Through The Ups & Downs
Couple; HarrisonXAddilyn
Rating; Mature
Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD or any songs I might use! Also, from this point in the story and in future chapters, I do not own the character; Ella(Eira) Solveig. She belongs to my good friend, ShadowSpirit020.
7) An Adjustment
The young men of room two on the left side of the building they were in ended up going to sleep early after picking their beds and getting some breakfast after the long eighteen-hour flight from Arc Isle. The boys slept from 9:45 am to 4:30 pm, woke up to feed their dragons then get something to eat themselves before unpacking only their night clothes and going back to sleep from 7:30 pm to this morning of December 30th, 2014. Tomorrow was New Year's Eve, hard to believe it would be the year 2015 on Wednesday and Harrison was living in the USA until further notice to train the Drill Sergeants about dragons so they would be able to teach their soldiers who were interested, and future recruits. This was the start of a new era for the humans and dragons living in one world together, peacefully.
The time now was 5:45 am with the four males of Fury Fire Unit waking up to either one or all of their alarms going off at the same time. Harrison was up on his alarm at 5:30, he already used the fifteen minutes for the others woke up to go to the bathroom and take a quick shower, just to wake up a little more. Once he came out, Dexter went next to use the bathroom; then it was Trevor and Syrus. The three of them decided to use the main bathroom at the end of the hall that was beside the main room. By 7 am, all of them were showered, shaved, and dressed for the day.
"I guess we could go eat breakfast, then come back to unpack our things?" Trevor suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. Should we wait for the rest of the platoon?" Syrus wondered.
"Nah, they'll catch up. Some of them were up later than us," Harrison mentioned. With that decided, the four of them exited their room and headed for the door which sat directly to their left. Not long after they departed from the Alpha Barrack, Olivia and Chelsea were rushing towards them saying to wait up.
"Morning girls," Dexter greeted.
"Anyone else still on Archipelago time?" Chelsea muttered tiredly.
"We'll get used to it. Everyone else still sleeping?" Harrison mentioned.
"Sort of. Everyone was just starting to wake up, use the bathrooms, shower, and get dressed. We were up at 6:30, and showered last night," Olivia smiled. The six friends reached the Dining Hall which was just down the walk way, an eight-minute walk at best. However, reaching it, they noticed the name on the sign outside the main doors reading: Infantry & Dragon Trainer Headquarters. Were they at the right place?
"Ah, good! Some of you are awake. Morning," greeted Lieutenant Belmore.
"Morning, sir. Uh, did we reach the right place for breakfast? I thought Major General Wright said the Dining Hall was this building," Trevor inquired.
"It's in there, don't worry. Wright forgot to mention that only the trainees have separate buildings for everything. This whole segment of Fort Benning is reserved for the Infantry and soon to be Dragon Trainers. The recruit barracks are lined up way over there, and they have their locations for dining, buying, medical, so on and so forth. In here though, is all for the Drill Sergeants. There's an infirmary, mess hall, workout center, post exchange, couple lounges with televisions, tables, computers. Wright wanted me to make sure you knew," Glenn explained.
"Okay, so we weren't wrong. It's basically an overall building then?" Olivia asked.
"Correct. Have any of ya unpacked?" Glenn wondered.
"Nope, just been working on getting used to the time change and not getting lost. We planned to unpack after we eat," Harrison informed.
"Right then. When everyone gets unpacked and settled in, I believe we're all going to get a tour of the base and see where we'd be working daily. Harrison, as you know being Private First Class, are in charge of all this, I'm merely here because I'm the platoon's commanding officer. I'm here for help, but you, Harrison know a lot about dragons and had top scores in your DT," Glenn chuckled.
"I still don't think it should just be me," Harrison sighed.
"The others will be teaching, but you're overseeing it to make sure there are no mishaps," Glenn reminded.
"I know, Lieutenant. Well, we're gonna eat. Catch you later," Harrison stated as they entered the building before them. Walking in, the six took notice of how it was set up. Hallways and doors with labels on them to say what each room was. There was a hanging sign above them as they looked. The Dining Hall was straight ahead, the infirmary to the right, the work out center on the left. Plus there were lounges, and the Post Exchange but all the team wanted was breakfast right now, so they went straight.
After getting their food off the long rows to choose from, then coffee, juice, or milk, the friends paid for their meals then took a seat at one of the tables. By 7:40 am, the rest of the platoon had made it in as they were all sitting close together and talking about how they liked the states so far. When they were done, they continued just to hang out and browse around to get a feel for where everything was in the Trainer Headquarters building.
"Harrison, we're heading back to the barrack to start putting stuff away, you joining?" Dexter asked.
"I'll meet you there in a bit. I'm taking Toothless for a fly," Harrison smiled.
"Don't too far, or you'll get lost," Glenn warned.
"Toothless won't let us get lost, Lieutenant, don't worry," Harrison smiled as he hurried outside to the stables and got Toothless's saddle on him, then led him outside to the open area where they could take off without breaking something up.
"Wow, he's so cool," said one of the soldiers. Harrison looked up seeing a small group of ten wandering around towards them.
"Thanks. Uh, well, I'll see you later then. Ready bud?" Harrison asked Toothless, who only crooned when Harrison rubbed his head then threw his leg over the saddle. "Let's go!" he called as Toothless gave a loud roar and bolted into the blue sky overhead. "YEAH! Woohoo!" Harrison cheered while whipping through the air, a whistle sound following his dragon. The speed was incredible! Harrison and Toothless did some loops, twirls, and flips before just gliding slowly.
"Want to try out the move bud?" Harrison asked his friend. Toothless grumbled, "Oh, stop it you," Harrison chuckled as he sat up straight and loosened himself, then Toothless did the same.
"What's he doing?" asked one of the curious soldiers who was watching along with Harrison's unit.
"Knowing Harrison," Trevor started.
"Something stupid," Chelsea finished as they continued to watch. Above, Harrison took a deep breath before letting himself just fall off and fall head first towards the ground. "Oh, Gods! Lieutenant Belmore, Haddock dropped off Toothless!" Glenn rushed over and looked up. However, before anyone could react to go after Harrison, Toothless closed his wings and shot past Harrison, and the two lined up with one another as Toothless put out his wings slow and Harrison landed on his back safely. Toothless pulled up and then they came around and landed five minutes later.
"Aha! We did it, Toothless!" Harrison smiled wide as Toothless jumped around and tackled his friend down, licking his face furiously.
"Harrison, are ya alright?" Glenn asked quickly as Toothless let Harrison get to his feet.
"Of course. Why? Did you think I wasn't?" Harrison quirked an eyebrow at his commanding officer.
"You fell off your dragon!" Olivia screeched while smacking his arm.
"I, uh, I know. I did it on purpose," Harrison stated as they blinked at him. "It's a move Toothless, and I have been working on. If I ever fall off him in battle, he dives and catches me, then we take off again," Harrison explained.
"Well, from now on, can you refrain from giving me a heart attack so early in the morning!?" Glenn yelled at him.
"Fine. I'll give you one after lunch, sound better?" Harrison remarked. Glenn put him in a headlock and noogied him.
"How about no heart attacks at all?" Glenn sighed and released Harrison.
"Sorry. I'll keep you up to date on me and Toothless's training sessions," Harrison replied.
"I'll accept that answer. Now get inside and start unpacking," Glenn chuckled. Harrison nodded as he put Toothless in the makeshift stable and removed the saddle. After that, Harrison returned to his barrack room with Dexter, Trevor, and Syrus.
{Harrison's POV}
I hadn't meant to scare Glenn with the move, but it was something Toothless, and I were practicing in the event I do ever fall off him. The test was to see how close we could cut it towards the ground that still gives Toothless room to pull up after catching me. It was a rescue maneuver and never got worked on during training, so I figured I might as well do some things that could come in handy.
So, now I'm back at the Alpha Barrack, Room Two where Trevor, Dexter, Syrus, and I were staying until all this training the Americans thing was over and we went back home. Walking into the room we shared, I took a long look around. I didn't see much yesterday morning because of how tired I was but seeing it now; it was a decent setup. The first thing seen was the big window across the way with a microwave sitting on top of a mini fridge, and there were two small, rectangular shelving units on either side. I guess that was if we stored on dry, microwavable foods in the room with us.
Each corner of the room had a bed and desk combination. This meant that the office portion was under a well-supported bed over it. There were four dressers around the chamber. Two of them were on either side of the shelving units by the fridge and microwave. The other two were on either side of the entry/exit door to the room. At the foot of each bed was a wooden closet to hang uniforms or other formal clothes in. There were even two drawers at the bottom of the cabinets.
The dressers were four drawer ones, perfect to fit casual clothes like shirts, sweaters, jeans, pajama pants, socks, and underwear. I looked closely at the beds and desks. So, there was a five step wooden ladder to get up into the full-size bed. I also happened to notice that there was a two plug outlet right above the closets. I already know where I was plugging in my cell phone and tablet charger and maybe a clip on bed lamp. I did enjoy reading before bed after all.
Below the bed was the desk space. There was a comfortable rolling chair to sit at, a long space for a computer, some drawers for storage, and shelves for pictures or other trinkets from home. Now, in the center of the room was a three-seater couch, table, and two chairs to relax in. On the left side of the bedroom, there was a bathroom with a stand-up shower, toilet, small linen closet, and a sink with some counter space. It was basically a college dorm room; only it was built for four people.
After admiring the space we get to use for however long we're here for, I started unpacking my black duffle bag which had all my casual stuff in it. Just like at home; underwear, socks, pajama shirts and pants in the first drawer, then regular shirts in the second. In the third were jeans and shorts. Finally, in the last was sweaters. I grabbed my army uniforms which were all put together in a garment bag. I took them out and hung the pants and coats on the hangers, then put the allowed undershirts on the provided shelving off to the side of where clothes hung.
Next, I put my Class A uniform in to hang. I also made sure my ACU hat and beret made it to a shelf. I stored my extra boots on a shelf and left one out to use for training. I would switch them out depending on when they needed cleaning. In the drawer, I folded up my duffel bag and garment bags, then placed them in there. I closed the closet and moved to my backpack where my electronics and pictures were. I took everything out slowly and carefully, then started putting it all in place. When everything was setup, I stepped back and smiled. Finally, I was done unpacking! I checked my watch; it was 9:15 am.
Not bad for only taking an hour to do it all. I glanced at the others and saw that they were almost done too. The last thing I did was stick my shower bag my closet, that way whether I showered in the room or down the hall in the big bathroom, I'd have easy access to my stuff. I decided to wander the barrack while Trevor, Syrus, and Dexter finished up. I checked out the men's restroom first since I had to go anyway. In there, I could see that there were five showers, four toilet stalls, and sinks, then three urinals. Decent, it would work since there were fourteen males in our platoon. Plus the fact we had our bedroom facilities too, I'm sure we wouldn't all have to be in a mad rush to the bathroom, and a situation would form where there wasn't enough to go around.
Leaving there, I sauntered over to the end of the barrack where the activity/hang out room was. It looked like an employee break room, just bigger. Walking in, there was a large counter area with a sink, a three coffee pot brewing station, the sugar, napkins, spoons, and more right next to it. There were two huge refrigerators for cold items; it said right on it a piece of paper hanging on the door to label what was yours with your name and the date it got put in. There were two large garbage cans by the doorway I stood in. There were also about three round tables with eight chairs at each, a sitting area with couches and comfortable chairs to watch TV or read in. Hell, there were even vending machines with drinks and snacks in them.
This barrack was a small hotel! I might actually enjoy my time here if this was the accommodations we had just down the hall and in our own rooms. Even the Trainer Headquarters building was incredible, it had so much to do in it, and I knew we wouldn't be training all the time. Too much learning would overload someone, and there was no room for error in dragon training because it was all done with the help of a bond. I could honestly admit that this is rather exciting; being almost nineteen hours from home by airplane but doing what I love to do which was work with dragons. I liked it here, and it would be an experience I won't forget, it was just going to be an adjustment.