Um . . . I'm . . . Sorry?
I really am sorry and you have every right to hate me, since it's been, what, six months? More? I'M SO SORRY. (Those of you with axes, please head to the right. Those of you with pitchforks, go to the left. Any other weapons may go to the center line.)
After the initial incident that set me behind, I kept putting off writing this, and I identified the reason after a couple days - I was losing interest in it. If I was going to post a chapter, it wasn't going to be very good, and you guys don't deserve that, since y'all are the best readers ever. So I waited, and the combined effort of binge watching all the movies and episodes, and the new season, snapped me back to my original high-on-dragons state, and I'm ready to continue writing.
About my updating schedule - I'm not sure what I can do here. I'll get back to you on this. Hopefully I won't leave you hanging for more than a month.
I haven't written an extra-long chapter to make up for it, mostly because it would probably all be filler and I don't think that's the best way to make up for the crime of not updating. This isn't completely finished, it's actually not even a full episode, I was going to wait until I had completed it, but I don't think you guys would appreciate that. So here's a small part of the episode. Enjoy this tidbit of what's going to come.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!
Last thing, should I personify 'Voice'? I don't think I should, mostly because I've never really been a fan of OCs in a story, and I'm especially afraid of turning her into a Mary Sue. Thoughts?
So, I'll stop talking and actually let you read the (part of the)story now.
As everyone settled down, the video started up.
[dragon squawks in the background]
Savage: Pull! Pull! Keep pulling, you maggots, unless you want to be giant eel chum!
Fishlegs shivered and buried his head in Meatlug's scales as he remembered the giant eels from previous episodes.
Dagur: [doing pull-ups] Hello, gorgeous. [Kisses himself.]
"Eugh!" Snotlout and the twins cried. Astrid looked disgusted, while Hiccup muttered, "Self-absorbed much?"
Dagur rolled his eyes and glared at the teens. "So? I don't see any of you with these." He flexed his muscles, and shot them a flashy smile.
Astrid gagged.
[Strains] Oh, hello again. [kisses and again strains.] Work for me, baby. Work for Daddy.
"'Daddy'?" Astrid said in an oddly high-pitched voice. Hiccup and Snotlout exchanged worried looks, right before she burst into peals of laughter, the twins grinning and quickly following her, saying they, 'liked this new attitude.'
Dagur growled and was about to jump out of his seat, when Barf and Belch reared up, and Voice hummed, reminding him that she was watching. Dagur grumbled and sat back down, and Tuff smiled, glad he had trained his dragon.
Savage: The Reaper is starting to surface, sir.
Stoick frowned, suddenly remembering something. "Doesn't Savage work for Alvin?"
"Well, he sure doesn't work for me. Why do I want to hire him in the future? He's an idiot!"
Dagur: I can see that!
Savage: Oh, right.
Dagur: [sighs] Hello, gorgeous. So . . . pretty.
Snotlout stuck out his tongue and pointed at it, showing what he thought of Dagur. Dagur, thankfully, didn't notice.
Savage: That's the last of it. Well, now we have everything of value from the dragon-hunting ship.
Toothless, Stormfly, Barf and Belch, and Meatlug growled lowly. Hiccup, Fishlegs, and the twins turned in scary synch to glare at Dagur.
Snotlout, however, lost it completely. He whispered something in Hookfang's ear, and Hookfang was only too happy to comply.
Dagur didn't even have time to scream before he was engulfed in flames. As Dagur was burning to a crisp, Snotlout cried, "Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi!"
Stoick and Spitelout looked at the scene in front of them, shocked. Stoick knew the by doing this, Snotlout had declared war on the Berserkers, but Stoick didn't exactly care. If Oswald was gone . . . Spitelout looked at his so- looked at Snotlout. Just as impulsive as he was.
When Hookfang finally let up, everyone's mouths dropped open. While Dagur was sweating, and it seemed he had a couple of burns, he was not dead, or burned to a crisp.
In front of their eyes, Dagur fainted, but by the sounds of raspy breathing, he was still alive.
"I said, no violence. And that goes for you too, Snotlout!" Voice said, and she sounded very annoyed. Probably not a good thing.
Snotlout seemed to have gotten this as well, and closed his mouth and sat back down. Hiccup grinned at him.
"Shut up, toothpick." Snotlout said, rolling his eyes.
"I didn't say anything!" Hiccup protested.
Dagur: No. Not everything. [Throws dagar at a picture of the Dragon Eye]
"Someone's not happy," Astrid muttered.
[Scene shift: Hiccup is cleaning the Dragon Eye's lenses. He puts back the on ehe was just cleaning and turns to Toothless, holding up the Eye.]
Hiccup: Okay, give me a slow burn, bud.
[Toothless does as is requested. Dragon Eye lights up, purple.]
Hiccup: Okay, I've seen this before, but what happens if I push . . .
"IT EXPLODES!" Tuffnut yelled suddenly, and everyone jumped.
"Jeez, Tuff," Snotlout said. "Are you trying to destroy my ears?"
Hookfang grinned, and growled loudly, right into Snotlout's ear. Snotlout shrieked, and ran to the back of the room. Noticing all the odd looks he received, he blushed, and sat back down next to Hookfang and Hiccup.
"Why did you stick me with such an evil dragon?" Snotlout whispered. Hiccup chuckled.
[Dragon Eye lights up, now red.]
Hiccup: Cool. Dragon classes. What do you say we check out the Night Fury, bud?
"No, check out the Gronckle!" Fishlegs shouted, which set off the twins and Snotlout.
"No, the Zippleback!"
"Nuh-uh, the Nightmare! Hookfang is cooler than your Barch and Belf will ever be!"
"It's Barf and Belch."
"The Gronckle is better by far! Just look at the stats-"
"Really? What stats?"
"Well, take the-"
"Oh, I forgot, you're boring and I don't care."
"Just like no one cares about your stupid Nightmare, Snotlout!"
Finally, the dragons got tired of their riders defending them, and after multiple growls, yells, and high-pitched, girly shrieks(mainly from Snotlout), Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs all sat down.
Hiccup laughed silently, but immediately tried(and failed) to control himself when four glares were sent in his direction.
Astrid only looked at the five, confused. What was wrong with them? Arguing about which dragon was better? She still held firmly to the belief she had been taught all her life - that dragons were horrible monsters that deserved to be killed. But she could feel her grasp slipping away - were they really? From what she had just seen, and everything she had seen before, either onscreen or not, the dragons acted almost . . . human?
And she had to admit that riding a Nadder was seeming particularly tempting at the moment . . .
[Toothless groans]
Hiccup: Try to contain your excitement, would you?
[Toothless chuckles and turns away.]
Hiccup: Now, Monstrous Nightmare gem
"See!" Snotlout yelled, standing up and pointed at himself. "I'm-" When Hookfang glared at him, he quickly corrected himself. "We're the best!"
Hiccup: Plus Night Fury equals . . . nothing. Okay.
[Lights it back up facing the door, only for Astrid to burst through it abruptly.]
Hiccup: Oh! Astrid class. [chuckles and turns off the eye.]
Hiccup laughed quietly. Astrid looked at him pityingly when no one else laughed.
Astrid: Hiccup, we have a problem, a huge problem.
Everyone immediately tensed. A 'huge problem' was not a phrase Astrid used lightly. All of the harvest could have been burned to a crisp, and Astrid still wouldn't say 'huge problem'.
Hiccup: Dagur?
Dagur, awakened, grinned at all the glares shot his way.
Astrid: Worse.
Everyone shared horrified looks, hands instinctively drifting to their weapons, before realizing they didn't have them.
Hiccup: What could possibly be worse than Dagur?
[Gustav and Fanghook ride in, and crash in Hiccup's hut, knocking Astrid off her feet.]
Gustav: Gustav!
Hiccup: Gustav?!
Astrid: Gustav.
"Me?" Gustav asked, jumping up and beaming, forgetting about the 'worse than Dagur' part as he watched himself fly on a real dragon into the base with the Dragon Riders! Nothing was better than this! He was too wrapped up in his bliss to notice the horrified look on Hiccup's on-screen face.
Hiccup: [Backing up against the wall, hiding the Eye.] Gustav, what are you doing here?
[Sits down as Toothless gets smacked in the face by Fanghook's tail. Toothless swats him away.]
Hiccup: I- I mean, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?
Gustav beamed, as realization hit - he was going to be a Dragon Rider! That sounded amazing!
[Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins burst into the room.]
Snotlout: Hiccup, did you hear Gustav is-
[Sees Gustav dancing on the chest Hiccup is sitting on.]
Snotlout: . . . standing right beside you. Perfect.
Gustav's smile only seemed to grow - Perfect. Perfect!
"What's wrong with his face?" Tuffnut whispered to Ruffnut loudly. Gustav ignored them.
Tuffnut: You're looking a little different there, Guster.
Gustav: Yeah, I'm growing a beard.
[Points to a single hair on his chin.]
All the adult male vikings burst into boisterous laughter. "A beard, he says!" "That wee thing!" "He's as beardsome as Gobber!" Gustav colored slightly, but still managed to maintain some of his dignity as he turned back to the screen, and as the Vikings' laughter died down, the video played again.
Tuffnut: Really? Let me see.
[Leans in]
Tuffnut: Ha! Even Ruff has more hair on her chinny-chin-chin than that.
[Tuffnut yanks off the hair. Gustav stumbles back, holding his chin. He crashes into the chest with the Dragon Eye. Hiccup plays with his sleeve.]
Gustav: Ow! [Picks up the Eye] Hey, what's that thing?
"The Dragon Eye," Gustav breathed, and Snotlout rolled his eyes as Gustav's dramatics, spinning his fingers around his temple in a he's-crazy motion.
Fishlegs looked at Hiccup nervously. "Should he have that?"
Hiccup shook his head, worried.
Hiccup: Oh. [Tries to take it from Gustav]
[Gustav shines the light into his eyes.]
Stoick winced as Gobber elbowed him sneakily. Stoick had once done the same thing, except had stared directly into the sun, and he waited for Gustav's reaction and vision impairment. He was not disappointed.
Gustav: Oh! Whoa! [Shown from Gustav's view, the room is covered in blobs of light] You see these spots? Some sort of sun sword?
[Drops the Eye, Hiccup manages to catch it.]
Hiccup: I'll take that. [Hands it to Fishlegs.] No, Gustav, it's not a sun sword.
"But that would be totally cool!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "Imagine me, wreaking total havoc, with sword made of sun!"
Fishlegs: It's the Dragon Eye, and it's very old and very fragile.
Gustav: [Stumbling around the room.] Whoa, these spots, they're not going away.
Stoick nodded amusedly.
[Crashes into one of Toothless's tails on the wall, Toothless grabs it protectively.]
Gustav: Ow!
Fishlegs: It isn't something to just be touched.
Gustav: Relax, Fishlegs, I know what I'm doing.
[Crashes again and falls the entire wall of tails. Fanghook drops another one on Toothless's head and Toothless growls.]
"I'm sure," Snotlout said, again rolling his eyes.
Snotlout: Gustav, Gustav, over here. Uh, when are you leaving?
Gustav: That's funny, Snotlout, but I'm not leaving. I'm moving here.
Gustav just barely manage to stop himself from clapping excitedly, as he tried to maintain his dignity. He turned to Snotlout, the man he had idolized for so long.
"So do I get my own hut? When do I start?" Snotlout looked at him oddly, before turning away and looking Hiccup.
"He's kidding, right?"
[Again from Gustav's view. Through the spots, Snotlout and the twins gasp and jump back, horrified.]
Tuffnut: Ha ha! Yeah, yeah, you are. [Slaps Ruffnut's arm]
Ruffnut: Uhh!
Tuffnut: Imagine . . . he would never . . . [sobers] Wait, he's serious? I'll get the stake and firewood. [Both twins walk towards the door.]
Tuffnut and Ruffnut looked immensely excited at the prospect of burning someone at the stake.
Hiccup: Oh, hold on, hold on. No one is burning anyone at the stake.
Both twins sighed sadly. "But why?" Tuffnut asked, disappointed.
"Yeah, if we can't burn Gustav, why can't we burn Snotlout?" Ruffnut said, sending sly looks at Snotlout, who glared back.
"NO."
Ruffnut: Hiccup's right. Let's just throw him off the cliff.
"There's an idea!" Ruffnut said enthusiastically, agreeing with herself, which Tuffnut was quick to point out, only earning him a smack from his twin.
Hiccup: Guys, I'm sure there's a simple explanation. [turns around to Gustav] Please tell me there's a simple explanation, Gustav.
Gustav: Yeah, very simple. By the way, do not look right into that sun sword thing. [laughs] Whoo! Anyway, you said when I was ready, I could join the Dragon Riders. Well, I'm ready and I'm here to join. Where's my hut?
[Zoom on Hiccup's dismayed face.]
Snotlout laughed only for a couple seconds, before trailing off as he realized he would have to deal with Gustav too.
[Scene change: Hiccup and Astrid talking outside.]
Astrid: Wait a minute, why do I have to watch him?
Astrid scowled. So she had to watch the kid. Was it because she was a girl and was going to be married off to some idiot who would only keep her at home anyway? Well, that wasn't going to happen. She was going to be a shieldmaiden, and the best one Berk had ever seen.
Hiccup: I would do it, but I'm making some, just, major breakthroughs with the Dragon Eye.
Astrid: So?
Hiccup: Well, I did promise him that when the time was right I would train him to be a Dragon Rider.
"This is a story I have to hear," Snotlout said grumpily. "So I can hit Hiccup for ever saying such a thing."
Astrid nodded, not saying anything, but agreeing that Hiccup was probably high or something when he agreed.
Hiccup: But I just didn't think that said time would be today.
Astrid: What am I supposed to do with him in the meantime?
Hiccup: I . . . I don't know. Just keep him occupied.
Gustav's mother just barely concealed a snort. Nothing could keep Gustav occupied.
Astrid: [turning away] Great, so I'm a babysitter.
Astrid's scowl only deepened and her glare harshened.
Hiccup: [laughing] Babysitter! [quickly sobers] No, I mean, come one. He's . . . He's 16. How much trouble could he possibly be?
Stoick laughed darkly - 16-year-olds could be plenty of trouble, as he learned with Hiccup.
Gobber laughed as well, but much more cheerfully than Stoick. "Aye, you would know all about trouble, eh, laddie?" Hiccup blushed.
[Smidvarg shrieking, lands upside down]
Hiccup: Smidvarg, what's happening?
Gustav: [Flying with Hookfang and the Night Terrors.] Hey, Hiccup, did you know they could do this? Awesome!
Hiccup took a deep calming breath. Toothless warbled behind him.
Hiccup: Please? I just need more time.
Astrid: Fine! Gustav, arena, now.
Fishlegs pitied Gustav. Astrid had once dragged him along to one of her training sessions - Fishlegs still hadn't recovered, and he still shivered when he thought back. He wondered if spending time with Astrid would calm down the over-active boy.
[Astrid mounts Stormfly and flies off.]
Hiccup: By the way, your timing . . . impeccable.
[Smidvarg snarls]
"Deserved that," Snotlout muttered, but without any of his usual heat, and Hiccup hid a smile as he picked that up.
[Scene switch. Romantic music is playing as Astrid appears, the sunlight shining on her hair and face, she smiles as Gustav, who is standing on his dragon above and beside her.]
Snotlout's eyes widened dramatically, and he said breathlessly, "You're gorgeous, Astrid."
Hiccup wasn't doing much better. His eyes widened, and he turned a flaming red as he buried his head into Toothless's scales and prayed Astrid didn't see.
Astrid, for her part, rolled her eyes. Even Gustav fancied her, it seemed. Ugh.
Astrid: Oh, Gustav, you're so much older and more mature, and I just love that rugged beard you're growing. Oh, Gustav.
Snotlout turned to glare scarily at Gustav. Tuffnut mimed gagging, and Ruffnut pretended to retch. Astrid shook her head, disgusted.
[Back to reality. Astrid is glaring at Gustav, who is sitting cross-legged in front of her.]
"Seems more like Astrid," Hiccup muttered to Toothless.
Astrid: Gustav!
Gustav: Hey, Astrid. I was just dream-
Astrid: Uh-uh-uh, don't creep me out. You're gonna help with target practice. Do you think you can handle that?
Gustav: Oh, I can handle that.
[Gets closer to Astrid, who pushes him away.]
"Ugh," Astrid said, yet again rolling her eyes.
Astrid: Ugh.
Astrid nodded in agreement with herself.
That's really as much as I have. It's short, I know, I'm sorry. The new chapter should be up soon. Thank you all so, so, so much. Have a nice day(/night)!
Z.V