Last update: Aug. 14
It's Dec. 17.
Finals week has been completed with A's everywhere, so hopefully I'll get more chapters posted soon.
Toothless
The next day, Hiccup decided to contribute to the cause, and I hated the way he did it. Climbing onto the back of a dragon in the name of discovery should be illegal. But no, that's exactly what he did!
"I'm not going to die!"
"You don't know that!" I snarled back.
He ticked every point off his fingers as he spoke. "I have a rope, I trust Dragon, this fog will cover us, and you need to learn how to fly."
"Well…we can do it another way," I retorted.
"Sorry what?" Hiccup exaggeratedly cupped his ear with his hand. "I-I can't understand—All I'm hearing is 'Reee kacktrwoo raktaaaahktaaaaah grawwwwwr!"
"Oh grow up!"
"I'm going on the dragon now."
"What!? NO. Don't you dare—"
But he dared. Dragon did nothing to help me either; in fact, he'd been over the moon when Hiccup had asked to fly with him. Traitor. So now here we were, at the cove, allowing Hiccup to die because he's a madman.
Dragon crouched low so Hiccup could climb on. Hiccup skirted past the baby dragons who had gathered around us like a curious audience. After a bit of fumbling, Hiccup managed to wrap the rope around Dragon's neck. It wasn't choking Dragon, but it was not loose enough to make me want to rip Hiccup off of Dragon's back.
Unfortunately.
I growled at Hiccup and Dragon and circled the bigger dragon to make sure nothing was amiss. This horrific idea pissed me off, but it was still my job to make sure it went off without a hitch. Hiccup expertly ignored all my grousing.
"Okay," he said. "I'm ready."
And with that declaration, Dragon was soon off. He blasted into the air, leaving behind the safety of land for the death defying heights of the sky. I craned my neck and watched them become a tiny silhouette in the sky. I think I might have heard some screaming. Shit. I should have pulled Hiccup off while I'd had the chance.
Hiccup
I was definitely going to get flight sickness after this, and Toothless was definitely going to laugh his dragon butt off at my expense. But before then, I had a front row view of the terror that was flying. Oh Thor. My knuckles turned white, and my nails dug into the heel of my palm as we went higher and higher. I became acutely aware of the fact that the rope was the only thing keeping me on Dragon's back.
Gravity grabbed me and tried to drag me back to the earth where the sane, normal Vikings lived, but there was no way I was letting go of that rope. The wind slapped me in the face, and Dragon's bare back rubbed painfully against my legs.
I tried to pay attention to his flight patterns, but I think my brain jumped off this crazy boat before we could take off. I couldn't really remember what I'd been planning to examine in the first place. Stupidly, I just watched Dragon' wings beat against the wind and air from my peripheral vision.
Eventually, we leveled off (Not that that really did much for my nerves), and I forced myself to stop staring at Dragon's scales and actually look around.
Ohhh boy, I had been missing out on a lot.
The thin fog was draped over the forest, creating a spooky atmosphere below. The land looked beautiful and foreign from up here. It looked like a place where the great warriors of legend would come to meet before a great battle.
From here, I could spot the village. Torchlight dotted the area like stars. I couldn't see anyone from this high up, but I could imagine the noise they were kicking up back there. Even Dad would probably look small from up here, and that's saying something.
"Okay, Dragon…Let's do what we came up here for."
Dragon growled his agreement.
I observed as he maintained his flight and took note of his turns and dips. As much as I trusted Dragon, I still feared for my life when some of his abrupt movements threw me off balance. I was very aware of the subtle changes in his body underneath me. I could see and feel when certain muscles were put to work or when they switched duties as Dragon sliced through the air. I didn't understand everything that was working to help Dragon fly, but I took note of everything that I could.
As soon as I came up with a mantra of information, I signaled Dragon to set us down. The slow, smooth landing was hard to appreciate when Toothless decided to drag me off Dragon's back by the sleeve of my shirt!
"What the—" I landed on my back with an "oompf!" and groaned. Warm puffs of air tickled my exposed skin as my mother hen of a bother checked me over. Fighting the laughter was futile—especially after the babies decided to join the fun and climbed on me! I shoved them all off as quickly as I could.
"Off! Off! I'm fine!" I laughed while I tried to pry Criminal off. "You guys are a bunch of moms."
Toothless snorted and rolled his eyes.
I quickly set to work taking down notes. I had to fight off the babies when they tried to steal my journal. I made scribbles and sketches until I couldn't think of anything else to add.
By the time I was finished, Toothless was still glaring at me while the little Gronckle started using him as a play fort.
I grinned, causing Toothless's eyes to narrow. "Ready to go at it again?"
Toothless snarled a firm No!
Toothless
This went on every evening for several days. Once Hiccup felt ready to help me train, we started off with some…controlled flights. The first time we used the rope, Hiccup nearly strangled me by accident. He hadn't been prepared for the amount of slack he needed to give me. The end of the rope that wasn't trying to suffocate me was tethered to a sturdy tree stump, so I wouldn't crash like I had earlier. We practiced at a windy spot where we had some good and some terrible moments.
One day I would figure out how to make a safe landing, but then the next day, I'd smack Hiccup in the face by flying too close to a tree branch as I made a sharp swerve. After I was confident that I could take off and land without creating casualties, we tried turns. I think a few small animals became collateral damage…
My bad.
Some days, Hiccup couldn't make it. On those days, I'd look for him only to find him otherwise occupied in the forest. Once, Astrid had caught him out here, and she refused to leave his side. They try to make small talk, but neither were very good at it. She was making Hiccup nervous, I could tell. I left before I could do something rash to get her off his back.
Another day, it was Fishlegs. He and Hiccup seemed to be warming up to each other again. I can still remember when we were kids, and Hiccup and I could rope Fishlegs into joining us on our misadventures. We never figured out why he stopped hanging out with us. Either his parents didn't like our influence—or at least, Hiccup's bad influence—or we scared him off because we competed for his attention. We sucked at sharing anything, okay?
Anyway on one of those days that he couldn't make it to the cave, I'd caught the two of them wandering around the woods. I could only guess how Fishlegs had found my brother who actively tried to ditch anyone who followed him into the woods. However Hiccup didn't seem to mind the interruption too much. He listened patiently, if not nervously, to Fishlegs as the latter prattled on about dragons, and Hiccup even asked questions every now and then. Some questions he already knew but others he was genuinely curious about. Their interaction seemed so easy, so…normal.
It was a little strange to watch, for some reason. I left quickly afterward.
Another time, the twins might be getting into shenanigans, and Hiccup was stuck keeping them out of trouble. On another occasion, Mom might have tracked him down and dragged him home before he could make it to the cove. Sometimes there would be no sign of him at all.
But he always came back. And he always had a good reason for being late.
Often, the baby dragons thought that our training was a game and got in our way. Thankfully Dragon could always get them out of our hair long enough for us to make some progress. Not that we really minded. I think Hiccup was starting to like them.
I didn't really consider his judgement wise though. Especially after he came by with the saddle.
"You want me to WHAT!?"
Hiccup visibly deflated. "I told you not to freak out."
"I am not wearing that!" I growled.
He rolled his eyes and tried to throw it on, but I shook it off every time. He became exasperated. "Oh come on. I know you hate it, but you'll get used to it. Promise."
I glared at the offending slab of leather. It was not your horse's saddle that's for sure, but it was a saddle nevertheless. The seat was more rounded, and the straps looked weird, and it smelled like wax and soot. I immediately hated it.
While I was busy brooding, Hiccup tried to grab onto me so he could sling the saddle on. Oh Hel no! I threw him off again—he was fine, I'm sure—and made a run for it, nearly tipping over the Zippleback and the Gronckle along the way.
Hiccup growled, scrambled onto his feet, and chased after me. "Hey!" he shouted. "Get back here!"
"Dream on!"
"You need to try this on!"
"Make me!"
"Dragon, help me out!"
"Dragon, don't you dare—!" But he dared.
After he gave Hiccup a chuff—which I think translates to "I'm on it"—I soon found myself being snagged by the tail fins by one traitorous Stormcutter. This was going to be a long day.
And now for guest replies!
twilight sparkle: To begin, I love your name choice. I've only seen bits of MLP with my sister, but it seems like a pretty good series. Also, where were you seeing Hiccstrid moments? When I think of Hiccstrid, I think of cute banter and cuddling. I've only been writing them pushing each other's buttons. So now I'm curious.
—Tenchiko
