The Outcast and the Night Fury

Chapter 10

I almost jumped out of my skin, or I would have if Gobber hadn't been squeezing the air from my lungs. "Dad! Hey! I thought you weren't coming home til tomorrow."

"What, no greeting for me?" That was Gobber.

I smiled and hugged him back, hard. My godfather is one of my favorite people in the world. "Gobber! I missed you. I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Yea, it's been too long," he agreed regretfully as he stepped back. "But that ferry boat captain came back and promised to do better, so the concierge decided to give him another chance."

Gobber shrugged. "Not that there was much choice, really. Your dad and I couldn't stay there forever and no one else was applying for the job. So anyway, we thought we'd head on back to Berk."

Dad was still frowning. "Hiccup, you need to get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death."

"I was just getting a towel so I could take a shower," I explained quietly.

"Well, we'll let you get on with it. Come on, Stoick, let's have a drink before dinner." Gobber started down the hall towards the stairs.

"Hurry up then, Hiccup. We don't want to wait dinner on you," Dad admonished as he followed Gobber.

I sighed in relief as they disappeared down the stairs and in spite of Dad's decree, I slipped back into my room to check on Toothless. But there was no sign of the Night Fury. I checked around my room, and my windows were still closed against the pouring rain outside. Then I noticed that the door leading to my bathroom was ajar and I smiled as I hurried through the door, expecting to see Toothless, only to stop and frown when he wasn't there.

Until I heard a soft sound behind the shower curtain. I pulled it back and Toothless was scrunched into the corner, trying to be as small as possible—which wasn't very small, actually.

I had to laugh. "It's okay, bud. Dad and Gobber went downstairs. You can come out."

Toothless looked about cautiously as we went back to my bedroom. "I heard voices right outside your door. Thought I should hide."

"Yea, that was a close call," I agreed. "But they're not likely to come back up here now." Then I hesitated and pointed towards the space between my bed and the windows. "Maybe you could lie down over there though, just to be sure. Then no one would see you if they opened the door and looked in."

Toothless did so, and I raced up to the third floor, grabbed a towel, and hurried back to get my shower. Dad and Gobber were dressed casually in sweaters and chinos, so once I was clean and dry, I pulled on a white Aran-knit turtleneck, olive-green trousers, and my loafers, told Toothless I would be back as soon as I could, and went down to the dining room.

Dad and Gobber were coming from the library just as I came down, and we all entered the dining room and took our seats; Dad at the head of the table with Gobber on his right and me on his left.

The Holts were setting plates out on the long table, and I noticed that they had both dressed more formally now that Dad was back home, with Mrs. Holt in a gray dress and Mr. Holt in his dark suit. It has always struck me as funny that they dress up more than we do, unless we have company (Gobber doesn't count).

Dinner wasn't particularly fancy, but it was good—a yak roast with potatoes and vegetable stew. I ate quietly and listened as they talked about their time on Dragon Island, the Regatta coming up at the end of the summer, and then some financial reports.

We finished dessert—a chocolate cheesecake—and Dad invited Gobber to stay and play billiards, but Gobber shook his head.

"I better take a rain check. It's been a long day and I need to be getting home."

"All right then. Oh, Gobber, I wanted you to take the latest reports from that hedge fund company in Stockholm. You might need to call Nils tomorrow," Dad said.

Gobber nodded and Dad jumped to his feet. "They're in my study. I'll be right back."

He left and Gobber turned to me. "You've been awfully quiet, kiddo. So what's up with you lately?"

I shrugged. I certainly couldn't talk about Toothless, not even with Gobber. "Not much. I've just been helping at the Wildlife Center in the mornings."

"Yea, your dad mentioned it. And he said you're almost through with school, just one more class and you'll graduate."

I nodded. "Yea, a class on Medieval Literature. I'm going to take it this fall and then I should have all my credits by Christmas."

Gobber beamed. "That's great, Hiccup. You're a smart one. Your dad couldn't stop bragging about you the whole time we were at the Lodge."

I blinked. "What?"

"Oh, sure. He told everyone there about you being such a genius," Gobber told me. "About how you're going to finish high school before you're even fifteen and how you're going to go to Oxford in a few years."

Hmm. I mentioned wanting to go to Oxford once several months ago. I hadn't even thought that Dad had been listening. And bragging about me? Gobber had to be mistaken about that. Dad barely tolerated me. He certainly wasn't proud of me for anything.

I shook my head. "Gobber, Dad's not proud of me. He'd be happier if I could play hockey than about my finishing school early."

Gobber sighed. "No, Hiccup, that's not true. I've seen him so proud of you that he could bust. But he's terrible about showing it."

He hesitated, then spoke more quietly. "You know your grandparents died in that accident a few months before he met your mum. And then the whole deal with their marriage breaking up, and him thinking that he might lose you too, when you were so sick as a wee tyke. Well, your dad's never been quite the same since all that happened. He cares—a lot—but he keeps it close inside, you know."

I didn't know and I could only stare at Gobber in disbelief.

He sighed again and stood up, patting my shoulder. "He's wrong, of course, to make you feel this way, but don't give up on him, kiddo, and I'll keep working on him from my end."

Dad came back then with the papers, and soon afterwards Gobber told us good night and left.

Dad glanced over to me. "Everything go all right while I was gone?"

"Yes." I started to tell him about learning to bandage and splint with Astrid at the Center, and about how the puffin didn't seem to like me, for some reason. But before I could, Dad frowned.

"Other than you deciding to play outside in a thunderstorm, you mean? I thought you had more common sense than that, Hiccup."

For a second, I felt a flash of anger. If I stayed inside, Dad fussed about me not getting any fresh air and exercise. But when I went outside, he complained that I could get hurt or sick. I could never win with him. Maybe Gobber was right, but if Dad did care, it seemed to me that he kept it close inside indeed.

"I came inside as quickly as I could," I answered quietly.

Dad looked at me a moment but I couldn't read his expression. Finally, he just said, "Well, get some rest."

His voice still sounded curt to me, but as he went by, he rather tentatively patted my shoulder, just like Gobber had earlier. He headed back towards the screening room and I stared after him in confusion. For just a second, I considered going after Dad, to see if maybe we could watch a movie or television show together, but then I thought of Toothless waiting for me in my room, and I hurried upstairs to him.

At least with Toothless, I didn't have to wonder if he cared about me.

Life settled into a routine over the next couple of weeks. Toothless hid in the old stables in the morning while I went to the Center. He was a little nervous about it at first, but I reassured him that no one would come out there, and I knew no one would. Dad never went there and Old Mr. Madsen only did in the spring when he cleaned.

Then in the afternoons Toothless and I went flying. It was absolutely amazing. Flying never got old. It was always fun and exciting.

Toothless hid in my room while I had dinner and then we spent the evenings together. Toothless kept trying to teach me Dragonese, although he said my accent was hopeless. And sometimes I read aloud to him or we watched movies or videos on my computer. Toothless was fascinated with everything about human culture.

He laid down on the far side of my room until we heard Dad go to bed. Then he crawled in with me, and I slept with his wing tucked around me.

It was the happiest two weeks of my life.

Things were a little better at the Center, too. I was mostly working on something by myself or accompanying Sven or Phlegma, so I wasn't really interacting with the other kids much, but they weren't picking on me at least. Once when we were leaving, Tuffnut sneered at me but before he could say or do anything, Sly yelled at him to come on, that they were late for hockey practice. Ever since I fell into the dragon pen, Sly had left me alone and for a second, I wondered if he might actually be protecting me, but then I decided that that was crazy. Their being late for hockey practice was just a lucky coincidence.

Best of all, Astrid actually said hello to me one morning when we were the first ones to arrive, but the other kids showed up while I was still staring at her in dumbfounded amazement.

One morning in mid-July I was once again trying to leave food out for Puff the Evil Puffin, without losing a finger in the process, when Sven hurried by, calling to me and to Fishlegs, who was cleaning a nearby pen.

"We've got an emergency call! You kids head on home now."

He and Phlegma shooed us all out through the main building and they took off in their white truck.

"Well, I guess we've got a free day," Sly said. "Let's go to the beach."

"I could bring a picnic lunch for us," Fishlegs offered.

"We'll bring soda and the volleyball stuff," Ruffnut agreed.

"Let's go!" Tuffnut yelled.

Astrid shook her head. "I've got tae kwon do this afternoon. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

I was hanging back, away from the group. Even if things had been slightly better with the other kids lately, there was no sense in pushing my luck. After all, there was no way they would have included me anyway.

So Sly, Fishlegs, and the twins headed off down the lane, and Astrid and I were left standing alone in the parking lot.

We looked at each other a little awkwardly.

"So are you all right here?" I asked, trying to be chivalrous, though I knew how laughable that was. If there had been any threat, Astrid would have needed to protect me.

"Yea, I'll just read til Mom comes to pick me up." Astrid smiled and took a Kindle from her bag.

"Um, do you need to borrow a phone to call her?" I offered.

"Thanks, but no. I've got my phone. It's just that Mom's working at the dispatch today and I'm not supposed to call her there unless it's a life or death situation. She'll come to get me on her lunch hour, so it's fine. But thanks anyway."

"Well, okay." I felt a little bad, just leaving Astrid there alone, but she seemed fine and she probably didn't really want me hanging around anyway. I went to get my bike and Astrid went to sit against the dragon pen wall.

But before I left, Astrid suddenly called out, "Hiccup, wait! I think she's hurt."

"What? Who?" I left my bike and hurried over.

Astrid pointed and we could see the Gronkle standing below us in the pen, looking up at us and whining softly, with a bloody cut on her right front leg.

"Hey, Meatlug. Don't worry. We'll help you," I called down to her. But then I looked over at Astrid. "Did Sven and Phlegma lock the office? I guess I could go home and bring back some water and bandages."

But Astrid was already rummaging through her bag. "Phlegma gave me a key before they left. She said I could wait inside for Mom if I wanted."

She found the key and we hurried into the veterinary office to collect supplies—a clean bowl of water, antibiotic ointment, and bandages—before heading for the pen. We went downstairs in the office and out through the side door that led directly into the enclosure.

The other dragons were gathered around Meatlug, except for the Nightmare who stood a little distance away.

Astrid eyed them warily. "I don't know, Hiccup. What about them? I don't want either of us to get hurt."

"I don't think they will."

But as we approached, I felt a flash of anxiety. Sure, the dragons had seemed nice enough when I had fallen, but did I know that for sure? Maybe they'd be more edgy with one of them hurt. I certainly didn't want to find out the hard way.

I called to them, trying to sound calm and reassuring. "It's okay, guys. We just want to help your friend."

I wasn't sure if they understood me or not, but the Nadder and Zippleback backed away and Meatlug lay down on her side and actually held her right leg out to us. So we approached and cleaned the wound, or rather, I cleaned it. Astrid was still watching the dragons warily.

Once I had washed the blood away and very gently patted the leg dry, I could see that the cut didn't look too bad. It was shallow and had already stopped bleeding, but I thought we should probably bandage it to keep it from getting infected.

"I think it's all right," I said softly to the Gronkle. "That cut doesn't look deep, but we don't want it to get infected so I'm going to put some of this ointment on and then we'll bandage it. All right?"

Meatlug made a small sound deep in her throat that might have been agreement, and I smeared some of the ointment on before wiping my hands on a clean cloth.

Then I looked over at Astrid. "Um hey Astrid, you're a lot better at bandaging than I am."

She hesitated, but then looked into the Gronkle's soft eyes and relaxed. "Okay. Meatlug? Just hold still a few more minutes."

She wrapped the gauze around Meatlug's leg and taped it down with a deft touch. "Well, I think that's it."

We stepped back as the Gronkle carefully climbed to her feet. She warbled softly and then nuzzled our faces, first me and then Astrid.

I laughed and scratched Meatlug on the sides of her face and behind her ears. "You're welcome."

"She'll let us pet her?" Astrid sounded torn, as if she wanted to pet Meatlug too, but was afraid.

"Apparently," I answered, still laughing a little as Meatlug licked my cheeks and mussed my hair.

Without even thinking about what I was doing, I reached to take Astrid's hand and started to set it gently onto Meatlug's nose (snout?). But then, abruptly, a blue and gold flash pushed its way forward and I placed Astrid's hand onto the Nadder's beak instead.

Astrid and I both stared in amazement. But the Nadder looked very pleased as she rubbed her own face against Astrid's hand.

"I guess she likes you," I said, rather inanely, after a moment.

"Wow," Astrid breathed. Slowly she stroked the Nadder's face. "You're really beautiful, aren't you, girl?"

Then she smiled over at Meatlug. "And you are too, of course."

The Zippleback must have decided that it wanted to try this 'bonding with humans' thing too because it marched over and pushed its heads at us—one towards me and one towards Astrid. We burst out laughing and patted it too.

Then the Nadder and Zippleback stepped close to Meatlug, sniffing at her and nudging her with their heads, making sure that she was all right, I suppose.

I glanced over at the only dragon who had held back. The Nightmare was standing a short distance away, watching us grumpily.

"You're not feeling so friendly, huh?" I asked him. He didn't respond, but after watching him for a moment, I thought that maybe I had misjudged his expression. Maybe he didn't look grumpy so much as guilty.

But why would he feel guilty?

Then I noticed that one of his long, curved front claws was stained a dark reddish-brown. "Oh. Well, I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt Meatlug. It must have been an accident. What happened? Were you guys playing and somehow her leg got hurt?"

For a second, the Nightmare gave me an indignant look. It didn't make sense, but I swear I could almost imagine him thinking Silly human. Nightmares don't play. They train and practice.

I stepped towards him, my hand outstretched. "Well, whatever happened, I'm sure it was an accident. I don't think Meatlug would want you to feel guilty."

"All right, all right," I added as the Nightmare huffed at me. "You're all fierce and bad. You don't feel guilty about anything."

His yellow eyes narrowed and I paused, not sure what message he was trying to send. But then Meatlug hobbled forward and chirped at him. The Nightmare hesitated, but then came over to her. Meatlug licked his face and I'm sure I saw him give her a tiny nudge back before he quickly moved away.

The Nightmare looked back at me and it seemed that his eyes softened, just slightly, as he nodded his head at me. Then he disappeared back into the copse of trees.

The Zippleback warbled at us and then it too wandered off.

Astrid shook her head slowly. "I can't believe it. I absolutely cannot believe it. This is amazing. How did you ever get to be so good with dragons?"

I shrugged. Again, I wasn't about to mention Toothless, not even to Astrid. "I don't know. When I fell in here the other day, I noticed that they seemed really smart, and it was like they were worried about me. So I just feel like they're very intelligent animals. Maybe even as smart as we are."

Meatlug gave me an indulgent look, while the Nadder huffed as indignantly as the Nightmare had a few minutes earlier.

Astrid grinned. "I think they're telling you that they're much smarter than we are."

She shook her head again. "I have to say, tae kwon do is going to be pretty boring after this." She scratched the Nadder's head one last time and began gathering up the supplies. "And speaking of tae kwon do, my mom should be here soon. We better get this cleaned up."

We bid the dragons farewell and took the supplies back inside the office. I found some paper and a pen and scribbled a note to Sven and Phlegma, telling them about Meatlug's injury so they could check on her when they returned.

"Good idea," Astrid approved as we taped the note to the front door.

"I'll call this evening and see how she's doing," I said.

"Will you let me know, too? Here, give me your phone and I'll put my number in."

I watched in slack-jawed amazement as Astrid took my phone, punched some numbers, and handed it back to me. This had to be a dream. Surely I was going to wake up any minute now.

Just then a horn beeped, but I didn't wake up so maybe this was real after all. I looked up to see a blue SUV pull into the parking lot and Astrid's mom waved to us. She is a pretty blonde woman who looks a lot like Astrid, or I guess it would be more accurate to say that Astrid looks a lot like her.

She rolled the window down. "Hi, kids. Hiccup, can we give you a lift somewhere?"

I would have liked to have taken her up on that offer, so I could spend a little more time with Astrid. But I had my bike and I didn't need a ride.

So I shook my head. "Thanks, Mrs. Hofferson, but I've got my bike. I'm just going home."

Astrid and I glanced at each other, a little awkwardly.

"Well, I'll talk with you later then," she said as she tossed her bag into the SUV and jumped into the passenger seat.

I nodded. "Okay, that sounds good."

Mrs Hofferson turned the SUV around and drove off. I watched them disappear down the lane, and then I went to get my bike and slowly started for home.