Xoren, OechsnerC, Stardust333, MalirBly, Atomic R4y: Thanks for the reviews!
Guest: So I changed a little of the wordings. Throw an axe at me. ;)
Luna Nightrider: Thanks for the review! As for how many chapters are left, I am unsure. I want to wrap it up possibly within the next 10 chapters but unsure if I can fit what I want in those chapters.
Bonding
I stood at the corner of the cove, right before the exit into the woods. I looked into the beautiful ocean blue eyes and I could see that it pained her to leave the cove. We had spent the last few hours spending time together with the other riders. The sparkle that she had in her eyes when we were kids, and was lost when her Uncle had passed, was now back and brighter than ever.
Astrid quickly moved forward and grasped me in a hug, surprising me and knocking the air out of my lungs. I brought my hands up and returned the hug just as tight and we just stood there quietly. Astrid's head was buried in my chest, which is when I finally noticed how much of a growth sprout I had within the last three years. I rested my cheek against her crown and we just held each other, wishing that it would never end.
"I don't want to go." Astrid mumbled into my chest quietly. I gave her a small laugh and hugged her tighter. "I want to stay here with you."
"And I don't want you to leave." I answered her honestly. "But you know that if you were to stay here that it would raise questions in the village, and Stoick." I pulled slightly back, not releasing the hug but allowing Astrid to look up towards me. "And we don't need even more questions than there already are." Astrid nodded her head slightly, agreeing.
"But you should tell your father. Stoick misses you." I looked up and past Astrid at the mention of my father missing me, not releasing Astrid just yet.
"I-I can't…" I shook my head and looked back down into Astrid's eyes seeing concern in them. "At least, not yet." Astrid let her arms drop and took a step back once I released her.
"Just promise me you will." I could see the hope in her eyes. "Berk hasn't been the same since you left. Gobber doesn't sing in the forge anymore. Stoick busies himself with work in the village so it keeps his mind off of you." It pained me to hear that Gobber has been affected by my absence. Gobber used to sing all the time while I worked with him, even convincing me to join in a few times. Stoick on the other hand never thought of me when I was in the village, what difference does it make that I was gone? I took a step forward and grabbed Astrid's hand in both of mine.
"I promise that I will tell Stoick and Gobber." I saw the relief on her face as I promised her. A small smile graced her face, in which I happily returned. I was suddenly pulled forward and down, before a kiss was graced upon my cheek before I was released. I stood back up straight and watched as Astrid threw herself towards the exit and disappeared in the forest. My hand came up to my cheek as I stood there for a little while longer before I returned to the firepit, the smile never leaving my face.
"Earth to Hiccup!" I could hear the other riders trying to get my attention but I was on cloud nine with everything that happened today. Astrid knew it was me. She told me that she loved me. I told her that I loved her. Everytime I looked towards her, I felt so warm and giddy inside, and she would smile back every time she caught me looking. It felt like we were kids again. "I think Astrid broke him" I finally broke out of the trance I was in when Thuggory pushed me over and onto my side. I pushed myself up and faced Thug and I saw how he went from laughing in the moment to frightened in the next. SMACK! I smacked him upside the head before pushing him onto his back. The group of riders went quiet after I smacked Thug.
"I guess I deserve that." Thug slowly pushed himself back up into a seating position, rubbing the back of his head. "To be fair, we were talking to you and you weren't responding." Thug gave a sheepish smile as I looked from rider to rider, all of them nodding in agreement. I felt my cheeks go warm as I looked down into the fire, watching the flames dance.
"We were wondering what the plan might be now that Astrid knows who you are." I looked towards Heather and found a small smile gracing her lips. Heather was the only one out of the group who actually knew how much I loved Astrid, as we traveled the longest together in the last three years.
"I-" I coughed, trying to straighten out my thoughts long enough to answer her and the other riders. "The plan is still the plan. The only difference now is that Astrid will have to be brought up to speed on what the plan actually is." I looked around the circle of my small family before landing on Heather again. "Once she learns how to fly, I would like each of you to help her prepare for what is coming. And Heather?"
"Yes Hiccup?"
"When you have a chance, can you see if you can train her in combat?"
"But she knows how to fight?" Heather's eyes showed that she didn't understand what my request was. Of course Astrid knows how to fight, she's the best warrior on Berk, less Stoick, but that doesn't mean she knows everything.
"She knows how to fight Berk-style. I want you to teach her how to fight dirty, just in case she ever needs it."
"But isn't that Cami's specialty?" Heather looked really confused now. I looked towards Cami and saw her surprised that I was asking Heather this and not her.
"Cami is no doubt the best at fighting dirty." Cami's surprise turned into pride as I complimented her. "But Astrid still holds a grudge." I saw the realization on Cami's face before she shrugged her shoulders, agreeing with what I was saying. "Plus-" I looked back towards Heather, "-I think Astrid likes your company." Heather smiled and nodded in agreement.
"My plan tomorrow is to get the warriors and the dragons to bond a bit better with some activities before we attempt to fly. Thug, I'll need your help in the ring tomorrow morning."
"Does that mean I have to get up early?" Thug groaned, raising his hand to cover his eyes, "There goes my beauty sleep."
"No amount of beauty sleep will help you, Thuggory" Cami said from beside him. Thug didn't remove his hand from his eyes but spread his fingers so he could stare daggers at Cami, which resulted in the group laughing, with Thug eventually joining in as well after dropping his hand.
"Dogsbreath, I'll need your steady hand in the forge after midday tomorrow. We need to make a saddle for Stormfly so Astrid can try flying again tomorrow." Dogsbreath nodded towards me, showing me he acknowledged what I had said.
I stayed around the firepit for a while longer, while the other riders retreated to their own space to sleep for the night. Heather and I were the only ones to remain as we watched the flames dance. I thought back to what happened today and I started planning on ways to prevent it from happening again.
"Hiccup?" I looked up to find that Heather had scooted closer beside me, but still had her eyes on the dancing flames. I heard sadness in her quiet voice, which instantly put me on alert. Heather was never like this, she was a warrior, someone who should have been a shieldmaiden if given the chance.
"Is something the matter Heather?" She sighed when I responded, but she never looked up from the flames. I could tell she was trying to muster up the courage to ask me whatever she wanted to ask me. I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze, trying to give her the strength that she might have required. She gave my hand a squeeze in return.
"I was just thinking about what will happen after the Red Death is defeated." Heather still didn't look up from the flames, as if she was looking at something that I couldn't see. "I want to continue to search for my Father, and I know you promised that you would help but…"
"I promised I would help, which means I will. I don't go back on my promises."
"It's not that Hiccup, I know you keep your promises." Heather closed her eyes and let out a breath. I waited for her to continue, because I wasn't sure where she was going with this. She knew I was going to help her find her Father, we searched half the Archipelago already, and found so much more than what she could have found by herself. "It's just… Now that Astrid knows who you are, we all could see how she affected you tonight. You two didn't want to leave each other's side."
"We didn't want the other to leave. It's been three years since I last spoke to her, and eight years since we were actually friends. It's almost as if I am in a dream."
"We all could see that tonight." Heather finally looked up from the flames and caught my gaze as I watched her. "Which is why I will be leaving after the Red Death is defeated, alone." I could feel my mouth open slightly, trying to fathom up the words to respond to what she said, but nothing could come to mind. "You won't be able to convince me otherwise either."
"I-I wasn't going to try." Surprise flashed across her face for a brief second before it was replaced with hurt. "Heather, you know that I will always be here for you. If you want to try and find your Father by yourself, I won't be the one to stop you, but I would love it if you allowed me to help." Heather pulled her hand out of mine, and looked towards the fire once more, watching the flames dance and die down.
"I can't allow you to help. You have finally come home to Berk, to Astrid, and I won't be the cause to take you away from that again."
"You know, once this is all over, you are welcome to stay on Berk with us."
"That's the thing, Hiccup." Heather looked from the flames back into my eyes, and I could see tears well up in her eyes. "I can't stay here and watch you and Astrid be a couple." I was suddenly taken aback as she looked away embarrassed.. Was Heather confessing feelings for me? She never once let me believe that she had feelings for me. Why now all of a sudden?
"Is there something you're not telling me?" I asked carefully, trying to gauge the situation. Heather brought her hand up to her eyes and wiped away a few escaped tears.
"When my Father left and never came back, I felt alone for the longest time. Windshear filled a hole that was in my chest but it never fully healed. I always longed for something else but I couldn't figure out what it was." She sniffled before she snorted a chuckle. "When we traveled together, that hole healed some more and I felt like we were an unstoppable force when we did anything together." I really didn't know how to respond, so I stayed silent and waited for her to continue. "When I saw the looks that you and Astrid were giving each other, it's like that hole reopened."
I pulled Heather into a hug, and she collapsed against me, running her arms around my body and hugging me back. I understood where she was going with this. She didn't have feelings for me like Astrid did. No, Heather was yearning because of the relationship, but she never felt these feelings before.
"I think I understand Heather. What I think you are feeling is yearning" Heather snorted and pulled back slightly but never pulled out of the hug, resting her head against my shoulder.
"I don't think I was ever the yearning type Hiccup."
"Well, why don't you try explaining to me what you felt and why it made you come to this decision?"
"It's… hard to explain. When I saw you look at Astrid, I could tell how much you loved her just in your eyes. I saw the same look when Astrid looked at you. When you caught each other looking and smiled at each other, I felt butterflies in my stomach."
"What you saw between us, is something that you want for yourself. Someone to look at you the way I look at Astrid. Is that correct?"
"Well, yeah..." Heather sniffled again, her eyes closed as the heat of the fire and each other kept us warm. "I want someone to look at me like you look at Astrid. I want to feel wanted, and… loved." Heather let out a sigh. "When we started traveling together, I felt like I had a purpose other than finding my Father. When we met and trained the other riders, it felt like I had a family that I never had." Heather released the grip on one side, bringing her hand up to her eyes again and wiping away a few escaped tears. "Is it selfish of me to say that I don't want these days to end? I want us all to be together, as a family." I squeezed Heather tighter as she spoke. Heather might be strong, but we all need a listening ear once in a while, and I was happy she chose me as that listening ear.
"This little family of ours will always be a family, whether we are together or not." I rubbed her shoulder and stayed silent for a while, watching the flames die down even more and leaving the cove in almost complete darkness. "And you are always welcome where I go Heather. You are like the sister I never had but needed most."
"And you are the brother I should have had, not Dagur." Heather pulled away, escaping the hug that we had. "Thank you Hiccup." Heather gave me a small smile, which I returned without hesitation. "It means more than you think."
"You're welcome Heather. Any time you want to talk, just come see me, okay?" Heather nodded her head before pushing herself to her feet.
"I think it's time to get some shut-eye." Heather yawned as she stretched her arms to the stars. I followed suit and stood up, stretching all the same.
"That sounds like an-" YAWN "amazing idea." Heather giggled at my response, shaking her head with a smile on her face.
"Good night Hiccup."
"Good night Heather."
The sun was just cresting the horizon when Thuggory and I were in the Killring waiting for the warriors. Thug was in a grumpy mood and Killer, his deadly nadder, was no better behind him. At least the dragon could sleep during the explanation while Thug was needed to help with the activities. Lying around and on top of Killer and Toothless were a bunch of Terrible Terrors needed for today's exercise, following the bigger dragon, were all asleep until they were needed. Except for one, which was perched on my shoulder, Sharpshot was ready to start the training activity.
Astrid was the first to arrive in the ring, already making her way over to where Thug and I were standing. I could feel my insides flutter as she got ever closer, and even though she tried to avoid it, she ended up smiling widely as she stopped in front of us. I felt the eyes of Thuggory on us before he made his way to the entrance of the ring.
"Good morning M'lady." Astrid went from looking into my eyes, to looking at her feet while a blush rose to her cheeks making her look even more beautiful than she already did, never losing the smile.
"Good morning Hic-" she stopped suddenly, looking around to make sure nobody had heard her even though it was only us and the dragons inside the ring. "I mean, Shadow." Astrid shook her head back and forth slowly and sighed. "It's going to be hard to remember to call you Shadow now that I know it's you." I smiled at her, even though it was hidden behind the mask.
"I know, but it won't be long now." I looked over to Thug and he gave me a nod before I stepped forward and hugged Astrid, surprising her. "I wish I didn't have to hide." Astrid returned the hug tightly before stepping back and looking around again, finding nobody yet.
"You never told me why you hide. Is it because of your Father?"
"Partially. Stoick wouldn't listen to me when I was his son. Now I am a traitor to vikings by riding Toothless, he definitely wouldn't listen to me."
"I think you'd be surprised."
"I wouldn't have a chance to be surprised if he lopped my head off."
"Stoick wouldn't do that if he knew it was you." I snorted at that.
"Then you don't know Stoick." Astrid brought her arms up and crossed them on her chest, giving me an annoying look.
"I've only lived with him for the past few years, I think I know what kind of person Stoick would be."
"But you are the perfect image of a viking. I… I wasn't a viking in his eyes. He once said that I was the worst viking Berk had ever seen." Astrid arms dropped from her chest as she reached out one towards me. I really wanted to lean into her touch but instead I took a step back. I looked from her hurt eyes over to where Thug was standing and gave me the signal that people were coming. Astrid's expression fell and she put on her hardened expression once again as she fell into line beside me.
"This isn't over. We will talk later." I just nodded my head in agreement as the warriors stumbled into the Killring, hoping that nobody saw what had just happened between us.
Once all the warriors were standing in front of Astrid and I, Thuggory came back over to stand on the other side of me. All the warriors looked excited for what the day held, except for Snotlout who looked like he fell asleep standing up. Oh well, he'll be awake soon enough.
"Welcome back to dragon training! Today, I have brought along another one of my riders." I gestured back towards Thuggory, introducing him to the warriors. "This is Amethyst, and his deadly nadder behind him is Killer."
"Whoa, what a cool name!" Tuffnut interjected.
"Totally awesome!" "Ruffnut agreed.
"As I was saying. Amethyst here will be helping with the bonding activity that we have setup for you today, to help prepare you guys for flying your dragons. But before we start and I call the dragons to the ring, I will need to go through the process of checking for weapons again." I heard a bunch of moans and groans coming from the group, whispers saying that they wouldn't dare hurt their dragons now, or that they have already left their weapons at home. I smiled to myself, knowing that this was actually going better than planned already.
"Toothless!" The night fury opened his eyes after being called, he stood up slowly, shaking some of the terrors off his body. Some of the terrors flew to the ground or on top of Killer to join the others before falling back asleep. Toothless slandered over to where I was standing, sitting on his hunches and waiting, already knowing what to do.
One by one, the warriors stepped forward to confirm they had no weapons on their person, except for one. Snotlout was still standing in the same spot with his head laying on his chest, indicating that he was in fact sleeping. I motioned for Toothless to check him and once he was cleared for weapons, it was time to get some payback for years of tortune.
I walked over to where Snotlout was sleeping, mentioned for the other warriors to back up just in case of his reaction. "Snotlout" I quietly whispered beside him, receiving a groan in response. "Snotlout…" I whispered again, and received another groan. "SNOTLOUT, IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ARSE OUT OF BED, YOU ARE GOING TO MISS DRAGON TRAINING!" I practically yelled right beside his ear. That got his attention as he seemed to jump a few feet in the air.
"Yes Dad! I'm up! I'm up!" In his sleepy haze, he seemed to be looking for his clothes and helmet, checking to see if he had his warhammer. It took him a minute before he blinked a few times and looked around to see where he was.
"Ah good, you're awake. I was just about to call the dragons to the ring." Snotlout went tomato red with embarrassment as he grumbled to himself quietly. "What was that Snotlout? I couldn't hear you."
"Nothing." The shorter, bulkier viking responded grumbly. Payback was sweet, even if he didn't know it was me. The other warriors were laughing quietly to themselves, trying to hide that they were.
"Getting back to where I was." I mentioned as I walked back towards where Astrid and Thuggory were standing, and the warriors fell back in line beside Snotlout still trying to hide their laughter. "Today I have set up an activity to help the riders bond with their dragons more. Behind me, you will see a bunch of Terrible Terrors and they will be part of the activity today. As I call your dragons to the ring, the terrors will be instructed to hide within the forest at the same time. Your task will be to find these dragons and bring them back to the ring without hurting them." I could see the gears working in some of their heads as they planned on the best way to capture the small eluding dragons.
"The only rules are: First, you cannot fly your dragons. Since you guys are not trained on them yet, I cannot risk anybody getting hurt. That doesn't mean your dragons can't fly, you just cannot ride them while they do so. Second, you are to stay away from the village as far as possible. While you might be bonded to the dragons, the vikings in the village still don't welcome dragons. Last but not least, we will finish this activity once midday rolls around or until all the dragons are caught." I looked around to the warriors, making sure they all heard me. "Do you understand?" I received nods from all the warriors, excited to start the activity. "Amethyst, Astrid, and I will be overlooking the event to make sure all the rules are followed.
"If we are all ready?" Again, I received nods from all the warriors. "Toothless, if you may do the honours!" A small plasma blast was shot into the air over the forest, signaling the dragons to come to the Killring, at the same time the terrors that were asleep, woke up and shot out of the area into the forest, Sharpshot leading the way. I looked at the sun as the dragons all landed inside the Killring, and noticed it had about three to four hours before midday would arrive. I watched all the warriors greet their dragons before heading out of the Killring and into the forest, Thug shot into the sky on Killer's back to watch over the event from above.
"Walk with me, M'lady?" I asked once everyone had left the ring. She nodded her head, falling into step beside me as we walked towards the forest. It was hard to not reach over and grab her hand as we walked, Toothless following closely behind us. We walked in silence, worried about being heard or seen by the other riders, but based on how Toothless was walking behind us without a care in the world, I knew that we were alone.
"Why are you so adamant about me telling my father about who I am?" I thought I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear what Astrid was going to say. Astrid kept walking beside me, never really looking in my direction but never really looking away, in silence.
"I don't think you realize how much your leaving actually affected your Father. After the search parties were called off, Stoick fell into a depressive state and wasn't seen in the village for over a week. Gobber and Spitelout struggled to keep the village running during that week." We slowed our walking down to almost nothing, taking small steps as Astrid talked about the past. "It's the same time I found your letter in the handle.
"We thought that the Chief would never return to the village. Everyone in the village knew what happened by then, knowing that Stoick lost his wife to dragons, everyone suspected that his son faced the same fate." Astrid's face went into a sour look as she continued. "It was sickening to hear some of the village people talk about how Berk was better off without you. Even though it was just whispers in the wind, everyone heard them. It was the first time I knew what the village actually thought about you."
"The village was always like that, ever since I was born. I always heard the whispers in the wind, but it seemed to fall on deft ears when it came to my Father. Either he didn't hear them, the village was careful what they said, or he just didn't care." I kicked a pebble that was in the path, shooting it rolling over the forest floor. Astrid followed it with her eyes before it came to a stop.
"Once he emerged from the Haddock household, the whispers went dead silent. The life that was in your Father's eyes had all but disappeared when he returned to his Chiefly duties. Mildew had the balls to say something to him during this time, and he was exiled from the island." Astrid snorted, "He's lucky he got exiled because I was going to split him right down the middle. After that, the village was even more careful about what they said around your Father."
"Huh, I thought it was a lot quieter when I confronted my Father in the village, the Killring, and the meetings we had. Mildew always had something to say when it came to anything Stoick did, claiming he was an elder." It was my time to snort, "The man was married to a sheep for Thor's sake, I wouldn't trust anything he said!" Astrid laughed at that, knowing it was very true, which I joined in with her. With our laughter dying down we continued to walk through the forest, keeping an eye out for the other warriors in their search for the Terrors.
"It was not long after that I gave my shield to Stoick." I saw the blush rush up into her cheeks as she talked. I knew exactly what it meant, and it clicked that Stoick did mention that she had lost her betrothal, I just didn't realize he was talking about me. "I- I- I didn't know if that's what you wanted, so I made sure that Stoick put a clause in the arrangement that you could break it off if it wasn't what you wanted if you ever came back." I reached over and pulled her into a hug, not caring who saw us right now, which was quickly returned. "I always knew you liked me before you left. I sometimes caught you watching me from the forge any chance you could get."
"You saw that? I thought I was being pretty inconspicuous about it." Astrid snorted and fell into laughter, which I could feel through my whole body which resulted in me falling into laughter with her.
"It was hard not to, everyone knew." I felt her heart beating faster, and saw the blush rise up her neck and into her cheeks again. "I was also doing the same, it's how I noticed you looking."
"You were looking? At me? The runt in the forge that could barely lift a sword?" Astrid pulled away from me and swung her fist at my arm, landing a good hit right where she did before. "What was that for?!" Astrid smiled.
"Of course I was looking at you, dork." I smiled at the nickname, matching her smile. "And you weren't a runt. Do you think any of the other teenagers could do what you could do? They struggled just lifting the bucket of water in the water brigade!" The blush returned to her face, realizing what she was saying. My smile grew as her blush grew and she had to look away. I gave her a small punch to her arm, not as hard as her, but enough to get her attention.
"I never would have thought you noticed me in the forge." She looked back towards me and smiled in return. We fell back into silence as we walked, we had circled the outside of the forest almost completely when I had finally realized where we were.
"There will always be a Hiccup and Astrid. Always. I've missed you Hiccup." Astrid reached around me and hugged tightly, which I gladly returned, hugging just as tight as she did.
"I've missed you too Astrid, and I promise you, once this is all over, I will marry you." Astrid's hug got that much tighter before she released me and took a step back, that sparkle in her eyes was the brightest it has ever been. Gods, I love her, and she loves me. "We had better get back to the Killring, most of the riders should be back by now." Astrid fell into step beside me, with Toothless behind us. I had almost forgotten the dragon was behind us at all. He stayed silent behind us but kept a look out just in case we got closer to the other warriors.
The walk back to the Killring was short, and when we arrived, we found that everyone had already returned and was waiting on us. Astrid found her way back towards Thug and Killer and stood near them as I returned to the middle of the ring. I inspected each rider and noticed that most had caught the Terrors that were part of the bonding activity.
Each rider was standing where they had started, their dragons standing behind them, and most of them had a Terror in their hands. Fishlegs had captured an orange and red terrible terror that went by the name of Iggy. To his right were the twins, who each held a terror that were yellow with orange points, by the names of Butt and Head. Minden wasn't holding a Terrible Terror, instead it was perched on her shoulder as if waiting for a command. Her terror was aqua green with a little of magenta and light yellow mixed in, and went by the name of Sneaky. Last was Snotlout, who like Minden wasn't holding his terror. The purple terror was currently biting Snotlout's arm and had no signs of letting go. Everyone could see the pain evident in Snotlout's eyes as he tried to hold back tears from the pain. This terror's name was Pain and for good reason.
"I see all of you have returned with a single terror. Other than Snotlout, did you all enjoy catching your terrors with the help of your dragons?" I got nods from all the warriors, including Snotlout, which was surprising.
"Can you get this dragon off of me?" Snotlout was still trying to hold back tears, and you could hear the strain in his voice. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Pain had bitten him quite a while ago and hasn't let go since. I smiled and waited. Watching Snotlout in pain was almost like revenge for all the pain he caused me in the past. "Please!" There we go! Now that he has put his pride aside, I raised my hand up to my mask and created a whistle. All of the terrors instantly went alert and flew towards me, landing in front of me and waiting for their next command. "Thank you…" was the small whisper I heard after Pain had released Snotlout and he had started rubbing his arm where he was bitten.
"Terrible Terrors are small and intelligent dragons. Despite their size, they can be one of the most feared dragons in their class because of how stealthy and agile they are. They are also easily trained to do many tasks including helping with the bonding activity that you experienced today. Another ability that I have trained these dragons to do is something I like to call Terror Mail. To keep in contact with my other riders, we send letters via terrible terrors to each other." I looked at the terrors in front of me, noting that Iggy, Butt and Head, Sneaky and Pain were all present but one was missing. "While you all have captured a terror, it seems that one is missing, which means the activity is not over." All the warriors groaned in front of me, knowing how much work it was to capture the evasive terrors.
"One missing? Did you mean this one?" I turned around to find Astrid had Sharpshot perched on her shoulder as she was scratching under his chin like a house cat. I could only smile at her, which was hidden by my mask but she still returned. "I couldn't let the warriors have all the fun, now could I?" I didn't even see the small dragon when we had entered the ring, nor did I see Astrid catch him.
"Since Astrid has caught the last terror, I will call this bonding experience a success and finish training for the day. Tomorrow we will be taking our first step into flying with your dragons." Whispers went out between the warriors and I could see excitement, fear, and uncertainty spread across their faces. I waited for the whispers to die down before continuing.
"Amethyst, can you please take the dragons back to the forest and send Emerald to meet me outside the ring?" Thuggory nodded before mounting Killer, pulling out a similar horn to what Heather had used the day before. Once blown, all the dragons were alerted to the sound and followed Thuggory and Killer back to the forest. The only two dragons that didn't follow were Toothless and Sharpshot. "Class is officially dismissed!"
I waited for all the warriors to leave the Killring before I found my way over to where Astrid was standing, still stroking Sharpshot's jaw and I could hear a slight purr coming from the small dragon. "If you keep spoiling him like that, he will never leave your side."
"Is that such a bad thing?" Astrid smiled, continuing to pet the dragon. I smiled in return, still hidden from the mask.
"It is if I ever want to send another Terror Mail."
"Are you saying that Sharpshot is your dragon? Astrid curiously asked.
"You could say that." I reached out and scratched the top of Sharpshot's head, and he jumped from Astrid's shoulder over to mine and curled around my neck and fell asleep almost instantly. Astrid put her hands on her hips and cocked them to one side giving me a sassy look, which resulted in me giggling at her and was followed by her soon after.
"After I released Sharpshot from here-" I gestured to the cages that lined the walls of the Killring, "-he kind of just followed Toothless and I almost like Stormfly did. Once I met Heather, I trained him to send messages between her and I, and eventually the other riders. That's where Terror Mail came from."
"So Sharpshot was the terror that was in the ring when we were training?"
"Yeah, the same one that bit Tuffnut's nose the first day."
"Ahem" I whipped around to find Dogsbreath standing behind us, sending Sharpshot off my shoulder, with Seaslug not far behind him. Sharpshot went back to Astrid's shoulder, as I let my heart rate come back to a normal pace.
"Dogsbreath, you shouldn't sneak up on us like that, I thought you were someone else."
"I could have been anybody else. You let your guard down." I huffed in annoyance.
"You're right. I did let my guard down. I have to be more careful." Dogsbreath nodded. Dogsbreath looked past me and nodded towards Astrid, receiving a nod in return. "Ready to get to work Dogsbreath?" I received another nod in response, before we started heading towards the forge in the village.
The walk to the forge was pretty uneventful, just as expected with Toothless following behind us. Some people kept their distance or ran inside the nearest house or shop when we approached. Others just stood and watched us walk through the village without a care in the world. Many people had eyes on Astrid as she carried Sharpshot on her shoulder without a care in the world. Their General of Defence being that close to dragons and not worrying about it might sway more vikings than I could ever have done with words alone.
As we approached the forge, I could hear the pounding of metal against metal as Gobber forged the metal into whatever shape he needed at the current moment. Just like Astrid mentioned before, Gobber didn't sing like he used to when forging the metal. It felt like the whole place had a dark and empty feeling to it since the last time I was in there. The pounding stopped for a second as there were some words spoken between Astrid and Gobber that I couldn't distinguish from where I was, but soon the pounding started again before Astrid appeared and motioned us inside. Toothless stayed outside the forge, resting right under the service window that I used to man during raids.
"Gobber said that you can use this section of the forge." Astrid led us to where I used to work when I was an apprentice under Gobber. I instantly noticed that the tools that I used haven't been touched since I left, and there was a huge layer of dust on the table that I used. "The only thing Gobber said you cannot do is go into the small room at the back of the forge-" Astrid pointed towards where my old room used to be, the curtain closed on it. "-and you are not allowed to touch the apron on the peg beside the room." Astrid's pointed hand went from the room to the apron that I had used when I was in the forge. That thing was so big on me back then, it was almost a dress. I nodded towards her, acknowledging that I understood. Astrid went and sat on a stool close to Gobber, striking up a quiet conversation between the pounding of the metal, while Dogsbreath and I got to work.
"Emerald, did you bring the materials that we need?" Dogsbreath presented the leather required for making Astrid's saddle. I wiped down the table full of dust before I brought out my notebook from inside my armour and laid the design of Stormfly's saddle out on top of it. The design was simple, it was to spread the back of the deadly nadder and have two straps going under the belly to hold it on. On the back of the saddle, there was an attachment for Astrid to put her axe so that she wasn't carrying it on her back but was close enough that she could grab it in an instant. On the front of the saddle I put two handles closer to the dragon so that she could hold on while leaning forward, increasing Stormfly's speed. The saddle wouldn't take long as it was similar to what Killer's was, only slightly modified for Astrid instead.
Dogsbreath and I worked by ourselves while Astrid and Gobber were on the other side of the forge. I noticed that Astrid still carried Sharpshot around her neck and gently scratched his chin every now and again, the dragon staying asleep as if in bliss. Gobber didn't seem afraid of the dragon or else he just didn't mention it as he worked away. Once we had finished Stormfly's saddle, we moved on to the other warrior's saddles and started making basic ones where they could be strapped to the dragon and places where the riders could hold on. They didn't have any special attachments but we made sure to allow expansion of the saddles if the riders wanted them.
Just as I was finishing up the last saddle for the riders, I looked around to find that Gobber and Dogsbreath must have left the forge some time ago. Astrid was still sitting on the stool over by the main part of the forge, but instead of watching what I was doing, she seemed to have her head down on the anvil and was sleeping. As I looked outside the forge, I finally realized how late it had gotten. The sun had already passed the horizon and the moon was rising high in the sky already.
I looked around the forge, finally getting a good look at the place that I spent most of my childhood in, and noticed that not much had changed in the years I was gone. My old apron was still hanging on the hook where I last left it, and the curtain to my room looked like it hadn't been moved in a while. The only thing that was different was the workload that was piled up. It was worse than I have ever seen it, the result of Gobber not taking another apprentice when I was gone.
With Astrid still sleeping on the stool, I walked over to where the curtain was that closed off my old room. I reached for the curtain and hesitated, just barely out of reach. Did I want to see what was on the other side of the curtain? Was it how I left it when I fled the island 3 years ago? Or was it used as a storage closet like every other little room that branched off the main forge? I lowered my hand slightly, thinking about what could possibly happen if I was caught inside my old room.
I looked around the forge again, and listened to see if anybody was coming, but all I could hear was Toothless' soft breaths as he slept as well as the slight movement of Astrid's armour as she slept. Thinking that I was alone, I pulled the curtain open and I was taken back by what I found. Everything in the little room was exactly how I left it, except for the axe handle that was sitting on the table, the one that I had hidden Astrid's letter inside when I left. I made my way slowly into the room and sat down in the small stool that was built specifically for me when I was younger.
I pulled my hood and my mask off and looked from invention to invention pinned up on the wall, remembering each and every one that I created. I remembered going to my Father with each invention and showing him how it could help the village, also remembering how he would brush me off every single time and tell me he would look at them later. Later never came, and eventually I stopped showing him the inventions I created, but that didn't stop me from trying to invent things to help the village in a way or another.
Pinned in the middle of the board was the last invention I had while I was on Berk. Toothless' replacement tail fin, and the first few prototypes surrounding it. Off to one side was the very first prototype saddle that I had created for Toothless after I had fallen off a few too many times. The first one only had the pedal to control the tail fin and somewhere to hold on. Everything was much different to what was actually on Toothless now, but it still ran off the same beginning prototype.
"You know, you really shouldn't be in here." I smiled as I looked towards the doorway in which Astrid stood. "I really should remove you and take you right to the Chief myself." Even though Astrid sounded serious, the smile that graced her face said otherwise.
"Oh no, whatever shall I do? I might have to fight my way out of this."
"You wouldn't get far, not this time around." Astrid made her way over to where I sat and stood beside me as I faced all my inventions again.
"Is that a threat or a promise?" I asked as I felt her hand land on my shoulder. I reached up and placed my hand over hers as we looked.
"I haven't decided yet." Even though I couldn't see her face, I could hear the smile in her voice. "Most of these inventions would have changed Berk as we know it."
"All of them would have changed Berk, and helped them against the raids, feeding the village, building and rebuilding houses, faster and more aligle fishing boats that could hold more fish. That's why I invented them."
"How come you never showed your Father?"
"I showed my Father most of them, but he never cared. He always pushed me aside and said he would look at them later. You can see how that went." I let out a breath as I remembered some of the reactions he would give me, especially after destroying the village. "I think once I started doing more damage than what the dragons did during the raids, Stoick wanted me to stop inventing completely. Even Gobber was tired of all my failed inventions."
"But you never stopped." It wasn't a question.
"I couldn't stop. The invention that took down Toothless could have helped out in many raids but it was lethal and was destroyed by the nightmare that chased me that night. After that, the only invention that mattered was that." I pointed to the inventions in the middle of the board, the one of Toothless' tail and saddle.
"Gobber and I could never figure out what those were really for. The one looked like it was meant to be a sail but the dimensions were too small for any ship that we had. The other one looked to be a saddle, but it was much too large for any animal that we had known on Berk."
"That's because they weren't for a ship or an animal. They were to help Toothless to fly again."
Astrid pointed towards the first prototype tail fin, "So that was the first tail fin that you created for Toothless after you shot off his?" I nodded when she questioned. "And the other one was a saddle with a pedal to control the tail fin?" I nodded once again.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THIS ROOM?! I TOLD YOU-" Gobber was suddenly at the door of the small room, scaring both of us as he started yelling. As Astrid jumped out of the way at the sudden outburst, Gobber's sight fell directly on me and the mug attachment that he had raised in the air, ready to attack, was lowered slowly. "Hiccup?"
Another character added in the mix. What happens now? Will he go right to the Chief or will he trust his old friend? Stay tuned to find out!