm, seeing as she was now curled up in a ball of scales and feathers, Stormfly happily purring away with her head in Astrid's lap. The girl just grinned at my comment, apparently too overwhelmed to say anything in return. Stormfly, on the other hand, opened an eye and spoke to me.
"Tell Astrid she really knows how to help a dragon preen. I never thought I'd find a human I'd like enough to go through with a bonding ritual, let alone a Viking."
"Wait, WHAT?" My shock managed to bring Astrid back to normal, only to have her sneer at me a little.
"What's with the shouting, Hiccup? Did Stormfly say something?" She didn't sound concerned, but was obviously curious of my outburst.
"Yes. Apparently grooming a Nadder is their bonding ritual. And here I thought you'd be eating half a fish, but something tells me I'm the only one of the group to be forced to do that." I began taking saddle measurements from Stormfly while wondering what the others might be required to do when Astrid popped up from the ground and interrupted my note-taking.
"So you're telling me that Stormfly and I are... Bond sisters?" With a grin I nodded to her before moving back to her dragon to finish the saddle measurements. Just as I put my completed notes away I felt Astrid's arms quickly wrap around me in a hug that ended far too soon. She seemed to notice this, and with a quick glance around the arena to make sure everyone else was occupied, she gave me another short, sweet kiss on the cheek. It took me completely by surprise, knocking the support temporarily out of my legs. Astrid laughed at me before gesturing over to the Nightmare's cage and asking me a question.
"So, where's Snotlout, exactly?" She seemed more curious than concerned about his whereabouts, and after a moment of trying to remember how to talk, I was able to respond.
"Oh, he's just in the cage with the dragon. Don't worry, though. She's just playing with him." Right as the word left my mouth, the Nightmare's cage doors popped open and out came the dragon in question. Snotlout was sitting on her neck with his hands grasped on the dragon's large horns for support.
"For once I have to actually agree with Hiccup. Being afraid of this was a really, really stupid idea." He started giving the dragon a scratch on her head before sliding off to one side and landing successfully back on the stone floor. The Nightmare lowered her head, which Snotlout again began scratching with only a bit of reluctance.
While they were busy I took the last saddle measurements I needed, noticing small conversations breaking out between dragon and rider as I finished. It continued until I replaced my journal and cleared my throat.
"So, tonight's been an amazing achievement. All I can suggest now is figuring out what you're going to call your new companions. Other than that, you should all use the rest of the time we have to keep getting to know each other. If you have any questions, just ask me, alright?" A unified chant of agreement came from dragon and Viking alike, and for once in my life I felt a sense of real accomplishment. This was what I wanted to do with my life. What I was meant to do with it. And considering the situation we were in, it looked like the Gods had given me proof of it.
I spent the next two and a half hours walking around and answering simple questions while translating for my friends. I was beginning to think I'd have to teach Dragonese as well as dragon bonding if we managed to end the war, and more and more I was finding the thought inviting. As it turned out, I quite enjoyed teaching, and when it came to dragons, I was very good at it. I even tried helping Astrid to understand their language, but despite her best efforts the only thing she recognized was the sound Stormfly called her by. She wasn't discouraged at all by it, understanding that my own success was the exception and not the rule.
When I wasn't walking around and giving assistance to the others, I was tucked away on a stool near the empty weapons rack, busying myself with drawing out more detailed saddle plans. I was just finishing up the design for a horn-anchoring mechanism for Snotlout's Nightmare when my journal was bumped lightly from below. I looked down to see the Terror, whom I'd been calling Gami, staring at me intently with an acorn in her mouth. Smiling, I reached down and grabbed the little nut from her jaw and whipped it across the arena, causing her to chase after it once more that evening.
After scribbling down a few dozen more ideas on the saddles(while being randomly interrupted randomly by Gami), I put my journal away and continued playing a game of fetch with the little Terror while I gave the others a bit more time to bond. Still, the night was already halfway over, meaning the longer we stayed out, the more likely it was that someone would see us all heading back to town from the kill ring. Even with the excuse of paying the twins a visit, I doubted my father would shrug it off as nothing. With that in mind, I stood from my seat and stretched out a little, giving a large yawn before I called in the others.
"Alright, everyone? Over here," I shouted as I walked to the center of the arena. Gami was now perched on my shoulder and purring away as we all gathered for a final meeting before the end of the night. Standing in the center of the ring the others made around me, I couldn't help but feel a surge of happiness at the sight: Vikings and dragons alike, side by side, completely at ease and unafraid of one another. They all looked as amazed by what was happening as I was, and in truth, the feeling of mutual astonishment was one I'd not soon forget.
"Well, I don't think I need to say much about our first session. It was more than expected, to at the very least. We still have a long way to go, since these kinds of things take time, but tonight was a great start. Tomorrow night we'll continue where we left off, but we really won't have much of a chance to make any real headway until I finish making your saddles. It shouldn't take very long, but it does mean I'm probably not going to be getting much of any sleep for the next few days."
"I don't think any of us are," the twins chimed in unison.
"Probably not. Regardless, it's time the dragons went back into their cages, unfortunately. Take a few minutes to say goodnight and we can get going." I pulled Gami from my shoulder and cradled her in my arms, trying to sway the young thing to sleep before I sent her back to her cage. "Oh, and if anyone from the village notices you, tell them you were discussing dragon slaying strategies with the twins. Speaking of whom, Ruff, Tuff?"
"Yes?" They said again in tune, their attention still fully on their dragon.
"Listen to me: don't even think about sneaking the Zippleback out after we leave. That's a disaster waiting to happen." A few audible groans came from their direction, but they still mumbled an agreement my way as they led their dragon back to her enclosure. Astrid seemed the most upset about the end of the session, even going as far to give Stormfly a prolonged hug before wishing her a good night and locking her cage door.
After making sure we'd left no traces of our night with the dragons, the twins led the rest of us out of the arena and closed the gates. They both took a seat on a bench that looked as though it'd been stolen from the Mead Hall, but before I could mention it, Tuff started waving us off.
"Alright, the rest of you get out of here and go home. We all need some sleep." Ruff grinned a little, nodding in agreement.
"Yep. Even us. Tuffnut gets the first hour..."
"...And then Ruffnut here gets the second one. We're switching off every hour so one of us is always on guard. Gotta make sure we're not caught sleeping on the job. If you can even call this a job." We all shared a small, tired laugh over the joke, though from a lack of energy it didn't last long. A few more farewells were had before Snotlout, Fishlegs, Astrid and I were all on our way back to the village.
Without much else to say Snotlout and Fishlegs both broke off and hurried for their respective houses, both eager to get as much sleep as they could before the morning dawned. I was about to say goodnight to Astrid and head off to the forge when she stuck a finger in my face.
"Hiccup, I know I can't tell you not to push yourself too hard. I know you'll just ignore me and go work for the rest of the night in that forge no matter what I say. But you need to sleep too, you know. You're only human." Her concern made me swell with happiness, but I couldn't afford to sleep. Not just yet.
"I know, but I'd like to finish those saddles as quickly as possible. Just in case."
"Just in case what?"
"Just in case this raid exposes me to the village. If I have to leave I can't finish them, and if I can't finish them then flying won't be nearly that easy for the rest of you," I reasoned, though she clearly disapproved of the thought. "Look, this is just something I have to do for you guys. Don't worry about me; I'll get at least a little sleep tonight. I promise, okay?" With a sigh she pulled me in for a hug just as long and caring as the one she gave Stormfly. For once I was in control enough of my own body to hug her back, and the resulting feelings crumbled the sensations of tiredness I'd begun having.
"Okay. But take care of yourself. There isn't anyone else in his village I like teasing more than you, and I can't exactly do that if you're too tired to react to it." She snapped back from the hug after that, but as quickly as she let go her hand shot forward, grabbed my vest and pulled me into a kiss harder than we'd ever shared. I nearly passed out.
"...And that was... For?" I managed to sputter a few seconds later, after she'd finished.
"Simple. That was for all of... This. Stormfly, the truth, dragon taming, showing me the person you really are. It's for everything you've done. Good night, Hiccup." She gave me another kind smile before heading off to her house, breaking into a run after glancing back at me once more. I stood there for a while, and after finally regaining the function of my legs I stumbled off to the forge.
The sun was just beginning to peek through the service window of the forge as I cleaned up the mess I'd made over the past few hours. I was dirty, burned and cut in more than a few places and beyond exhausted, but all five saddles had been completely framed out. It took a bit of looking to figure out where I'd hide them, but eventually I settled on a corner of the loft above my workroom.
Gobber never used the loft, considering how small it was, not to mention how hard going up a ladder could be with only one functioning arm and leg. I'd even forgotten it was there, despite my years apprenticing under Gobber, but until now I'd had no reason to use it.
I stowed my work and climbed back down, making a mental note to clean the considerable mess I'd left in my workshop. I didn't have enough time or energy to do it until later that day at the earliest, so I put it all out of my mind, cleaned myself up a bit with a rag and headed home.
I slowly pulled the back door to my house open, hoping I wouldn't run into my father at all. Luckily I didn't see him, so I quickly made for my room, hoping to get in bed as quickly as I possibly could and pass out for at least a few hours before I was inevitably woken up. After a quick but silent dash up the stairs I pulled open my door only to find my father sitting on the edge of my bed, apparently waiting for me. He did not look at all happy to see how late I'd been out.
"Hiccup. It's morning already. Where have you been?" Panicked, I tried my hardest to force my overtired brain to come up with an explanation. I couldn't tell him about anything that actually happened, and I doubt he'd believe I spent until dawn talking to the twins about strategies. So I bluffed.
"Oh, I was, uh... Sleeping out in a field. It's way out past the forest. I go there sometimes to relax, and I must've, uh, dozed off." He gave me a disbelieving glare, but instead of asking anything else he stood up and walked to the door.
"Well, whatever you were doing, you're going to pay for it. Go to bed. I'll be waking you up in a little while." With that, he left the room, nearly slamming my door as he stalked down the stairs. I was nervous as to what he could actually be thinking, but considering my brain was actively beginning to shut off I just backed over to my bed, where I collapsed.