A Place to Call Home
Chapter 14- The Singer and the Goblin
The clouds obscured the sky and let their charge of rain fall to the earth. The English wilderness was not especially safe in nights like this, especially for travelers walking through muddy roads, running the risk of slipping and falling off a cliff. There would be lighting every now and then, making the most superstitious villagers think there were Skrills flying around. But the truth was the Skrill was a Russian dragon breed, and there were very few cases in which a Skrill was found in the wild in other countries other than Siberia.
Two shadows, one tall, the other much shorter, awaited at the borders of a farm until the farmers went to sleep. Shrouded and hidden in dark cloaks to protect themselves from the rain. The taller figure was holding a small bundle in his arms, and protected it with a piece of his cloak. After a while, the last lights on the farmhouse were off.
"Glump, are you sure you want to do this?"
Glump looked down at the bundle in his arms sadly. "There's no other choice. I can't feed him, and his mother is dead. I don't have any milk left, if I keep him he'll eventually starve. I can't let him die so young."
"But to leave him with humans?" Muk asked with worry. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"I don't like the idea either, but what else can I do? No Goblin clan will accept to look after him, if you're not born within a clan they won't care for you."
"What if the humans don't accept him either?"
Glump said nothing to this. He looked down at the bundle in his arms once more, and moved the blanket a little. There was a few-days old Goblin wrapped in that blanket, snuggling deeply into his father's embrace looking for warmth, not really knowing what was about to happen.
"It's a risk I have to take, Muk."
Understanding, but reluctant, Muk nodded. "Very well, then. I'll wait for you here, don't take too long or you will get caught."
Glump carefully but swiftly rushed towards the farmhouse, holding his baby close to his chest like he was the most precious thing in the world. When he was a few steps in front of the door, Helfer started whimpering, and he began to cry.
"Sh-h-h-h." Glump cooed at his son softly, in a loving way. "There, there, don't worry… it'll be alright, son."
When Helfer didn't calm down, his father held him even closer, if that was possible.
"Shhh, do not cry, my little Helfer…" Glump's eyes were tearing up. "I know how much this will hurt the both of us, but it's for the best." The older Goblin wiped a few tears from his son's eyes. "Just never forget, my little Helfer, that your father loves you. Very much."
Helfer didn't understand what was happening, but he had a bad feeling about this. His tiny fingers took a hold of Glump's long hair bangs. Knowing Helfer would not budge so easily, Glump decided he needed to lull him to sleep.
When she was pregnant with him, Aliya used to sing a lullaby for Helfer every night before going to sleep. When Helfer came into the world, he seemed to remember that song, since his father often sang it to him when he couldn't sleep.
Rocking his infant son gingerly, Glump began to sing:
Hush now, my baby,
Be still, love, don't cry
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream
Sleep and remember
My lullaby
And I'll be with you when you dream.
Helfer's ears twitched at his father's loving, calming voice, and his crying dimished. Every note made Glump's heart crack, every note reminded him of Aliya, but he had to do this.
Drift on a river
That flows through my arms.
Drift as I'm singing to you
I see you smiling
So peaceful and calm
Here in my arms
Safe from all harm
Holding you, I'm smiling, too.
Helfer's hand loosened its grip on his father's hair and took his finger to his mouth to suck it. His father nearly giggled, but he had not the heart to right then.
Hush now, my baby
Be still, love, don't cry.
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream
Sleep and remember
My lullaby
And I'll be with you when you dream.
I'll be with you when you dream.
Finally, Helfer let out a big yawn (one of the many traits he inherited from his father) and rested his head against his father's chest, falling asleep soundly. Despite the contradictory tears rolling down his cheeks, Glump managed to give his son a small smile, and before he placed him on the doorstep, he gave Helfer one last kiss on his forehead.
"Goodbye, Helfer." He sobbed. "I hope we meet again someway."
Saying this, Glump knocked the door loudly. When his sensible ears caught the sound of footsteps, the Goblin ran back to where Muk was waiting.
He did not look back.
Voltaire was not happy.
It was not that he was heartless, but he did wish Glump and Muk had told him with anticipation that they would bring one more member to their little family, so he would have been better prepared. Then again, they just found out a little while ago, so he couldn't really blame them for this. There was only one little problem.
"Where is he going to sleep?" The Skrill inquired matter-of-factly. "I don't think he'll be able to share nest with me or the others, and it would be rather awkward for him to share bed with you two."
"He could have my bed while we get another for him," Glump suggested, laying Weevil on his bed for the moment.
"And where would you sleep?" Muk countered. "No offence, Glump, but if the both of us sleep on my hammock it won't last long."
"I guess he could sleep with Silk for the moment." Voltaire added up, staring at the still-unconscious Goblin.
Glump gulped. "Are you sure he won't mind?"
"Don't worry, he won't. As long as you don't touch his precious work, it should be okay."
One-Eye crawled into the cave to take a look at the 'newbie', as he was putting it. Nighthawk had been left alone with Snowdrop, he would have to wait until she got bored and went after Voltaire to have his nap. One-Eye snickered internally at the thought.
"If you're going to make one of your nasty comments, don't say anything at all." Voltaire hissed. He knew the Monstrous Nightmare well enough to know when he was dying to annoy someone.
Ignoring him, One-Eye sniffed Helfer's face; suddenly, much to the others' shock, One-Eye quickly stepped back with a roar, with terror-filled eyes. The Monstrous Nightmare knew that smell, he had smelt it every day he spent back on…
The scent of popcorn, cotton candy, dirty hay, but overall, the smell of gypsies.
"SPY!"
Voltaire knew what was happening. "Oh, no…"
One-eye stepped back against the wall like a puppy trying to escape its master's cruelty, his pupil shrunk, his breathing and heartbeat accelerating dangerously. "Alvin sent him to drag us back! He's found us! I don't want to go back there!"
Muk whispered into Glump's ear. "Tell me how this ends later. There's something I must do."
"What are you going to do?" the larger Goblin inquired in worry as Voltaire took matters into his claws.
"It's… I'll tell you later." Saying this, Muk disappeared through the tunnels, leaving Glump with Voltaire and the hysterical One-Eye.
"One-Eye!" the Skrill pinned One-Eye to the ground, and struggled to speak clearly as the Monstrous Nightmare attempted to free himself in a state of pure panic. "Stop! Nobody is coming down here! No one knows about us! We're completely safe! You're not going back to the Carnival!"
So concentrated they were on One-Eye they did not notice Weevil stirring on Glump's bed. The young Goblin's ears twitched at the sound of scuffling a few steps away. Weevil sat up and rubbed his head painfully, looking around his surroundings; he let out a gasp when he found himself staring at two deformed dragons, and another Goblin.
Glump was the first to notice Weevil was already awake. It took another seconds for Voltaire and One-Eye figure it out as well, feeling awkward at the young Goblin's terrified expression.
"Uh… hi?"
"Hiccup!"
The stable boy nearly dropped the bucket with Toothless's meal when Mildew's voice resounded through the old wood that made up the stables. Snotlout immediately went to hide in Hookfang's box, much to the dragon's annoyance. The old manager approached Hiccup, but internally trembled at the sight of the Night Fury staring at him with curious eyes.
"What is it, Monsieur?" Hiccup tried to sound calm, but he feared the old man had caught on with Snotlout's action.
"I checked the next performance for tomorrow night, and it turns out we're performing Siegfried. The point is there's an act that requires a dragon. Can any of these work onstage for one night?"
Immediately, Snotlout knew that was his cue.
"Yes, they can!" pushing Hiccup aside abruptly, Snotlout inflated his chest proudly and motioned at the dragons. "You won't find better-trained dragons for acting on stage than here!"
"Well, in that case…" Mildew examined Toothless, Hookfang and Stormfly. "Any of those three will be enough. I want you and one of those dragons on stage in fifteen minutes."
Toothless helped his human up, just as Mildew skipped away from the Night Fury and out of the stables, back into the Opera House. Hiccup glared at Snotlout. "What was that for?!"
"Ha! We've done it! Now Mademoiselle Astrid will have to give us those seats in Box five with free champagne!"
"Is the damn champagne all you care about?! Toothless and the other dragons are not ready for performing on stage!"
"Come on, Hiccup! What's the worst that could happen?"
"What if they get frightened in the middle of the performance by the illumination flashes? Or any sudden loud noise? Have you stopped to think of that? Have you thought that in their fright they might hurt somebody?" Hiccup glanced at the dragons. "No offense, guys. I'm just saying what I think."
"Sure you are…" Hookfang rolled his eyes, speaking in dragonese.
"Hiccup! This can be your chance to impress Mademoiselle Astrid, don't you think?" Snotlout grinned, knowing he had hit the jackpot with that question.
Hiccup blushed. "D-Don't mess Mademoiselle Astrid in this! And Heather's the one who'll have the lead role in this performance."
"Just imagine, Hiccup. For one night we'll be like all the rich people who come here to see almost everyday, and one of the dragons will get to become famous!"
"But-" knowing Snotlout would not relent, Hiccup took his hands to his head and let out a frustrated groan. "Fine! Let's go and take one of the dragons onstage! Let's hope nothing bad will happen!"
"Good!" Snotlout clapped his hands together, and glanced at Mildew's three dragon auditions. "Now, which of the three should we take onstage?"
"Heyheyhey! If we're going to do this, we'll do it correctly." Hiccup examined the dragons closely. "Stormfly doesn't like being close to strangers, she is most likely to bite, so I think we'll have to discard her." He gave her an apologetic glance. "Sorry, girl."
The Deadly Nadder purred, understanding.
"That leaves only Toothless and Hookfang…"
"Why don't we take Toothless? I mean, a Night Fury, all the audience will acclaim the performance for having such a rare dragon perform."
"And that would cause everybody in that place to come here and ask me to sell him to them! Then they will spread the word, and Toothless will never be able to leave in peace."
"Wha-?! You've gotta be kidding me!"
"Hookfang it is!" Hiccup didn't give his cousin any time to counter. "Come on, Hookfang."
The Monstrous Nightmare gulped. He had never been a fan of large crowds staring at him, but maybe Stormfly would come to see what he was willing to do for someone he loved. Toothless gave his friend a reassuring glance as he followed Hiccup and Snotlout into the Opera House.
Astrid, meanwhile, had enough of hearing Heather's complaints about her outfit for the performance. She made her way towards her dressing room, muttering something about 'Heather and her diva tantrums', with the feeling she was being followed.
Oh, to hell with that! She didn't care if it was Gobber or any of the stagehands trying to startle her, right now all that worried her was the Goblin she brought in yesterday night. Madame Gothi said she had taken care of him, but where was she keeping him? Astrid opened the door to her dressing room and walked in, but as she closed the door shut, she was startled by a yell of pain. The victim of her door fell backwards into the fabrics and cloths used by Ruffnut for her work as Heather's dressmaker.
Astrid opened the door with a gasp of horror. "Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry, monsieur!"
Muk wanted to have a peaceful approach to his beloved, but never though she would accidentally bruise his fingers when she closed her door abruptly. He quickly released his hurt fingers from the door's grasp and fell backwards into piles of fabric. First his foot, then his fingers, what was next?
When Astrid approached the pile he was under, his heart beat faster by the minute. "I'm very sorry! It was not my intention! Are you alright, monsieur?"
"Y-yes, don't worry for me, mademoiselle." Muk stuttered nervously.
"Please, come out of there so I can make sure you're not hurt."
The goblin gulped and shuddered internally. This was the moment he was waiting for, but the feeling of dread would not go away. What if she rejected him? What if she screamed upon seeing him? Then again, she had brought another Goblin last night, so maybe she would not take it that bad.
"If I do so, mademoiselle, I'm afraid you may find my appearance rather… frightening."
Astrid smiled. "Please, monsieur. After what happened to me last night, there can be nothing more frightening than that."
Muk sighed with resignation; it was now or never.
Astrid's smile started to fade when the man she had hurt started revealing himself from under both the shadows and piles of fabric. Only then did she realize he was not a man, or even a human at all. When he stepped into the light of the lamp, Astrid's pupils nearly shrunk completely and she took her hand to her chest, like it would calm her fast-beating heart.
As she just assumed, he was no human, but a Goblin, yet it was clear it was not the same Goblin from last night. This one was slightly shorter, the point of his ears would come just to her collarbone. His arms and waist were thin, but she could tell he had some hidden strength somewhere inside. He wore nothing more than grayish emerald green pants with fluffy ends. His hair was crow black, with two long bangs going down past his jaw, stone beads on the tips, a long tuft of black hair pointing upwards and a short mane going down his neck. His back was slightly bent over, incapable of setting his back straight completely. His goat-like face was not that ugly, the area surrounding his mouth, jaw and lips was a grayish, dark shade of born, contrasting the light, nearly pale brown of the rest of his skin. The Goblin's characteristic long ears were thin and raised, with his yellow eyes with two charcoal circles as pupils staring uncertainly at her, nervously fidgeting with the short black goatee matching with his hair.
Astrid's eyes rolled back into her skull, and she lost her consciousness to her shock and fright; she would have fallen unto the hard wood hadn't Muk caught her in time.
The Goblin felt a great void inside his chest fill as soon as he caught Astrid in his arms. Finally, being close to the love of his life, even though the circumstances were not precisely favorable. Internally, he had half-expected her reaction. Every minute that passed, his heart beat augmented in dissimulated excitement, after four long years of simply watching from afar, he now had the chance to interact with her.
Muk couldn't contain it any longer, he ran his claw-nailed fingers gingerly down Astrid's blushy cheek. God in heaven, her skin was just like he imagined, soft just like a pillow made of the best fabric and the softest swan feathers. Then Muk targeted her hair, and ran his hand down Astrid's blonde cascades, silky like spider's thread.
Finally, Muk closed his eyes and sniffed her; her scent was that of flowers, mostly roses and jasmines, with a hint of lilacs. He was tempted to kiss her, but no, he would save that moment until she accepted him as a mate.
"Muk?!"
The Goblin's joy was short-lived when he heard Hiccup's voice; damn it, the boy had to come and ruin everything! Hiccup was staring at them both from the corridor with both a pang of jealously and a hint of alarm. "What happened?"
"What do you think, boy? She fainted!"
"I can see that, what I'm asking is why she fainted." Hiccup lifted up his arms in exasperation. "Wait, I don't really need an answer to that."
"Instead of standing there and criticizing me, why don't you give me a hand in taking Mademoiselle Astrid to her dressing room before someone sees me?" the Goblin hissed in annoyance, accommodating Astrid in his arms and lifting her from the ground
Hiccup couldn't understand how Muk was capable of picking her up like that with such thin arms, but he decided to save his questioning for later. The stable boy opened the door to the blonde's dressing room, and motioned the Goblin to take her inside. Then, looking around the corridor to make sure there was no one watching, Hiccup closed the door shut behind them.
He was unaware someone had seen them.
Once inside Astrid's dressing room, Muk lay her on her bed, containing his urge to stroke her cheek again. His bad mood increased when Hiccup started with his interrogatory session.
"What were you thinking, Muk?!" Hiccup hissed, pointing at the door. "Someone could have seen you!"
"So what? At least it would stop Gobber's ridiculously exaggerated storytelling." Muk replied dryly. "I was tired of watching Astrid from afar."
"Couldn't you have picked a better moment?! We're in the middle of a rehearsal!"
"What do you mean with we?" Muk narrowed his eyes. "Since when do people who earn their living by cleaning dragon excrement perform in Operas?"
"That's not the point!" Hiccup retorted. "For your information, Mildew said they needed a dragon because Siegfried has an act with a dragon! I was there helping Monsieur Francois coordinate with Hookfang!"
"Still, Shack told me this time the crow was the one who would perform. What does Astrid have to do with Siegfried?"
"I'll let you know, Muk, that as Mademoiselle Heather's understudy, she has the obligation to watch rehearsals in case Mademoiselle Heather becomes indisposed at the last moment."
Muk said nothing to this, he muttered something under his breath and turned his gaze away from Hiccup's to stare at Astrid's unconscious figure once more. Hiccup remembered what Glump told him last night, that Muk was madly in love with Astrid, and would go far for her. Better not to be on the Goblin's bad side.
Muk's ears twitched. He heard something.
"Listen, Muk, I-"
"Quiet, boy!"
"Hey, what-?!"
"Silence! Someone's spying on us!"
Hiccup's heard skipped a beat. "What?"
Muk silently crept towards the door, his ears raised high in the air, listening to hushed whispers coming from the ouside. Quickly, he turned the knob of the door; Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Fishlegs fell on top of each other with loud protests.
"OW!" Ruffnut exclaimed in surprise.
"Get your thirty ton body off my beautiful face!" Tuffnut complained.
Fishlegs, on top of the two twins, apologized. "Sorry."
"Not you, I'm talking to Ruffnut!"
The annoyed Ruffnut smacked her brother's head with her open wide palm.
Muk crossed his arms as he looked down at the trio. "Don't you know it's rude to spy on other people's private conversations.
The three humans looked up and, to their horror and shock, saw the very creature Goblin had been talking about all this time. They scrambled to their feet and ran to hide behind Hiccup, screaming as they did so. Muk quickly closed the door before anyone else could hear them.
"Don't eat me!"
"I'm not yummy!"
"Please, I'm too young to die!"
Hiccup sighed in exasperation for the second time. "Guys…"
"Hiccup, do something!"
"Call Toothless! He'll protect us!"
Muk rolled his eyes.
"GUYS!" Hiccup yelled at the top of his lungs. "He's not going to eat you! He's harmless… I think."
"I heard that!" Muk crossed his arms with narrow eyes.
"But he's a…" Ruffnut pointed her finger wordlessly at the Goblin.
"Just look at his ears! Pointy ears are a synonym of evil!" Tuffnut added.
"Actually, that's a stereotype the Germans created because they were too afraid of Elves to realize they were actually beneficial."
"Everyone, this is Muk." Hiccup pointed at the Goblin, before glancing at him. "Muk, these are Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut."
The trio waved their hands at Muk nervously.
"So, he's the creature that has been wandering around here?"
"Not the only one." Muk replied. The others would get mad, but the secret was out, anyway. "
Fishlegs gasped. "You mean there are more?!"
"More or less." Hiccup replied awkwardly. "Muk lives with Glump and the other dragons in the catacombs of the Opera House."
"Ha! I knew it!"
"Wait a second, other dragons?" Ruffnut inquired. "There are dragons down there?"
"Carnival dragons." Hiccup sighed sadly. "From a freak show. They're very sensitive about it."
"What do you mean sensitive?"
"I can't tell you everything. I made a promise."
"To who?"
Before Hiccup could reply, a groan caught everyone's attention. Astrid's eyes cracked open reluctantly, and realized that she was not alone in her room. Her eyes scanned the room, and spotted the Goblin she had just witnessed. Not only that, but she realized Hiccup, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were there as well.
"What are you doing here? What happened?"
Muk took a few seconds to calm himself down. This would take a lot of explaining.
He would need help.