The adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou
Oranges, Fishing and Random Things
Snowflake carefully landed on the lowest sea stack, only a couple of feet above the waterline, and folded her wings. Toothless followed and landed next to her, Hiccup sliding from her back with practiced ease. He stretched his arms, flexing his growing muscles and smiled as he watched Wrenlou dismount as well. He sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair and studied the small scar on his wrist, the only visible reminder of the accident that cost him his memory, and nearly his life, only two months ago.
Since then, he had gotten back in training, and he had trained hard. He found he liked the exercises, he liked practicing with archery and sword fighting, and to his delight, he had finally started to develop a more muscular physique. He had gotten stronger, faster, he had even grown taller. Wrenlou was still taller, he would always be taller, but Hiccup liked the idea that he could grow out of his scrawniness.
As he watched Wrenlou's bare arms, then looked to his own, he also noticed that his skin had finally started to get darker. Instead of more freckles, he had started to tan. Nowhere near as much as Wrenlou or the others, but he was no longer the pale kid that had left Berk a year ago.
A year. Had it really been a year since he had left his home? Had he really been here for almost six months? He had to be... the final exams and the initiation was coming up fast, only a few weeks away. Did he think he was ready? No, he did not. Six months was nowhere near enough time to learn everything the others had learned in three years, even if the first year of that was trying to raise a dragonbaby without getting burned. But his, and theirs, time in the Bay was coming to a rapid end, and soon he would have to move to Dragoncity. The thought scared him, and excited him at the same time. When he said those words, swore that oath, it would become official. He would be a Dragon Rider of Dragoncity.
He had no idea what he would do after that. What he would do to make his stay in the city useful. He knew he couldn't just sit around all day. He would get bored, and he would essentially be wasting resources and living space. No, he would have to find something that would make his stay worth while. He was leaning towards blacksmithing. Mostly because he liked it, and partially because he already knew most of the tricks and techniques. It helped that the blacksmith liked him.
Wrenlou sat down next to him, handing him a fishing rod and Hiccup took it, carefully sticking the bait on the hook, and then he threw his line. It wasn't the first time they had gone fishing, and he knew it wouldn't be the last, but he still didn't really see the fun in staring at a line for a long time, hoping to catch something. In his eyes, nets were far more effective. Wrenlou had explained to him that fishing like this wasn't necessarily for food, but more for fun. He couldn't imagine biting down on a yummy bit of food and getting a hook through your lip was fun.
He leaned back against Toothless, still reminiscing on the things that had past. His nightmares about the man that had nearly killed him had almost disappeared completely, and the last time he had dreamt about Berk was even before the accident.
Sighing, he closed his eyes. Berk... What would have become of the island... Would they miss him? Probably not. All he ever did was break things, make things worse. He hadn't even been able to kill a dragon! Of course, not killing the dragon had led him on the biggest adventure of his life, like meeting his best friend, finding the home of the Night Furies, finding a city full of dragon riders... Although, technically he didn't fine the city. Not that it made a difference. Well, it did. He was sure that if he had found the city himself, he would have wanted to be a part of the bustling every day life filled with dragon companions, he just knew he would have never worked up the nerve to actually approach one of the riders. Even more because he knew they didn't speak his language, at all.
Something tucked on the rod in his hands, and he sat up. They rarely caught anything, but when they did, he couldn't help but be excited. He stared at the water, the dark shapes shooting by, but nothing moved his line again, and he sighed.
He reached into Toothless' saddlebag, pulling out an orange. The dragon crooned softly and he scratched his chin a little, before sliding the rod under his paw so he had his hands free to peel the fruit he had come to love so much.
His mind wandered back to Berk while he peeled the orange without thinking. He had never known oranges on Berk. Or any other kind of fruit really. All that grew on Berk were certain kinds of grain. Every meal had been the same, bread, meat and stale beer. Here, even in Learners Bay, the meals were divers, and he had come to know a selection of fruits, vegetables and meat, accompanied by the fine taste of wine or tea. It seemed that every meal on Night Fury Island was a feast, something worth celebrating.
He sighed and looked down, pulling the last bit of the peek from the orange. Without thinking, he crumbled the orange things in his hand and before he knew it, something squirted up, straight into his eye. He yelped and dropped the things, grunting as he pressed his fist against his eye. When he felt a hand on his shoulder he looked up, Wrenlou looking at him worriedly. He grunted again as he rubbed his eye, but the burning feeling didn't go away. If anything, it got worse.
"Hiccup?" Wrenlou asked softly, "what happened?"
Wordlessly, Hiccup pointed to the orange peels next to him, and Wrenlou's eyes widened in understanding. He turned a little, pulling the canteen with water from Snowflake's saddlebag.
"Here. Wash it away."
Hiccup stared at him, his hand still over his eye. "You want me to pour more water in my eye?"
"It helps, believe me. It happened to me a few times before. Rubbing will only make it worse."
He sighed and took the canteen from Wrenlou. After he had poured water over his face, blinking rapidly when it got into his eyes, he screwed the cap back on and turned to Wrenlou.
"Why do oranges have such impeccable aim?" he asked, still rubbing his eye.
A smile spread across Wrenlou's face and he shrugged. "I don't know. They seem to have a thing for eyes though. As I said, I've had orange juice in my eyes a few times."
Hiccup blinked a few times, seeing his vision clear up again, although his eye was still burning. He grunted as he wiped the water from his face, then he picked up the orange he had dropped in his lap.
"I will eat you as punishment," he said, staring at the fruit, "but first I will dismember you."
With that, he picked the orange apart, separating each and every piece carefully, and he laid them out on his leg. Wrenlou watched him with an amused smile.
"You know that oranges aren't sentient right?" he asked when Hiccup picked the first part from his leg and slowly ate it.
"So? It will make me feel better," Hiccup answered, eating the second and third piece at the same time, "stupid orange. Nearly blinded me."
"You'll be fine!" Wrenlou laughed, lightly punching his shoulder, "oranges can't really blind you."
Hiccup just grumbles as he ate the last six pieces at once, and pulled his fishing rod from Toothless' paws. Silence fell between them, then Hiccup rubbed his wrist and glanced at Wrenlou.
"I know," he said softly.
"Know what?" Wrenlou asked looking up, a look of confusion on his face.
Hiccup took a deep breath, his hand slipping from his wrist and he stared at the water for a moment. Then he looked up at Wrenlou again and he smiled weakly.
"W...what you did..." he mumbled, "a...after I fell..."
"What do you mean?" Wrenlou asked, still confused.
"I... I know you set my arm," Hiccup said, his voice slightly shaking at the memory.
He didn't see how the colour had practically drained from Wrenlou's face, and the boy sat frozen at his words.
"Hiccup... I'm sorry..."
"It's okay," Hiccup said looking up, "really. I don't blame you. I... I'm glad you did it. I don't want to lose my arm..."
He turned to the water again while Wrenlou slowly blew out the breath he had been holding. The silence between them seemed to hold more tension than first, but it was obliterated when Hiccup suddenly hugged Wrenlou tightly.
"Thanks," he whispered, "for being there for me. Even if you didn't tell me, you were there for me." He pulled away, a little flustered by his own spontaneous action, and looked up at Wrenlou. "You've saved my life twice now."
Wrenlou smiled and shook his head. "I didn't save your life that time, when you fell. The beach did. You were incredibly lucky not to hit the rocks."
Hiccup shuddered and nodded, wrapping his arms around his torso. Wrenlou put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it lightly.
"Change of subject," he said, turning his attention to his fishing rod again, "do you think we'll catch anything today?"
Hiccup shrugged and they fell silent as they both watched their lines for any movement, but it seemed that the fish weren't very hungry, and for a long time, they didn't bite. They were just about to give up, when Hiccup suddenly sat up, nudging Wrenlou's shoulder. When his friend turned around frowning, he gestured to his line before Wrenlou could open his mouth to ask what was wrong.
Wrenlou's eyes widened when he saw how a dark shape fought in the water, and was pulling the line so hard that the tip of rod bent down towards the water. He jumped up, grabbing the rod before the fish could pull it from Hiccup's hands. Hiccup grunted as he strained his arms, trying to get the fish out of the water and onto the rock, but the silvery animal was strong, and refused to go down without a fight. They braced themselves as they pulled with all their strength, the rod bending more and more as they tried to get the fish out of the water.
Toothless perked up and crooned softly, getting up when he saw the fish struggling in the water. Snowflake's interest was also peaked and she joined Toothless, both dragons staring at the fish hungrily. The boys didn't notice as they did their best to haul the fish in, but the rod was now bending so far that the tip actually submerged in the water.
"If it bends any further, it's gonna..." Hiccup started, but just then the rod broke in two and they tumbled back, Wrenlou nearly rolling off the edge of the sea stack, "...snap..." Hiccup added staring at the broken rod in his hands, "there has to be a better way to do this!"
Before Wrenlou could answer, there was a loud splash, and Snowflake soon resurfaced, holding the fish in her claws. She landed next to Toothless and placed the now dead fish in front of Hiccup and Wrenlou, looking at them expectantly.
"Yeah... just eat it now," Wrenlou mumbled while he got up, "it's a big one though. Good catch Hiccup."
"Would have been... if the rod hadn't snapped and the dragons hadn't eaten it," Hiccup mumbled and he brushed off his clothes.
"Oh well," Wrenlou sighed, "those things happen. It's not the first that has snapped, won't be the last."
"But there has to be a way to do it differently," Hiccup mumbled while he picked the tip from the rod from the ground, the line still attached to the fish that was quickly devoured by the dragons, "what if you could change the length of the line somehow... or something."
Wrenlou raised an eyebrow. "And how would you do that?"
"I don't know..." Hiccup sighed and he straightened his back, "let's just..."
He froze, staring at the sky behind Wrenlou, and the boy frowned.
"Hiccup? Something wrong?"
"I... I don't know..." Hiccup said, still staring at the sky, "Wrenlou, what is that?"