Chapter 3: Catching Up
Night had fallen over the island of Berk, the village illuminated by burning torches scattered throughout the settlement. Near the center of the village, a large door had been built into the side of a cliff at the top of a long series of stone steps and flanked by tall statues of Viking men armed with swords with large, burning braziers sitting at their feet. Beyond the door, a great feasting hall had been carved into the rock, with a stone floor and walls and a vaulted ceiling supported by thick, rounded wooden pillars. Multiple lines of long wooden tables occupied most of the hall, illuminated by burning torches set in sconces on the walls.
The hall was packed with Vikings, Highlanders, and dragons, all of whom were celebrating by feasting, drinking, and singing. At one of the long tables, Andra sat, flanked by Merida and Astrid.
"So this Vendal girl," Astrid inquired, pausing as she thought for a moment, "What was her name?"
"Ansei," Andra answered.
"You've been teaching Ansei the Common Tongue?" Astrid finished with a grin.
Andra nodded and mumbled something. Astrid blinked at this before glancing over at Merida for help, drawing a laugh from the redhead.
"Andra said 'at he's been spendin' a lot o' time wit Ansei, teachin' her th' Common Tongue an' managin' diplomatic relations wit th' Vendal," Merida translated.
"I still can't believe you guys found a hidden tribe of Vendal in the Highlands," Astrid replied with a shake of her head, "Do you think it's safe to be dealing with them at all?"
As Andra answered with something else that Astrid didn't understand with a serious expression on his face, the blonde looked towards Merida again.
"Andra says 'at these Vendal are different," Merida explained, "Withoot Mor'du's influence, they became more peaceful an' less bloodthirsty."
"Is it really that simple?" Astrid questioned in surprise.
At this question, Andra looked uncertain, and mumbled something.
"Andra says it's a work in progress," Merida stated, her expression mirroring Andra's, "He's nae entirely sure 'at they haenae….eaten saemeane in recent years."
Astrid's face went pale at this, leading to Andra holding his hands up and waving them nervously at the blonde while mumbling something.
"But he daesnae want ye tae think Ansai is a crazed killer or saemethin'," Merida explained with an amused chuckle.
"I'll give her the benefit of the doubt," Astrid assured Andra as she gave him a knowing look, "Especially since you're clearly smitten with her."
At this, Andra blushed brightly and his mumble became even pernounced.
"Och, daenae play coy wit us, Andra," Merida replied as she playfully swatted Andra on the arm, "Ah've known ye since ye were a wee lad, ye cannae fool me."
"So, go on," Astrid said as she leaned in and smiled at Andra, "Tell us more about Ansei."
Meanwhile, in a different part of the Great Hall, Will and Boyd sat at a table with Hiccup, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Tuffnut.
"An' then, jist like 'at, we were th' best o' friends!" Will explained with a laugh, before correcting himself, "Well, friendly. Like Ah said, Skullcrusher's a wee bit antisocial. Ah'll get through tae him sooner or later, though."
"That's a pretty crazy story, Will," Hiccup observed with an impressed smile.
"Yeah, but it's not as crazy as what we did during Snoggletog," Tuff countered.
"Wat's Snoggletog?" Boyd asked in confusion.
"It's our end of the year celebration," Hiccup explained.
"Wat happened?" Will inquired.
"Oh, you know, just a powerful spirit of wind and cold showed up and we had to fight him," Tuff answered nonchalantly, "No biggie."
"Wait, wat?" Will questioned incredulously, "You lads fought a spirit?"
"Oh, it wasn't like that," Hiccup dismissed with an annoyed tone.
"I mean, it was kind of like that," Fishlegs argued, "We did have to fight him."
"He kind of kicked our butts too," Snotlout admitted with a look of chagrin, "Except Hiccup's."
"Why nae Hiccup?" Boyd questioned.
"Oh, did we forget to mention that Hiccup has fire powers now?" Tuff all but sneered at Will, prompting Hiccup to turn and give his friend a withering look, which Tuff blithely ignored.
"Sun above, Hiccup!" Will exclaimed with a laugh, "Ah swear, ye're jist tryin' tae ane up me now! Ah manage tae befriend a rare dragon jist like ye an' then ye gae ahead an' develop magic powers!?"
"I'm just lucky like that, I guess," Hiccup replied with an embarrassed smile and a shrug, while Tuff's expression became a mixture of annoyance and disappointment.
"Sae, come on then," Will said as he leaned closer and made an urging moment with his hand, "Give us a demonstration!"
"Alright, but just a small one," Hiccup answered with a chuckle as he began rolling up the right sleeve of his shirt, "But only a small one. I don't think my dad would appreciate me lighting one of the tables on fire."
As Hiccup rolled up his sleeve, he revealed the twisting burn that covered most of his right arm. Instead of being a shapeless mass, the burn resembled a tattoo, seemingly depicting a pair of serpentine dragons winding their way down Hiccup's arm. At his palm, the two dragons met, facing each other with their mouths agape, a fireball suspended between them. Then, holding his hand out in front of him with his palm facing up, Hiccup slowly and deliberately formed a fist, a look of concentration on his face. A moment later, fire suddenly sprang to life, completely engulfing Hiccup's hand.
"Sun above!" Boyd hissed as he and Will jumped back in surprise, "Ye're on fire!"
"Yeah, Boyd," Hiccup replied with a chuckle as he unclenched his hand and splayed his fingers, "That was kind of the idea."
"An' 'at daesnae hurt?" Will questioned as he leaned closer to Hiccup, watching as the fire danced across the young man's flesh.
"Nope," Hiccup answered with a shake of his head, "Just kind of tingles."
After another moment, Hiccup formed a fist again, causing the fire to sputter out.
"An' Ah thought ridin' dragons was impressive," Will said, grinning as he leaned back and shook his head.
"What are you guys doing over here?" Ruffnut asked as she walked up to the table, her gaze focused on Will.
"Hiccup was just showing us his newest party trick," Will answered, his smile growing as he spotted Ruff.
"Oh, the fire thing?" Ruff asked as she arched an eyebrow at Will, "Yeah, that's pretty cool."
"Ah mean, honestly, Ah'd say it's hot," Will joked as he purposefully looked Ruff up and down, "Like a few other things I could mention."
"Oh boy, he's flirting with your sister again," Snotlout muttered as he turned to look at Tuffnut, only to blink in surprise when he realized his friend was no longer sitting next to him.
"What's that, Dad?" Tuffnut called to the other side of the room as he walked up next to Ruff and grasped her by the arm, "Yeah, we'll be right there!"
With that, Tuff turned and dragged Ruff away from the table, his sister only managing a surprised squawk of protest before being pulled away. His brow furrowing in confusion, Will watched as the twins left before he turned his head towards the others at the table.
"Did Ah dae saemethin' wrong?" Will questioned.
In response, Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Snotlout shared a look before they all turned back to Will and shrugged helplessly.
Outside the Great Hall, Ruff managed to pull her arm free of her brother's grasp as they stepped through the large entrance doors.
"What the Hel is your problem!?" Ruff shouted as she glared at Tuff.
"What!?" Tuff questioned in a bad attempt at feigned ignorance.
"How don't play dumb with me!" Ruff snapped, "You're too much of a natural idiot to fake it convincingly."
"Hey!" Tuff snarled, glaring at his sister.
"Answer the question, Tuff!" Ruff spat as she poked her brother in the chest, "Why are you butting in everytime I try to talk to Will!?"
"He's bad news, okay!?" Tuff exclaimed as he threw his hands into the air in frustration, "I just don't want to see you getting hurt, is all!"
"What are you talking about?" Ruff questioned as her brow knitted together in confusion, "How can he be bad news, he's one of Merida's oldest friends!"
"Who do you think I heard it from, huh!?" Tuff retorted heatedly as he leaned into Ruff's face.
"What?" Ruff asked, her expression completely baffled.
"After I noticed you two flirting the last time he was here, I asked Merida about him," Tuff explained with a sigh, "She told me that Will has a habit of flirting with girls and leading them on. He's broken more than a few hearts in his time."
"Aw geez, come on, Tuff," Ruff groaned as she rolled her eyes, "I'm not some little homewife who's waiting for some big strong man to come sweep her off her feet."
"Well then, what do you want from this?" Tuff questioned as he crossed his arms.
"I don't know, to make out or something?" Ruff replied with a shrug, "I mean, he's hot, what else would I want?"
"I know he's hot, I just figured you were looking for, like, a relationship or something," Tuff explained as he scratched the back of his neck with an embarrassed expression.
"Wow, Tuff, I didn't figure you were such a romantic," Ruff commented with a chuckle, before a look of confusion passed over her features, "Wait, what did you just say?"
"Um," Tuff mumbled in reply, his own expression turning anxious, "I just said I thought you were looking for a relationship or something."
"No, the other thing," Ruff pressed before her eyes widened in surprise, "You said you thought Will was hot!"
"N-No!" Tuff stammered, his face paling, "Y-You misheard me. I said….I said….I got to go."
With that, Tuff spun on his heel and hurried away, leaving a bewildered Ruff in his wake.
"Wait, what?" Ruff questioned as she shook her head clear before running after her brother, "Tuff, wait up!"
"Just-Just leave me alone, Ruff!" Tuff shouted back at her as he continued walking away at a quick pace, "I don't want to talk about this anymore!"
"Hey, come on man, what is this!?" Ruff demanded as she ran in front of Tuff and blocked his path, "Are you trying to hide something from me?"
Tuff said nothing in reply as he stopped and pointedly looked away from Ruff.
"Since when do we keep secrets from each other?" Ruff inquired, her brow furrowing as she leaned in closer to Tuff, "I mean, I'm your sister, Tuff. We shared a womb together. We don't keep things from each other."
At this, Tuff's head dropped lower and he sighed sadly.
"What is it?" Ruff pressed, "Why won't you tell me?"
"Because!" Tuff suddenly snapped before he ran his hands over his face in frustration, "Because I don't want you to hate me!"
"Hate you?" Ruff echoed as she quirked an eyebrow at Tuff before letting out a snort of amusement, "Tuff, if I didn't start hating you for that time you burned my favorite doll as a sacrifice to Odin when we were kids, I don't think I'll ever hate you."
"Oh yeah?" Tuff replied, his tone equal parts worry and challenge, "Well….what if I told you….I….liked….other guys?"
As the words left Tuff's mouth, a pained expression crossed the young man's face while he studied his sister's face for any sign of a reaction. Ruff, for her part, merely stared at her brother with wide eyes as the gears in her head silently worked to process what she had just learned.
"Okay….wait," Ruff finally said after a moment, her expression confused, "When you say that you "like" guys, do you mean….?"
"Like….I'm attracted to them," Tuff explained, "Like….romantically."
An awkward silence fell between the twins as Ruff took another moment to digest this information while Tuff watched her anxiously.
"Is that….allowed?" Ruff questioned after a moment.
"Of course not!" Tuff whispered agitatedly, "I'm pretty sure they exiled Dad's cousin way back when for the same thing!"
"Oh man," Ruff replied, her expression turning anxious, "Could you just….try not liking guys?"
"I don't know, could you?" Tuff retorted as he glared at Ruff.
"Yeah, I guess that's kind of a stupid question," Ruff answered as she scratched her cheek in embarrassment.
An awkward silence fell between the twins, broken only when Ruff let out a sigh.
"Well, I'll admit, I'm mad," Ruff said as she turned a hard glare towards her brother.
"You….are?" Tuff inquired as he looked at Ruff warrily.
"Of course, idiot!" Ruff replied as she punched Tuff in the shoulder, "How could you keep something like this from me!?"
"Wait, that's what you're mad about here?" Tuff asked as he rubbed his arm and looked at his sister in confusion.
"How would you feel if you found out I was keeping a huge secret from you?" Ruff countered as she crossed her arms and continued to glare at him.
"Well, I mean, in my defense, I really, really don't want to be exiled, and I wasn't sure how you would react," Tuff explained as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Hey, it's like I said, we're way past the point where I could hate you," Ruff said as she flashed him a warm smile, "Besides, if I accept this about you, you have to accept the fact that I'm absolutely going to makeout with Will."
"I guess," Tuff agreed with a resigned sigh and a roll of his eyes as he turned and began walking away.
"You know, this is actually great," Ruff said as she fell into step next to Tuff and looped an arm around his shoulders, "Ever since Astrid started going out with Fishlegs, I've had no one to talk to about hot guys with."
"When I first thought about telling you all this, I was afraid you were going to reject me," Tuff grumbled, "And while I appreciate you being on board with this, I never considered what would happen if you were too on board with this."
Ruff's only response was to laugh.
Later,
The bright moon hung over the village, providing illumination to the darkened smithy. Walking up to the smithy, Sheamus smiled as he looked over the building. Making his way to the door, Sheamus opened it and peaked his head in, looking into the dark room, the fire laying cold and dead beneath the forge. Stepping fully into the smithy, Sheamus glanced around the room, looking over the workbenches that lined the walls.
Stopping in front of one of the workbenches, Sheamus' brow furrowed as something caught his attention. Reaching down, Sheamus picked up the object, which he discovered was a piece of leather armor, jet black in color. Looking closer at it, Sheamus saw that the armor was made up of overlapping scales, which were smooth to the touch as he ran his hand across them.
"Is dis…." Sheamus muttered to himself, a look of wonder forming on his face.
"Dragon scales?" a voice finished from behind Sheamus, causing the young man to let out a cry of surprise and fumble the armor piece before dropping it to the floor. Spinning around, Sheamus found Hiccup standing behind him in the open doorway with a bemused expression on his face.
"M'lord!" Sheamus exclaimed, "Oi, uh, Oi can explain!"
"I'm pretty sure I asked you to stop calling me "m'lord", Sheamus" Hiccup replied with a laugh, "And you don't have to apologize, this is going to be your smithy too."
"Sorry, m-...Hiccup," Sheamus apologized, having to physically stop and correct himself, "Oi have trouble sleepin' at night, especially in new places, and Oi wanted to see your and Master Gobber's shop."
"I was feeling a bit restless too, which is why I came down here," Hiccup explained as he stepped fully into the smithy and closed the door behind him, "I see you found some of my dragon scale armor."
"Yeah, sorry about dat," Sheamus replied as he stooped down and picked the piece of armor off the floor, "Oi just wanted to get a good look at it."
"You really need to stop apologizing so much," Hiccup commented with a chuckle.
"Sorry," Sheamus responded automatically, earning a snort from Hiccup, "It's just dat my old master, Balfour, was very particular about me touchin' his tin's. He gave me a couple of good whacks for it."
"He sounds like a real piece of work," Hiccup observed, his expression turning grim, "Sorry you had to go through that."
"Oi wouldn't be here if Oi hadn't," Sheamus replied with a shrug before he turned his attention towards the piece of dragon scale armor, "So, dis is really made from dragon scales?"
"Yeah," Hiccup confirmed with a nod while pointing at the piece of armor, "That one was crafted from ones I got from my own dragon, Toothless."
"So, ya didn't take dese from a dead dragon or sometin'?" Sheamus inquired, his face blanching at the thought.
"I originally thought that would be the only way," Hiccup explained, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against a workbench, "Then, a month or so ago, when the weather started to get warmer, we discovered that dragons shed their scales. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Fishlegs has done a lot of reading and says that a lot of lizards do that. Since then, I've been trying to piece some of the scales together for armor. So far, I've only managed to make a suit for myself but I'm hoping to eventually make some for everyone from the scales of their own dragons."
"Wow, dat sounds amazin'," Oliver commented, before a pensive look crossed his features, "Dough Oi have to ask if it's worth all the effort?"
"I'd say so," Hiccup answered with a grin, "From my experiments with it, dragon scale is almost as tough as steel, but half the weight and completely fireproof. There's a reason dragon's are as tough as they are."
"Oi would have never tought dat dere'd be extra perks to havin' dragons around," Sheamus mused in wonder, "Havin' a goiant, flyin', foire-breathin' lizard around seemed like enough to me."
"That's not even half of the things we've discovered by having dragons around," Hiccup continued with a chuckle, "They also have this….byproduct called black rock which can be ground into an explosive powder. I've also managed to collect and utilize certain things produced by specific dragons."
"What do you mean?" Sheamus questioned curiously.
"Pick that up," Hiccup answered, indicating towards a cylinder sitting on his workbench.
His brow furrowing in confusion, Sheamus picked up the cylinder, which resembled the hilt of a sword, and looked it over.
"Flick the switch on the left side," Hiccup instructed.
Sheamus did as he was bid, causing what looked like a three foot long, hollowed out blade to suddenly spring out of the hilt. The sudden action caused Sheamus to cry out in surprise and drop the blade, which clattered against the floor of the smithy.
"Sorry, I guess I should have warned you about that," Hiccup apologized with a look of chagrin, "I'm starting to realize you're a pretty jumpy guy."
As Hiccup spoke, Sheamus leaned down and picked the strange sword up off the floor. Holding it up, Sheamus examined the sword with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
"What is dis?" Sheamus inquired as he turned his attention towards Hiccup.
"I call it a dragon blade," Hiccup explained, "It's built using some things I gathered from various dragons."
Stepping up next to Sheamus, Hiccup indicated towards the sword's retractable blade, which glistened slightly in the dim light.
"The reason the blade is retractable is so that it passes through a reservoir of Monstrous Nightmare saliva when drawn," Hiccup elaborated as he pointed towards the parts of the sword in question, "Then, using this lighter built into the hilt that I designed after studying Hideous Zipplebacks-"
"Ye ignite de blade," Sheamus finished, his eyes going wide with wonder.
"Exactly!" Hiccup confirmed, grinning as he pointed at Sheamus, before turning his attention back towards the dragon blade, "Additionally, there's a reservoir of gas collected from a Zippleback built into the other end of the hilt, which can also be ignited with the lighter."
"Sounds loike a potent weapon," Sheamus observed as he retracted the blade and set the sword down on the workbench, "Ye plan on wieldin' it?"
"No, actually," Hiccup replied with a shake of his head, "I already have a sword of my own."
"Ye have a sword better dan dat?" Sheamus questioned as he looked at Hiccup in surprise.
"Better is a relative term," Hiccup answered as he made his way over to a different workbench, "And I will admit it has a bit of sentimental value. But I think it's a pretty great sword."
Sitting on the workbench was a one-handed sword sheathed in a scabbard. Picking up the sword, Hiccup unsheathed it, revealing a gleaming saber made from steel polished to a mirror shine.
"What is dat?" Sheamus inquired as he looked at the sword with wide-eyes.
"This is Bemuhen," Hiccup replied, smiling as he looked the blade over, before holding it out to Sheamus so the young man could take it, "It's kind of an ancestral sword."
"It seems koind of small for a Vikin' sword," Sheamus observed as he took the weapon and looked it over before he glanced up at Hiccup, "No offense."
"None taken," Hiccup answered with a chuckle, "I am kind of small for a Viking."
"What's it made of?" Sheamus inquired as he turned his attention back towards the sword, "Oi don't tink Oi've seen steel dis foine before."
"We're not sure what it is," Hiccup replied with a shrug, "Fishlegs has been scouring a bunch of old books we found written in Old Norse, but the best we can find is some references to something called dragon steel."
"Dragon steel," Sheamus echoed, a thoughtful look crossing his face, "Ye tink dat means it comes from dragons?"
"Seems likely," Hiccup agreed with a nod of his head, "The problem is that we haven't figured out in what way."
"Oi tink Oi moight know," Sheamus stated as he lowered Bemuhen and looked at Hiccup.
"You do?" Hiccup questioned as he blinked in surprise, "How?"
"Back in de Hoighlands, dere were a couple of toimes where we fed metal to Master Gobber's dragon Grump," Sheamus explained, "Every toime we did, he would end up regurgitatin' dis slag dat wasn't quoite de same metal dat he ate."
"So you're saying that Grump smelted the metal in his stomach somehow?" Hiccup asked as his brow furrowed thoughtfully.
"It would seem so," Sheamus confirmed with a nod, "And even in its unworked form, Master Gobber was able to break off a piece dat was sharp enough to cut through our boindin's wid ease. If we had had toime to work it properly…"
"You might have been able to make something truly impressive out of it," Hiccup finished as he turned his gaze towards the sword still in Sheamus' hand.
"Now, Oi'm not sure dat's what you're lookin' for," Sheamus amended as he handed Hiccup back his sword.
"No, I understand," Hiccup replied as he took Bemuhen and slid the sword back into its scabbard, "But you've still given me a lot to think about, so thanks for that."
"Oi'm happy to help," Sheamus stated with a smile, "Just lookin' to pull my weight around here."
"I don't think you have to worry about that," Hiccup observed as he set Bemuhen back down on his workbench, "But it's getting late and we should probably both be getting to bed. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow, after all."
"Why is dat?" Sheamus questioned as he followed Hiccup out the door.
"Oh, no big reason," Hiccup replied with a sarcastic and worried tone, "Just the royal family of Corona visiting for the first time. Nothing to worry about at all."
A/N: Well, happy to finally get this chapter out! Nothing major happened here but I enjoyed writing the various character moments and plot points that will become important at a later date. As usual, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!
