It's been three weeks, but I've finally found a job! I work at the smithy, alongside Gobber. It's not much of a chore for me, really. I grew up in a small place, sure. It was an island with only a handful of other families, but we lived on an even tinier island, approximately two kilometres from it. An island that was left alone due to the many dangerous creatures that lived there, creatures that were magical.

As you can imagine, I didn't have many sleepovers or friends visiting. Then again, I never really had that many friends, just one or two people I could hang out with and an entire army of parents telling their children not to hang around the 'weird kid' which is funny considering that they had no qualms exchanging goods for services with us.

Anyways, on that island, my closest friend, another magic-user who had snuck off from his village (he was their heir as well) to lead a life where he might have more freedom over his abilities, worked at the local smithy and I decided to join him. It was quite fun.

So that's how I know how to 'smither-ize' as he'd dubbed it. I'm currently working on a sword for the Chiefess, my mother, who I have still not seen. She had excused herself from the Feast in favor of going on a quest with my cousin's mother, her friend.

I bang down hard on the sword. I don't wear the rings anymore, not in public at least. And I've hidden my books too, in a small cove just off Raven's Point, the incident with the girl, Drachella, I think, made me realize I need to be more careful.

The sword I'm working on is a gift from the Chief to commemorate their twentieth wedding anniversary, which is in a month. I smile, speaking of special occasions… I cross off another day. Five more days until my birthday, February 29th, it'll be my first one alone, but my sixteenth one alive.

I walk over to the pile of jewels we have lying on the ground before hesitating. No. This is my first gift to either of my parents, I want it to be special.

Come nighttime I walk over to the cove and pick up one of my books, flipping to a page with a really pretty gem, a beautiful one that looks identical to aquamarine, and brings the bearer good luck.

I'll need some ingredients for this, though, some might be a bit hard to find… if you didn't grow up with full knowledge of the underground magic market. Still, finding a dragon's scale might prove to be tricky.

I write a small list of things I need to find in order to make this, careful to leave out the magical ones and simply sail to Peaceable territory first thing tomorrow.

Non-magic:

2 leaves catnip

10 grams aconite

3 fragments geode

1 drop topaz

2 lily petals

1 bird of paradise stalk

I glance at my even smaller list of magical items:

1 dragon's scale

10 grams phoenix feather ash

1 drop of moonlight

1 harpy's tooth

Smiling, the magical list left behind at the cove for safety reasons, I make my way back to the inn, only for a figure to bump into me. I blink and stumble as the cloaked-figure hurriedly continues, too fast for me to catch up with.

Sighing, I realize that I dropped my list, and bend down to pick it up. I blink. There is a small, black object right over my list. I tap at it with my foot incase it is a bug. No movement, nothing. I bend down to pick the list and the object up.

I examine the object and for a moment I can't believe my eyes. It's a dragon's scale, a bona fide dragon's scale.

.

I meet up with Furious by a large boulder on Raven's Point. He is in human form just incase someone sees us. By Odin I've missed my brother. Furious is a little younger than I am, but not too much, only about two years, really. He has blue hair and the most ferocious pair of yellow eyes I have ever seen.

I ask him how our parents are, and he says that although they are both fine they miss me terribly. He asks me why I stay here with these humans, enemies of magic, enemies of me. I remind him that although I was raised a dragon, I am, in fact, not one, and he reminds me that I'm not exactly a human either.

I look at him, pain in my eyes, and ask him what he hopes to gain from reminding me. He hugs me and says he simply means for me to be careful. He pauses and adds that I should probably go, but I wish to stay. I wish for him to stay.

In the end he spends a few short moments with me, before transforming and flying away, leaving me homesick.

.

We've finally reached the new island. It's a boggy, marshy peace of land, but for now, as father says, it's home.

I'm still avoiding the others, so currently I'm taking a walk. My father would usually insist on me not being so careless, but he's currently avoiding me, so I doubt he cares much about my whereabouts.

I continue my walk when I hear a strangled cry of pain.

I rush towards the source of the noise and find a large object caught in a tree, roughly the size of a chair. It's brown like the sand at the bottom of the ocean, and it looks desperate. It's a dragon. The likes of which have been at war with us for centuries. Still, it looks so helpless, and I know in my heart of hearts that I can't just leave it there.

I pull out my pocket knife (see dad, I can take care of myself) and free it from the branches ensnaring it. I pause at the last part, noting the talons for what seems to be the first time. This thing could kill me. I could let it go, it would claw me to pieces, and have me for supper.

I sigh, then again, I'm not so much better with it dead, either. Not when the whole village would have done that to me a long time back if not for the fact that my father is Chief (and I have a sneaking suspicion that he wants to as well).

At least this way one of us will make it out OK.

I release the beast. Instead of jumping on me and clawing me to pieces, it just falls to the ground, sits there, and lifts its arm-er wing, lamely. I don't have to speak 'dragonese' to understand. There's a very clear rip in the wing, and the beast's right foot looks like it snapped.

It then notices me, as though I hadn't been there before and goes into a frenzy. I make shooshing motions, flapping my arms, anything to calm it down, and somehow it just works.

The beast stops, it looks at me.

"Hey, hey," I say softly, "I'm not going to hurt you."

It croons, some language I just don't understand. But I can see the intelligence in it's eyes and I know that he understands what I say.

I offer him my lunch and he wolfs it down.

I try to move closer to him, but he still seems hesitant.

"Hi," I say, "I'm Hiccup."

His whole body goes rigid, and despite his broken foot he begins to scurry off, I barely manage to keep up with him. And then- he falls. Down. Into a cove.

I wince. That's gotta hurt.

I consider crawling down there to help him, but then I look up and realize that it's getting late. The village is already angry at me, it would be unwise to make them even angrier.

I sigh and head back to my village.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

haha :) yup, done!

-httyd4eva

peace out yo;P