My Hiccup 48
"Again!" Flashburn snapped as he monitored the young heroes-in-training.
The teens were far better than even Stoick had hoped. Even the twins who normally goofed off during training or argued endlessly proved to be more than sufficient with a sword. Of course they did push each other around and taunt each other but they also worked well as a team together and with the others. Astrid was a complete nature with a blade of any sort. Snotlout could hold his own but was too much of a show off and kept trying to include Hookfang which led to a horse stable been burnt down and servant running every which way to catch the frightened beasts. Fishlegs…well Fishlegs was another matter. He bowed out after only a minute, refusing to draw a blade on anyone. He sat on a bench and cheered his friends on, especially Hiccup who seemed to be struggling.
The problem wasn't that he didn't know how to use swords. Unlike the others he was easily using both his swords, deflecting Astrid's blows with grace and style and forcing her back but he wasn't lunging or thrusting or using and offensive moves. Whether it was fear of hurting his friends – Flashburn had each of them go up against each other – or not Stoick was unsure. In fact he had never seen his son fight offensively only defensively and that was starting to anger Flashburn.
"No, no, no!" Flashburn yelled, gesturing for Astrid to step away from Hiccup. "Show me Grimbeard's Grabble."
Hiccup did it perfectly.
"Grimbeard's lunge."
Again it was perfect and made better by the use of two swords.
Flashburn yelled off more moves and each one Hiccup did correctly. "Those moves are meant to disarm and kill your opponent. If you refuse to engage your enemy like a man then you are by no means meant for my classes let alone lead a tribe."
"Now wait a minute," Stoick fumed as he stormed toward the other man, enraged that this man whom he had respected most of his life would dare talk to his son in such a manner.
Hiccup shied back, certain he was in for more trouble.
Flashburn turned to Stoick apologetically. "I'm sorry, Stoick, but in war you and I both know we don't have the luxury to simply defend ourselves. He must know when to strike first and take down his enemy before having to defend against them. If he cannot do that then he might as well be a farmer or baker. This is a waste of my precious time."
"He's right," Hiccup added sadly. "I'm just not willing to take a life if I don't have to. Let the others finish training." He sheathed his swords and headed for the dorm room.
Astrid glared at Flashburn with utter hatred then chased after Hiccup, a clear sign that she was done for the day. Only a heartbeat later the others followed suit, their dragons whining at not being played with as they usually were.
"Sh…it's alright, my dearhearts," Gobber soothed, going to each of them and scratching heads, necks and horns until they once more calmed down.
"You're making a mistake," Stoick snarled at Flashburn. He poked a big fat finger into the other man's chest. "You expect him to be offence and attack the very people he cares about? He'll never do that. He'll defend them…he'll defend all of his people to his very last breath and he doesn't need you or even me to tell him just how good he is. We both already know…even if you refuse to accept it." He turned around, the confession over and not caring what Flashburn had to say. He gave Toothless a friendly pet and reassuring smile, knowing the dragon worries as much as he did about Hiccup's physical and mental health and how easy it was to hurt him emotionally. "I'll make this right," he promised, running his fingers over the Nightfury's muzzle.
He left the dragons to do their own thing. He and Gobber hurried to the dorm fully expecting to find the teens trying to sooth Hiccup what they found instead almost made Stoick's heart stop. Hiccup was packing his saddle bags while the others tried to talk him out of it.
"What do you think you're doing?" Stoick demanded as he snatched the leather bags from his son.
Hiccup didn't look so much upset as annoyed. "I'm heading to Outcast Island. I'm due there tomorrow to read to the prisoners. I told you whether or not I was accepted that I'd be leaving by tomorrow morning. Since I'm obviously not Flashburn material I might as head out now and get there early. Toothless and I can camp out in the mountains and enter the village in the morning. Maybe I'll raid Alvin's library and read one of his books after I'm done this one. Maybe stick around the whole day before heading back to Berk."
"Hiccup…" Stoick began, seeing the shimmer of tears in the corners of his boy's eyes that he was trying so hard to hide.
"I'll go with him," Gobber offered.
Stoick gave him a look that instantly made his friend step back.
"Oh…right…I forgot," Gobber quickly added, raising his hands in innocence.
Hiccup wiped at his eyes. "Forgot what?"
Stoick motioned for Gobber to shut the door. The blacksmith hurried to do so. He stuck his head out the door before closing it firmly and throwing the latch to give them a moment or two of privacy. Then Stoick waved the other teens forward. "Aye. So we've been keeping a bit of a secret from the lot of you. We're not here just so you can all get your gold belts. I had hoped each of you would but I knew there would be an issue with Hiccup."
"Because I fight defensively?" Hiccup asked still visibly upset.
"No, because you're a Hiccup Horrendous Haddock," Stoick said softly. "When I named you I didn't think there would be so many who would be against it."
Snotlout gave a small chuckle only to be elbowed hard in the gut by Astrid.
"What's wrong with his name?" Astrid asked as she glared at Snotlout.
"Other than it being an involuntary reaction when gas bubbles in the gut," added Ruffnut with a sense of wisdom that made her friends all look at her.
Tuffnut gave a sharp nod. "And no amount of tickling or scaring works with this one. Trust me, we've tried." He gave Hiccup a playful grin.
A small smile lifted the corner of Hiccup's mouth.
"Be that as it may," Stoick continued, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "When I named Hiccup I wasn't over thinking his small size but of two previous Hiccups, his ancestors who were both great men and accomplished great things. The fact that both dealt with dragons should have given me a clue to the future Hiccup would lead."
Gobber laughed. "Aye, the first taking a wounded dragon and making it his friend and the second being raised by dragons and having one as a brother…yeah, that sounds like our laddy."
Stoick glared at him once more.
"Okay, so what does that have to do with Flashburn?" Hiccup asked growing increasingly uncertain.
"Not Flashburn…the castle," Gobber said, gesturing to the large room. "And that's why we put you in here."
Stoick rubbed his forehead. "Yes, Gobber. Can you try for quieter?" He waited a moment as his friend mumbled apologies. "I planned on talking to you earlier about this, Hiccup, but Flashburn knows the secret and is very afraid…of you."
"Me?"
"Yes, son. I'll explain more later, he's sure to be here soon and demanding the rest of you in the courtyard." He nodded toward the far east wall. "There's a secret door on that wall that opens to a steep winding staircase that will take you deep into the bowels of the castle. Legend has it that Grimbeard hid a vast treasure somewhere down there. Now Gobber and I never found it but I figured it anyone could it would be you, Hiccup."
Hiccup looked doubtful. "Wouldn't it belong to Flashburn then? I mean if he's guarding it then it's not ours, right."
The other teens instantly argued that fact with him.
"Enough!" Stoick snapped, shutting all six up. "No, Hiccup. Flashburn has spent all his life searching for it. Grimbeard may have once been king but he was also a Hooligan chief and he left his treasure for us, to make our tribe stronger. We lost it when Flashburn built his castle over the lair of the dragon that was guarding it. Gobber and I spent every free minute we could searching for it when we were teens with no luck."
"But you think we can find it?" Hiccup asked doubtfully.
"You found Hamish's."
That made everyone fall silent and turn to Hiccup expectantly. He bit his lower lip and looked at his packed bags, mentally debating what he should do. He sighed softly and there was no doubting he was sincerely considering the treasure hunt.
"You did tell Alvin you might be a few days late," Astrid reminded him. "We can sneak into the tunnels after dinner, search for a few hours and if we don't find anything after say four hours we come back, get some sleep and head home tomorrow."
"And if we find something we take it back with us," Snotlout threw in, his arm going around Hiccup's shoulders. "We'll teach that blowhard not to under estimate us."
"Uh…" Hiccup covered his face. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I? Alright, let's do it. You wouldn't happen to have a map, would you, Dad?"
To everyone's surprise Gobber unscrewed his wooden leg from his stump and shook out a map while hopping on his one foot. "It's a little faded with age but it'll get you as far as we did before the Driller dragons began chasing us. If you can get past them then you're set."
Hiccup looked over the map. "We'll need a dragon," he muttered as he studied where his father's and mentor's treasure hunt ended. Driller dragons were not friendly and if they were in a pack it would be next to impossible to train them and keep them calm in a reasonable amount of time.
Astrid and Snotlout looked over his shoulders. "Someone small," Astrid noted.
"And sleek enough to move without being seen," Snotlout added.
"And powerful," Ruffnut threw in as she came to stand next to Snotlout.
"A little over protective," Tuffnut chuckled, scooting in next to Astrid.
Fishlegs stood on the other side of the bed and stared at his friends nervously. "Are we seriously going to do this?" he asked before worrying his lower lip.
His friends all looked at him as if he just said the stupidest thing ever.
"We need Toothless," he said with finality. "The others are too big to make it."
Stoick nodded in approval. "Wait until the tower bell strikes twelve times then sneak Toothless in. There's a reason Flashburn doesn't want dragons inside."
Hiccup agreed. Since they arrive Flashburn had pointedly stayed as far from the dragons as possible, especially Toothless. Most people seemed curious about them and usually tried to touch one but not Flashburn, he seemed downright afraid of them. There had to be a reason and maybe whatever was hidden deep below the castle, be it treasure or some far grander, had to be it.
