Chapter Fourteen
It had taken me almost a year to find my place in this village. I was still getting used to the way things worked here. Snowfire and Hiccup had helped me understand what life was like in Berk. Having friends from my world had also helped. Well, at least one friend. Jacob would always be the kind of person I could rely on when I needed someone to talk to. Jessica on the other hand… she could suck it for all I cared.
Some people are born into knowing what they will do with their lives. For others, they had to learn their paths. Snowfire had to show me what my destiny was. Now I understood that dragons were what my future held. And now I was helping Hiccup teach the others how to live and prosper with them. But unfortunately for some people on Berk, the peace with dragons took away their jobs.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. It was late in the afternoon when we found ourselves at the Dragon Academy. We were testing our knowledge of dragons by holding a contest. Apparently, whoever lost had the honor of cleaning out Mildew's place. At least that was what Snotlout had said. Either way, I wasn't looking forward to being on the losing side of said team.
"Okay, each dragon has its own special place in the world," Hiccup began as he looked through the Book of Dragons. Astrid and Fishlegs were paired with Jacob, while Snotlout had the twins. I stood next to Hiccup, watching each of them curiously. Jacob only knew a small amount about dragons, and that was from what Fishlegs taught him. So far Snotlout's team had ten points, while Astrid's had ninety eight. And Snotlout had started out with ten! "Which dragon makes the hottest welding torch?"
"Oh!" Astrid exclaimed, raising her hand immediately. "The Deadly Nadder!"
"It's known to be the dragon with the hottest fire in the world," I put in.
I tried not to smirk at Snowfire's reaction when I said that. Of all the dragons here on Berk, she had the most pride. And she loved proving that she was the best at everything. Her competitive nature was one of the many reasons she didn't get along well with other dragons. Then again, she also had a lack of trust in humans as well.
"That's because it's magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun," Fishlegs added.
Again I held back a grin. Science and dragons combined, this was something I'd never imagine from this world. Then again, science had always existed, it was just explained differently. In the past, it was usually mythology and religion that tried explaining how science worked. Things had changed drastically where we came from.
"That's correct," Hiccup replied while reading through the book. "Point to team Astrid. The score is now one hundred to ten."
Astrid only smirked triumphantly at Snotlout.
"And you only started out with ten," she put in while Fishlegs just grinned at them sheepishly.
"Next question. What is the shot limit of the Zippleback?" I asked while reading over Hiccup's shoulder. After reading through the book a few times, my knowledge of dragons was still vaguely limited. I'd rather learn from experience. "Team Snotlout?"
"I don't think they can count that high," Jacob whispered while leaning towards Fishlegs.
Astrid and Fishlegs snickered in agreement while Ruffnut and Tuffnut glared at them.
"Oh, really? Let's find out," Ruffnut exclaimed. "Barf, Belch?"
She looked at the Zippleback in question as Barf and Belch straightened up. They'd been staying with the other dragons while everyone went over the questions.
Barf and Belch suddenly fired six blasts of sparks and gas in Team Astrid's direction. Jacob's reaction to their sudden volley of attacks was priceless. Luckily all three of them had ducked just in time. The fire hit the wall behind them, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake.
"Looks like about three," Tuffnut said with a chuckle while counting on his fingers.
"See?" Ruffnut chimed in. "Told you we could count that high."
"Actually it's six, you're half correct," Hiccup corrected them. "Five points."
I marked the board beside us with five marks. Compared to Astrid's team, their score was just pitiful. I knew Astrid wasn't going to let them live this one down. Being super-competitive herself, it wouldn't surprise me if she rubbed this in their faces for the next couple of weeks.
"Yes, we're up to thirty!" Ruffnut exclaimed while high-fiving Snotlout and her brother.
Astrid suddenly stood up and glared at them.
"Alright, it's our turn," she snapped. "What happens when you shoot fire at the owner of a Deadly Nadder?" she asked before whistling loudly.
Stormfly immediately responded by standing up and twirling around, firing spikes from her tail at Snotlout's team. They were pinned to the wall in seconds. I winced after realizing where this was going. Stubbornness was part of the Viking nature – I wasn't surprised to find Snotlout retaliating against Astrid's 'attack'.
"No fair!" Tuffnut complained. "She didn't give us time to answer!"
"I've got a question for you," Snotlout began as he rounded on Hookfang. The Monstrous Nightmare had been resting peacefully when Snotlout approached him. "What happens if I sick Hookfang on you?" he asked.
"Okay, guys, that's enough training," Hiccup suddenly cut in. "So, we did some really good work today."
"Yeah… I don't think they're in any hurry to finish," I murmured under my breath.
Snotlout ignored him and walked over to Hookfang, who was still fast asleep. He sat on top of Hookfang and grinned.
"Prepare to face the Monstrous Nightmare!" he shouted while kicking at Hookfang's sides. Unfortunately for Snotlout, Hookfang woke up and engulfed himself with fire. Apparently Monstrous Nightmares had a nasty habit of setting themselves on fire, and this was one of those moments. "Ah! That's the third time this week!" he shouted when his pants suddenly caught on fire. He started running around until Snowfire fired her ice at him. Snotlout sighed in relief when the fire was put out seconds later. "Ah sweet relief!"
'Fighting will get you nowhere, hatchlings,' Snowfire chided them.
"Hey, why does she keep calling us hatchlings?" asked Fishlegs.
'Because you act like hatchlings,' she replied.
Fishlegs' eyes widened when he realized that she was speaking to her.
"Hookfang never flames up when you ride him," Hiccup said, ignoring what Fishlegs and I had just said. "Is he okay?"
"Maybe he just realized who his rider was," Jacob suggested with a smug look.
"You know, there's room in here for two," Snotlout said after jumping into a barrel filled with water.
Astrid and I just rolled our eyes before dunking him into the barrel. Some things never changed.
…
"I'm just sayin', something's wrong with Hookfang," I muttered as we reached the plaza. "I've never seen him act that way, even around Snotlout, obnoxious as he can be."
By now my voice had dropped to a whisper, but Hiccup heard me loud and clear.
"There's nothing in the Book of Dragons that describes what's going on with him," he said with a shrug. "Hopefully everything will be back normal by tomorrow."
We'd reached the village plaza when Gobber had a large crowd gathered around him and a wheelbarrow filled with weapons. Jacob had gone off to check on Jessica, since she refused to be anywhere near the dragons. I guess that little phobia of hers had never really left.
"You may think these dragon-killing weapons have no more use," Gobber began. "But think again!"
'This should be good,' Snowfire hummed as he pulled out a long sword.
"For instance, this long sword can be used as a butter knife!" To demonstrate, he pulled out a plate with bread and tried spreading the butter across it. The plate was now damaged seconds later. "Also great at making breadcrumbs," he added sheepishly. He tried smiling, but the plate cracked into pieces right in front of him. He looked back at the crowd as they just stood there and stared at him. "Moving on."
"Oh this is a dark day." Mildew's voice nearly made me fall over in surprise. I hadn't even noticed the old man walking up to us, but fortunately Snowfire had caught me. "A great dragon slayer, peddling his weapons as kitchen utensils."
"Since when do you know what utensils are used for?" I asked under my breath.
Mildew scowled at me before Snowfire's growl scared him off. His tension with me was just another reminder of why I felt so uneasy around the old man. I wasn't afraid to make whatever retorts I could at him. After all, his disgust in dragons wasn't going to change anytime soon.
"Up next," Gobber said while pulling out a mace, "how about this uh…" He trailed off and looked around in confusion. He caught sight of a horsefly landing on his table, and his face brightened. "This handy fly swatter!" He threw the mace down on to the table, causing it to split apart into splinters. "Uh, also good at getting rid of unwanted furniture," he added as the fly flew away. Snowfire killed it with ease by swatting her tail at it.
'This human is amusing,' she said while crooning with laughter.
"Now for the lady of the house," Gobber put in as he walked over to huge, portable catapult. Honestly, why did Vikings even have these things? I keep forgetting that their weapons aren't nearly as advanced compared to the ones from my world. "When the hubby's off pillaging, how are you going to protect yourself from home invaders? No problem when you have big ol' Bertha!"
He patted the catapult affectionately, but unfortunately for him the catapult suddenly launched. I couldn't help but wince as the catapult fired a large boulder onto a house in the distance. That could have just as easily been my place. I knew Gobber didn't mean to cause more destruction than he already had. But this demonstration wasn't going to get him anywhere.
By now, the crowd had started to part. Gobber looked at them desperately and tried to call them back. I let out a quiet sigh and shook my head at the sight. It was painfully obvious that no one wanted anything to do with said weapons, and understandably so.
"Wait! There's more!" he cried. "You haven't seen everything! I haven't cleared out me dungeon yet!" His face fell when no one listened. "It's okay, Bertha." He patted the catapult one more time. "We'll find a place for you."
I had to admit, I did feel sorry for poor Gobber. He had been a good friend when Hiccup was unconscious. Of all the people on Berk he had spoken to me the most during my first week on the island, sharing stories of how he and Stoick had met and become good friends.
"Oh, it's hard to watch isn't it?" Mildew said with a tsk of his tongue. "Especially for you, eh Hiccup? The feeling of guilt must be tearing at your insides. I mean, you put him out of business with your little peace treaty with the dragons. You and that girl ruined the man's life."
Snowfire let out another low snarl, causing Mildew to flee. He should know by now that she wouldn't hesitate to bite his head off. And right now, it was really tempting to let her. His statement about Gobber's life changing for the worst certainly didn't help matters. Something needed to be done about it.
'I would not mind if he mysteriously disappeared one day,' she huffed.
I nodded in agreement once he was gone. Now that would make for an awesome day. But I never wished death on anyone, and I never will. Something mom had taught me years ago was to have morals. And unfortunately this was one of those times her lessons kicked in.
…
"I never realized just how lucky I am," I murmured thoughtfully.
Jacob sat nearby with Jessica pacing as far away from Snowfire as possible. She'd decided to join us, much to my surprise. Apparently, Jacob had finally convinced her to leave their house for a little. She hadn't been around since we managed to figure out how to get dragons to work together with the village. Her behavior towards the village was hardly surprising – she had grown up with an extravagant lifestyle, so she wasn't used to living life in a village with no technology or modern amenities.
"How is that so?" Jacob asked curiously.
Snowfire was busy treating herself to a mouthful of fish. I couldn't help but grin at the sight as I leaned against her.
I glanced out of the window and looked at the starlit sky thoughtfully. Back home we'd never been able to see the constellations like this. The city lights would always keep it from seeing the Milky Way or other important stars.
"Here I've actually found my place," I explained with a shrug. "I think I've finally realized that it's my job to keep track of the dragons, and make sure they don't get into any trouble."
"You? Have a place here?" Jessica asked in disbelief. "Pa-lease. I've seen the way you act around everyone, and it's totally obvious they don't like you."
Snowfire suddenly let out a warning growl, causing Jessica to jump in surprise and fear.
'I would watch your tongue, hatchling,' she snapped. 'Only my voice is gentle.'
I tried not to laugh at her expression when Jessica stared at Snowfire. Those two were constantly at each other's throats. It was fun to watch at times, but it could also get annoying at the same time.
"I feel bad for Gobber," I admitted while looking down at the floor board. "His life revolved around making weapons that were used for killing dragons. And now all of a sudden his world is changed because we made peace with them."
'Do you care for this man because that other hatchling does?' she asked. My eyes widened in disbelief before I tried shaking off the sudden uneasiness.
"Of course not," I retorted before realizing that neither Jacob or Jessica had heard her question. "Sorry," I mumbled.
"You're lucky you can communicate with her," Jacob replied with a shrug. "I'd give anything to have a conversation with Sniper. So long as it's within reason."
"Why would you want to talk with them?" Jessica asked with wide eyes. "All they ever do is roar or growl at each other."
Again Snowfire only rolled her eyes at that comment.
Snowfire rubbed her snout against my arm as she made another remark, 'Your response tells me otherwise.' She hummed in amusement when I stiffened at that. 'It is obvious that you are no better.'
"Hopefully we can help Gobber find a new job," I murmured quietly. "One that doesn't require hurting a dragon." Snowfire only looked at me in amusement as I tried changing the subject once again.
'Keeping those feelings locked up inside will not help,' she warned me as she heated her bed. 'One day you may regret not sharing your feelings.'
Why did that sound like something that came directly from a movie? I shook my head at the thought and tried to think of something else.
Hopefully getting some sleep would wash away the uneasiness that settled over me. Snowfire had a way of making everyone feel uncomfortable, even me.
…
"You're bringing Gobber here?" Fishlegs' voice was full of doubt as we gathered in the arena.
Apparently Gobber hadn't had much luck in finding a new job. Hiccup had said that his dad tried giving Gobber the duties of a chief. First off Gobber had named a baby girl Magnus (which was apparently a fitting name, but the parents weren't too fond of it), and given her a mace to play with. Then he tried stopping an argument between Mulch and Bucket by giving them weapons. Finally he tried patching up a ship with iron.
In all Gobber had only made Stoick's job even more difficult. I was even more surprised when Hiccup said that his dad had two ice blocks to cure a headache. Things had obviously gone very wrong for the poor chief.
Unfortunately for us, Stoick had left Gobber in the care of Hiccup. So now we were forced to find a job that would suit him in the end.
"He's going to be great," Hiccup reassured Fishlegs. "Nobody knows dragons better than old Gobber. He has spent a lifetime of, you know… studying them." The others looked around warily, knowing full well that Hiccup was just trying to find the right words to describe Gobber's days of killing dragons. "If we can tap into that, we'll all be better dragon trainers."
'I like where this is going already,' Snowfire said.
Suddenly the gate burst open, and Gobber walked in while wheeling his rack of weapons.
"I'm back!" he announced as the dragons around us started panicking. "Did ya miss me?"
I tried not to laugh as the dragons tried getting away. Snowfire was the only one who stayed by my side. She just eyed Gobber coolly before snorting in annoyance. Gobber grinned back before Hiccup stopped him from getting any further.
"Um, did I miss something?" Jacob asked under his breath as Sniper struggled to get away.
"Gobber used to teach them how to kill the dragons," I whispered back. Jacob's eyes widened in understanding when he realized what that meant.
"Right, but he doesn't do that anymore," Hiccup reassured everyone. "First, welcome back," he said to Gobber.
"What happened to Gobber not bringing any weapons?" I asked in a whisper. Hiccup just gave me a look before shaking his head.
"Just go along with it," he muttered.
Gobber tried pulling out a large weapon shortly after. It looked like something that would be used in a cartoon comedy, like the Loony Tunes. Gobber grinned as the dragons started hissing in response at the weapon he'd pulled.
"I thought we could train them by threatening to kill 'em," he explained. "That's how my daddy taught me how to swim!" The dragons started fleeing towards the exit when Gobber threw down the weapon. "School's in session," he announced. It didn't take the dragons long to fly out of the arena. Toothless and Snowfire were the only ones who stayed behind, looking on in what I thought was longing. "Eh, I never liked school either."
"Thank God school wasn't like this in our world," I muttered under my breath. Jacob only grinned before nodding in agreement.
'You would be dead,' Snowfire reminded me.
"Wonder how long it'll take them to catch their dragons?" I asked once the others had gone after their dragons.
Toothless was busy cleaning his wing while Snowfire sunned herself in the sparse sunlight. All the while I was helping Hiccup clean up the mess Gobber had created.
"I'd give it an hour or two," Hiccup replied while pushing away some smoke caused by Hookfang.
The Monstrous Nightmare had flamed up before taking off with the other dragons, leaving behind a trail of smoke where he went.
'I do not see why the happiness of one human is so important,' Snowfire muttered.
"Maybe because Gobber has been there for me when I needed help," Hiccup said with a roll of his eyes. Snowfire only let out a huff of smoke in annoyance.
"Not to mention he also helped design that leg of yours," I added with a grin.
Gobber had done a lot of helpful things in the past. It was just hard to point them out at the moment.
…
The others didn't get back until hours later. Hiccup and I had spent that time discussing what to do about our problem with Gobber. All that mattered right now was making sure that Gobber actually had a future on the island. And so far, we hadn't come up with anything, other than a few sparse ideas that would likely fail in the end.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Hiccup asked when he noticed that Astrid and the others were hunched over in pain.
"We've been riding our dragons for hours," Astrid complained while rubbing her butt. "It took us hours to chase them down after Gobber scared them away."
She glared at Stormfly, who made a rolling motion with her wings as if annoyed with Astrid's glare.
"And believe me when I say it wasn't easy," Jacob put in, sounding exhausted.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Hiccup apologized. "I just don't know what to do with him. We've been trying to come up with ideas." He then turned to Ruffnut, who was much to my amusement kicking her brother's butt. "Do you guys always have to fight?" he asked after crossing his arms.
"It's okay, I asked her to do that," Tuffnut replied. Ruffnut kicked him again as he groaned in pain. "I was trying to get the feeling back."
"You going to return the favor?" Ruffnut demanded as she leaned forward.
Tuffnut stood up and started kicking her butt afterword's.
"I've flown for hours on Toothless. I've never had this problem," Hiccup said with a shrug.
"That's because you and Alex have saddles," Astrid pointed out.
She looked pointedly at Snowfire's saddle. Truth be told it had taken a lot of convincing for me to put that saddle on. She wouldn't imagine the fuss Snowfire had put up when I told her about it. But in the end, I won the argument.
"Wait a minute, saddles!" Hiccup perked up almost instantly after shouting that.
"What, are we playing the random word game?" I asked with a grin. Hiccup just rolled his eyes once again.
"Come on, I know this will work," he said before grabbing my arm. I didn't miss the way Jacob and Astrid stared at us. Astrid's jealousy didn't surprise me, but I was more surprised by the look Jacob had given me.
Snowfire was quick to follow along with Toothless close behind her. It was already late in the afternoon when we reached the forge. I hadn't noticed that Gobber had most of his weapons stacked outside the forge, as if he was hoping that just about anyone would take them.
"Wait out here," I told Snowfire when we went inside.
'Hopefully this plan will actually work,' she grumbled.
"It will," Hiccup reassured us both. "It has to."
"Saddles?" Gobber repeated when Hiccup relayed his ideas. "I love it!" He eyed the blueprints that Hiccup had gathered before heading for the forge. "I've got tons of ideas," he added after grinning like a kid in the candy shop. "But not these. Good ones."
He tossed the blueprints aside and knocked his hook for a hand on his forehead.
"We're glad you're excited," I said as Hiccup picked up the sketches.
"But I think there are some designs here that you could use," Hiccup put in.
"Ya know, it's cute how you two finish each other's sentences," Gobber suddenly said with a grin. Both Hiccup and I turned away from each other once he said that. I didn't miss the fact that Hiccup had blushed as well. "I'll do what Gobber does best. I've been making saddles since before you two were in diapers. In fact, I made your diapers."
I desperately wanted to point out that he had never made diapers for me. But I kept my mouth shut, knowing full well the looks that would get me.
"I know, you know what you're doing, but keep in mind, every dragon is different," Hiccup warned him. "So you need to adjust—"
"Hiccup, I may have taught you everything I know," Gobber said while poking Hiccup in the stomach, "But I haven't taught you everything I know."
The two of us headed out of the forge, and it wasn't long before Gobber started working on the saddles. That was when Gobber started singing a tune I'd never heard of.
"I've got me axe and I've got me mace,
And I love me wife with an ugly face,
I'm a Viking through and through!"
"You know, he doesn't usually sing that song unless he's very happy," Hiccup said. "I think we did a good thing."
"Let's hope this doesn't backfire on you," I murmured.
"So uh, what Gobber said back at the forge…" Hiccup paused as Toothless crooned in confusion.
I couldn't help but look away as embarrassment swept over me. Thinking about it certainly wasn't going to get us anywhere. Besides, we did technically have more important things to worry about. I wasn't in any hurry to admit that I did maybe have feelings for him.
"Yeah, what about that?" I suddenly wished that a hole would open up and swallow me.
There were some things I never wanted to talk about, and this was one of them.
"Uh, never mind." Hiccup rubbed the back of his head when he realized where this was going. "I should probably get back and let dad know about this," he added.
I quickly nodded in agreement, holding back a sigh of relief once he and Toothless had wandered off. My shoulders sagged in relief the moment they were gone. Admitting the truth was always easier said than done.
'You really should tell that hatchling how you feel,' Snowfire's voice suddenly cut in.
I rolled my eyes and rubbed her muzzle, careful not to draw any unwanted attention.
"Snow, you have no idea how difficult this is," I murmured. "I promised myself I wouldn't get in the way. And maybe it's time I keep that promise."
Snowfire nudged my hand in annoyance when she saw where this was going.
'Leaving now would only make things worse,' she warned me.
I looked at her warily when she said that. Somehow, I knew that she was right. Yet I couldn't help but wonder whether or not staying was a good idea.
"Alright, I'll stay, but only for a few more days." I let out a sigh and tried to hide the emotions bubbling up within me. This was not going to be easy.
…
It was early the next day when we found ourselves back at the arena. Snowfire was curled up in the sunlight trying to keep herself warm, despite the fact that she could regulate the temperature around her. She apparently liked keeping things natural when she could.
"Okay, this is an exciting day for all of us," Hiccup began as the other teens looked at him in confusion. Their dragons stayed in the background, keeping a distance from Snowfire and Toothless. For some reason Snowfire had only gotten along with Toothless of all the dragons on Berk, other than Spikes. "Gobber has been working hard to—"
"I think they might wanna hear it from the artist himself!" Gobber suddenly spoke up. "I've made a lot of saddles in my day. Horse, donkey, and now, dragons. But these saddles are different. They're like my children; that is if you strap a child to a flaming reptile, which is something I would never do!"
'Interesting choice of words, human,' Snowfire said.
Gobber just smirked at her before looking back at us.
"So, without further ado..." Gobber paused so that he could pull off the blanket covering whatever was hidden underneath. Several saddles were revealed, each of them unique and… interesting looking. Hiccup scratched the back of his head as he eyed them curiously.
"Wow, Gobber, this is certainly… not what I was expecting," he replied.
"How could it be? I'm Gobber!" Gobber exclaimed before tapping his forehead. "No one knows what's going on in here."
Jacob snickered behind me, and I smacked him lightly across the chest before smiling back at Gobber and Hiccup. It's probably a good thing none of knew what went on that head of his. Gobber always seemed to have a way with words.
"Um, is that..." I paused when I eyed the device on one of the saddles. I'd only seen them once or twice in person, and believe me when I say they are not fun to mess with. Unless you're in a field where no one is watching.
"A flamethrower!" Gobber finished for me. He showed off what the flamethrower could do before shutting it off. "Didn't see that coming now did ya?"
"Um, not for dragons," Hiccup told him. "They come with one built in actually."
'And they work just fine,' Snowfire added with a huff of smoke. Gobber coughed and tried shaking the smoke out of his way. Snowfire only narrowed her eyes in annoyance before returning to her spot.
"I know, but you can never have too much fire power," Gobber insisted.
"Yeah, this isn't going to end well," Jacob whispered.
I only folded my arms and watched as the twins put saddles on Barf and Belch's two necks. Then they loaded the catapults on the saddles before firing them. I tried not to laugh when the catapults ended up hitting Barf and Belch's heads, knocking them out in an instant.
"Catapults for the twins, not a good idea," I said with a shake of my head.
"You can do it girl. Think light," Fishlegs tried helping Meatlug out, but the saddle was too heavy for her.
It was a miracle she could fly at all. But her saddle had heavy maces on it, strapped on either side. Meatlug was only able to get up a foot in the air before dropping to the ground due to the extra weight.
"Oh come on!" Gobber exclaimed once more. "You can't tell me the saddle is heavier than Fishlegs."
I couldn't help but smirk at that. Fishlegs had admitted one day that the others, aside from Hiccup or Astrid, would bully him because he was bulkier than the others. I did feel sorry for him. Considering he was huskier and heavily built compared to the others, it wasn't too surprising to hear that bit of information.
"My mom says I'm just husky," Fishlegs replied with a frown.
Snotlout was trying to put a saddle on Hookfang. But the Monstrous Nightmare just shook it off and roared in defiance.
"Oh come on Hookfang, what is wrong with you?" he demanded. He tried petting Hookfang, but the dragon only turned away, growling in annoyance. "Okay, that's it. Someone's trading with me!" Snotlout looked at Snowfire hopefully, who just responded with a hiss.
'Try it, and you will lose your legs,' she snapped.
Snotlout's only response was a whimper as he backed away. Then he turned towards the twins, a hopeful look in his eyes.
"Like I would trade my perfectly trained dragon, for your untamed one," Tuffnut retorted.
Astrid had landed Stormfly near Hiccup after testing out her new saddle.
"This saddle is actually pretty good," she said, sounding impressed.
"Wait until you try the horn," Gobber told her.
She looked at him skeptically before trying out the horn. I tried to cover my ears as it got too loud. Even Stormfly didn't like it; she shot several spikes from her tail, which ended up pinning Snotlout to the wall.
"Really?" Snotlout demanded while trying to pry himself off. "Again?"
"So anyways, I think we're going to need a few—" Hiccup was cut off once again by Gobber.
"Changes! I'm way ahead of you," he started. "I've got so many new ideas. It's getting crowded up here."
By now, I was struggling not to laugh. Hiccup had to elbow me in order to keep me from laughing out loud. Hopefully Gobber knew what he was getting himself into, otherwise this was not going to end well for him.
…
We spent most of the evening cleaning up the mess Gobber had made. Apparently Gobber didn't know very much about making saddles for dragons. The arena was left in shambles after he had gone to work on other saddles. Which left us with finishing his work.
Hiccup looked at Toothless, who was laying nearby on the ground. With a snap of his finger the Night Fury grumbled in annoyance and walked away, standing next to Snowfire once more. I was always amazed at how similar the two looked. Snowfire was just twice his size and had a scythe-like tail. And was pure white, aside from the gray mixed in to her wings.
"By Odin!" Stoick gasped as he entered the arena. "This place looked better when we were killing dragons!"
"Yeah, we sort of got 'Gobber-ed'," Hiccup explained.
"That's putting it lightly," I muttered under my breath.
"You know Gobber," Stoick began. "He means well, he just doesn't always do well." I continued sweeping, pushing past Snowfire as she got up to give me space. "So what are you going to do about him?"
"I'm going to clean up his mess and redo his work," Hiccup replied.
"Look, Gobber's like family—" Stoick started, but Hiccup cut him off.
"Yeah, I know he is," he began after dropping his broom. "That's why I can't say anything to him!"
'Why do you not just tell him the truth?' Snowfire asked.
Hiccup was ready to reply when Stoick stopped him. She did have a good point there, though I would never say that out loud. Gobber meant so much to Hiccup. He had looked after Hiccup for most of his life, so it made sense for him to want to make Gobber's life a little more tolerable.
"No son, that's why you have to tell him," Stoick said. To my surprise his voice was gentle. I was so used to hearing him shout or sound aggravated. "It's not fair for you, and it's not fair for Gobber."
"Why do I have to say something to him?" Hiccup wined. "You didn't! You just passed him on to me!"
"That's what a chief does. He delegates. Look, I gave you this academy because it's the best thing for Berk. Now you have to do what's best for the academy, and I'm sorry, son, but what's best isn't always easy." Stoick placed a hand on his shoulder before leading us both away. I hadn't even noticed until now that Snotlout was still pinned to the wall by Stormfly's spikes, snoring away. "What's with him?" he asked.
"Leave him; he's going for his personal best," I replied with a smirk.
"Enough said."
It didn't take us long to reach the forge. Gobber was already working on his next line of saddles, happily humming away. I had promised Hiccup that I would stay with him when he told Gobber the bad news. But now I was starting to regret that decision.
I hated feeling guilty. Especially when I knew it was mostly my fault. Though right now it wasn't my fault for what Gobber had gotten himself into. I just wasn't sure why it left me feeling so guilty. Maybe because Hiccup and I had become good friends over the year. Either reason, I wasn't looking forward to this.
"Hey, you never know," Hiccup started before we got inside, "maybe Gobber finally looked at the plans and is making the saddles better." Even I could hear the false hope in his voice. There were some things that couldn't be changed. And I had a feeling Gobber was one of them. Gobber was busy working on a saddle when we walked inside. "Gobber?"
Gobber suddenly turned to face us, holding a crossbow pointed in our direction.
"Don't shoot!" I cried while Hiccup held his hands up in self-defense. Gobber only smirked in response.
"Oh I wouldn't shoot you two," he said with a shake of his head. "Unless I absolutely had to."
That alone was enough to make me feel uneasy. Hiccup just sighed in frustration as Gobber turned back to his work desk.
"Yeah, could you please just put the crossbow down; I know we'd both feel better," Hiccup told him as I nodded in agreement. Gobber sighed and put the crossbow down.
"Ya know, about the weapons; maybe the catapults were a bit too much for the dragons yesterday," Gobber began while walking over to the table. "So I've gone a different way. I've gotten rid of the two big ones—" Hiccup stopped him before he could continue with his big plans.
"Gobber, that's great," he said with a smile.
"— and replace them with bigger ones!" Gobber suddenly cut in. He held up a smaller version of the catapult, with six spoon-like ends.
"Uh, yeah…" Hiccup paused and exchanged a sad look with me. I think it's best he get the news now before he makes things worse. "Gobber, we need to talk," he began after letting out a sigh. "I think it might be time for you to take a little break."
"In case you haven't noticed, the only time a Viking takes a break is to die," Gobber reminded him.
Ouch. I couldn't imagine what that must be like.
"I think what he means is, he isn't sure if things are working out," I said in a gentle tone.
Hopefully that would help. Though judging by the look Gobber gave me, it didn't. I winced after realizing that it wasn't the right thing to say. He had likely been bracing himself for someone to tell him something like that.
"Well, get back to me when you're sure than," Gobber said.
"Okay, I'm sure," Hiccup said before taking a deep breath. "Gobber, I'm going to need to take you off of the saddle project."
Gobber stopped his work and looked at Hiccup in disbelief. "Are you trying to get rid of me?" he asked. "Now I can see why you had me put down the crossbow."
"It's just the saddles," I reminded him. "I'm sure we could find something else for you."
I glanced at Hiccup doubtfully. He just shrugged in response, still not sure what to do.
"I don't need your pity," Gobber told us. "I've already lost an arm and a leg. I think I'll survive losing a job."
"I'm really sorry, Gobber." Hiccup placed a hand on Gobber's shoulder before we both left. Now I felt even worse than before when Gobber started tearing up. He tried hiding his sadness by looking away. "That was awful," Hiccup added as we walked away from the forge.
'He will recover,' Snowfire reassured him.
I patted her on the shoulder as she took off towards my house.
"Look, I'm sure we'll find something for Gobber to do," I murmured thoughtfully. "It just takes time to find their rightful place." That was when we heard the villagers shouting in panic. "What the heck was that?" I asked, careful not to swear.
Apparently, Vikings didn't know very much about swear words, and I was in no hurry to teach it to them. Only reason I've used them is when I'm angry or nervous. And lately I hadn't been swearing. I think it comes with the territory.
"We're about to find out," Hiccup said as the villagers ran towards us.
Snotlout started running after the group, a panicked look on his face as he ran behind me. He was gasping for breath before finally explaining the situation as quickly as he could.
"I never… thought… I'd say this… but Hiccup, Alex…" He panted and started to shake Hiccup by the shoulders when Hookfang rounded the corner. My eyes widened when I realized that Hookfang was on a rampage. "Help!"
Hookfang started firing blasts at the plaza, roaring in anger as he charged at whoever was unfortunate enough to be in his way. The people who were around started running as far away as possible, screaming and shouting in fear.
"Everyone, back away!" Stoick ordered. "The dragon is out of control; it's not safe here."
I spotted Jacob struggling to keep Sniper under control while Snotlout's dragon kept himself lit on fire. This really couldn't get any worse.
The three of us started running towards Hookfang after Snotlout finally caught his breath. "I don't know what came over him," Snotlout cried. "I was just rubbing his head. He usually loves that! But then he went all crazy!" He let out a whimper as Hookfang turned and glared at him. "My dragon hates me."
"Snotlout, as much as I'd love to say that's true," I started as the others quickly joined us, "I highly doubt that's the case." Snotlout gave me a look of confusion before realizing what I had said.
"What do you mean 'you'd love to say that's true?'" he demanded.
"They do say that a dragon starts to take after his owner," Fishlegs suggested while eyeing Snotlout. "I think that's what's happening here."
"Hey!" Snotlout shouted while elbowing Fishlegs in the stomach.
"I rest my case," Fishlegs groaned after wincing in pain.
Hiccup tilted his head a little as he slowly made his way towards Hookfang.
"How long has it been since he ate?" he suddenly asked.
"Not for days," Snotlout replied. Hiccup grabbed a fish and held up.
"Hey boy, you hungry?" he asked in a gentle voice.
Hookfang sniffed the fish curiously as Hiccup threw it at him. The Nightmare caught the fish with ease, than he quickly spit it out. I tried not to laugh when the fish landed on Stoick's beard. It seemed oddly fitting that should happen to Stoick of all people.
"Sorry, dad," Hiccup apologized.
"We've got to bring this dragon under control," Stoick said while tossing the fish aside.
Toothless was quick to snatch it up before anyone else could.
"Don't worry, I can do this," Hiccup reassured him. "There you go, it's going to be okay."
He reached out for Hookfang, but the Monstrous Nightmare only lashed out at him. I managed to pry him away just in time as Hookfang snapped his jaws where his hand had been seconds ago.
Toothless let out a growl and lunged at Hookfang, knocking him aside when Hookfang started charging after us. Once Hookfang managed to separate from Toothless, he shot a fireball towards one of the homes, which immediately caught on fire.
"Toothless, stop!" Hiccup shouted.
Toothless stopped in his tracks when he realized what he was about to do. We were both staring at the scene in horror as Vikings tried putting out the fire. Snowfire had heard the commotion long before it started. She managed to drop in just in time and fired ice at the burning home; seconds later the flames were doused.
"I've seen enough, Hiccup," Stoick said after helping us up. "I'm sorry, we tried it your way."
'No amount of fighting can stop this stupid beast,' Snowfire hissed as Hookfang rounded on us. She managed to block his view, pinning him down by freezing the ground underneath his claws. 'Stop acting like a hatchling!' she screeched at Hookfang.
Amazingly Hookfang was intimidated by her larger appearance. The air around us had suddenly gotten colder, if that was even possible. Finally Hookfang dropped his gaze and headed for the further part of the plaza.
"Come on guys, hurry up and think," Hiccup began as Hookfang started setting other homes on fire. "What haven't we tried?"
"How 'bout knocking him out?" I suggested.
"Snotlout, you have an idea?" Hiccup turned to Snotlout, whose eyes had widened with worry.
"Gobber!" he shouted, pointing towards the man in question.
I couldn't help but wince when I noticed he had taken his dragon killing weapon's rack with him.
"Stand back," Gobber told us. "I came here to do what I do best."
"He's here to kill my dragon!" Snotlout realized. I don't think I've ever seen him looking so distraught.
"No, he's not," Hiccup reassured him.
"Uh, yeah he is," Tuffnut muttered with a nod.
"You don't use that stuff to butter toast," Ruffnut agreed with her brother, for once.
"Well, I mean we would, but you wouldn't," Tuffnut put in with a shrug.
"Dad, you can't be serious!" Hiccup said as he grabbed Stoick by the arm.
I found it funny how his hand barely wrapped around Stoick's arm. I wasn't sure why it was those quirky little things that got my attention.
"Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon," I added.
Which would explain a lot. I knew it wasn't fair to keep judging a dragon based off of his owner's attitude. And Snotlout wasn't too terrible once I got past his urge to flirt with every girl he met. It was just his competitive nature and the sheer stubbornness he boasted that got under my skin.
"I'm sorry you two, but sometimes you got to fall back on the old ways," Gobber told us.
"But as stubborn as he is, he's still a good dragon," I pointed out.
"And any dragon deserves a second chance," Jacob added.
I was surprised to hear him of all people say that, considering where we were from.
"Yeah, he's a good dragon!" Snotlout cried.
I noticed that he actually really did look like he was going to cry. His eyes grew round with horror as Gobber shook his head. And for the first time, I really began to understand that there was more to Snotlout than meets the eye. He just didn't let it show often enough.
"There's probably just something wrong with him," Hiccup said.
"There's definitely something wrong with him!" Snotlout shouted in agreement.
"There has to be something we can do," I added.
'Anything would be better than what he is doing now,' Snowfire agreed with us.
By now she had crawled over to my side, growling in annoyance as Hookfang roared defiantly.
"We can't get rid of him just because he's having a bad day," Hiccup said.
"A bad day for a dragon could be disaster for us," Stoick warned us. "That's not a risk I'm willing to take." Stoick looked down at Gobber before giving him a nod to go on. "Gobber!"
Gobber nodded before stepping towards Hookfang, a determined look on his face. He threw the bolas at Hookfang, tying the dragon's wrings together and knocking him to the ground. Hookfang tried throwing another blast of fire, but only ended up coughing up a tiny flame.
"Ha! You're all out," Gobber said with a grin.
He drew his sword and aimed it at Hookfang before stopping himself. Hiccup ran over to Gobber and tried stopping him from killing Hookfang.
"I can't let you do this," he insisted.
"There's no choice, it has to be done," Gobber snapped while prying away his arm.
Hookfang was about to set himself on fire and free himself from the bolas when he took a defensive position. When he roared we all noticed something caught in his teeth.
"Do you see that?" Gobber had noticed it as well.
"I do," Hiccup realized.
As Hookfang drew back, Gobber narrowed his eyes and placed the sword back in its sheathe.
"Time to put this beast out of its misery."
"Hiccup, what are you doing?" Astrid demanded as she took a step forward.
All I could do was place a hand on her shoulder and stop her. We both knew what Gobber was about to do, whether or not everyone else was aware of that, it didn't matter.
Tuffnut had looked away as Gobber approached a growling Hookfang, earning a punch in the arm from his sister. Snotlout whimpered in surprise when he realized what Gobber was doing. Gobber meanwhile let out a yell before charging after Hookfang and wrapping his arms around the dragon's neck. Hookfang tried shaking Gobber off, only to find the Viking latched on as he tried prying whatever was wedged between Hookfang's teeth. Once Hookfang had managed to shake Gobber off, he grinned triumphantly.
"You didn't kill him!" Snotlout exclaimed while grinning with happiness.
"For a toothache?" Gobber asked skeptically. He showed off the tooth in question, which was rotten from the bottom. "What kind of lunatic are you?"
Ouch, I could see why Hookfang was so pissed off. I hated toothaches as much as dragons did. Luckily, I've never had a cavity once. And I planned on keeping it that way. The dentist was one of my least favorite places to go for mostly the same reason as I feared the doctor's office.
Hookfang rubbed his mouth on the ground before running around like a carefree dragon. He suddenly jumped after Snotlout and pushed him to the ground. I tried not to smirk as Snotlout laughed and tickled Hookfang's snout.
"Stop it!" he laughed once again and shoved Hookfang away. "I don't know where that came from," he started while trying to act all tough again. "Can you train that out of him or…" Snotlout stopped as Hookfang and the others rolled their eyes.
"Thanks Gobber," Hiccup said as we approached him. "A bad tooth; I can't believe we didn't think about that!"
"That's because you're not Gobber," he pointed out. "I've learned about more dragons than most men will ever know! Anyway, better put the girls away."
He patted his rack of weapons before pulling them away from the plaza.
I exchanged a look with Hiccup. He did have a good point there. And he had shown that he was capable of doing more than just make weapons. If we could find someone who looked after dragon's teeth, it would mean less disruptions like the one Hookfang had caused. Gobber's help at the plaza had been more than a relief to the problem at hand.
"Not so fast," Hiccup stopped him by grabbing him by the arm.
Gobber turned and looked at us with a look of confusion.
…
'The human has finally found his place once more,' Snowfire hummed as we watched Gobber work with the dragons.
Gobber had been working as the new dentist for dragons a few days now, and he already had lines forming at the forge. It was good to hear him singing again. From what Hiccup had told me, hearing him sing like that meant he was in a good mood. And a good mood meant that everyone was feeling a little chipper.
"Yep, I'm glad that he's found his place here," I murmured sheepishly.
"Yeah, now it's just our turn," Jacob added.
Sniper let out a growl of content before nudging his arm. It was amazing to see how different Sniper was compared to Hookfang. I was beginning to wonder if Fishlegs was right when he'd said that dragons often took after their riders.
I eyed the sign we put above Gobber's old forge. It was a large wooden tooth Hiccup had finished overnight. Gobber was now the official dragon dentist. To make it even more official there was a ceremony held earlier this morning in honor of his new job.
'Are you still planning on leaving?' Snowfire's question caught me off guard. Luckily Jacob hadn't heard it; he was busy chatting with Jessica as she returned from whatever it was she did.
"No… I think… I think I'll stay," I replied, my voice dropping to a whisper. "At least until I know the dragons won't be hurt."
'You belong with dragons,' Snowfire reassured me.
All that kept me from gaping at her was the fact that everyone else was watching. I had no idea what she meant by that. But something told me that no good would come from it. Especially with people like Mildew who still seemed to hate dragons with all hi… whatever it was he had.
AN: So there's the next chapter. Not too much has changed, other than combining two chapters into one. I've been reworking on the chapters for the Paradigm, and I have to say, it's changed quite a lot from the original. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing. I'm looking forward to seeing what readers will think of it ;)
Sil - Me too, Sniper's gonna be fun to write about. He's not nearly as spacey as Hookfang, but he does have his moments XD And Jessica didn't really get a dragon... more about that will be explained in later chapters though :)
The Silent Fury - Just adding to the drama. It keeps things interesting ;)
Drunken Hamsters - It's all good, I haven't really watched much of the second series either, but I plan on writing it. And I've never heard of that show, I've been watching the Librarians and Agents of SHIELD, and of course the Big Bang Theory. Those three shows never get old ;)