Hiccup's jaw dropped. The expression on Snotlout's face was all wrong. His eyes were green and glowing, like Danny's had been. The taller man stumbled backward in alarm. His hands flew back to catch himself as he fell, landing on his rump and scurrying a little further away. His bulging eyes never left the other man's face, even as the shorter Viking began to stretch and test his limbs.
"Overshadowing, check," declared Sam with wicked delight. Snotlout's head bobbed, that smile that was so wrong still spread across his features. The shorter man took a few steps and bent down to offer Hiccup a hand. The taller Viking just stared at it uncertainly. When the man opened his mouth to speak, rather than Snotlout's voice coming out, he heard a series of dragon noises.
The shorter Viking's face twisted into a series of expressions that didn't match anything Hiccup had ever seen on the man's face. First was a look of dumbfounded shock. It was quickly followed in rapid fire succession by disappointment, frustration, confusion, and finally anger. The angry little man began to pace, arms flailing wildly as growls and small roars spilled out of his mouth. Among the many disturbing things Hiccup had seen in his life, the sight before him was among the most disturbing to date. The gestures Snotlout was making were completely foreign to what he'd seen from the man. Those wrongly colored eyes seemed to flare an even brighter green as the short man continued his reptilian rant.
Hiccup slowly rose back onto his feet and turned to see Sam, still smiling, though the expression had turned to something more amused than evil. The tall man's eyebrows drew together. He couldn't understand how she could find anything about the situation entertaining.
"Okay, Danny," she called out lightly, "quit goofing off and focus." The smaller man glared at her and threw his arms into the air, roaring angrily as he attempted to say something else.
"You know, if you keep that up, Toothless will probably hear you," Sam pointed out with a smirk. Snotlout's hands flew to clamp over his mouth and his panicked eyes darted to where the smaller dragon had left. The girl laughed at the reaction, earning her another glare, though the man's meaty hands remained firmly in place.
"W…What…is going on…?" asked Hiccup as he finally found his voice. He was displeased to find it trembling, betraying the twinge of fear he was feeling. Knowing his legs would likely crumple beneath him if he tried to walk, he stayed where he was standing. A thought in the back of his mind pointed out that if he were to start walking, he might end up running away and make things even worse.
"This is called overshadowing," explained Sam, waving an arm toward Snotlout, "it's when a ghost basically possesses a human host." Snotlout shuddered at the explanation and dropped his hands to shake his arms in an effort to shake off something about the words. Sam continued to smirk as she watched the display.
"So…that's…You mean, Danny is in there?" asked Hiccup in strained disbelief, "he's borrowing Snotlout's body?" The two nodded in response, though Snotlout's features looked distinctly uncomfortable about the situation.
"And I'm sure Danny could tell you more about it if he would concentrate," the girl said, though it was more directed to the creature hiding behind the other man's face, "seriously. Other ghosts can borrow voices when they overshadow. Just because you haven't bothered to try doesn't mean you can't." The two scowled at each other for a moment. Suddenly, Snotlout's features fell blank and his hand flew up to slap his palm against his forehead in frustrated realization. As the man's face took on an expression of focus, he dropped his arm and began to mumble wordlessly. Hiccup cringed.
"This is so wrong…" the taller Viking commented with a shiver, "That face was never meant to wear that expression."
"You might want to sit down, then," laughed Sam, "he's just getting started." Hiccup nodded mutely at the smirking girl and sat down roughly on the dirt and leaves scattering the forest floor. Even if she hadn't suggested it, he was certain he'd end up needing to sit anyway. It was either that, or risk passing out from shock.
"Any luck?" the girl asked the dragon within Snotlout. Still mumbling to himself, he put a fist on his borrowed hip and raised an index finger, a signal for her to wait. After another full minute of strained silence, a beaming smile suddenly lit up the shorter Viking's face.
"You know, that was a lot harder to figure out than I expected." Hiccup's face turned to one of horror, his eyes the widest they had ever been. Rather than Snotlout's voice speaking, it was one that sounded like it belonged to a boy in his early teens, his voice just beginning to break and threatening the deeper range it was destined for.
"What…" sputtered the taller Viking, "how…who…huh?!" Words failed him as he gaped at the man. His head was buzzing with fear and confusion. What he was seeing and hearing should not have been possible, and yet it was. Fainting was starting to look like a very good idea. Perhaps not the most masculine one, but still appealing.
"And really, Sam," that same wrong voice continued from Snotlout's mouth, ignoring Hiccup's distress, "you know I hate when you use 'possessing' and 'host' and stuff like that. It just makes it sound all kinds of wrong." He shuddered in disgust.
The taller Viking's mouth opened and shut wordlessly, like a fish hauled out of the water. He forced himself to blink, trying to dispel any illusions his mind was creating for him, but nothing changed.
"I know," replied the girl with a smug grin, "but they're the most accurate words to explain it. Anyway, how's it working?" Hiccup's eyes shot over to the girl, conversing with the creature inside Snotlout as though it was the most normal thing in the world. His gaze quickly darted back to the shorter Viking, waiting for the response.
"It's…weird," came the too young voice, "but then, everything's weird right now. I couldn't quite reach Snortloud's voice, and I'm having to concentrate way more than I should have to just to use my own. To be honest, I'm feeling pretty cramped, and this guy's got some sort of stink on him that's making my nose is burn." The man's face creased into an irritated scowl and his arms crossed in annoyance.
"Do you even actually have your own nose right now?" asked Sam, her eyebrow quirked up.
"I don't kn—you know what I mean!" The man's arms flew wide in exasperation and the girl smirked at him, reveling in her minor victory.
"Snotlout," Hiccup broke in, finally recovering his voice, "his name's Snotlout." The taller Viking shook his head, trying to get his thoughts straightened out. He was surprised when the other man's face suddenly began to grin again.
"Welcome back, Hiccup," said the borrowed man with amusement. Hiccup tried to think of him as Danny, but it wasn't working well. Fear still toyed at the taller Viking's features as he frowned and tried to calm himself.
"So…you're really…?"
"Yeah," replied Danny's voice, Snotlout's face grinning widely. His expression suddenly twisted into a pained scowl.
"Seriously, whatever this smell is…" the overshadowing creature complained. Snotlout's head shook back and forth.
"I gotta…Hiccup, I need a favor," he said hurriedly, "I need to know more about your book thing…and…The fish…breathmint…!" His speech suddenly dissolved into a fit of small frenzied roars. Snotlout's body cringed and then, without warning, the man fell to the ground. Just as the creature had vanished, the white dragon materialized, flying out of the fallen man's chest. The moment the tip of his long tail appeared, the creature dropped to the ground, humming miserably and clutching at his inexplicably infected-looking snout.
"Wow…You weren't kidding," breathed Sam, unnerved, "I thought you were just making another bad joke…" The dragon hummed his objection and squinted at the girl. If he weren't so distressed at the situation, Sam was certain he would be glaring. The fact that he wasn't gave away just how badly his nostrils had to be burning.
"Any clue what the smell was?" she asked as she slowly got up and began to gingerly creep across the forest floor. Danny answered in the negative, his head flopping from side while his paws still clung to his poor snout.
"What happened?" Sam heard Hiccup ask. She turned to look at him to find he had pulled himself up and was walking over with unsteady steps. The girl shook her head.
"I'm not sure," she replied, "could be anything…" As she finally reached Danny, she crouched down to get a closer look at the creature's injuries. His big, luminescent eyes peered up at her. The miserable look on his face nearly broke her heart. She fought to keep her face straight as she reached down to gently attempt to pull his claws away from his nose.
"Come on, Danny," she coaxed, "I need to see what happened." With a pained whimper, he removed his paws and Sam got a good look at him. She took a sharp intake of breath, hissing through her teeth in sympathy at what she saw. The delicate skin surrounding his nostrils had dried and cracked, leaving dozens of tiny, green lacerations. Sam's eyes narrowed as she inspected the wounds. Unless she was imagining it, they appeared to be steaming. Whatever he'd smelled really had been burning his nose. The girl felt a little guilty at having teased him for it, not that she would admit such a thing, even if it was probably written all over her face.
"What is that?" asked Hiccup in concern as he drew close enough to see, "it looks infected. I've never seen infections pop up so fast."
"It's not an infection," said Sam with a slow shake of her head, her short black hair swinging side to side with the gesture, "it's ectoplasm. That's kind of the ghost version of blood." The Viking frowned, processing the information. His eyebrows then rose in alarm.
"You mean he's bleeding?!" Sam was certain the man had forgotten the ghost part of the equation when he practically dove forward to kneel in front of the dragon. He began to reach forward to inspect the creature's wounds, but a warning growl from Danny had him yanking his hand away.
"Sorry…force of habit…" the Viking apologized guiltily. Sam frowned at the dragon.
"Knock it off," she told the creature irritably, "the guy knows dragons, so he probably knows some dragon first aid." The dragon huffed his refusal. Sam glared at him forcefully. The two scowled at each other in a battle of wills for several seconds. Then, with a roll of his eyes, Danny hummed his surrender and looked at Hiccup. The man studied the two warily, but didn't move until the girl swung her arm to present his patient. With a nervous swallow and a nod, the Viking reached forward once more.
Sam watched as the man grasped her friend's chin far more gently than she had ever expected any Viking to be capable of. Danny, meanwhile, wore a grimace as the man carefully tilted the dragon's head this way and that. The creature was cooperating, yes, but he was definitely uncomfortable with the situation. After what seemed like a very thorough examination, in which Hiccup gently prodded at the skin surrounding the injuries, he let go of the dragon's chin and began patting his hip as though in search of something.
Sam looked at him quizzically. She was about to ask what he was doing when he smiled and produced a tiny, wooden box from somewhere she had failed to notice.
"This ought to do the trick," he said cheerfully "it's a medicine for when hands get split open from the cold, but I bet it will work just fine for this." The man opened the box and showed it to Sam. Within was a thick, yellowish salve. He then presented it to Danny, who took a hesitant stiff at it. He grimaced at the smell before he shrugged and nodded glumly. The dragon's face was very much not enthused, but Sam supposed the stinging of his skin was probably worse than the stink of the medicine.
With the creature's agreement, Hiccup dipped two fingers into the ointment and began to gently smear it on Danny's nose. Sam could tell her friend was struggling to hold still. His face was contorting in ways she hadn't thought possible as the man applied the medicine ever closer to the creature's nostrils. As Hiccup dipped his fingers back into the box, though, he hesitated.
"Um…" he looked at salve, then Danny's nose, "I don't think you're going to like this part…" The Viking looked at Sam. Her brows drew together as she began to understand. Careful to avoid sharp rocks, she crept closer, sitting as close to Danny's head as she could. Nervousness crept into his eyes as he realized what was about to happen. Before he could even try to flee, Sam pounced on his neck, effectively pinning him to the ground. The girl knew he could easily escape with his size and strength, not to mention powers, but there would be no way he could make a break for it without hurting her. Instead of resisting, he allowed his limbs to flail in protest as Hiccup spread the salve on the very rims of Danny's nostrils. The second he finished, he put the cap back on the box and backed away quickly, his hands in the air.
Seeing the Viking had finished the job, Sam released her friend and stood to carefully make her way back to the blanket. Danny growled with indignation and glared at the two.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," said Hiccup sympathetically, "but I bet it doesn't hurt that bad, now." Sam looked over her shoulder to see Danny's blank face. Apparently he was so worried about the man's fingers going up his nose, he hadn't realized the burning had died down. The girl snickered and shook her head as the dragon decided to huff grumpily and look away.
"You made sure to knock out your volunteer before you let him go, right?" asked Sam as she finally reached the wool cloth and sat down. The dragon rolled his eyes and nodded. Hiccup, suddenly reminded about the presence of his fellow Viking, ran over to check on him. The shorter man was snoring soundly, much to the taller Viking's relief. Careful not to wake him, he returned the blindfold to Snotlout's eyes.
"Okay," said Sam, rubbing her hands together eagerly, "back to the checklist!" She waved for Hiccup to join her and soon he sat down on the opposite end of the blanket. The girl frowned as she noticed her reptilian friend watching the man very closely. The dragon may have been a little strange at the best of times, but it was unusual behavior, even for him. Shaking her head, she returned her thoughts to the demonstration.
"Let's go for invisibility," Sam called out. With a nod, the Dragon faded from the visible spectrum. Hiccup looked impressed, but not as shocked as she had expected.
"Wow…His camouflage is even better than a Changewing's…" he said with an amazed smile. The girl laughed.
"No camo here," the girl said gleefully, "straight up invisibility. Hey Danny, take a tree with you!" A reptilian hum answered and, seconds later, an entire tree began to disappear from the trunk up. The color drained from Hiccup's face once again.
"That's impossible…" he breathed nervously, "he can't do that to people, too…can he?"
"I do believe you've just volunteered," she answered with wicked delight. The girl waved to where she assumed Danny still stood. The tree reappeared in a flash and, a heartbeat later, Hiccup yelped and vanished.
"I can't see my hands!" the Viking's panicked voice cried, far higher in pitch than it should have. A rumbling, draconic laugh rolled through the forest, echoed by the girl's wicked chuckling. In a blink, both dragon and Viking returned to visibility. The man stared at his hands and turned them over multiple times to make sure they were still there.
"Invisibility, check," the girl said, reigning in her laughter, "any problems?" The dragon shook his head, and the two moved on, not waiting for Hiccup to recover from his shock.
"Okay, now intangibility. This is the one Snootloot saw." The girl looked over at the Viking to see him nod vaguely, a slight frown crossing his face at the once again mangled name. She rolled her eyes and nodded to Danny. At her signal, the dragon leapt into the air, then began to fall. He should have landed on the dirt, but he continued to fall right through it and vanished beneath the still solid ground. Hiccup yelped in alarm and began to scramble to his feet.
"I wouldn't do that," advised Sam with a smirk. The man paused to look at her and suddenly found himself sitting again when the dragon shot up out of the earth once more. Not a single fallen leaf had been stirred as the creature passed through them until his feet touched down, flattening them with a satisfying crunch. The girl smirked at the Viking.
"And now, Danny," she said lightly, her voice poisonously sweet, "would you kindly demonstrate what happened when you accidentally started that fight yesterday?" The dragon looked at her, embarrassment working its way into his features. His cheeks seemed to glow slightly greener, much to Sam's delight. Apparently his ghost form's scales were a little more translucent than the other form. She was fairly certain Hiccup had never seen a dragon blush before when she saw his reaction to it. He had looked over, glazed eyes beginning to clear. When his gaze fell on Danny, his eyebrows had shot up.
"You see, Hiccup," she began, ignoring Danny's protesting whine, "he got pretty nervous, just walking up to a pack of dragons like that, yesterday. And… well… he accidentally triggered it." She waved her arm toward Danny. With a grumpy growl, he turned his leg intangible. The creature yelped as he lost his balance and toppled over.
"Thus, creating panic and mayhem," she concluded with a snicker and a flourish. With an irritated grumble, he pulled his leg out of the ground and found his way back to his feet.
"He can share this one, too," the girl explained to Hiccup with a smile, "but that might be a bit much for you right now." The Viking slowly nodded in agreement, his face still pale and eyes wide with alarm. Sam's face fell in concern. She bit her lip and waited a moment for the man to regain some of his color. As the man took deep calming breaths, the girl nodded to herself and looked at the dragon.
"Okay, then. Intangibility, check. Ghostly flight," she instructed.
"Wait, he can already fly?" Hiccup said, suddenly snapping back to reality. He gave the girl a hard look. Sam rolled her eyes in response. The dragon huffed grumpily again.
"Not with his wings," she explained, "and it takes a lot of energy in his hu—I mean…er…non-ghost form…" She had almost slipped again. The Viking narrowed his eyes at her and she looked away, avoiding his gaze. Danny was shaking his head in exasperation. The girl decided to glare at him. He wasn't the one who had to try to keep their stories straight.
"Go on," she urged the dragon irritably. With a roll of his eyes, Danny spread his wings and began to float. With a concerted effort, he tucked the appendages against his body again and began to zip weightlessly between the trees.
"Okay," admitted Hiccup in fright, "you're right. Normal dragons wouldn't like this." Sam smirked. Most humans were unnerved by such sights, as well. The man was clearly no different and ducked with a terrified yelp as Danny zipped low overhead.
"Showoff," Sam smirked at her friend. He unfurled his wings again as he stilled and slowly descended to the ground.
"Ghostly flight, check. How about some ecto energy manipulation?" she suggested. Danny nodded and carefully folded his wings to rest on his back once more. The Viking looked at her quizzically. Sam knew it was a lot to take in. She could only imagine what the man was going through, likely never having seen a real ghost in his life. All things considered, she thought he was taking it very well. She would make sure to explain ghost things a little better when the man was less overwhelmed. Giving herself a mental shake, she returned her thoughts to the checklist.
"Go for a ghost ray," she told the dragon. The creature nodded again. With a stumped blink, he looked at his feet. A scowl crossed his scaly features in frustration and he lay on his belly to free his front paws. The glow of green energy began to slowly build on his claws as normal before he suddenly began to gag. The green haze vanished in a blink and he scrambled upright again to run for the trees.
"Danny?!" Sam scurried to her feet and was about to run after him when she saw a flash of green between the trunks. Confusion glued her feet to the blanket she stood on. Hiccup glanced first at her, then toward the forest, looking nearly as befuddled as the girl felt. When the dragon returned sheepishly, Sam breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened?" she asked. Danny's wings slumped and a disgusted grimace crossed his face. With a slow, reluctant shake of his head, he turned and opened his jaws. Out flew a stream of ghastly, green flames. He quickly extinguished the fire and clamped his mouth shut, looking as though he were wishing he'd vomited instead.
Sam's eyebrows flew up in shock. That wasn't supposed to happen. Sure, beams of ecto energy could get hot, but Danny had never been capable of using ghostly fire. His icy core had made that an impossibility. The dragon gagged a little and let his tongue hang out his mouth. The girl suspected his fire had a flavor much like he had described the taste of ectoplasm. Acrid and alkaline.
"I've never seen a dragon breath that kind of fire before," commented Hiccup, seeming for all the world as though he had only seen something mildly odd. The girl and the dragon stared at him in disbelief. Sam then slapped her palm to her forehead. Of course it would only be mildly odd to him. Dragons breathed fire. He knew dragons. She briefly wondered if Danny's cluelessness was beginning to rub off on her.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to her friend once more.
"Okay, ecto energy needs revisiting later," she decided, "I'm guessing your ice is probably going to do the same thing." Danny nodded. Sam was certain he had come to the same conclusion in his own thought process.
"Ice?" puzzled Hiccup, "fire and ice in the same dragon?"
"Sort of…" Sam said hesitantly, "but the ice is going to have to wait until we get the ecto thing figured out." The dragon finally pulled his tongue back into his mouth. He seemed glad to move on. The girl suspected he just didn't want to risk tasting ectoplasm again.
"I'm guessing you're going to want to keep your forest," she muttered thoughtfully, taking in the surroundings, "so the wail is out…I guess that leaves…" Sam looked at Danny calculatingly. She pursed her lips together, as the creature shifted uneasily under her gaze.
"Do you want to try duplication?" she asked reluctantly. He'd only recently gotten a handle on that skill, but it was still fairly hit or miss, particularly when he thought too hard about it. The dragon's features darkened with determination, his mouth set in a grim line. With a nod, he took a step back.
"Duplication?" asked Hiccup, "what—?"
"Shhhh!" Sam shushed him fiercely, cutting him off, "he needs to concentrate!" The Viking promptly shut his mouth and turned to watch the creature, though he occasionally cast a wary glance at the girl. She, meanwhile, kept her own eyes glued to her dragon companion. The creature's face was twisted in concentration and legs began to shake with his effort. With a faint pop, a second, identical dragon appeared next to him.
The girl leapt into the air with a whoop of celebration. For a brief moment, she forgot she was barefoot and began to rush forward to congratulate and hug her friend…perhaps his duplicate, too. Her progress was immediately brought to a halt, though, when she suddenly found herself face-planting into the dirt. She looked toward her feet to see what she had tripped over…
…To find Hiccup had fainted.
A/N: Okay...Soooo...This is why I couldn't fit the whole demonstration into the last chapter. You guys would have been waiting even longer for it. I didn't want to do that to you. So, I made an effort to get the whole thing into this chapter. Ta-da! Now Hiccup's seen just about everything. I'm sure at some point I'll want to re-write this, but for now, I'm satisfied. HOWEVER! If you see something that needs fixing, please kindly send me a PM so I can make it make sense. Hopefully, next chapter I can get back to the usual awkwardness that is Danny's default setting.
To my new readers, followers, favoriters, and creepy stalkers... Welcome! I hope you've enjoyed what you've read so far! :D
Again, much love to the reviewers. I'm really, seriously touched, you guys. Seriously. Thank you. I got one review in my PM box that got me a bit choked up. You guys know how to make a writer happy.
I know I always say this, but thanks for reading! Really, I mean it.