A/N: I'm back! I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday season. I managed to get a chapter written and posted before the new year. WOOHOO! We get an up close and personal look at everyone's favorite character and of course some good ole' Henry and Audrey.
virgohiccstrid- Glad you are enjoying the story.
WinterBreath0602- Yeah, I really don't like him all the much. Luckily we don't have to deal with him this chapter.
CB73- Henry got the blame before he could even really defend himself, and Audrey thrown back into her memories jumps to conclusions. They better settle in for the long haul cause Simon and the accidents are here to stay. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Thanks for all the reviews I love reading them all. I will see you all next year. Happy New Year!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Mexican ;p
Disclaimer: So I didn't get the rights to HTTYD for Christmas... shucks.
(Thursday, October 11th, 2018)
Henry found it difficult sleep last night, guilt over the accident, the accusation from Simon, and the glare from Audrey kept him up most of the night. He only managed to get a couple of hours of sleep before Sharpshot crawled into his bed and began to whine, a sign that he needed out.
Accepting the fact that he would not get any sleep until he took the small dragon out, Henry got dressed in his costume and proceeded to the door. His dad was still very much asleep and when he pushed his way out of the door, Henry noticed that the sun had only just risen.
"Really? You couldn't have given me at least another hour?" Henry complained to Sharpshot.
The dragon looked up at Henry before scurrying off through the town. Henry sighed and walked after him to make sure he didn't get into any trouble. The cool crisp autumn air felt good on Henry's skin as he walked through the village and once again admired the work that went into making a real Viking village.
The sounds of the blacksmith stall as props were being made, the smell of the bakery that provided bread, cakes, and other pastries for everyone, fruits being lined up in the stalls, and the sounds of the dragons from the holding pens waking from their slumber. It truly was awesome and Henry didn't know if he would ever get over it, he hoped he didn't.
Following Sharpshot's trail, Henry noticed that he was being led towards the holding pens. Figuring that Sharpshot had heard the other dragon's caws and roars, and got excited to see some other dragons. Henry shrugged his shoulders and pressed on, it wasn't until he got to the gate of the holding pens that he realized that he had not seen Audrey at all.
He tried to play it off that it was earlier than it was yesterday, but the feeling of loneliness coupled with the glare after yesterday's accident and the silence from her that followed. Henry couldn't help but think about what had happened and if it was going to be this way from now on.
He let out a sigh as he let his mind run wild, bad scenario after bad scenario were all he could think of, causing his sadness to increase. He hoped that he didn't ruin the one friendship that he just started to make in years.
A low growl vibrated of the walls of the holding pen and through the air, bringing Henry out of his stupor. Looking around for the source of the growl he noticed that Sharpshot was standing in front of the pen that no one would go near last time he was there. Sharpshot had his hackles raised and was pawing at the ground, trying to intimidate whatever creature was behind the heavy metal door.
Henry looked around to try and find a crew member to help him get Sharpshot back but found that he was all alone and being a good distance away from the village he didn't think it was a good idea to leave Sharpshot alone. Realizing that there was no other choice, Henry walked around to the gate and entered the holding pens.
"Sharpshot." Henry whispered, hoping to get the dragons attention.
Sharpshot remained where he was and continued to growl at the door.
"Sharpshot!" Henry called out again, his voice a little louder this time.
Again Sharpshot stayed put and Henry groaned in defeat, he would have to go up and grab the little bugger. Taking one last look around to see if anyone was around to help, he found that he was still alone and would have to do this on his own.
Walking into the pens Henry continued to call out to Sharpshot, hoping that the dragon would come back to him before he got too far in. Sharpshot refused to move though, glaring a hole through the metal door and growling lowly at it. Finally reaching his dragon Henry knelt down and began to soothe the Terror.
"What has gotten into you buddy? You only get that way when a cat or fox is nearby." Henry said softly as he brushed his hand down Sharpshot's back.
Seeing that Sharpshot would not move, Henry picked him up and started to walk towards the entrance, scolding Sharpshot the entire way there.
"You know better than that. If you do that again I will put you back on the leash." Henry threatened.
At the mention of the dreaded leash, Sharpshot ceased his growling and relaxed his muscles. He became compliant with Henry's commands and soon his aggressive behavior from earlier was gone.
"Now you head on home, we will talk about this later." Henry said sternly.
Sharpshot whined pitifully but flew out of Henry's grasp and in the direction of the village. Henry let out a sigh of relief as the ordeal was finally over, but just as he was about to walk out of the holding pens a curious coo stopped him in his tracks.
"Hello?" Henry called out as her turned around and looked at the holding pens.
Not hearing the sound again he turned to walk out only for the same coo to sound off again. Certain that he had heard the sound he walked back towards the pens to see if a dragon was trying to get his attention. As he neared the Nadder cell, he peered inside to see the dragon was still fast asleep and couldn't have made the sound he heard, the Gronkle was snoring so he ruled it out as well, the Zippleback was chatting back and forth with itself but wasn't making the cooing sound he heard. The Nightmare, was glaring at Henry as he peered into its pen but made no other noise.
Finally that left just one cell, the mystery one that Henry knew nothing about. He neared the cell and he could hear the clacking sound of claws running across the ground, nostrils were sucking in air as the creature searched for new scents, and finally a curious coo as Henry neared the pen.
Certain that he was at the right pen Henry took in a deep breath and peered inside the tiny food slot. At first he couldn't see anything, the pen was bathed in darkness, which was odd as the others had at least some light coming through them.
"What the hell?" Henry whispered to himself.
Suddenly a piercing green eye appeared at the food slot, the pupil was narrowed and gazing into Henry's soul. Henry jumped back, his heart hammering his chest, the hairs over his body standing on edge, and his breath heavy and labored.
"What the fuck are you?" Henry whispered to himself.
A low, deep, and mischievous growl was his response. The sound got Henry off guard in the most unusual way, it sounded like whatever was inside that holding pen, was laughing at him. It peeked Henry's curiosity but also terrified him. If it was indeed a laugh that meant whatever was inside was fiercely intelligent. Intelligent enough to have a sense of humor. It made Henry wonder if it was that smart, what else is this thing capable of.
"Henry? What are you doing here?" A female voice broke through the air.
Henry turned to see Audrey staring down at him, her brow furrowed in confusion at seeing the boy near the holding pens. Looking back at the pen and not seeing the piercing green eye or hearing the low growls. Henry caught his breath and looked back up at Audrey.
"How long were you there?" Henry asked, wondering if she had seen the whole thing.
"Just got here, now, what are you doing here?" Audrey asked again more pointedly this time.
Henry again looked back at the pen but didn't hear or see anything so he turned his attention back to Audrey who was still waiting for a response. Henry sighed out and started to walk toward the entrance. He motioned for her to follow and saw her head for the gate.
"Morning Audrey." Henry greeted her as they met just outside the gate.
"You still haven't answered my question." Audrey pointed out, her tone growing annoyed.
"Morning Henry." Henry said as he mimicked a female voice.
Audrey's curious glare earlier had been replaced by a full glare when Henry mimicked a female voice.
"Tough crowd." Henry mumbled out as he looked back at Audrey.
"I was just taking Sharpshot out and he led me over here. He started to growl at one of the pens and I had to go in and get him." Henry explained.
Audrey's glare softened as she looked around for the little Terror. Not seeing or hearing him she looked back to Henry.
"Where is he?" She asked, the bite in her voice softening as well.
"Had him fly back to the hut. Then I went to investigate the pen he was growling at. Have you ever gone up to that far pen, the one where we haven't seen the dragon come out of?" Henry asked, curious if anyone else could shed some light on what he saw.
"No I haven't." Audrey answered honestly.
"Well whatever is in there is something else. It scared me and laughed at me!" Henry exclaimed as he threw a glance back at the pen.
"A dragon laughed at you." Audrey repeated, her voice taking on the bored tone from when he first met her.
"I'm telling you it was, really. It was kind of creepy." Henry tried again to convince her it had happened.
"Uh-huh, maybe you should keep an eye on Sharpshot, we don't want him causing another accident." Audrey replied, putting emphasis on the final word.
Henry shrunk back at the accusation, she might not have said it out loud, but it was clear that she placed some of the blame of what happened yesterday on Henry.
"Come on Audrey not you too. Simon scared Sharpshot and pushed me over, it was an accident. I didn't try to do that on purpose, it just happened." Henry said, defending himself.
"I know that you look at accidents differently because of your uncle." Henry said, trying a different tactic.
The mention of her Uncle got Audrey's attention as she snapped her head up to Henry's gaze, a brief flash of anger across her eyes. Only to disappear as she saw Henry's pleading gaze.
"I promise you Audrey, it was an accident. I didn't mean for it to happen, but I will fix what I can. I'm not the people who caused your Uncle to get blacklisted, so please stop looking at me like I'm going ruin the movie and your career." Henry continued, his voice gaining an edge as he realized that she didn't believe him and he was growing tired of it.
The accusation of how Audrey was viewing Henry and the accident hit her hard. Her eyes widened as she thought back over the past 24 hours. Ghosting Henry, glaring at him like he did it on purpose, silently accusing him doing it on purpose, confusing him with those that had caused her Uncle to get blacklisted. She sighed out as she realized that once again Henry was right, she was being a bit unfair and he did not deserve the treatment that she had given him.
"You are right…again. It's just hard, to see an accident as an actual accident. I see one and just think that someone is trying to sabotage the movie or me." Audrey admitted.
"It was not fair to you, or Sharpshot." She finished.
Henry stood still as Audrey admitted, in her own way, that she was wrong and took responsibility for her actions. Seeing that she was sincere and guessing that was as close as he was going to get to an apology Henry smiled at her.
"Is that an apology?" Henry asked, his voice teasing but holding an air of seriousness to it.
Audrey looked up to see Henry ghosting a smile her way, she could tell that he was trying to keep the mood light but wanted to make sure she was serious too.
"As close as you are going to get." She fired back, her voice light but also serious as she smirked back at him.
Henry lightly jabbed her shoulder, just below the shoulder guards, which had Audrey rubbing the area but still smiling.
"Ass, you punch like a girl." She smirked back.
"You take a hit like one." Henry shot back, returning her smirk.
"What was that?" Audrey threatened as she raised her fist and took a step towards Henry.
She wasn't sure if he was actually scared or if he was doing it placate her, but Henry threw his arms up and backed away, though he was smirking at her as he did. They both shared a laugh before Audrey extended her hand toward him.
"We good?" She asked, not realizing just how much she needed them to be good.
"We're good." Henry answered as he shook her hand.
"Got to work on that temper though." He said jokingly.
"Only if you work on that sass." She fired back.
"I guess we are both doomed then." He concluded.
They both shared a laugh as they heard the other actor's voices coming up to the holding pens. They were being led by Helga who was explaining something that neither Henry nor Audrey could hear.
"That is how we will be shooting the movie." Helga said as the group got within hearing range of Henry and Audrey.
"How will we be shooting the movie?" Henry asked as Helga walked up to them.
"With the dragons of course. We have attached cameras to all the dragons in the pens and to even more around the island. The idea is to give us some of the most unique camera angles that would otherwise be impossible to obtain. We will also place cameras in areas where there will be a lot of scenes to shoot some cover shots and give everything a natural look." Helga explained.
"That is so cool!" Henry exclaimed.
"I thought so as well, but it is nice to hear my actors like the idea as well. It gets the dragons involved and cuts down on cost for the expensive rigging that would otherwise be required." Helga explained.
"Now gather around everyone and I will run down tonight's scene." Helga said to the group.
As she explained the scene and what everyone's role would be, Henry found himself looking over at the holding pen once again and saw a familiar green eye looking back at him, curious and hypnotic. He wondered when he could see the dragon in full.
A/N: Who could that dragon that laughs at Henry possibly be? Okay I won't insult your intelligence, TOOTHLESS! First view of the dragon and he is up to all sorts of mischief, with more to come. Be sure to leave a review as you can see from above, I love reading them. I'll see you all in 2020.
Published: 12/28/19