Chapter 13:
Exhausted from the previous day, Arkyn tried to sleep in as late as possible. He desperately grabbed at the fading feelings of relaxation, but unfortunately his plans for a quiet morning were foiled by a sharp knock on the door of his new home. Startled, the boy quickly threw on his boots and ran his hands through his horribly embarrassing bed head before answering. Who would possibly be paying him a visit at this point in the morning, he didn't know.
"Ah, well. Good morning Arkyn." The bright sun flooded into his dark home and blinded the Viking's eyes as he opened the door. Holding up a gloved hand for some sorry attempt at shade, Arkyn let his eyes adjust to reveal the large shape of none other than Stoick The Vast on his doorstep. The boy immediately stood up straighter at the sight of his new Chief, not wanting to appear disrespectful.
"Good morning to you too." Arkyn responded, still slightly confused. "Did I uh…did I do something wrong already?" He joked nervously.
"Nonsense, lad." The Chief reassured him. "I just thought I'd swing by and give you an official and proper welcome to Berk. Now that you have your own home an' all. I know you were stayin' with me an' Hiccup fer a while, but I had to be away a lot for, you know, Chiefly duties. We never really had a chance to connect."
Arkyn nodded. The Chief was right though. Almost every day Stoick had left the house before Arkyn and Hiccup and returned after, paths rarely crossing. It made Arkyn wonder when the man ever found any time to sleep himself. "No worries, and I appreciate the hospitality regardless." He smiled.
"Good. Well. I understand your journey here was rather…eventful…but now that you've arrived, I hope you've been able to find Berk accommodating so far. Even with all the dragons, we try our best." Stoick's voice boomed, but the man sounded proud of his village.
"Of course, sir. You didn't banish me on the spot, at least not yet, so I suppose that's a good start." The pair shared a laugh as the Chief transitioned into his exit. "I'm glad. Unfortunately I best be off now…got a town meeting to attend to. You know the deal." The large figure turned to leave. "Oh, an' if Hiccup ever gives you any trouble, you be sure to let me know." And with that, Stoick winked and left down the road towards the town chambers.
Arkyn stepped back inside his house and smiled to himself. The Chief was far less intimidating than he looked, at least to him, and it probably was best for Arkyn if he stayed on the man's good side, for fear Berk's leader would tie him to a burning vessel if that were not the case. Whatever the reason, it felt good to know an adult was looking after him, even if Arkyn didn't see them all that often. He hadn't known that feeling since before his parents died.
With the last remnants of fatigue leaving his body, Arkyn decided he may as well get his day started. He closed his door and headed to the arena, remembering he still had a dragon to feed that morning, and although it was going to be a monotonous task to do every day, it was a responsibility Arkyn expected to appreciate in the coming weeks.
—
Hiccup was woken up that morning by a large black reptile throwing itself across his abdomen. Ouch. "Ugh. Hey, what are you so excited about, bud?" It was then Hiccup remembered he now had his room all to himself again, and it didn't matter how he spent his mornings anymore because there was no one extra to look after. Perfect.
"Alright, alright, I know what you want, bud. Let me get your saddle and we can get out of here." A very excited Toothless warbled happily at his owner as he retrieved the leather accessory from a nearby cabinet. It wasn't long before they made their way outside and Hiccup was finally able to mount his dragon again for a routine morning flight.
He took off, and the familiar view that greeted Hiccup below made him forget about most of the troubles he had faced the previous afternoon. Flying was so freeing. Just the ability to experience the thrill of the ride and the wind on his face was a greater gift than any physical present Hiccup had ever received- including the helmet his father had given him for his success in Dragon Training. On top of that, it was something he could share with his best friend, and he patted Toothless' neck affectionately as they soared over the village square below.
Hiccup then descended towards the docks, and quickly remembered all that had happened the last time he took that particular flight path. It felt worlds away at this moment, but at the same time seemed like it had occurred just yesterday. Images of Arkyn's belt buckle flashing in the sun played in Hiccup's mind; small waves now crashed noiselessly at the sight the little boat had run aground. It was a sight Hiccup thought he would never see, and one he hoped would not repeat itself any time soon.
After taking several more laps over the buildings below, Hiccup brought Toothless in for a landing outside the forge. He had spotted the smoke from the fire in the air and remembered he still had Arkyn's saddle to finish before the boy could fly, and not wanting to waste the group's time any longer, Hiccup decided that now was as good a time as any to complete the project. He fed his dragon some fish before tying Toothless' lead to a post outside the shop and walking in, getting straight to work on threading the large pieces of leather to each other.
—
Astrid woke up in an impossibly drowsy state. Her eyes were heavy and her breaths were long as she sat up in bed and surveyed the state of her room, which was looking the same as ever. She looked outside and gestured it had to be late morning already, noting the sun's position over the forest. Stormfly was in a similar situation, pecking lazily at the ground with her beak out of sheer boredom.
Astrid groaned and forced herself to stand. She was not particularly looking forward to her day, although she knew what she had to do. Hiccup had put her in a tight spot yesterday, but it wasn't right to simply walk out on him, especially since she still cared about him…a lot. Sighing to herself and remembering her mother's words from the previous evening, Astrid quickly pulled on an outfit and headed downstairs to get Stormfly, content with her mission to find the Chief's son.
Settling into the Nadder's saddle, Astrid took off in the direction of the Haddock household, the most likely place Hiccup might be. It was a short flight, but when she arrived she found the house to be empty. There weren't any signs of Stoick, Hiccup, or Toothless anywhere. Great. She thought, and mounted her dragon once more, several places in mind still to check. The forge was next.
—
Arkyn arrived in the arena to find it mostly unoccupied, save for a few pesky Terrible Terrors that were trying to weasel their way into the fish store room. Arkyn opened it and treated them to a cod each before shooing them away and grabbing several more fish for his own dragon. He then approached and unlocked Stinger's stable, smiling and greeting the Triplestryke with breakfast. Stinger squawked appreciatively in return and enjoyed Arkyn's offerings in guard mode, still feeling the need to hold his wings up in protection of his food. Arkyn was fascinated at the wild instincts Stinger had retained even after the taming and training the creature had received. It was truly something to witness.
As Stinger ate, Arkyn realized he had never observed the Triplestrykes as closely as he probably should have back on Nomanisan. They were always just…around, doing normal things, living relatively uneventful lives, and he had taken them for granted. Arkyn honestly had no idea the half of their capabilities, just what made them calm down. The Vikings on Nomanisan had worked hard to keep threats to the Triplestrykes there as limited as possible, and for the most part, it had worked. The notion intrigued him…the Viking yearned to know more. After all…how could he fully connect with his dragon if he didn't know its full potential? This gave the boy a bad idea.
It was time to find an eel.
—
Hiccup finished the last stitch for the saddle's seat. All that was left to do now would be to add the straps and buckles for the accessory to be properly fitted onto Arkyn's dragon. Proud of his work so far, Hiccup sat down at his desk and spent some time reviewing old sketches he had drawn. The boy had filled several small books with his work at this point, scribbling anything from invention ideas to himself and Toothless on wild adventures. Hiccup was as great an artist as he was a blacksmith.
A yell from Gobber in the main room of the forge interrupted his shuffling. "Eh, Hiccup? There's a lass here te see you."
Crap. Hiccup thought. Was Astrid really mad enough at him to come here and start something? Hiccup begrudgingly stepped into the doorway between his workshop and the rest of the forge to find Astrid already inside, and Gobber working on one of his many mechanical limb attachments.
"Hey…" the girl spoke. "Can we talk in your workshop?"
Hiccup raised an eyebrow, caught off guard by the request, but he gestured her inside all the same. "S- sure! Come on in." He closed the door for good measure once they were both inside, Thor forbid Gobber heard her chewing him out.
"You can relax you know, you big dork." Astrid joked. "I'm not here to fight. I actually came to…apologize." She drew out the last word as if it were difficult for her to admit.
"Uh- you did?" Hiccup asked. "Because, ever since yesterday, I actually wanted to apologize to you…" he trailed off.
"No…" she looked down. "That's ok. I shouldn't have just walked out. I had a lot on my mind."
"Oh really? I couldn't tell." Hiccup joked, sarcastically.
This earned him a playful punch on the arm from Astrid. "I don't want to hear it, mister feelings." She smiled. "I know I wasn't cool, but you put me on the spot."
Hiccup said nothing, but wore a solemn look.
Astrid changed the subject. "Are you almost finished with the saddle?" She asked.
"Yep! It just needs straps now." The boy confirmed. "Arkyn will be taking his first flight in no time."
"It'll be pretty crazy to have a new dragon rider." Astrid mused. "There's been the 6 of us for so long…even before the Red Death." She started absent-mindedly fiddling with her braid.
"15 years…" Hiccup thought out loud.
"Do you think he'll be good at it?" Astrid wondered.
"Between what he's shown us so far and his supposed history with Triplestrykes, I think he'll be so good at it that it'll end up being scary." Hiccup told her. "He already knows that dragon better than any of us. Arkyn may as well be training himself."
Astrid thought for a moment, remembering how skittish Arkyn had been the first time Hiccup offered him a flight on the cliff. "We'll still have to teach him how to fly though." She said. "At least at first."
"You're right. Luckily for him, this:" Hiccup held up the saddle for visual effect. "should help."
"Always the jack of all tr-"
BOOOOOM!
Before Astrid could finish her sentence, the pair jumped at the sound of a large explosion coming from the direction of the arena. It sounded like dragon fire. They looked at each other with deep concern.
"Stinger." They both confirmed in unison, and even before Gobber had started complaining about the noise, the pair of teens were out the door of the forge and running towards the circular structure, which now had a faint line of smoke rising from its center.
Whatever had just happened, it wasn't good.
—
Arkyn walked through the market in search of the fisherman's stand, certain he'd find what he was looking for there. Approaching the small kiosk, he almost immediately spotted it: a fresh striped eel. Quickly purchasing the catch, he headed back to the arena almost as quickly as he had left.
"Sorry, pal." Arkyn whispered to the creature. He held the eel by its tail, and although it was already dead, the fate that soon awaited it wouldn't exactly be a dignified one.
Strolling back into the arena, Arkyn set his plan into action. He placed the eel under a straw target used for training in the center of the arena. Making sure it was well hidden, the boy then positioned himself between the target and the exit, with Stinger still milling about on the other side of the target near the stables. Arkyn remained a safe distance away, hoping he knew how his dragon would react, and when he was good and ready, the Viking gave the call to Stinger to come to him.
Stinger obliged without hesitation, now very good at ground commands after training with the teens. The beast walked slowly directly towards Arkyn, the target bisecting their locations. It wasn't until Stinger was about 20 paces from the target that he hesitated, sniffing the air. Confused by the unfamiliar scent, the dragon turned its head left and right before taking another stride forward. That set it off. The smell of the eel was now quite strong, and Stinger was having none of it.
With several flaps of his wings, Stinger hovered off the arena's surface and released an extremely powerful magnesium blast aimed at the target, striking it dead center. There was an extremely loud noise Arkyn was not ready for, and the straw itself instantly caught on fire, flames dancing high in the mid day breeze. Arkyn was stunned. He had never seen one of these dragons exhibit such power. For all intents and purposes, the target had been completely vaporized. Erased from existence. The 3 tails and front claws may have been the Triplestryke's preferred form of attack and defense at close range, but they had no problem laying down a heart stopping attack from long range, either.
Astrid rushed into the arena, having beaten Hiccup in the foot race from the forge. A strange scene met her eyes, and she stopped in her tracks once she realized no one was actually in any serious danger. All she saw was an uninterested Stinger, a massive pile of burning straw, and Arkyn, frozen in place, either by fear or amazement, staring into the flames before him.
Hiccup arrived next, his metal leg clanking loudly with each step he took. He stopped next to Astrid, also doing a quick once over of the state of things in the Arena. Putting together the order of events that had transpired was puzzling. They both needed an explanation.
"Hiccup. Astrid. Are you two here to yell at me?" Arkyn spoke up, quietly, not even turning around to acknowledge them directly. His stance was unflinching, gaze still locked on the spot where the target had been just moments ago. "If you are, save your breath. Nothing went wrong."
Astrid had wanted to ask what happened that could have gone wrong, but a different question invaded her mind. "Wait, how'd you know it was us?"
Arkyn exhaled quickly, like a half scoff. "Easy." He stated. "I knew you showed up first because Fishlegs would have been screaming, the twins would have been gawking at the carnage, and Snotlout would be whining about not being there to see it in person. Oh, and you don't have a metal leg. That's a dead giveaway that Hiccup showed up second."
An impatient Hiccup cut him off. "Never mind that, detective Stryerson. What the hell happened here?"
Arkyn gave a one word answer. "Training."
"W- what could you have possibly been doing that would make blowing up a target 'training'?"
"Let's call it…skills development."
"Skills development my ass." Hiccup muttered under his breath. It was then he glanced over at Astrid, who was clearly amused with the short spat the two males were sharing, somehow not at all bothered by the wreckage in front of her. "Are you not gonna say anything?" He asked her.
"Are you not entertained? Or have you not learned the joys of violence yet?" Astrid asked her own questions.
"You know I never will." Hiccup reminded her.
Finally content with what he had seen, Arkyn pivoted to face the pair of Vikings, walking forward to meet them in the entryway. All 3 looked up when distant screaming could be heard- getting closer by the second.
Fishlegs came into view yelling his head off, frantically asking what had happened and if everyone was ok.
He was followed by the twins. "Awesome!" They said together, immediately after laying eyes on the incinerated pile of straw in the middle of the arena.
Snotlout was the last to hobble in. Arkyn looked at him expectantly, as if trying to pull a response out of the large boy. "Awww come on! Why do I always miss the fun stuff?" He complained.
Arkyn leaned in against Hiccup and Astrid, clapping a hand on each of their shoulders. "I fucking told you so." He whispered, intensely, and flashed Hiccup a quick smile. "Detective Stryerson…sounds pretty good, don't you think?"
AN: I'm not that great at writing comedic relief, so I hope that wasn't too cringe. Also very sorry for taking so long to get another chapter out. Been busy…as always. I wish everyone an enjoyable read. Take care.
