WriterFreak001:
SO SO SO SO SORRY about the long wait! I hope you enjoyed reading the other writers' fanfiction stories during this long break! There are some really great ones out there! Anyway, here's the next chapter! :D
"If you listen to the wind very carefully, you'll be able to hear me whisper my love for you." ― Anonymous
Prepare for the Storm
Chapter Three
Fishlegs wiped his brow as he handed Meatlug another rock as an award for her good behavior. He smiled and patted his lovely girl's head before hugging her. He picked up another rock, but as Meatlug opened her mouth in anticipation, he tossed it towards the reject pile due to its irregular shape and impure properties. "Not that one, Meatlug," Fishlegs chuckled, giving Meatlug a soft rub underneath her chin. "I don't think you would like that kind of rock."
Meatlug jiggled happily as Fishlegs bent down to pick up a different one before plopping it into his dragon's mouth. As Meatlug chewed on the crumbly goodness, Fishlegs picked up some other rocks and walked over to the other Gronckles before tossing them the rocks. As they eagerly munched on their lunch, Fishlegs returned to Meatlug and lightly scratched the area behind her ears. "Who's a good girl?"
"I could barf," Snotlout grimaced as Fishlegs frowned.
"Don't pay attention to him, Meatlug," Fishlegs muttered to his dragon as he continued massaging her tough skin. "He's just a muttonhead – it's not his fault he can't help it," he said a little louder with a smirk.
"Ha-ha. Very funny." Snotlout rolled his eyes dramatically as he marched towards the Gronckle and her rider.
"First of all, why are you here? And second, why are you only wearing your underwear? Fishlegs asked with a hint of annoyance, not liking how the other Viking ruined his moment with Meatlug.
Snotlout crossed his arms and grinned. "Extracting that Monstrous Nightmare saliva is messy business. Got saliva all over my tunic. Since it's the only one I have that's not packed, I'm waiting for it to dry. As for your other question, Gobber wants to know if you have all the materials you need for Gronckle Iron."
Fishlegs smiled proudly. "Of course. I have a stash of the ingredients at home on Berk. Even if I didn't have that, the rocks in the recipe aren't hard to locate."
"Yeah. Whatever," Snotlout didn't leave any room for comment as he whipped around and stormed back up from the way he came. But then, out of nowhere, he started sprinting towards Fishlegs. "I forgot to ask," he exhaled loudly as he grasped his poor, feeble heart, "Do you know where Hiccup or Astrid are?"
"No clue. Saw Hiccup fly away after speaking to Gobber, but I think Astrid's been gone pretty much all morning. Why?"
"No reason," Snotlout shrugged casually. "But do you think… they're together?"
"Define 'together'?"
"Sneaking away from us and doing the nasty somewhere else on the island," The Snot smirked when he saw Fishleg's grimace.
"First off, ewww. Second, I don't think Astrid and Hiccup are like that… I've only seen them share brief kisses." Fishlegs replied as he noticed Ruff and Tuff in the distance, making their way towards them.
"Hah!" Snotlout crossed his arms and smirked. "As if! Hiccstrid heavily makes out on a daily basis; trust me! I've seen them nearly screw each other's' brains out with how hot and heavy they've been recently. I mean, just yesterday they were in the stables, letting their freak flags fly. I think Astrid was brushing dirt off of Stormfly when Hiccup surprised her with a bear hug from behind.
"And then, things spiraled from one thing to to another; next thing I remember was seeing them practically banging with clothes on. I bet they didn't think anyone was watching, but I saw them as clear as day. So, I stand by my original theory that they're probably somewhere on this island gettin' naked."
Fishlegs blushed deeply at Snotlout's insinuation. "Okay, so maybe Hiccup and Astrid are closer than I thought…, but that doesn't mean… I mean, Hiccup and Astrid know that they are not supposed to bed each other until the night of their wedding ceremony…"
"Sure, they know it, but I don't think they care," Snotlout chuckled as he picked up a pice of rock and tossed it towards the beach water. Hookfang glanced at his rider and rolled his eyes before walking away, not caring about where the rest of the conversation would lead. "I mean, according to my father, as long as it's within one year of the chosen wedding date, it's not frowned upon for betrothed couples to sleep together."
Snotlout picked up another rock and aimed it towards the water again, but this time, he accidentally misfired, and the tiny rock smacked Hookfang in the side. The dragon immediately snarled at his rider and as he swung his tail to smack Snotlout away, the brawn Viking ducked just in time.
"Haha! You missed!" He pumped his fists into the air, exclaiming, "Snotlout! Snotlout! Oye! Oye! Oy—OOMPH!"
Without warning, Hookfang's tail smacked against Snotlout's opposite side, sending the boy off his feet and hurling towards the rejected pile of rocks. Fishlegs cringed at the impact as Hookfang snickered quietly before trudging along.
"Are you… okay?" Fishlegs walked closer to Snotlout as the barbaric Viking clambered to his feet.
"I'm fine," he grumbled as he shot Hookfang a glare even though the Mostrous Nightmare couldn't see him at the moment. "I swear, that dragon's going to be the death of me one day."
Fishlegs opened his mouth to comment, but was cut-off by Tuffnut.
"I beg to differ," the scrawny, blonde Viking slowly rubbed his chin as he approached Snotlout with Ruffnut and the Zippleback behind him. "You see, compared to Hookfang, you're nothing but a shirtless spec of dust. He could crush you at any moment or burn you alive. The only reason you're not dead yet, my friend, is because Hookfang doesn't feel threatened by you. Like it or not, Snot, but you are not worthy of Hookfang's murderous antics."
"Yeah," Ruffnut crossed her arms and nodded with a smirk. "Hookfang could destroy you in seconds if he wanted – but because you're nothing but a thorn on his side, the most he does is tolerate you… By the way," her eyes moved to Snotlout's hairy chest, "there's still some Monstrous Nightmare saliva on your chest… Probably should do something about that so it doesn't dry on your chest hair… Otherwise, one tiny torch from Hookfang could light you on fire."
"Babe," Snotlout grinned as he threw an arm around Ruffnut, "I'm already on fire."
"Gross," Ruff cringed as she grabbed Snotlout's hand and twisted it off her shoulder. She moved away from the Snot as the short Viking crossed his arms and rolled his eyes as if her rejection hadn't stung him in every way imaginable.
"My sister is right on all accounts, Snottikins. Especially the horrors of dried up Monstrous Nightmare saliva! Believe me, we should know. Aunt Bernice died that way once." Tuff sighed as he made his way towards the red dragon.
"Aunt Bernice actually survived, but we thought she was dead, and then two months later, she accidentally fell and ended up dying from being impaled in the stomach by a tire spoke." Ruffnut shuddered at the memory, and Tuffnut continued without giving Snotlout room to respond.
Tuff gestured towards Hookfang and grinned, "A Monstrous Nightmare is a magnificent creature we all need to respect; while H has the power to cook you alive, you have to admire his level of restraint."
Snotlout marched up to Hookfang, pushing Tuff aside and rested his hand on the dragon's side. "Why are you guys treating me like I don't care about my dragon?" He spat into his palm and rubbed his saliva onto Hookfang's scaly skin. "You see? I care. I'm treating his wound and making sure his skin doesn't dry out."
"You mean the wound that's on his other side?" Fishlegs cocked an eyebrow, wondering what in the world was going on inside that brawn Viking's head.
Snotlout froze his movements before clenching his fists. "I KNEW THAT!"
Without warning, he stomped around the fiery beast and noticed a small red spot on the dragon's skin. He repeated his actions and gently rubbed his saliva over the wound, but his hand applied too much pressure, causing Hookfang to flinch and whack Snotlout in the stomach with his tail again. The Viking was sent flailing backwards before landing in the beach water while everyone else laughed.
Snotlout frowned as he shot out of the water and marched towards Hookfang. "Hey! Watch it! I'm trying to help you!"
Hookfang shook his head in dismay and flew off to somewhere else on the island, not wanting to be bothered anymore.
"HOOKFANG! GET BACK HERE!" Snotlout shouted at the top of his lungs, only to be ignored by his peeved dragon.
As the three other riders watched Snotlout storm off in the direction of Hookfang, all three of them shared the same look before turning their attention to the floating pair of skivvies in the water.
"How long do you think it's going to take him to realize…?" Fishlegs started but immediately, they heard a girly scream coming from Snotlout's direction.
"I think he just realized," Ruffnut smirked as Tuffnut chuckled under his breath.
The male twin backed away from the other two and picked up a long stick before dipping it into the water to fetch the floating skivvies. "He's going to come back for these," Tuffnut deduced as he picked up Snotlout's undergarment and smirked before tossing them in the air. "Barf! Belch! Do your thing!"
The Zippleback ignited the flinging wet material on fire with their gas and spark abilities, causing the white cloth to disintegrate into ashes.
"Tuff, that was mean," Fishlegs tried to argue but let out a quiet laugh. "But highly necessary in my opinion. Maybe he'll learn a thing or to about humility."
"Best decision ever, bro," Ruffnut grinned ear to ear as she walked up to her brother and patted him on the back.
Tuffnut shrugged earnestly and then smiled slowly. "Just looking out for the team, that's all."
Hiccup was, at best, surprised when Astrid led him into the deepest part of the cave only to find a small, blazing pyre to illuminate the large cavernous space around them and a few layers of already laid-out furs laying on the hard ground. His eyebrow cocked as she released his hand and sat down on top of said furs, but then he smirked and let out a quiet chuckle. "I'm impressed, Milady. You planned this little rendezvous, didn't you?"
The beautiful, blonde Valkyrie shrugged casually, pretending to play innocent. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure." the Acting Chief was unconvinced but continued smiling as he playfully rolled his eyes. Shaking his head in mock dismay, he took a seat next to her, and their fingers naturally laced together again as their eyes made contact with their dragons.
"Hey," Hiccup motioned to Toothless, "guard the entrance. Chase all visitors away, and if Snotlout tries to peek after a first warning, I give you my permission to zap his butt." Toothless instantly retracted his teeth and beamed brightly at the instructions before whirling around and making his way towards the entrance.
Stormfly, however, stayed behind and cocked her head with curiosity while waiting for her rider's instructions. The Shield Maiden gave her beautiful girl a smile and softly said, "Go with Toothless, Stormfly. If the twins try to peek, I give you permission to throw spines at them." Stormfly slowly approached Astrid and nuzzled her beak against the blonde maiden's cheek before peeling away and following Toothless. Astrid then noticed Hiccup's cockeyed expression. "What?"
"You do know that Stormfly's spines could kill them…" Hiccup pointed out the obvious, but his betrothed only shrugged.
"Ruffnut and Tuffnut have survived worse," was her only reply, causing the Night Fury rider to chuckle, admitting she was right. "And besides, Stormfly wouldn't bother trying to kill them – she's a proud dragon, and those two wouldn't be worth the effort. I'm sure…"
"To be honest, they'd probably think Stormfly was starting a game with them," Hiccup snorted, his theory causing Astrid to burst out laughing.
"And then they'd collect all of the spines and start throwing them at Snotlout," Astrid added as she wiped away a tear. Hiccup tilted his head back and guffawed. "Oh, yeah," she grinned wickedly. "Totally going to be my next training exercise for all of them. Let's just see how fast those muttonheads can outrun a Spine-shooting Deadly Nadder."
Hiccup smirked. "Can't be too different from watching them run from a Axe-wielding, Deadly Astrid, can it?"
"Damn straight," she nodded without hearing what he actually said, instantly falling for his trap. "Hey!" she exclaimed after a beat and aimed to punch his shoulder, but expecting that reaction, Hiccup easily caught her fist and gripped her wrist, surprising her completely. A lopsided smile colored Hiccup's lips as he gently tugged on her arm, carefully and swiftly swinging her towards him until she was sitting on his lap. Naturally, her legs wrapped around his waist, and a smirk pulled at her lips. "Sneaky move. You totally anticipated my punch, didn't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he feigned innocence with a playful grin, and Astrid shook her head, laughing. "But really," he added a few moments later after quickly pressing a kiss to her cheek, "we've been friends for years and have been courting for quite some time now. I think it's safe to say I pretty much know you're every move, Milady."
Astrid cocked an eyebrow and slowly brought her fingers to his head, threading them gently through his thick, auburn locks. She couldn't help herself and said, "I bet you don't."
The Acting Chief of Berk, amused, glided his palms to her hips, guiding her closer to him. And then he smirked.
"Prove it."
"Gladly," she said in her sultriest voice as her right hand slowly slid to his chest. Her fingers splayed evenly on top of Hiccup's heart, and she eagerly pushed the lad downward onto the furs, causing him to gasp lightly in surprise before her mouth crushed hard against his lips in a heated kiss.
"Where have you two been?!" Snotlout – who was now fully dressed – fumed as the couple returned from their romantic rendezvous while the others chimed in, asking too many questions at once.
"Hey, hey, hey! Not all at once, guys." Hiccup chuckled as everyone quieted down, allowing him and Astrid time to explain. "We were spending some time together," was all he said in response to Snotlout's question, not wanting to go into full detail. "You do know that Astrid isn't coming with us, don't you?"
They all nodded but were frowning as if Hiccup's answer wasn't good enough.
"I know those looks," Astrid crossed her arms and gave their friends a pointed look. "If you think we're going to tell you what we've been doing these past few hours, then you've got another thing coming," she waved her fist.
"So did you do it?" Ruffnut asked after a brief pause, causing both Hiccup and Astrid to flush bright red.
"NO!" they shouted in unison. "And even if we did, it's none of your business!" Astrid added as she mindlessly reached for her axe while glaring at Ruffnut.
"So you did it," Ruffnut concluded with a stoic expression as Hiccup and Astrid grew redder, though from embarrassment or anger, no one knew.
"Everyone!" Hiccup took a step towards the group, his hands clenched in tight fists. "Astrid and I did not have sex in the last few hours, no matter how tempted we might have been. So cut the crap and leave us alone!" With Toothless and Stormfly in tow, Hiccup and Astrid stormed away, not wanting to answer any more of their friends' questions.
When they were out of sight, Tuffnut turned to his sister, Snotlout and Fishlegs and grinned. "I believe him."
"You do?" Ruffnut cocked an eyebrow as Tuff nodded proudly.
"See! I told you they weren't doing that!" Fishlegs snapped at Snotlout as the Monstrous Nightmare rider frowned.
"If they didn't do it, then why were they gone for so long?" Snotlout asked out loud as he touched his chin thoughtfully.
"There's tons to do," Fishlegs replied as he crossed his arms and leaned against Meatlug. "They could have had a secret race or went off in search of new dragons… or maybe they went somewhere so that Toothless and Stormfly could play… who knows where they went or what they did, but it's obvious they didn't do what you think they did."
"Uh, hello." Ruffnut rose her hand to stop the boys from bickering. "I'm still waiting on the 'Tuff believes Hiccup and Astrid didn't have sex' explanation." She glanced at her twin brother and tilted her head slightly while waiting for his response.
"It's simple," Tuffnut replied with a chuckle, the sneer of his lips reaching to his ears.
"Still waiting," Ruff mumbled in annoyance. "Any year, bro-amigo."
"Well, H and A wouldn't have been so angry if they had done the big bad horizontal flamingo." Tuffnut answered with a smirk.
"Oh. Makes sense." Ruffnut and Snotlout replied simultaneously as Fishlegs sighed.
"I believe the proper term is 'tango.' Not flamingo." The Gronckle rider stated as he lightly scratched underneath Meatlug's neck. His fingers fluttered over her sweet spot, sending her downward in lazy bliss. She rolled onto her back as her tongue flipped out, causing Fishlegs to laugh. "Good girl."
Tuffnut shook his head swiftly. "Not tango. Flamingo."
"Tango," Fishlegs repeated, knowing he was right.
"Hate to break it to you, Fishlegs," Ruffnut placed a gental hand on top of the husky viking's shoulder, "but my brother doesn't say anything he doesn't mean. When he says horizontal flamingo, he means horizontal flamingo. Isn't that right, Tuff?"
"That's right, my sister." Tuffnut nodded firmly, causing Fishlegs to roll his eyes.
"It doesn't make sense." Fishlegs asked with a sigh as Meatlug flipped back to her feet again.
"Oh, but it does, my friend." Tuffnut beamed brightly. "It does."
"How, then?"
Tuffnut glanced at Ruffnut, and she returned his smile before he continued on to answer Fishlegs. "Flamingos, for most of the time, stand only on one leg. Since H has only one leg, he can't tango in bed. He can only flamingo!" Tuff exclaimed in an exaggerated vibrato.
Fishlegs gaped at him and then bit back his laugh. "Am I a bad person for thinking that's a little funny?"
"I think it's hilarious, and I'm the most perfectest angel in the Archipelago!" Snotlout guffawed before wiping away a tear. Hookfang rolled his eyes and swiped his tail towards Snotlout, knocking him over the cliff, causing the Viking Princess to scream.
"HOOKFANG!"
"I rest my case," Fishlegs sighed as Hookfang warbled a laugh. "If you don't catch him, he's going to die, Hookfang."
The Monstrous Nightmare peered down the cliff to see Snotlout still flailing his arms and shrieking like a girl. The dragon sighed dramatically and swooped downward to catch his rider as Fishlegs shook his head in dismay.
"That idiot will never learn."
WriterFreak001:
Again, I am sooooo sorry for the long wait! Life has been pretty busy since I started my full-time job, so this chapter is presenting like three months of work.
I hope you guys liked this chapter.
Next one is still going to be a buildup chapter, but things should start to pick up in the fifth chapter of this story.