Answering reviews:
FictionLOver: Yeah, I've never understood how dragon years work either... are they different from human years? You would assume so, since titan wing dragons are supposedly ancient... so how old is Toothless really, even if he's the "same" age as Hiccup? Is it like 10 years to every 1 human year? Or 5? I wish we got an official answer :/
Godspeed: luckily for you, this very chapter was the answer! I actually have had this written for like a week, but have been too busy to post anything. What I've come up isn't quite to the degree you suggested, but hopefully it's still badass enough ;)
Enjoy!
Entry 44
It's been a couple weeks since the alleged Night Fury sighting, and thankfully, no raids have occurred. I really hope what I saw was just some other dragon, and it only looked like that because of lighting or something… I'd rather not have Berk in constant danger, after all.
But that's not what I'm here to write about. No, something else entirely happened today, and I want to get it all down. Then, maybe I can believe it actually happened…
There I was in the forge, working on a prototype for my Night Fury killer, when Astrid came up to the counter. It's been months since she's said a word to me, so you better believe I jumped on the opportunity to do a favor for her… even if that favor was just the usual weapon tune up. So, I was in the back, finishing up her axe, when I heard another voice at the front of the forge.
"Hey Astrid…"
I immediately recognized the voice to be Snotlout's "woman wooing" impression, and rolled my eyes.
"What do you want, Snotlout?" Astrid asked, her voice annoyed.
"Oh, nothin', just thought I'd drop by and maybe try out a new weapon… you know how it is, being a warrior and all. Gotta keep those skills sharp."
"Yeah…"
"So what are YOU doing here?" He asked, continuing the fake suave aura.
"Just getting my axe fixed," she said tersely.
"Oh, well I hope the runt isn't the one doing it… he's bound to screw it up."
I set the axe down carefully, moving so I could get a glimpse of the front without being seen. Snotlout was leaning against the counter, and Astrid was watching him with an unimpressed expression, her arms crossed.
"Actually, he's pretty good with it. Not that that means anything," she said.
At that moment, Snotlout's entire demeanor changed. "Did you just DEFEND him?"
"No. I was just telling the truth."
"I know what I heard…" Snotlout growled, and immediately, I knew what he was planning. Because that was the same tone he used with me before beating me up.
Astrid raised her own fists to fight, but before they could get into it, I grabbed Astrid's axe and ran toward them.
"Leave her alone!" I yelled, raising the weapon as high as I could before slamming it down into the counter. Even without much force, the heavy metal head cut into the wood, causing Snotlout to jump, looking shocked at me before attempting to walk away as nonchalantly as possible. I just continued staring him down as he left, because in truth I didn't want to look like a fool trying and inevitably failing to pull the axe out.
After a moment, Astrid turned to me, giving me a look I couldn't quite read, before hefting her weapon out of the wood. "I can defend myself just fine, you know…" she said, also in a tone I couldn't quite read, before quietly walking away.
So now, I'm going over it all again and trying to understand. I KNOW she can defend herself just fine… Thor, she can defend herself a heck of a lot better than I'd be able to. So what made me react like that? It's not like she was in any real danger… I bet she could beat the crap out of Snotlout if she wanted to. And the bigger question: why did Snotlout leave? I can't imagine I appeared very intimidating… So why did my actions shoo him away? This is all very confusing…
I know one thing, though: I can't tell anybody. Even if I did, no one would believe me… it's just not worth the effort.
But honestly… I don't even mind. Just having this memory to myself, knowing that something I did made SNOTLOUT turn away… it's the only confidence boost I need.
Until next time…
-H
