A Place to Call Home
Chapter 21- A Little Help
That night, as Hiccup and Valka returned home, the latter noticed something was troubling her son. He seemed conflicted, even Toothless took notice of this, but he wouldn't say anything. However, Valka knew her son, and she was certain it had something to do with the dragons she just met. When Toothless landed in the courtyard of their house, allowing his charges to get off his back, Valka placed a gentle hand on Hiccup's shoulder before he had a chance to go into the house and avoid the unavoidable question.
"Hiccup? Is something bothering you?"
Hiccup didn't really want to talk about it, he thought it was a silly thing, but when Valka asked someone that question, there was nothing to do. "I'm fine, mom, it's just…" Hiccup remembered how Valka had run her hand down the sewn scar on Silk's back, and the stump where his wing bone used to be. He could see the sorrow in Silk's eyes when she did so, as if he had been reminded that he would never be able to fly. "I feel horribly about Silk."
Toothless looked back from his way to the barn.
"Silk? He's the Changewing without his left wing, right?"
Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. He must be very sad, watching other dragons and birds fly while he can't. It must be horrible; I wish there was something we could do for him." His sadness turned to anger. "I can't believe those people could have done such a thing to him! I wish they were in front of me so I could give them a talk about animal cruelty! And Nighthawk! Because of them he has two wooden legs, and he is traumatized!"
Valka looked down. "What happened to them wasn't fair, Hiccup." She couldn't even imagine how those dragons felt like during their years or torture in the carnival. "I would never wish it upon any dragon, I can't even stand the thought that hundreds of dragons suffer like that at the hands of bad people. But I'm afraid that what is done is done." She looked at the direction of the Opera House. "All we can do for those poor creatures is offer them our support and show them that not all humans are alike."
Support… Support… The famous gears within Hiccup's brain started to turn as an idea came to him, his green eyes brightening.
"Mom, you're the best!"
Toothless watched in curiosity as Hiccup embraced his surprised mother, and dashed into the house. He knew that look in Hiccup's eyes, he had seen it various times throughout his life. Hiccup was a smart lad, surely he had something planned for Silk.
As soon as Hiccup was inside the house, he sped up to his room. It was perfect for one person to sleep in, it had the basic furniture such as a bed and night tables, but it also had a desk, and two bookshelves where he kept various tomes of books, of various topics. He grabbed a thick encyclopedia of all dragon breeds, one about prosthesis for missing limbs and another about dragon anatomy.
Sketching was a favorite pastime of Hiccup's; he liked sketching dragons, plants, animals, and even landscapes, but this sketch would be something more. Opening the dragon encyclopedia and the dragon anatomy books, he flipped through the pages until he found the dragon he was looking for.
The Changewing.
Hiccup examined the picture in the books, but overall the Changewing's wings and wing bone structure, sketching it in a clean sheet, and then he read the pages of prosthetics, also scribbling notes on the sheet. When he was done with the sketch of the prosthetic wing, he took it and ran out of his room, towards his father's blacksmithing forge, located in the backyard.
Stoic was a blacksmith, like his father, and his father's father. It was this job that mainly put the bread on the table, since Valka was very charitable and she didn't put any charges on people she knew had very low recourses, but he didn't protest. Stoic often made horseshoes, nails, or fixed whatever metal-made things people from the neighborhood brought to him. He taught Hiccup and Snotlout the basics of blacksmithing, hoping one of them would follow in his footsteps; Hiccup seemed to be most likely.
After carefully looking over the sketch, Hiccup put on a blacksmith's apron and got the fire going. After working the bellows and waiting for the coals to heat up, he gathered all the metal items that couldn't be repaired. As soon as the coals were hot enough Hiccup put one of the banged decorative swords into the coals to soften. Once the metal was soft enough, Hiccup hammered it into shape until it resembled the bone of a dragon's wing, but he would have to join it up with another so it was the proper size.
Hiccup dunked the metal into the cooling barrel, causing a large cloud of steam to shoot out. One it was cool enough, he weight the metal 'bone' in his hands expertly making sure it wasn't too heavy, otherwise Silk wouldn't be able to even lift his stump of a wing. He repeated the process with the other iron rods making each 'bone' of similar length.
Once all the metal bones were made, Hiccup wrenched off screws on old tables and forged them into components that would connect the metal bones. It took a lot of space and nearly all night. The last step: he secured a large flap of feather over the metal frames. It resembled Silk's missing wing, and was accurately of the same length and thickness.
Hiccup felt a shadow behind him, but calmed down when he recognized his dragon's shadow under the moonlight. Toothless had woken up when he heard a hammer clanging in the forge, and the fire burning. Initially he assumed it was Stoic, until he noticed the force of the clang was not that resounding, so he guessed it was Hiccup. And he was right. Toothless curiously sniffed the fake wing, his ears perked up, his pupils wide. Did Hiccup mean to do what he thought he meant to do?
"What do you think, bud?" Hiccup let out a sigh of exhaustion, patting Toothless's head softly. "Hopefully, it will be enough for Silk to fly again."
Toothless froze at those words. He didn't react as Hiccup let out a yawn, carefully took the wing, half-folded it into his arms careful not to break any of the 'bones', and walked into the house.
"What was all that about?"
Toothless jumped at Thornado's voice behind him. Both he and Cloudjumper watched Hiccup go into the house with curious eyes, then gave Toothless questioning looks.
"What?" Toothless inquired.
"What was that thing he carried?" Cloudjumper inquired. "I swore it looked like a dragon's wing, but Hiccup would never cut a wing from a dragon. That, and the fact that the air smells with burnt coals…"
"In other words, did he make that thing?" Thornado inquired, before Cloudjumper started rambling again.
"I suppose so." Toothless still remembered that large, prosthetic wing clearly. Did Hiccup feel so terribly about Silk and the others?
"Hey, Toothless, why would he need a fake wing?" Cloudjumper continued. "It must be for a dragon, but who? Stormfly, and Hookfang and the others are in good health."
"The shape of the wing resembled that of a Changewing's." Thornado added. "None of them are Changewings, either. Does Hiccup keep a wingless dragon in secret?"
Toothless didn't say anything for a while. Should he tell them? Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch already knew, so maybe it wouldn't hurt if he told Thornado and Cloudjumper.
"It's a long story."
Next day, the Opera House was once more boiling in movement, preparing to perform Marguerite. Fishlegs had been charged with repainting the scenery, while Tuffnut and Antoinette were rehearsing and Ruffnut had to mend Heather's dresses, so for the moment he was alone. Hiccup and Snotlout were yet to arrive, but surely they had more important things to do than come and chat with him. Astrid herself decided to lend Ruffnut a hand; as much as she disliked Heather, Ruffnut was not to blame for the diva's rotten behavior.
"So, the White Fury got the Dragon Flu?" Ruffnut inquired. "Never heard about it before. Maybe I should spend less time throwing pebbles at my brother and more… what was it called again?"
"What?" Astrid raised an eyebrow.
"You know, watch the words written in sheets of paper all sewn together."
"You mean reading a book?"
"Yeah, that."
Astrid rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. She should have spent more time with Ruffnut before; sure, she wasn't that bright on certain topics, but she was a loyal and funny friend to be around with. In fact, it seemed she had misjudged Hiccup's circle of friends (except for Snotlout).
"Does this Dragon Flu thing have a cure?" Ruffnut asked.
"According to Hiccup's mom, if the guys take good care of Snowdrop, she will recover. But I can't still help worrying about her." Astrid rubbed her arms uncertain, remembering the ulcers in Snowdrop's mouth and the pus in her eyes.
"Don't worry, if there's someone who can help that cute little thing, that's Hiccup." Ruffnut reassured her friend as she finished the last touches on Heather's Marguerite dress.
"Yeah, I could see that." Astrid sighed. She wasn't able to contain a small smile when she thought of the stable worker; to think she used to think of him as a freak that'd prefer the company of dragons over people. "He doesn't have many friends, does he? I mean, before all of this mess with the dragons from the carnival, he didn't seem to talk much with anyone. He was always in the stables with the dragons, or with Fishlegs and Snotlout."
"Oh, yeah." Ruffnut shrugged, carefully ironing the Marguerite dress. "Those three have history together. As far as I know, Snotlout's dad crossed over to America and Snotlout stayed with Hiccup's family. Fishlegs comes from a family of farmers, but the three of them have always been together, that's what Fishlegs told me."
"Do you know Fishlegs like the others?" Astrid asked, fidgeting with the lined-up dresses.
"Actually, we met a few months ago, before Tuffnut and I came to work here. It was Fishlegs who told us the Opera House was looking for more workers, actually. Then I met Hiccup and… Snotlout."
Astrid noticed that Ruffnut blushed and a goofy smile appeared on her face when she mentioned Snotlout's name. Immediately, she realized what that meant.
"You have a crush on Snotlout?"
Ruffnut's smile instantly vanished and she panicked, leaving the iron on top of the Marguerite dress. "W-What? Don't say those things! How could I ever have a crush on a knuckle head like him?!"
Astrid caught a burnt scent in the air, and glanced at Heather's dress under the hot iron.
"Ruffnut…"
"No, no, no, don't say it! Please, I'm too good for him!"
"Ruffnut, the dress…!"
"Besides, it's not like he notices how lovely I am, anyway! He's always fawning over-"
"RUFFNUT!" Astrid yelled. "THE DRESS IS ON FIRE!"
Ruffnut looked down and she nearly had a heart attack when she realize smoke was coming out from beneath the iron. She quickly lifted it from the dress, and much to her horror there was a huge burnt on the fabric, shaped like the iron. She was in big trouble. If there was one thing Heather didn't like, it was someone ruining any of her dresses.
"Nononono!" Ruffnut's hands trembled as she lifted the dress, staring with wide eyes at the burnt. "Heather's going to have my head!"
"D-Don't worry, we can fix this!" Astrid quickly looked around for anything they could use to cover the burnt, or some dye to try and erase it. But it wouldn't be easy. Burnt marks on clothing could rarely be removed, and time was a luxury they did not have.
"M-Maybe we can replace it!" Ruffnut stuttered, desperately looking around for any similar dresses.
Fishlegs took notice of what was happening, and temporally abandoned his task of repainting the scenery to lend a hand to the ladies. "I think I can help."
Astrid and Ruffnut turned their heads around to look at him incredulously. "You know how to fix dresses?" Astrid inquired curiously.
"More or less." Fishlegs replied, blushing a bit. "See, my mom is a seamstress, and I've seen how she fixes the dresses people take to her, so I know more or less what to do when a cloth is burned with the iron-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, then help me with this before Heather find out and puts my head on a pike!"
"Do you have any fabric of the same color as the dress?"
Astrid scanned the room for a dark green, patterned fabric; there was a small leftover piece resting on one of the seamstresses' tables. "Here it is!"
"Now I need white thread and a decorative lining."
Shack let out a yawn and stretched himself like a cat, awakening from a good nap. The only ones in the cave were Voltaire , One-Eye and Silk. Nighthawk was probably sulking in his cave, still too guilty to face his friends. The Skrill was comically pacing around the cave, muttering about poor Snowdrop and wondering if Glump and Weevil would be able to make her feel comfortable.
"Stop pacing around, you're going to make a pit." Shack stated.
"How can you be so calm when Snowdrop is in danger of death?!" Voltaire snapped back.
"Don't exaggerate, Hiccup's mother said she would be fine if we took good care of her. It will be okay."
"That's the problem, we can't take care of her! Muk is incapacitated because of his wounds, it means Glump and Weevil will have to look after her!"
"Exactly. Then what's the problem?" One-eye inquired.
"She needs me! And yet I can't do nothing about it!"
"Well, if you don't stop complaining the feeling's going to get worse." Silk sighed, shaking his head.
"How can you three be so insensitive!" Voltaire snapped. "My poor Snowdrop…"
Shack heard someone coming down the tunnel, but the dragons already knew it was probably Hiccup. "Guys, I bet you three fish that Hiccup and Toothless are coming down." The Terrible Terror snickered in Dragonese, and with that the others spoke in their birth language as well.
"You know what I think about gambling." Silk retorted, laying his head on the ground.
"I'm not on the mood for your games, Shack!" Voltaire snapped.
"I'd like to, Shack, but I don't have three fish." One-Eye finished.
Just as Shack predicted, Hiccup stepped into the light of the cavern, followed by Toothless. The young man was carrying a big basket that stunk of fish; this, of course, was enough to call the dragons' attention.
"Guys, I brought you something tasty to eat." Hiccup placed the basket on the ground, and let its contest spill on the ground. "I hope you're hungry."
Almost immediately, the four dragons rushed forward for the fish. Sardines, cod, salmon, perch, and other types of fish they couldn't identify. Shack dove in for the sardines, until he noticed Hiccup taking something big from Toothless's back.
Hiccup carefully and silently made his way to Silk's left side, where the stump of his wing was, knowing he had little time before the dragons finished eating.
Toothless watched amusingly as One-Eye tried to steal Voltaire's cods, and Silk only targeted the salmon, while Shack was devouring the sardines. "Guys, you should leave a bit for Nighthawk." He said in dragonese.
"Tell that to One-Eye." Voltaire motioned towards the Monstrous Nightmare, who grunted and swallowed a mouthful of perch. Voltaire seemed to notice that Hiccup was doing something. "Hey, Toothless, what's Hiccup doing?"
"It's a surprise he made for Silk."
"Surprise?" One-Eye inquired curiously. "What kind of surprise?"
"One I think he's going to like."
Silk, meanwhile, was so withdrawn into eating that he didn't notice Hiccup unfolding the prosthetic wing. Hiccup carefully removed the blood-stained bandage around it, exposing the reddened skin of the stub. Then he proceeded to fasten the prosthetic wing on the stump, not too tight so it wouldn't irritate the Changewing's scales, but tightly enough so that it wouldn't fall off in mid flight. Then he fastened the other strap on the other side of the wing's leather base, fastening quickly around Silk's waist, just behind the skin of his other wing.
Silk stopped eating when he felt something tied around his belly and on the stump of his wing. He bent his neck around to see what was going on, and realized Hiccup had put something on him. Immediately, Silk hissed and violently started jumping around the cave, flapping the stump to try and get that thing off his body.
"Nonono!" Hiccup tried to stop him, but the Changewing jumped away from him.
"Silk, he's just trying to help you!" Toothless cried out.
Voltaire realized what was Hiccup's intention. "Silk, wait! That's-!"
Just then, the wing unfolded and extended out completely. Silk stopped in his thrashing, and stared dumbfounded at the fake wing that was identical to his natural wing. He flapped the wing, and then folded it upon his back. It was like his wing was never cut off at all.
Hiccup smiled and patted Silk on the neck. "Do you like it?"
Silk was frozen, just staring at this new wing, flapping it to see if it worked. "M-My… wing…" he whispered, which in Hiccup's ears was nothing more than a purr.
"Silk?" One-Eye saw the glint of hope in the Changewing's eyes. "I know you must be surprised, but don't try to-"
He was too late. Even Hiccup jumped back when Silk tried to take off, flapping both wings in desperation, but he only managed to stay on the air for a few seconds before falling to the ground with a loud thud.
"Silk!" Hiccup tried to go help him, but the dragon tried to fly once more, only to have the same results. "Silk, wait a second!"
Before Silk could take off once more, One-Eye and Toothless stopped him by pinning him down to the ground, but Silk was very stubborn and he kept struggling.
"GET OFF ME!" he roared, thrashing wildly.
"Silk, listen to us!" One-Eye snapped. "This is not the place for you to try and fly!"
"I'VE NEVER FLOWN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, AND YOU MEAN TO TAKE THIS CHANCE AWAY FROM ME?!"
"It's not about that, Silk!" Voltaire approached the thrashing Changewing. "If you keep doing that in here, you are risking breaking that wing! You need an open space to try it! Besides, you'll awaken Snowdrop!"
After a while, Silk finally stopped his thrashing, and his whole body relaxed. Hiccup took this chance to approach the prosthetic wing and examine it. It was of the same size as Silk's natural wing, and it had the same shape, but it couldn't keep him in the air at all.
"Maybe it needs some adjustments…" he tapped his chin, and extended out the wing. "I need to find a way to keep the leather sticked to your body, maybe that's the problem."
As Hiccup started taking mental measurements of the wing, One-Eye stared at him, then at the fake wing, then at his leg. Toothless took notice of this.
"Is something wrong, One-Eye?" Toothless purred.
"If Hiccup could make a prosthetic wing for Silk…" One-Eye whispered, his eyes glued on his wooden leg. "Do you think he could do something for my talon?"
"Maybe. But he'd had to remove that prosthesis and replace it with another one, and that's going to be a problem, considering there's skin growing on that prosthesis."
Voltaire stared at One-Eye's wooden leg sadly, knowing he was right. Even if they managed to somehow replace One-Eye's wooden talon, he wouldn't be able to do much with a new prosthesis, since it would only make it look less gruesome.
But who was he to crush One-Eye's hopes?