Chapter 2 - Near Death Experiences, Highly Unrecommended
They moved silently towards the house, Helga continuing to hold her brother's hand as he walked with a slump and Gobber walked up behind them. When they were nearing the house, making their way up the stairs, Hiccup finally started to speak, "I really did hit one."
"Sure, Hiccup," Gobber says.
"He never listens."
"It runs in the family."
"And when he does, it's with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich," Hiccup continues as if Gobber never commented, then releases his sister's hand to make a point while imitating their father, "Excuse me, barmaid, I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fishbone."
"No, you're thinking about this all wrong," Gobber interjects, "It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand."
Helga rose her brow at that, how was that supposed to help the situation? Hiccup even paused for a few seconds before replying dryly, "Thank you for summing that up."
"Look, the point is," Gobber says as Hiccup starts to open the door, "stop trying so hard to be something you're not."
"I just want to be one of you guys," Hiccup explains as he finally enters the house, grabbing Helga's hand to lead her in.
He led her into the dining area before helping her to sit on a chair. He then proceeded to stand in one place without moving, no doubt thinking hard about what he was going to do next. "So," Helga starts slowly, "going to find that Night Fury then?"
"So you believe me?" he hesitantly asks.
"Hiccup, I'd believe you about almost anything," she answers, "we've been attached at the hip since the day we were born and never once have you led me astray. That, and I can tell when you're lying about something. You were being honest when you said you shot it down. So it begs the question, why are we sitting around talking about it instead of sneaking out the back where Gobber won't see us leaving?"
"You're the best, you know that right?" he says laughingly.
"Oh, I know," she jokes back, standing from the chair.
Without further ado, Hiccup grabbed her hand again before leading her to the back door, not once letting go as they ran off into the forest.
After reaching Raven's Point, Hiccup had pulled out his little book to keep track of areas they had searched, so Helga had moved her hand from his to be in the crook of his elbow. They had been out here for a long time, and if he was not so set on finding the dragon, she may have said something about trying again later. She could tell he was getting frustrated when he sighed, which was then followed by another 'x' in his book and the sound of his writing tool scratching all over the page. "Oh, the gods hate me," he finally says as he puts his book back inside his vest, taking her hand again. "Some people lose their knife or their mug. Not me. I manage to lose an entire dragon."
"They don't hate you, this is just a large forest," she tries to assure him.
She would have said more, but as she was speaking, he had knocked a branch out of their way and she quickly ducked when she heard it coming right back. Her brother had not been so lucky as it whacked him in the face, "OW!"
She stood up straight again before saying softly, "Okay, maybe they do hate you."
"Yes, thank you, Helga," he says dryly before staring harder at the tree.
He was being too silent and she was not sure why, "Hiccup, is something the matter?"
"This tree is broken, it looks like something struck it," he said, looking down again, "And it looks like something fell and rolled down the hill."
He led her down the hill, carefully making sure she was not going to fall as they went. When the small hill started to rise again, he let go of her hand and crawled slowly up. Which was when he must have seen something because he gasped and pulled her down to hide on the dirt. "What? What did you see?"
He did not bother responding before she heard him pull his dagger from his belt, fumbling as he went. He pulled her along quickly and she felt the large rock they pressed their backs against. She went to open her mouth and speak, but he placed his hand over it to keep her quiet. He then tapped her head twice, a silent signal they created that meant she should stay put, before he started creeping around the rock.
"Oh wow, I did it," she heard him say. "Oh, I did it. This… this fixes everything! Yes! Helga I did it. I have brought down this mighty beast."
Any confusion she was feeling was quickly laid to rest as she heard the groan of what was most definitely a dragon as her brother gasped in surprise. He had really actually hit that Night Fury, she was not lying when she said she had believed him, but now it was real. She could hear him walk back closer to the dragon, take in many deep breaths before addressing it, "I'm going to kill you, dragon. Then I'll cut out your heart and take it to my father. I am a viking. I am a viking!"
For some reason though, even his attempt at saying that line with conviction was not convincing enough. So, she was only slightly surprised when, after several moments, she heard it. The dragon had let out a groan in resignation, at least from what she could tell, and then her brother was moving again. "I did this," he said to himself.
Before long, she heard the telltale signs of a knife cutting through rope, Hiccup was actually letting the dragon go! She heard him cut a few lines of rope before the dragon came free and went for her brother. She was ready to race around the rock to save him, but when she did not hear his screams, she found herself hesitating. Her twin brother was under the mercy of this deadly creature, and she was hesitating. She heard it roar loudly, and wondered if she had made the wrong choice, but then it flew off. Or at least tried to, because it sounded like it was crashing into trees and boulders along the way. She took the opportunity to run around to her brother, "Hiccup, are you okay?"
He only continued to pant as she helped him to his feet. However, they barely made it three feet before he fainted, almost taking her with him. "Well, that's just perfect," she says as she stands above where he fell, "now what?"
In the end, she sat down beside the rock, leaning against it while hoping he would wake up soon, she was hungry and she was not going to be able to go anywhere alone. Maybe the gods hated her too.
She ended up falling asleep against the rock while waiting and only stirred when Hiccup shook her awake. It was dark and so they did not say much as they had made their way home. They had been hoping to sneak in, but when Hiccup opened the door, their father was at the fireplace. Hiccup must have decided their father was distracted enough because he tried to lead her up the stairs quietly. They did not get very far before he called out to them, "Kids."
"Dad," Hiccup says as he stops moving, "uh, I have to talk to you dad."
"I need to speak with you too, son," he answers.
"I don't want to fight dragons." "I think it's time you learn to fight dragons."
Oh, oh this would be interesting, Helga was thinking to herself as Hiccup led them back down the stairs.
"What?" both males said.
"You go first," their father asserts.
"No, you go first," Hiccup says instead.
"Alright," their father sighs, "You get your wish. Dragon training…you start in the morning."
Oh dear Thor.
"Oh, man, I should have gone first," Hiccup speaks quickly, "Uh…cause I was thinking, you know, we have a surplus of dragon-fighting vikings, but do we have enough bread-making vikings or small-home-repair vikings?"
He does not bother listening to his son before passing him an axe, "You'll need this."
She heard her brother grunt under the strain of a weapon way too big for him, "I don't want to fight dragons."
Their father laughs as he replies, "Come on. Yes, you do."
"Rephrase. Dad, I can't kill dragons."
"But you will kill dragons," he argues.
"No, I'm really very extra-sure that I won't."
"It's time, Hiccup."
"Can you not hear me?"
"This is serious, son," their father says, his voice getting tight, "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us, you talk like us…you think like us. No more…this."
"You just gestured to all of me."
"Deal?"
"This conversation is feeling very one-sided," Hiccup tries to object.
"Deal?" their father says again more strongly.
Hiccup, not being able to argue further, "Deal."
"Good," he says as he picks up a bag from the ground, "Train hard, look after your sister. I'll be back. Probably."
"And I'll be here. Maybe."
With that, their father was out the door on his way for their latest, and mostly likely unsuccessful, voyage to look for the dragon's nest.
Helga knew her brother was mentally and physically exhausted at this point, so she did not argue when he grabbed her hand and led them up to their room without speaking a word. Tomorrow was looking to be a rather stressful day and she was not sure what she was going to do while he was, urgh, dragon training.
Astrid could hardly contain her excitement as she walked with the other teens into the arena. It was finally her chance to prove herself to the village. They followed behind Gobber as he opened the gate, "Welcome to dragon training!"
"No turning back," she said to herself as they all followed in behind the man.
As they excitedly walked closer to the centre, Tuffnut starts to talk, "I hope I get some serious burns."
His sister did not pass up on her own addition, "I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back."
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," Astrid adds.
"Yeah, no kidding right?" she heard from behind and turned to see Hiccup walking in behind them, "Pain, love it."
"Oh great. Who let him in?" Tuffnut wonders.
As curious as Astrid was to know the answer to that question, she had one of her own. Hiccup was actually alone down here, something that was a sight even more unusual than him being in the arena. So where was Helga? She took a quick cursory glance around the stands before she finally spotted the small auburn head as Helga was sitting up there. Considering she could not exactly watch what was going on, Astrid was not too sure what the blind girl was going to be doing while waiting for her brother. Was she just going to sit there and listen the whole time?
She was pulled out of her musings when Gobber came closer, "Let's get started! The recruit who does the best will win the honour of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."
"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him?" Snotlout taunts.
"Can I transfer to the class with the cool vikings?" Tuffnut says as they turn back to the centre of the arena.
She could hear as Gobber tried to reassure Hiccup behind them, "Don't worry. You're small and weak…that'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more viking-like teens instead."
He laughs as he pushes Hiccup into Fishlegs before addressing all of them, gesturing to the various dragon pens, "Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight! The Deadly Nadder."
"Speed eight, armour sixteen," Fishlegs adds.
"The Hideous Zippleback."
"Plus eleven stealth, times two."
"The Monstrous Nightmare."
"Firepower fifteen."
"The Terrible Terror."
"Attack eight, venom twelve."
"Can you stop that?!" Gobber finally shouts, getting fed up with Fishlegs' attempts at being helpful, "And the Gronckle."
"Jaw strength eight," she hears Fishlegs whisper.
That's when Snotlout noticed that Gobber was opening the door, "Whoa! Whoa! Wait, aren't you going to teach us first?"
"I believe in learning on the job!"
With that, the door burst open, the Gronckle being released as they started to scatter around the arena. "Today is about survival," Gobber adds casually, "If you get blasted…you're dead! Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?"
"A doctor?" Hiccup.
"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs.
Astrid could not believe those idiots and confidently answers, "A shield."
"Shields," Gobber agrees. "Go!"
She quickly ran to grab a shield, placing it on her arm as Gobber explained, "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield!"
He needed to help Hiccup grab his shield properly as the twins started to fight over another, "Let go of my shield!" Tuffnut demands.
"There are like a million shields!" Ruffnut argues.
"Take that one," he says, gesturing at a different shield, "It has a flower on it…girls like flowers."
Her response is to whack her brother over the head with the one they were fighting over, "Oops, now this one has blood on it."
They were too busy arguing over it that the Gronckle came along and easily knocked the shield away from them with its blast. Astrid could not believe their idiocy in a time like this, did they want to die?
"Tuffnut, Ruffnut! You're out!" Gobber calls to them. "Those shield are good for another thing. Noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!"
So Astrid and the others started using their weapons to bang on their shields and make noise. It was not long before she noticed the dragon start to wobble in its flying, the noise they were making was working. "All dragons have a limited number of shots," Gobber continues. "How many does a Gronckle have?"
"Five?" Snotlout calls out questioningly.
"No, six!" Fishlegs called out with confidence.
"Correct, six!," Gobber exclaims, "That's one for each of you!"
Fishlegs, being distracted by his correct answer did not notice the Gronckle until it was blasting his shield out of his hands making him run screaming.
"Fishlegs, out! Hiccup, get in there!"
Astrid looked over and saw that Hiccup was trying to hide behind a weapons rack and she could only shake her head. He did try to come out, but a shot from the Gronckle above his head had him go back into hiding. Snotlout took the opportunity to come up next to her, "So anyway, I moved into my parents' basement. You should come by sometime and work out. You look like you work out."
Astrid was not really listening as she quickly somersaulted away when she noticed the dragon, but Snotlout, being distracted by his attempts to flirt with her did not see it and was blasted.
"Snotlout! You're done!" Gobber called out.
Without realising it, Astrid had rolled right over to where Hiccup was just standing there doing nothing and he began to talk to her, "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?"
The dragon was heading their way, so with a quick, "Nope, just you," sent his way, she quickly moved. It hit Hiccup's shield, knocking it away and he started chasing it as it rolled around.
"One shot left," Gobber shouts.
However, the dragon continued to chase Hiccup, Gobber calling out his name as the boy abandoned his shield to run from the dragon. Astrid saw movement out of the corner of her eye and noticed that Helga had stood, no doubt having gauged the situation by what she could hear. The look of worry on her face could be seen as she kept moving her head around as if doing that would help her better understand the situation.
Astrid turned back to face Hiccup and she saw as the dragon looked ready to fire in his face, keeping him up against the wall. Astrid was almost starting to worry that he might actually die then and there when Gobber came along, pulling the dragon up with his hook, the last shot hitting just above the boy's head.
"And that's six," Gobber says as he drags the Gronckle back to its cage, "Go back to bed, you overgrown sausage!"
He dragged the dragon back into its pen and addressed it again as he put the log in place, "You'll get another chance, don't you worry."
He then walked over to where Hiccup was still leaning against the wall, "Remember, a dragon will always, always go for the kill."
Gobber helped Hiccup to his feet before walking away. Astrid continued to watch Hiccup and was surprised to see a thoughtful look come across his face as he stared towards where the Gronckle now was. She turned her head to look at Helga and saw the same identical look on her face as the one on her twin's. She was not sure if it was the near death experience of Hiccup's, or something Gobber had said, but something had them thinking. Astrid just was not sure what to think about it, that look on their faces usually meant trouble was on the horizon.
A/N: and here we have chapter 2
I made the first day of dragon training from Astrid's 3rd person POV because well, as good as Helga's hearing is, she would still not be able to hear much from the stands, so it had to be either Hiccup or Astrid and I chose Astrid to have a different take on the whole thing.
On another note, I had a guest reviewer wondering what dragon Helga will have. To be truthful, she might not get one. She's blind, not really conducive for training a dragon or flying solo. Will she hitch rides with the others, most assuredly, but will she ever fly alone, the other dragons maybe, but flying Toothless solo isn't likely. In order for her to fly Toothless, she'd need to be able to see where they're going to move his tail into the correct position, so she'll only ever be on Toothless with Hiccup.
However, the other dragons don't necessarily need their rider to tell them what to do, so it is feasible that she could ride them alone. Though honestly, I doubt there would be many times she would need to. Also, if she ever does get a dragon to call her own, it's doubtful it will be one she could ride, it's more likely to be a pet like dragon instead.
If there is any other confusion, don't hesitate to ask in a review, I may not have all the answers yet, but I'll answer the best I can.
Seza, over and out.