The Iron Gronckle:
Chasing an Outcast ship previously sighted, Aric looked back to see Fishlegs and Meatlug falling behind. He briefly groaned in frustration at it, but kept moving with the others. When they turned passed a sea stack, everyone had expected to see an Outcast ship, but instead there was pure ocean.
"We missed it!" Snotlout exclaimed furiously.
"It was headed this way", Aric stated increasingly annoyed as well. That was the third time that week. "It must have outrun us."
"How does an Outcast ship outrun our dragons?" Hiccup asked perplexed, but just then the answer came fluttering in. Everyone just stared, some almost awkwardly, as Fishlegs and Meatlug slowly flew in and plopped themselves right between Hookfang and Barch, shoving the two dragons aside in the process.
"That's how", Snotlout answered.
"Whoo! We were really moving, girl!" Fishlegs exclaimed in excitement. "What did we miss?"
"It's not what you missed. It's what we ALL MISSED!"
"Snotlout", Hiccup warned.
"What? I'm just calling it like I see it? If we didn't have slow, and really really slow holding us back, I don't know, maybe we'd have a chance to actually do what we're supposed to be DOING!"
After thinking about it for a moment the twins nodded in agreement, but the others had to disagree speaking on top of each other.
"Snotlout", Hiccup said in a reprimanding tone. "You're really not helping", Astrid said, also upset with him. "Nah, that's a bit harsh", Aric said as well.
"Guys, he does have a point", Fishlegs surprisingly argued.
"Fishlegs…" Hiccup tried.
"It's no big deal, Hiccup. You guys keep looking. Meatlug and I will…circle back and patrol the cliffs. Shore up the rear!"
"Are you sure about this?" Aric asked.
"Absolutely", he replied, although a little strained.
The three opposers looked to each other in surprise and a little worry.
"Okay", Hiccup conceded tentatively. "Uh, well…use your dragon call if you spot anything."
"You know I will", Fishlegs replied, and the riders save Fishlegs moved out.
000
"Wow, I thought they'd put up more of a fight than that. Didn't you?" Fishlegs lamented as he watched his friends go on without him. He at least thought Hiccup or Astrid would defend him, or talk him out of staying behind. Out of everyone, they were really his closest friends. Aric was cool too, but he found he just had more common ground with the girls. They listened and responded to him more than anyone else; especially Hiccup. They were his best friends…and yet…they left him behind. Just like that.
"Come on. We'll go to that nice quarry with the blueberry bushes",Meatlug tenderly offered, and Fishlegs simply nodded mounting on and letting Meatlug lead the way.
When they arrived to the quarry, Meatlug bound over to the abundance of rocks unsure of what to start with first. Meanwhile, Fishlegs mopingly made his way to a rock. He sat there near the bushes of berries by the cliff side overlooking the ocean.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That those guys don't appreciate us", Meatlug offered as she tried to get a large sand stone into her mouth.
"Yeah", Fishlegs said continuing to eat the blue berries beside him. "There's plenty of stuff that we do better than the others."
"That's right."
"Like hovering."
"My point exactly!"
"An-and Zig-zagging…"
"Uh… Yeah! I guess."
"And then there's… um, stationary flying…! Which, admittedly, is similar to hovering." Fishlegs deflated once more with a sigh of defeat.
Meatlug was about to continue with her rock feast, when she took notice of her friend's depressed state. Meatlug felt bad for the boy. Fishlegs was a sensitive and kind hearted youngling. He was much smarter than most of his pack mates, always loving to read and learn. But, his contributions to the group had seemed to have gone unnoticed, and in many ways, unappreciated. In some ways, Meatlug could relate. Compared to the other dragons, she was small, slow, and all together not the most powerful dragon of their makeshift pack. Hookfang often took the attitude of Snotlout saying the pack would be better off if she took her 'little hatchling' and left the missions to the 'real' dragons. Usually Stormfly or Toothless, and sometimes Shadowstar too, were there to back her up and make the Nightmare stop though, just as Fishlegs' friends were always there for him. This time, however, they barely put up a fight. Instead of continuing on with her feast, Meatlug walked on over to her human, and gave him a big lick across his cheek.
"Aw-haw-haw...girl, you always know how to make me feel better. And", Fishlegs then said picking up a rock, Meatlug getting excited again. "I know how to make you feel better too. Have at 'em, girl", he told her throwing the rock.
Meatlug caught it, catching another that Fishlegs threw after the first, and then began having an eating fest with the berries and rocks. One of the many things they had in common was that food always had a way of making them feel better when stressed or upset. They ate more, and more, and more…
Until it turned out to be a very bad idea as they lumbered to Gobber with very full and aching bellies. Fishlegs wasn't sure he would be able to hold it all down, feeling like he was gonna burst. Meatlug, on the other hand, had the opposite problem.
"Ogh, Gobber." The blacksmith in question turned to the teen. "Could you help Meatlug? She's not feeling well." Oh man, he really felt like the berries were about to come up then. He needed to lie down.
"What's the problem?" Gobber asked coming over.
"She ate a ton of rocks, but she can't seem to fire out any lava", he strained to say through the pain of his own stomach.
No matter how hard Meatlug tried, nothing came out. It was like she was backed up. Meatlug was in pain, and she just flopped onto her side in an unwell heap.
"Hmm", Gobber sounded. He opened the Gronckle's mouth and leaned away in a grimace. "Oh, Odin's dirty diaper."
"Wha―what's wrong?" Fishlegs asked worried.
"Dragon breath", Gobber answered.
That ebbed Fishlegs' worry, but what was wrong with Meatlug?
Gobber went to Meatlug's belly now. He leaned his head over to it patting the underbelly of the unwell dragon. "I'd say you two overdid it", he then said. "Celebrating, were ya?"
Fishlegs' stomach lurched. "Not—exactly."
"Don't worry", Gobber went on taking out a box from under the table at the wall. "Ol' Gobber can fix her right up." He then sifted through the contents of the box, Fishlegs watching anxiously as the man took out a file, an ax, pliers Gobber seemed particularly interested in if evidence by his "ooh", a mace… Just what was the man going to try using to help his Meatlug? Finally, Gobber found what he was looking for with an "Aha! There we go." Turning around, Fishlegs could see that Gobber had a little chicken feather in his hand.
'Just what is a chicken feather going to do?' Fishlegs thought perplexed.
Gobber went ahead to Meatlug with the feather. His hand then went to her stomach, and he began tickling her belly with the small feather.
"Oh, come on", Fishlegs groaned. "That's not gonna—"
Just before Fishlegs could finish his sentence, however, Meatlug began spewing out lava in the workshop. She just kept going and going, the area filling with molten lava unable to stop. At last, Fishlegs and Gobber both perched up on top Gobber's anvil, Meatlug did.
"Sorry about your shop", Fishlegs apologized. "I've never seen her make this much lava before… Or this color, it's weird. Okay! Tickle at will!" he declared for his own aching belly.
"Ugh. Keep your tunic on boy." Gobber took out his feather giving it to Fishlegs. "I only do dragons."
000
Outrunning those Dragon Riders was a breeze. All they had to do was hide behind that sea stack, and the teens were none the wiser. As soon as the chubby one with the Gronckle flew off, Savage ordered for them to continue sailing. Their destination? The cave where they planted those Whispering Death eggs less than a week ago.
Once they reached shore, Savage and two other Outcasts entered the cave with torches in hand. The dragons were hatched; there was no doubt about that. Numerous egg shells littered the area. They walked on further until they came across a cluster of tiny Whispering Death hatchlings flying overhead.
One of his comrade's went instinctively for his weapon.
"Steady…" Savage said placing a hand on the shoulder connected to the arm that had attempted to threaten the little dragons. So far the hatchling hadn't even seemed to notice them, and the less commotion the better. "Alvin's plan is working. When these Whispering Deaths are fully grown, Berk will be destroyed."
"Savage", his other comrade quietly called. "One of them started out bigger than the others." The Outcast stood by an eggshell much larger than any of the others they had walked passed. And far larger than any of the hatchlings fluttering about in the cavern.
Savage moved forward to take a better look at it. "Hmm… Never seen a Whispering Death egg this size before." It was defiantly strange. It looked to be an egg of a Whispering Death, but at the same time it was far too large to be the egg of a Whispering Death. He looked up, all the men's torches lighting up a space in the ceiling where a giant hole resided. "Or a tunnel that size." Whatever this thing was, Savage was glad it was under Berk.
A strange roar then emanated from the hole.
"What was that?"
"What ever it is, I'm not sticking around to find out", Savage responded, and the three men slowly backed out never wanting to come back again.
000
Meatlug absolutely loved bath time. This Fishlegs knew, and it was one of the reasons, beyond keeping his precious baby nice and clean, that he made sure to give Meatlug a good scrub down at least three times a week. It was as he was doing this, scrubbing her scales with a large brush, Meatlug loving every moment of it, that Fishlegs saw his friends return. Following where they had flown in, he ran over to them in an instant throwing the brush aside.
"Did you uh, did you find your Outcast ship?" he asked.
Snotlout just blathered nonsensical noises in mockery of him. "Do you see an Outcast ship?"
"No, we didn't find them", Aric answered in translation, looking board of Snotlout's childish behavior.
"Fishlegs!" Gobber then sounded running up. "Do you know what this is?!" he asked excitedly holding up a sword.
"Don't tell me! Don't tell me!" Tuffnut exclaimed holding his hand out in the motion of stop for everyone.
"Um… a sword?" Ruffnut, next to him, answered.
"I said don't tell me!" Tuffnut complained punching at his sister several times.
"I wasn't telling you; I was telling him!" Ruffnut explained before attacking him back resulting in many ows from Tuffnut.
"Not just any sword; feel it", Gobber went on. He threw the sword to Fishlegs, only to be intercepted by Astrid. "I made it out of that strange lava Meatlug left in my shop."
"This was made from…Gronckle lava?" Hiccup asked amazed as Astrid swung the sword around, Aric ducking and dodging away trying not to get hit by his distracted sister.
"I prefer to call it Gronckle Iron. I got tired of waiting for it to cool. You know what I always say; 'pound it while it's hot.' Next thing I know, bing, bang, boom, and I've created this little beauty."
"It's pretty", Astrid commented, the sword indeed very nice looking, seeming to have a smooth and shiny finish to it. "But, too light. Would never hold up in battle", she concluded before tossing the sword back.
"Exactly what I thought! Until I did this." Gobber grabbed Snotlout over, the boy's sword in hand, and before Snotlout even knew what was coming Gobber swung his new sword cutting right through Snotlout's.
""Whoa…"" everyone chorused.
"Is there any left? I've been wanting a new dagger", Aric asked.
"New helmets!" the twins said in tandem before banging their heads, and in turn their helmets, together.
"Ours are pretty banged up…from…banging…them", Tuffnut tried saying before the two twins collapsed onto the ground.
"Yep! It'd go nice on that fancy new shield of yours", Gobber then stated to Hiccup handing the sword to her.
"Exactly what I was thinking. It could make it stronger…" she said giving it a swing, "…and lighter."
Fishlegs noted that the sword must have been extraordinarily light if Hiccup could not only hold, but swing the sword with no trouble at all. He wished he could feel it for himself, but it seemed everyone would rather forget he was even there.
"Excuse me", Snotlout then intervened. "Why don't you start by making me a new sword!"
"Why don't you start by getting in line", Gobber shot back.
Looking to the forge there was apparently a huge line forming, and Fishlegs' eyes widened at the sight as Meatlug came up next to him.
"The whole town has heard of Meatlug's Gronckle Iron. And they all want a piece of the action", Gobber stated, and Fishlegs couldn't have been more amazed and giddy at the prospect.
They had immediately gotten to work at filling out all the orders piling in. It was incredible; all Fishlegs did was cause Meatlug to spew out more Gronckle Iron lava by tickling her belly, and the crowd of Vikings gathered all oohed and ahhed at the sight. He felt appreciated…honored…popular… The simple act almost became like a show for him. One little girl even asked him to sign her new shinning Gronckle Iron helmet. The orders seemed non-ending, everyone wanting something from Meatlug's new lava. Hiccup even came into the shop to work on her new shield per Gobber's previous suggestion.
000
When Hiccup came into the forge the next day she couldn't believe the size of the line that had formed. It seemed like everyone in the entire village wanted something made from Meatlug's new iron. As she worked on her new Gronckle Iron shield, she saw how happy Fishlegs looked as he made a show out of his discovery, and Hiccup felt happy for him. She only hoped the popularity wouldn't go to his head.
Turning her attention back to her shield, it was almost finished; all she had to do was hammer in a few more bolts to keep it sturdy. It already felt ten times lighter than her old wooden one.
"This Gronckle Iron is going to do wonders for my shield", she said happily towards Fishlegs.
"Right? How great is this stuff!" he responded with joy, before walking over to the shop's window to hand another customer their new sword.
"So", Hiccup then sounded next to him. "What kind of rocks did you feed her?" she asked.
"Well...actually I can't tell you", he oddly answered. Usually Fishlegs was all about sharing new discoveries and putting them into the Book of Dragons. Especially with her.
"No?" Gobber wondered a little ways behind Fishlegs.
"It's a trade secret. If I told you, I'd have to mace you, hehe", Fishlegs answered again.
Gobber looked at him unconvinced, and Hiccup had her own questions, but before there was any time to question her friend, Aric and Shadowstar came swooping in.
"Hiccup, the sentries say they saw another boat! We have to go, now!" Aric hurriedly said, and Hiccup immediately rushed over to Toothless.
"You coming, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked as she hopped onto her brother.
"You know, I would love to Hiccup, but..as you can see, Meatlug and I are pretty busy", Fishlegs oddly denied, directing to the large line of people.
Hiccup looked to him confused and a little concerned. Fishlegs would rather fill out orders than help his friends? That wasn't like him at all. Maybe the popularity was getting to his head. Or, what if Snotlout's words affected her friend more than she thought, Hiccup then wondered. There was no time to think about, or fix any mistake she might have made, however. They had to catch that Outcast ship. Deciding to deal with this later, Hiccup signaled Toothless to go.
000
"You sure we shouldn't go with them?" Meatlug asked.
"Of course." While Hiccup's gesture for him to go was nice given yesterday, Fishlegs still felt he'd rather be where he was actually wanted and appreciated. "It's not like they really need us anyway", he mumbled still hurt and saddened by that prospect.
"Getting low on Gronckle Iron, Fishlegs", Gobber stated coming over to him with the feather.
But, really, who wanted to be needed by a single group when he and Meatlug had the whole village who loved and needed them? Right? Fishlegs took the feather from Gobber, and went on all fours to reach under Meatlug's belly.
"Alright, girl, let's make some magic", he said, and then proceeded to tickle her.
The only thing that came out were two hardened balls of metal.
'Oh no.' That wasn't good.
"What am I supposed to do with that, Fishlegs? Make someone a fetching pair of indestructible earrings?" Gobber questioned.
"Ooh! Ooh!" Gunner waved in the window.
"Not gonna happen, Gunner."
"Aw…"
"Alright, boy, I think it's time you let me in on your trade secret."
Fishlegs gulped nervously, but he had to do something. The people outside were murmuring to each other, likely all wondering what was the hold up. If he didn't get more Gronckle Iron and fast, everyone would leave. Or worse; get mad.
He decided it best to just take Gobber to the little quarry he and Meatlug had been before she got her tummy ache.
"Okay. This is it", he said when they made it, Meatlug still back at the forge.
"Alright, let's load 'er up", Gobber said setting down his wagon that he'd been carrying above his head. "Care to tell me which one of these is the wondrous rock?"
"With pleasure", Fishlegs tried his best to say confidently. He looked around the area feeling anxious, that anxiety only growing when he realized he didn't know what he was doing. There were so many rocks. How could he tell? He tried pretending he knew what he was doing. He picked up a black shiny rock; granite his deduced. "Okay no", he said. It couldn't have been that one. "Ooh, that one kinda resembles…" he murmured on picking up a sandstone. "hmm… Wait a minute! I-it could be―"
"You don't know, do you", Gobber nonchalantly accused.
Fishlegs stilled with anxiety at being caught. He dropped the rocks, and began to stress eat the blue berries on the bush beside him. "Of course I do", he tried, nervously chucking in the process. "It's just, well…rocks can be very…y-you know…"
"No. I don't. Tell me." Gobber still had that skeptical look on.
"Meatlug was very emotional that day; sh-she was eating everything in sight!" Fishlegs responded as he continued to eat away his stress.
"She was?" Gobber questioned taking a berry from Fishlegs' hand and popping it into his own mouth.
"Yes. It was a tough day for both of us."
A deathly silence followed with Fishlegs looking away feeling like the man before him was glaring bricks that just kept pelting at his soul. He couldn't take it anymore.
"Okay! I don't know which rock makes Gronckle Iron! I'm a failure, a liar, a fraud! Is that what you wanted to hear?! Are you happy now?!" he dramatically pleaded grabbing onto one half of Gobber's long braided mustache as he fell to his knees.
"Listen to me!" Gobber exclaimed lifting Fishlegs back to his feet, and sorta snapping the boy out of his hysterics. "We'll just pick up as many different rocks as we can find. We'll try them one at a time, and eventually we'll land on a winner."
"...Promise?" Fishlegs meekly asked feeling much more hopeful.
"I'm sure", Gobber nodded, and they set to work at gathering all the different rocks.
000
"Well that was a complete waste of time", Hiccup griped to her team mates in the academy after a very unsuccessful chase and search.
"We doubled back over the same area five times", Aric wholeheartedly agreed.
"Really? That was the same place? It looked so different", Tuffnut wondered.
"That's 'cause you were flying upside down, you mutton head!" Snotlout frustratingly exclaimed.
"Oh yeah… Fun though."
"You know, we needed somebody to keep track of our positioning", Astrid said.
"Yeah, we did", Hiccup agreed beside her. "And some low speed hovering could've helped over that sea stack?"
"I know."
"Oh, come on!" Snotlout groaned. "You're not talking about him, are you?"
"Oh no, not him…are you", Tuffnut reiterated. "Hey who're they talking about?" he then whispered over to Ruffnut.
"I have no idea. But he sounds important, so it defiantly can't be you", she replied.
"We're talking about Fishlegs", Hiccup monotonically answered.
"We're a team. And on a team everyone has a role to play", Astrid jumped in.
"Astrid's right", Aric agreed. "Fishlegs and Meatlug may be slow, but they're still important."
"We all are", Hiccup stated. "When one of us is missing, its― It's just not the same."
"Its your fault. You made him quit", Snotlout pointed the blame at Hiccup.
Her ears went down with guilt. Even though it was Snotlout's words that started it, he was right. She should have fought harder to make him stay. For all she knew, that's probably what he wanted. And now he would rather stay in the shop than be with his friends...it was all her fault. She had to get Fishlegs back. She had to let him know she was sorry. That they all were. At least Astrid and Aric; he'd probably never believe Snotlout, or the twins, were really sorry.
000
When Fishlegs and Gobber returned, they returned with a whole cart full of rocks. There were plenty of different kinds to choose from. Gobber dumped them all out before his baby, and all Meatlug could do was look at them all.
"She's so excited, she doesn't know where to start", Fishlegs said amused.
"May I suggest a little sandstone appetizer?" Gobber offered.
"Don't mind if I do!" Meatlug chirped and Gobber tossed the rock to her. It didn't take long before it turned into lava and she spewed it out.
"Good girl", Fishlegs praised her as the crowd outside cheered.
Gobber banged onto the sheet of already nearly hardened lava she had just produced. It only took a few bangs before he decided to just cool it in the water bucket. Once cooled, all that was left was a sheet of thin clear looking stuff. That definitely wasn't right.
"Worthless", Gobber said before tossing it aside. "Let's try again", he then said before a crash was heard as if someone had just broken a ceramic bowl or plate.
Gobber sifted through the pile a little until he found one of those shiny black rocks: granite. "Oh, I like this one. Shiny. Like Gronckle Iron." He tossed it to Meatlug, and she chewed this one slower. Then, unlike with the sandstone, she just stood there waiting. Nothing happened for a while, but that in itself wasn't good.
"Is it getting hot in here?" Fishlegs then asked as it began to suddenly feel very warm.
"Now that you mention it…"
They looked back to Meatlug and noticed her skin starting to glow orange, her scales sizzling with heat.
"She's gonna burst! Tickle her!" Gobber exclaimed shoving the feather at him, followed by shoving him to Meatlug. "Tickle her before she blows us all to Valhalla!"
"I'm― Ow! I'm trying! OW!" Fishlegs exclaimed trying to tickle his little girl without burning himself. At last she hacked up the rock, her skin immediately cooling down. The crowd was growing restless outside, and Fishlegs was becoming nervous. It was only then that he noticed the feather in his hand was on fire. "AH!" he yelled throwing it away, the feather burning to nothing but ash in the air. "Sorry everyone!" he went to the crowd. "False alarm! Haha! I'm―I'm open to suggestions."
The crowd of Vikings only got angry.
"This is outrageous!"
"Something must be done!"
Fishlegs reared back a bit. Just what did he get himself into?
000
Hiccup and her friends all followed her to the forge where she was pretty sure Fishlegs would be judging by the large crowd still in front of it. And low and behold, she was right.
"There he is!" Astrid exclaimed.
"Okay. So now what do we do?" Aric asked.
"I could pound on him until he agrees to come back?" Snotlout offered.
"Or we can just ask him?" Hiccup countered.
"What's wrong with pounding?" Tuffnut asked. "I like pounding. I like pound cake, I like measuring my weight in pounds…"
Hiccup once again ignored Tuff's ramblings in favor for figuring out how to get Fishlegs' attention. The crowd was too dense. She'd never be able to get through it. The only way left was to go was up. She flew on up till most of her body was over the crowd.
"Fishlegs! Fishlegs!" she called waving her arms in the air as she hovered. It only resulted in the crowd thinking to chant his name after her. Looking to her friend, he was so caught up with the crowd in front of him, he didn't notice her. Her. A flying girl with dragon wings. Maybe it was too late to get him back? She supposed she couldn't really blame him for wanting to stay here where he had adoring fans, rather than a group of so called friends who basically tossed him aside like bad mutton. She sighed, and landed. "Come on, guys", she said, and then started to walk away.
"Yeah", Astrid agreed following along the rest of the gang, but her voice was even. "We'll just come back later when he doesn't have his hands full."
As they walked on, Aric came up beside Hiccup talking only to her. "Hey, don't beat yourself up about this. We all pushed him away. And its not like he's forgotten about us, right? We can always talk to him later."
"You're right", Hiccup conceded with a tiny smile, realizing she was probably being a little silly. "I should just stop jumping to conclusions and talk to him."
"Exactly", Aric said punching her arm like he always did. The moment she got the chance, she'd talk to Fishlegs and apologize. Hopefully, it'd be enough for him to come back.
000
What Hiccup mistook for adoring fans, was actually an angry mob about to form. They were chanting his name, the tone becoming more angry and demanding by the moment.
"What a joke!"
"Useless!"
"Should melt it all down!"
"You know, I once saw a Viking mob turn on one of their own", Gobber said to the poor boy. "Tore the poor sot limb from limb. Started just like this."
Fishlegs whimpered in fear. "Its just that", he started turning around to face Gobber. "Meatlug ate so many different rocks", he said shakily. "I can't figure it out…!" he stressed putting his hands to his head. "Meatlug, please tell me you know what you ate!"
"I don't know! I was just eating them one after the other all at once!" Meatlug told him just as concerned and worried.
"Wait", Fishlegs then just realized. "That's it!" He turned around and faced the crowd of impatient Vikings. "Hold onto your tunics, folks!" he announced. "You want the Gronckle Iron?! You got the Gronckle Iron!"
"I like your enthusiasm in the face of dismemberment, Fishlegs", Gobber commented as Fishlegs began gathering different types of rocks from the pile. "Hope for your sake you're backing it up with a plan."
"Oh, I am. It must have been a combination of rocks that made Gronckle Iron. That's the only explanation. Alright, girl", Fishlegs then said with a pile of rocks in his arms. "Open up."
Meatlug did so, and then Fishlegs and Gobber were both placing a bunch of rocks into her mouth. She closed up, and began happily chewing making pleased sounds.
"Never seen a boulder she didn't like, eh?" Gobber commented.
Once Meatlug swallowed, that's when the waiting game started.
000
After swallowing the delicious rocks, Meatlug waited for them to digest into the lava they were searching for. For a long while nothing happened, Fishlegs looking at her with anticipation for something to occur. That's when her stomach began to gurgle, the sound becoming louder with time passing.
"Okay, something's happening", Fishlegs said slowly.
It was just then when something hit her flank, startling Meatlug immensely. When she turned to look it seemed to be one of Gobber's metal tools.
"Did you see that? Pulled it right out of my hands!" Gobber exclaimed only confirming her thoughts.
It only got worse from there, more of the man's tools flying from their places to her body, and Meatlug just making scared noises of fear and confusion.
"Her skin is attracting the metal!" Fishlegs exclaimed, before rushing to her with Gobber to pull the objects off of her.
More and more became stuck to her skin, and Meatlug was starting to freak.
"No, no! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" she expressed shaking her head to try and shake off the metal now on her face. As she was freaking out, spinning around, doing everything in her power to get the objects off her skin, Fishlegs tried to reach her. He tried to calm her down with his words, but not only was she no longer hearing what he was saying in her near panic state, she could also tell he was becoming just as nervous as she was at this point, and that only made her become more panicked.
That's when weapons started coming after her, blocked by Fishlegs with a shield. He couldn't prevent the shield from sticking to her either though. Something large then suddenly hit her flank, and Meatlug couldn't take it anymore. She had to get out of there. Now!
Despite Fishlegs' distant protests, she ran.
000
Hiccup was with Toothless playfully wresting in the grass with one another, when she heard Fishlegs' voice screaming at the top of his lungs.
"...Listen to the sound of my voice! I'm here! Come back!"
"That doesn't sound good", Toothless said.
"Yeah", Hiccup had to agree. Just what could have happened in only a few minutes? "Come on!" she exclaimed mounting on Toothless, and they swooped up into the air. When they got to where Fishlegs' voice was coming from, she saw him running through town…chasing Meatlug. She was running through town in panic, objects chasing her. The thing that scared Hiccup was one of those items included spears, points headed right for the Gronckle.
"Toothless, the spears!"
"I see them!"
They flew on faster, swooping down in front of Fishlegs, and then once close enough to get a clear shot, Toothless fired at the spears redirecting their course.
"Nice shot, bud!"
"Hiccup, you have to help Meatlug!" Fishlegs then called up to her as he ran.
"What's wrong with her?" Hiccup asked.
"I don't know! She's attracting metal? She's really scared!"
"Okay. Toothless, we've got to herd her away from town!"
"Right. On it!"
They chased Meatlug, making sure she didn't stray from her path leading out of town with well placed plasma blasts. They just kept her going straight until she got to the forest. That's when she began to fly instead of run, and with all the trees it was hard to keep track of her.
Hiccup pulled on the reigns telling Toothless to go up so they were above the dense forest, but that only proved useless too.
"Ugh…this isn't working. Lets try flying ahead and cutting her off."
And that's what they did. Toothless sped up until Meatlug was right under them.
"Here we go, bud", Hiccup commented as they began to pass her. Hiccup's brows furrowed. "This way", she told him turning right. That changed Meatlug's path to a cliff, where she finally stopped.
"Meatlug!", Hiccup exclaimed with a sigh of relief as Toothless softly landed.
Meatlug turned quite frightened.
"Hey there, girl", Hiccup said gently as she slowly dismounted Toothless. "It's me, Hiccup. You remember me, right? Nothing to be afraid of. We're gonna figure this out, but― you have to stay still."
"No. No, stay back", Meatlug said backing up.
"Nononono, it's okay… Easy… Easy… I'm here to help you", Hiccup tried crooning.
Meatlug still moved back some in fear, her body posture and sounds conveying nothing but that emotion. She was really scared, there was no doubt about that, so Hiccup started to approach slowly. The first thing Meatlug needed was some contact from someone calm; just some nice reassuring pets and scratches. Once she was calm, they could figure out how to help her. Hiccup took another small step forward.
"Hiccup!" Fishlegs then called with an anything but calm tone.
"Not now, Fishlegs", she turned back to him. The last thing Meatlug needed was a voice filled with as much anxiety as she was in.
"Nonono, you don't understand―"
"Not now, Fishlegs!" Hiccup said more firmly.
"It's metal! Your―"
Just then, Hiccup felt a strong tug on her left leg, and she fell flat on her face, her left leg―half of which she now remembered was metal―pulled right out from under her.
"―leg."
Hiccup was pulled to Meatlug, her metal leg, and thus Hiccup, stuck to Meatlug's belly.
"Oh. Gotch ya", Hiccup said before another surprise came her way. "WHOA!" she screamed as Meatlug shot up into the air, Hiccup just dangling with how her foot was stuck.
"Hey! Where are you guys going?!" Fishlegs shouted after them.
"ABSOLUTELY NO IDEEAAAA!"
000
Hiccup was dangling from her leg stuck to Meatlug's belly who was wildly flying away, and all Fishlegs could think was how could this get any worse. Beside him, Toothless stared off dumbfounded at his rider before glaring at him as if this was his fault. Despite that, though, Fishlegs knew what they had to do. Even though he really didn't want to.
"You…thinking what I'm thinking?" Fishlegs asked nervously.
"Move it, boy!" Toothless roared in his face before moving behind him at a side ways angle for him to mount.
"Oh…" Fishlegs put his hand to his face, "I was afraid you were", he said. Clumsily, he then climbed into Toothless' saddle. "Okay, Toothless. Let's just not break any speed records, okay?" he had to request before doing anything else. "Just give me the night without the fury?"
Toothless only growled in response as he began to spread out his wings, basically telling Fishlegs Toothless do what he felt necessary, and for Fishlegs that meant he probably―no―most defiantly wouldn't get his wish. Turned towards the cliff's edge now, and despite his fears, Fishlegs still took note of the pedal Hiccup had made for her father when teaching him to fly with Toothless, and began to try figuring it out. "Okay…" he muttered. "This looks like it could―oh no." The tail was activated. Toothless could leap. Fishlegs held on as tight as he could.
000
"WHOOOOAAAA!" Fishlegs screamed wrapping his arms around his head as tight as possible as Toothless took off. "TOO MUCH FURY! TOO MUCH FURY!" It caused an imbalance in his flying, but that didn't deter Toothless from chasing down his Hiccup. And Toothless didn't know why Fishlegs was freaking out. This wasn't even close to his top speed.
"Daddy's coming Meatlug―Whoa!" Toothless nearly fell out of the sky that time with this wobbly flying. "Maybe barfing, but coming―Ahh!"
"Let go of my head and sit up or we'll be drowning in the ocean!" Toothless roared. That seemed to make the boy grow a spine, as he let go of his head and grabbed hold of the handles to the saddle instead finally stabilizing their flying.
"Huh, I did it. Okay boy, lets get in close."
Toothless felt Fishlegs open the tail, and he inwardly cheered. Now they were getting somewhere. On cue, he raced for the Gronckle up ahead with his poor Hiccup still dangling helplessly in the air. They swerved right and left, Fishlegs steering him while also muttering to himself.
"Okay, now right!" Fishlegs then shouted, and Toothless sharply did so. "Now dive! Good job, level off." Now they were right underneath Meatlug, with Hiccup just above Toothless. He was so happy to have caught up to her, and couldn't wait until she took the reigns. No one was a better fit for him than Hiccup. Certainly not Fishlegs.
000
Fishlegs was now face to face with Hiccup, even if she was upside down. There was a tense, no awkward, silence in the air.
"Hey", Hiccup started up, not really making the awkwardness go away.
"Hey", Fishlegs thought it best to respond.
"So, how's it going?"
"Better than expected―Ah." Toothless had briefly swerved. He made it a note to apologize later to Toothless for his bad riding.
"Yeah, so, this may be a bad time…" Hiccup started. "...but, I really wanted to say sorry for leaving you behind the other day."
"Hiccup…" The apology was nice, but now was really not the time as he went to reach for his baby's tummy.
"I know, I know, you volunteered, but still I should've―"
"Hiccup! I'm trying to concentrate here!"
"Oh, right. Sorry."
'Closer… Closer…' Fishlegs thought as he a few more inches and he'd be there.
"Wait!" Hiccup interrupted again.
"Seriously! Can we talk about our feelings later?!"
"No, look!" Hiccup pointed behind him, and turning around, Fishlegs saw the Outcast boat she was trying to warn him about. A boat with Savage on board, and by the looks of it, they were setting up their catapults and crossbows.
"They're getting ready to fire!" he said in urgency.
"I know", Hiccup said swinging her body up so she was now right side up and holding onto Meatlug's leg. Clearly, Hiccup was going into what he liked to call her go-time-leader mode... It was a work in progress. "I've got an idea", she then announced. She looked up at Meatlug, then below, and then back up. "DIVE!" she ordered Meatlug pointing down.
Meatlug made a noise of confusion, but complied anyway diving down towards the ocean. Fishlegs had Toothless follow.
000
Once they dropped down, Meatlug did exactly as Hiccup had expected. She went straight with no regard of what she was coming towards. As the two females were approaching, Hiccup could hear Savage's commands.
"...On my command…Steady, steady, and―"
""Whoa!"" they all expressed as Meatlug passed their ship, the metal that hung from it, laid on it, and held it together being pulled towards the Gronckle. Letting go and hanging upside down again, Hiccup laughed out without a care in the world.
'That was great!' she was thinking to herself. That is until she spotted the Outcasts' weapons chasing after them. "Oh, not so great", she muttered swinging herself back up to Meatlug's leg. She'd forgotten about that part.
"I've got this!" Fishlegs exclaimed confidently as he and Toothless raced for them. They went underneath Meatlug's belly, and Fishlegs just tickled her. It wasn't long before Meatlug spewed up the rocks inside her, the metal quickly releasing from her scales, which also included Hiccup's leg who promptly fell, not in Fishlegs' waiting arms to catch her, but smack flat on Toothless' back. "Okay, good plan. Yay team" Fishlegs said happily.
They then watched as the weapons and other metal crashed onto the Outcast ship promptly sinking it, and also interrupting Savage's monologue which was always a bonus.
Fishlegs was then back on Meatlug, the Gronckle licking him, and Fishlegs all giddy and giggly. Hiccup looked back at the two with a smile on her face, and the four all returned home having once again defeated the Outcasts.
000
Walking to the forge, Fishlegs knew he'd find Gobber there waiting for him. He was leaning on an anvil, all customers gone by now.
"Well, if it isn't the conquering heroes", Gobber said. News of their run in with the Outcasts had spread through the village like wildfire.
Fishlegs looked down for a moment, what he'd come to say not as easy as he thought it'd be. "Hey, Gobber", he decided to start although a little strained upon delivery.
"Ready to get back to some real work, then?" Gobber asked banging on his anvil for emphasis. "I've got orders up to my skivvies."
"Yeah, I don't think so… Our responsibilities to the academy are going to keep us pretty busy..."
Gobber frowned at that, causing Fishlegs to frown; he didn't like making people sad or disappointed. But, then Gobber just shrugged. "Eh, understandable", he said. "Well in that case, I have a little something for you."
Turning around he unsheathed something from inside the forge, and when he turned back, Gobber presented Fishlegs with a sword. And not just any sword. "But...that's the very first sword you made. For yourself", he said astounded. He couldn't take this?
"It is. But anyone who drives off an Outcast ship deserves her", Gobber told him, and Fishlegs gasped at the honor.
"Thanks", he breathed. "But, I didn't do it alone", he then said putting an arm on Meatlug.
"I know. That's why I made Meatlug these fetching pair of earrings", Gobber took out the two balls of metal she'd coughed out when the last of the Gronckle Iron had dried up. Presenting them to her, Meatlug sniffed the trinkets, before deciding they were an offering of food and eating them.
"Mm… Tasty."
"Fishlegs, where you been?" Hiccup called as she and Toothless swooped in. "We've been looking all over the island for you. We need you." The duo turned back leading the way for the Gronckle and rider.
"You hear that, girl?" Fishlegs said. "They need us."
"Well then what are we waiting for? Can't let them down now, can we."
Fishlegs climbed on and the two made their way to their team, Hiccup turning back to see them and smiling brightly. Fishlegs couldn't have been happier to be back.
Sorry if this one was kinda boring. Fishlegs' episodes aren't particularly my favorites (they're my least favorites actually). In fact, honestly I find Fishlegs to be the most uninspiring main character next to the twins, but at least the twins have their comic relief going for them.
Long story short, he's my least favorite major character and not my favorite to wright. Besides for his anxiety issues, I just can't connect with him. :\