Toothless
"You're a Night Fury!"
I gave Hiccup an odd look as I tried to eat the stew he'd brought. Although I pretty much had to lap it up like a canine, it was a nice gesture. Thankfully, Mom didn't make it; Hiccup had probably gotten up early to do it himself. It's a miracle that he had never inherited mom's crappy cooking skills. Never eat her meatballs, guys. Ever. Not even under the threat of death by blood eagle. Trust me; the blood eagle is the better option.
As I ate, I read the papers that Hiccup had laid out for me. I had to say, I was a rather surprised by all the pieces Hiccup had managed to pull together. Just to be sure I was reading it right, I gave Hiccup a questioning look.
He grinned and nodded before spooning some soup into his mouth. "Yeah, it's exactly as it looks. Check this out." He set his bowl aside and read the paper about the Night Fury aloud. "See, it's a dragon that was unseen because it hidden in the dark. Your black scales—" he scratched my scaly hide to emphasize his point "—would make the perfect camouflage at night. It only makes sense." Hiccup glanced up at the Stormcutter who had been following the conversation animatedly. "So am I right?" Hiccup asked. The Stormcutter crooned and nodded. Hiccup pumped his fists in the air and cheered, "I knew it!"
"Great," I said. "Now what?" I cocked my head to make the question more apparent for Hiccup.
Although at first seemingly prepared to reply, Hiccup stopped short. "I'm…still working on a phase two."
If I could have I would have face-palmed. Nevertheless, my ear flaps instinctively pressed against my head, and that combined with my narrowed eyes was enough to get my exasperation across to my brother. You didn't think this one through, did you Hic?
"Oh give me a break!" he exclaimed. "At least we know what you are; let's enjoy that little victory!"
In the wake of his animated defense of self, Hiccup nearly knocked over his bowl by accident, but thankfully the Stormcutter caught it in time. The bowl's contents sloshed from the jerky catch, effectively seizing the Stormcutter's interest. The Stormcutter curiously sniffed the bowl, trying to understand what was so great about the liquid contents inside. I had to bark at it to back off when it tried to lap up some of the soup.
"That's Hiccup's!" I scolded.
Hiccup chuckled nervously. "I guessed that that might happen." He pulled a fish out of his satchel and tossed it to the Stormcutter. "Here."
I blinked in surprise as the Stormcutter eagerly scooped up the treat. "Well, aren't you prepared for everything." Seriously, no bag that little should be able to carry a whole fish, two bowls, and a canteen of soup. Suspicious, I pawed the satchel open. "What else did you put in here? A ship?" Turned out the answer was no. Along with two cods, an eel tumbled out instead, and I backed away immediately. "What the—HIC!"
Hiccup glanced at the eel in surprise, but the Stormcutter reacted far more violently. It screeched in shock and pounced over to me. After abruptly shoving me away from the eel, it batted the offending seafood away with its tail. I just laid there completely floored, literally and figuratively, while Hiccup looked even more so. Ignoring both our reactions, the Stormcutter hissed at the eel in unbridled disgust.
"Hey! Hey! It's okay!" Hiccup exclaimed as he stood and picked up the eel. He tossed it far away, calming the Stormcutter down almost immediately. It huffed indignantly before plodding over to me and helping me up with encouraging nudges. "Gez," Hiccup said, "I know that Toothless is allergic, but you didn't have to freak out like that."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why'd you bring it then?" He knew just as well as I did what eels did to me.
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Oh hush; I wasn't going to give it to you. It was for Dragon—" the Stormcutter snarled at the notion "—but apparently he doesn't want it," Hiccup added quickly. Now that I knew that the Stormcutter would never really hurt Hiccup, watching Hiccup feign intimidation towards the seemingly angry dragon amused me. I had to laugh.
Hiccup
Before I tell you what had happened at dragon training later that day, I feel the need to explain myself. Namely, I need to explain the eel. Before leaving Toothless and the Stormcutter behind at the cove, I'd taken the eel with me because I thought if anyone was going to charr the poor fish, it should at least be mom. She could always use some cooking practice. I didn't get the chance to leave the eel at the house though. The moment I'd returned from the forest, Mom had found me. She scolded me about disappearing this morning while she was herding me to the training arena.
So it was completely accidental when I hid the eel in my sleeve, which was way more uncomfortable than you might imagine. However I decided to take the discomfort over handing it over to Mom. Knowing her, she would have asked me why I had it in the first place. I couldn't exactly tell her, "Well, I was going to feed it to the Stormcutter who is now Toothless's temporary guardian, but turns out, Dragon—that's what I call him. Don't judge me—doesn't like eel soooooooooo…"
That definitely would not have gone over well.
So up my sleeve it went!
As a bucket of water was shoved in my hands and I was sent to team up with Fishlegs for today's lesson, I was trying to balance an eel under my vest while the arena was being filled with Zippleback gas. I could hardly see my own hand with the green haze obscuring my vision. The gas reeked with an sharp, fumy stench that clung to the roof of my mouth with every breath I took in. Fishlegs ignited my wild imagination with descriptions of possible attacks that the fog's source could use on us. Good times, good times.
"Today's lesson is about teamwork!" Gobber announced as he stepped out of the arena, leaving only me and the other recruits behind. "Work together and you might survive."
Great, I thought dryly. And who would ever want to actually work with me?
I'll admit that that was a little pessimistic, but it was completely justified. Fishlegs looked ready to bolt, and the dragon hadn't even shown itself yet. With all this fog, I knew that keeping together would be critical, but I also knew that that wouldn't be happening. Between the two of us, I would be most likely to get caught by the dragon, and staying behind to help me probably wouldn't be worth it for Fishlegs. I could only hope it didn't come to that.
"Now a wet dragon head cannot light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky," Gobber explained from outside the arena.
Zippleback. Great.
"One head breathes gas, and the other lights it. Your job is to know which is which."
I tried not to groan. My mind was already piecing this impossible puzzle together. The easiest and safest way to douse the dragon's head would be to have one team take down the head and another take down the tail. One of the nearby supply crates had rope, I knew. That could help. But a strategy was useless if the target couldn't be found. Waiting for the fog was out of the question; the Zippleback could merely create more before the gas could thin out. Even if there was an opening between the time it recharged and the time the fog thinned enough for anyone to see, I doubted that anyone would listen to anything I had to say. Sigh.
To my left, I could hear Fishlegs muttering facts about the Zippleback. "Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for predigestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims in its—"
"Will you please stop that!?" I hissed, my anxiety seeping deep into my tone.
Mercifully, Fishlegs piped down. It didn't quite shut off my active mind as I envisioned a fleshy, crushed head being reduced to a smashed pile of goop by a Zippleback. I imagined dragon venom coursing through its victim until the victim was nothing but a pile chunky mush. Sometimes, being imaginative is not a blessing but a curse.
The sound of buckets crashing and Tuffnut's scream broke me out of my thoughts. I could see a puddle forming not too far away from Fishlegs and I. I jumped out of the way when Tuffnut ran past screaming, "Oh, I am hurt! I am very much hurt!"
"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now," Fishlegs whispered fearfully.
I scanned the fog until I saw a silhouette that was too large to be any of the other teens. "Look out!" I shouted when the dragon's heads emerged from the fog. Fishlegs fumbled with the bucket before finally dousing one of the dragon's heads. The now-wet head then puffed out more green gas while smiling evilly. Oh no.
"Oh. Wrong head," Fishlegs said nervously. As soon as the dragon began emitting more gas, Fishlegs fulfilled my earlier prediction and ran, leaving me behind. Called it.
I heard a clicking sound from behind me, and thanks to the clearing fog, I saw the d ragon's other head sparking in its mouth. The ignition head!
"Now Hiccup!" Gobber shouted.
I pressed my lips together and hurled the bucket as high as I could. Much to my dismay, the dragon's heads were too high, and not a drop of water reached its chins. It sloshed to the ground in a large puddle. The dragon grinned down at me, taking pleasure in my dismay.
"Oh, come on!" I cried.
"RUN HICCUP!" Gobber yelled.
The bucket dropped out of my hands with a clatter as I backed away slowly. The Zippleback was taking its sweet time stalking towards me, its sadistic pleasure in the hunt almost palpable. When it finally lunged, I fell on my butt and braced for the attack, but it suddenly halted before it could sink its teeth into me. I allowed myself to unwind slowly as it hesitated, sniffing me suspiciously. It snuffled my clothes with its warm breath before it suddenly jerked away. It took a moment for me to realize what had happened.
The eel. It had smelled the eel.
I immediately recalled Dragon's reaction to the eel earlier that day. "You've got to be joking," I muttered in shock. As it began to back away, hissing in disgust, I snapped into action. Even though my movements were slow, the Zippleback hastened its retreat as I stood.
"Back away," I said, as firmly as I could. As I approached with my hands held out as though ready to push it back, it continued to hiss and withdraw. "Back!" I said, getting a little louder. "Back! Back!" It backed away, like I commanded, towards the cage while I became louder and more assertive. "Don't make me tell you again! Yes that's right. Back into your cage." I carefully opened my vest and pulled out the slimy eel, trying to keep it as concealed as possible. "Now think about what you've done," I said before flinging the eel into the cage with the cowering Zippleback.
It cowered away from the eel, and I felt a pang of guilt before closing it in with the detested creature. I looked up, realizing that I'd have to let Gobber actually lock the dragon inside. Good. One less thing on my guilt list.
I wiped my hands against my clothes as I remained blissfully ignorant to the looks I was getting. That is, until I turned around. Shock, awe, and disbelief were the most prominent expressions I caught among my peers and Gobber. Fishlegs's empty bucket hit the floor with a clang, but no one seemed to have noticed. I shifted uneasily under the weight of their undivided attention before I could take no more.
"Okay!" I finally said. "So are we done?" It felt more awkward when no one, not even silence-breaking Gobber, answered me. "Because I've got some things I need to…" Without finishing my sentence—because, honestly, I had no idea what else to say—I ran towards the exit, hoping to get away before their petrification could wear off. "See you tomorrow!" I called as a side note.
I didn't look back after I left the arena and ran across the bridge and through the village. I only slowed down after I made it to the edge of the forest. I leaned over, trying to catch my breath as the event in the arena finally sank in.
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?"
I'm stuck in bed after waking up this morning with a 104 degree temperature. Not kidding; I felt terrible this morning. Thanks to my cold though, I finally got around to posting this chapter! :)
Mati triops: In order to accept private messages (better known as PMs) go to your profile by clicking on your username written in orange located at the top right corner. After doing so you will immediately be taken to your account settings. Scroll down until you reach your Account Options. Look for Accept Private Messages (PM) and click the circle under Yes in order to enable others to send you PMs. That's all there is to it! :D
—Tenchiko
