Chapter 21: Knockout
The day of the fighting competitions, I made sure to have a big breakfast to keep my energy up, and headed off to the village. I had been asked by a couple people whether or not I was going to participate in the competition itself, and I didn't want to disappoint, and I wanted to make a point.
To keep up my status of being hard to find and secretive, I traveled inside the village as a common species, the Terrible Terror. Rather quickly, I crossed out the possible places to find Hiccup and ended up heading to his house, where, surprisingly, I found both him and Toothless still snoozing in their room. It wasn't extremely surprising, as it was still early, but Hiccup was the Chief's son, and Toothless was famous for being an early riser, waking up with the sun to drag Hiccup out to go flying, generally being an all around pain. I slipped in through Hiccup's window, and silently glided over to land on Toothless' head.
::Hey sleepy head, get up already!:: I barked in Dragonese (yet another late discovery: not only could I understand the dragons, I could speak like them if I wanted, something I had found out only a day or so before). Immediately, Toothless' head shot up and he started looking around the room, somehow not noticing me balancing on his head like a hat. ::Who's here? No other dragons allowed in Hiccup's room!:: I bent over and looked straight at him, grinning. ::Except for me!:: I teased. He shook his head and yelled. ::Hey! Get off, who do you think you are?!:: I jumped off and landed on the floor, looking up at one very grumpy Night Fury. ::Tsk, tsk, such a temper. Come on, Toothless, you know exactly who I think I am,:: I said, still grinning like a maniac, not at all perturbed.
There was silence for a moment, then Toothless' jerked in surprise and blinked, eyes widening. ::Hawken?:: ::The one and only!:: Toothless shook his head. ::When did you learn to speak Dragonese?:: he asked. I shrugged. I was the only one who knew about it at that point, what with the discovery being so late in coming. ::Eh, rather recently, actually. Surprise, surprise, surprise!:: I turned to Hiccup, who was still sacked out on the bed. ::Takes a lot more after his dad than he thinks, doesn't he?:: I remarked. Toothless snorted. ::Now you know why I usually have to drag him out of bed to get him up,:: he replied. ::Well, now it's my turn,:: I said, spreading my wings and flapping up to land on Hiccup's bed. ::By the way, don't you think it's kind of strange you were still asleep? You're usually up at the crack of dawn.:: All I got in response was Toothless' signature grin. Right.
I hopped up onto Hiccup's chest, who just moaned a bit in response. I shook my head, smirking. Kid could sleep through an earthquake. Just like his dad. I leaned in close and put my face an inch from Hiccup's, and yelled, "Waky waky, eggs and baky!"
Hiccup's eyes snapped open. "Boo." "AAAAAHHHHHHH!" He jerked upright as I jumped off and landed at his feet, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. Breathing rapidly, Hiccup stared down at me. "What… in the…. world…." I laughed. "Yes, a very good morning to you too." Hiccup shook his head. And rubbed his eyes, then glared at Toothless, who was desperately snorting and squirming as he tried not to laugh. After a couple of seconds, he failed. Hiccup shook his head again. "I swear, Hawken, you have the worst forms of greeting I have ever known. You're going to give me a heart attack someday." I shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. From over here, it seemed rather funny. Besides, I scare you enough times, you won't be startled by anything soon." Hiccup just sighed and yawned. "Aren't you a bit early?" he asked. I shook my head. "Actually, the black couch potato over there failed to to wake you up this morning, so I took the liberty of doing so myself. It's actually about 8:30." Hiccup gave me a confused look. "Couch potato?" I laughed. "One of my culture's ways of describing a very lazy person. And we all know Toothless fits that bill." ::Hey!:: Toothless growled, while Hiccup and I just laughed.
"Anyways," I drawled, "it's way past time for you to get up. If I'm correct, the competition should be starting somewhere between half an hour to an hour from now. I'm betting you'll be wanted down there." Hiccup froze, in slight panic. "Not to compete, right?" he asked worriedly. I smirked at the look on his face. "Yeah, everyone is expecting the fishbone to fight against mountain men." He gave me a deadpan look. "No, not to fight," I said, "just to watch your friends compete. I know Astrid would be ticked if you weren't there." Hiccup sighed in relief. ::Do we get to compete?:: Toothless asked. I twisted my head to look at him over my wing. "Afraid not, mainly for safety. You'd be more likely to hurt someone or get injured yourself. You are allowed to watch, though," I said. He looked a bit disappointed.
"Back to present matters," I began again, jumping off Hiccup's bed and gliding over to the window again, "I'll meet you outside, Hurry up." As I exited the window and Hiccup got out of bed and headed over to his dresser, I took on a different form, very large and snakelike with dull violet wings and a slate blue body. This ought to give him a good second wakeup call, I thought, and chuckled. I coiled in the arches above Hiccup's front door and waited.
After a couple of minutes I dozed off. He was taking a long time to get ready. After about 20 minutes or so, I awoke to the creaking of the door below, and Toothless exited first, bounding down the hill to snatch a few fish out of the dragon's bowl in the court below. "Wait up, Toothless!" Hiccup yelled as he walked out, closing the door behind him. "We're not all built for speed, you know." As he stepped away from the door, I lowered my head down right behind him and let out a low, venomous hiss. He spun around, yelled, and promptly lost his balance. "AAAAAHHHHH! Whoa-oh-oh-aaAAAAHHH!"
Before he could hit the ground, though, I shot my head forward and wrapped it behind him, catching him and pushing him upright. He used me to stand back up, and dusted himself off. Then he gave me a dangerous glare. "Is that all you can do? Sit around and think up ways to scare me? Come on, at least scare Toothless or even Snotlout occasionally." I laughed and shrugged, sliding down and coiling up next to him. "I did this morning. Besides, it's one of the things I'm good at. It's kind of a natural talent after dealing with little sisters on a daily basis." He just crossed his arms and drummed his fingers. I sighed. "Fine, I'll let up for a while." "Good. I've probably lost 2 years of my life just now." I shook my head. "Not likely. Hey, how about we prank Snotlout and Tuffnut later today?" Hiccup smiled and nodded. "It's about time they got to be the butt of the joke, what with those pranks they're always pulling." Just the week before, Snotlout had managed to convince Gobber that aluminum would make a great pair of underpants. Gobber hadn't forgiven him since.
"So what exactly are you?" Hiccup asked as we traveled down the main village street, where I was getting a number of perplexed glances, on the way to the Training Ring. "I mean, I've never seen a dragon like that in the Dragon Manual." I snorted. "That's because Ampitheres aren't an Old World species," I replied. "They come from South America." Hiccup glanced up at me. "Another strange land we don't know about around here yet?" I nodded. Hiccup looked back at my wings. "Never seen a dragon with feathers before either." I just laughed. " It's more common than you'd think, actually, especially in the imaginations of people where I come from." Hiccup nodded in understanding.
A few minutes later, we reached the bridge connecting the Training Ring to the main village. Originally called the Kill Ring, it was converted into a training ground and stadium, and occasionally, as it was when I first came to Berk, a jail. "Hey, look! It's Hiccup!" This time I laughed as Hiccup got a look of panic on his face. Luckily, it was just Snotlout. He came jogging up and gave Hiccup a slap on the back. "Yer here to compete too? I didn't think you'd have it in you!" Hiccup sighed as he rubbed his back. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Snot. I'm just here to watch, though." "Oh," Snotlout said, getting almost a look of disappointment on his face, before it brightened up into a goofy smile. "Oh well, you can watch as I win then! I'll beat every one of them, with my face," he boasted, getting into the best macho stance he could. Then he looked p at me, towering above him. "Where did that dragon come from?" he asked, confusion written on his face. I leaned down to look eye to eye with him as confusion turned into concern and then panic. "I guess it's true what they say: you are dumber than you look," I retorted. "I'd say you know exactly where I came from." Hiccup chuckled as Snotlout's look of panic melted into realization and then annoyance. "Hey, how was I supposed to know? You usually only walk around half-dragon, he protested. "Oh, put two and two together," I replied. "This isn't a dragon from around here, and besides Toothless there, I'm the only one following Hiccup to the Training Ring." Snotlout puffed up his chest. "Fine. But it still doesn't tell me why you happen to be fully dragon right now." "Didn't realize there was a problem with that," I retorted, amazed at how dense Hiccup's cousin could be sometimes, for someone who was related to an inventor. "You know," I continued, giving a nod to Hiccup, since he'd probably be the only one who would understand this remark, "it is better to stay quiet and be thought a fool that to open your mouth and remove all doubt. I want to be a dragon, and so that's what I'll be."
I turned and started heading toward the ring again, Hiccup and Toothless following. "Wait!" Snotlout called, running to catch up with us. "What do you mean by 'remove all doubt'?" he yelled. The other three of us exchanged glances, then started giggling. "It's what you just did right now," Hiccup said. Snotlout continued to look confused. "In other words," I said, still chuckling a bit, "you have just proven yourself to be a fool." ::It ain't the first time, either,:: Toothless remarked. "I am not a fool," Snotlout snapped, going a bit red. "So says the person who once thought he could rip off dragon legs with his face," I shot back. "Augh! I don't have time for this," Snotlout snapped again, waving us off and marching toward the ring. "I need to train." He marched on at a brisk pace, while we just watched him leave, before he then stopped, and slowly turned back to look at us. "Wait, do you guys know who all is competing today?" he asked. I smiled mischievously. "I know one competitor," I said, "me." "What?!" yelled Snotlout. "That's not fair, you're not a Viking! You can't compete! Even if you could, you have an unfair advantage!" I just smiled. Hiccup stepped up. "Actually, Snotlout, he was named an honorary Viking last night, if you remember. Therefore, as long as he stays in human form, yes, he can compete. Toothless is a Viking now too, but he's a dragon, so he's not allowed." Snotlout just stared at us. "O-okay, I really need to, uh, go train," he said, then turned and ran to the ring. "Would it make you feel better to lose if I only used one hand?" I yelled teasingly. Hiccup laughed as we continued to the ring. I noticed a few large benches, like stadium seats, had been moved to sit around the arena, as the competitions would go a lot longer than the former dragon classes did.
We reached the ring and peered inside, watching a number of contestants, including just about all of the teens, practicing and squaring off. Directly beneath us were Astrid and Camicazi, facing away from us and, amazingly, not fighting. Instead they were actually discussing something civilly rather than squaring off. "Well, there's a surprise, "Hiccup commented. "I've got an idea," I said, and dipped my head down through the bars. "Oh, here we go again," Hiccup remarked above. I slid up right behind the two girls as Toothless started snorting at an attempt to stay quiet. Unlike Hiccup, he always liked scaring people.
"They need to work on their backswing," Astrid was saying. "Definitely, Camicazi replied. "They're pathetic! They can't even perform a reverse tumble properly!" She laughed. "This'll be too easy!" I decided this would be a perfect time for me to make my presence known. "Don't be too sure, we're not all incompetent," I stated loudly, right behind and between the two.
They both jumped and spun around, tripping over their feet and promptly falling over. Hiccup and I burst out laughing, Toothless giving up on his attempt to stay quiet too. "Don't… do... that!" Cami yelled. I just smirked. "Why not, it's fun! Lesson learned though: pay attention to everything around you, not just the idiots in the ring." "You're really asking for it, Lizard Breath,"Astrid snapped, but she couldn't hide the smirk on her face, so I knew she was able to take the joke. She glanced up at the snickering Hiccup, whose eyes suddenly widened. "I'll get you too, you know," Astrid said. "I'm innocent!" Hiccup replied, a smile on his face still.
"Anyways," I began casually, sliding the rest of my body into the ring and coiling up by the wall, "I believe this is a first for me, you two actually having a civilized conversation instead of trying to kill each other." "What, we can't be normal, civilized people every now and then?" Cami asked, raising an eyebrow. "We always have to be polar opposites?" I shrugged, or at least as best as an animal without shoulders can, and shook my head. "I didn't mean that. You guys just always seem to enjoy the clanging of swords over conversation more." I finally began shrinking down to my normal self, since the competition would be starting soon. "So, you two know how long before the fights begin?" "About 15 minutes," Astrid replied. "Why, are you competing?" I smiled and nodded. "I might be." "Well, then may the best warrior win," she replied, and stuck out her hand. I shook it, and Cami placed hers on top. "I plan to," she said teasingly. 'Good luck though!" Astrid and I both just shook our heads.
Everyone started heading out of the ring to the stands outside, and the spectators began filling the seats. Hiccup waved, and both Astrid and I waved back. "Wish us luck!" Astrid yelled. Hiccup nodded, and then turned to find a nearby seat. "I will!" Toothless added in a comment of his own. ::Don't hurt anyone too badly!:: I laughed. "I'll try not to!" Then I jogged over and joined Astrid and Cami on the competitor's stands.
The first few rounds were between people from other tribes, so I had no clue who they were. However, not going first gave me a few advantages: first of all, I was able to find patterns and common techniques that the winners used. Second, I found out that while we weren't using wood or other soft material weapons, but metal instead, the edges and points were dulled, anything that could puncture or slice blunted. It would still leave a nasty bruise if I got hit with them though (I wasn't too worried about injuries in any case, as dragons heal impossibly quickly).
Eventually, it was time for my first round. I walked down and entered the ring first, then turned to face my opponent. And an opponent he was! Easily over 6 feet tall, muscular but not fat, and he had a gleam in his eyes that suggested he didn't lose often. He swaggered into the ring, and looked down at me. A hideous grin broke across his face. "This is all I'm up against?" he guffawed. "Yer nae even the size o' a good sword! This'll be too easy!" He grinned and walked over to the weapons rack, and as if to emphasize his point and drive the insult home, picked up a broadsword nearly as long as I was tall. I smirked and shrugged off the remark, and followed his example, grabbing a sword nearly as long, something I should not normally have been able to pick up, spinning it up into the air and catching it by the handle as it came back down. "What, you didn't attend the awards ceremony?" I tossed back. He shook his head. "It's only a waste o' time. I only go to that if I'm getting' an award. Ain't no point else wise." I only shook my head. "Then this'll be only too easy for ME." "You?" he belted out, laughing. "Yeah right! Ye'll be lucky tae end up in th' healer's house when I'm done here."
Stoick yelled out to get into positions, and both of us stepped to the middle of the ring and faced each other. The ring of a bell sounded, signaling the start of the match. The man glared at me. "Let's begin." "Gladly," I replied lightly. With that, he swung the sword at my side. I ducked and rolled, and the speed the man swung it caused him to nearly fall forward. When his sword stopped moving, I stepped forward and dropped my sword down on his, pinning it in place. I looked up at the Viking, who had a look of surprise n his face, but he quickly shook it off. "You really should attend, you might learn a few things about your opponents," I said, smirking. "Now," I continued, "let's really begin." The man stood up straight, anger burning in his eyes. "Why you little-!" he heaved his sword straight up at me. I simply lifted mine, one-handed for effect, and stopped it mid-swing. Then, I slid my sword down his and slammed him in the chest, sending him stumbling back. "Things, aren't always what they seem," I teased, letting my eyes flash Night Fury green. The Viking glared at me, and took another swing, this time trying to bring the sword up under mine. I ducked back as he fell forward, forgetting about his momentum. As he passed me, I place my sword across his legs, and he fell to the ground with a crash. I leapt forward, landing next to his head, and as he rolled over to get up, I swiped my sword down, sending his own spinning away, far out of reach. I let my eyes change color again, to a brighter yellow, and looked down at my opponent. Then, I placed the tip of my sword (it was blunted, remember) on his chest. At this, the bell rang again, signaling a winner, and the crowd cheered. My opponent looked up at me and my neon eyes. "Who are you, to be able to fight like that?" he asked incredulously. I laughed and stuck out my hand to help him up, which he took. "The name's Hawken, but people around here call me the dragon boy." He nodded, then smiled. "Well, you won fair and square. I won't be called a bad sport, so congratulations." I nodded. "Good fight."
The rounds went on like this for the next couple of hours, each round getting just that much harder. Sad thing is, only once did I actually get hit, by another mountain of a man who, form what I heard, had fought alongside Stoick in many battles. It left me with a sprained right wrist, but true to the draconic side of me, there was barely a bruise left after 15 minutes. Finally, though, it came down to the last four competitors, and it was quite a shock to see who came out on top: all people I recognized, and all of them only relatively recently given their Viking titles: Thuggory, Camicazi, Astrid, and me. I guess being young and spry pays off. Cami and Thuggory went first, and the round lasted a good ten minutes, but eventually Thuggory made a mistake and went down, and Cami wouldn't let him back up. I knew then, she was in the final round. No surprise, for someone as slippery as her.
Then, it was Astrid's and my turn. "Hey," I said as we headed for the weapons rack, "just to let you know ahead of time, if I've gotten this far, if I'm gonna win, I'm gonna win." Astrid just laughed and picked p her signature weapon, an axe, as I grabbed a smaller sword. "In your dreams, Draco!" she retorted, still laughing jokingly. "Then I must be dreaming," I countered as we both stepped to the center of the ring, laughing. The bell sounded, and we were off! Astrid was by far the quickest and most accurate opponent I had gone up against, and it was difficult to find an opening. She landed a couple hits on me, nothing more than bruises though, unlike the mountain of a man who sprained me before. She would doge and swing, and I would block and parry, and then she'd somersault to the side to slash at me, and I'd spin out of the way, no one gaining the upper hand yet.
Eventually, though, it had to end. Astrid began to tire, and as I spun and brought the sword toward her, she ducked, and slipped. I took the opportunity, driving my sword toward her axe, sending it careening across the ground. Astrid stood up, breathing as if she'd just run a marathon, and nodded, smiling even still. The bell rang and Stoick called me as the winner, and as with every other round, the crowd cheered. "Hey," I said, hanging up my sword and walking back over to Astrid, "you did well. Heck, you're part of the top three, and nearly got me a couple of times.. Congratulations." I held out my hand, and she shook it. "Thanks Hawken, especially for actually trying to beat me," she said, smiling. "Just do me a favor, okay? Kick Cami's sorry butt for me, will you?" I laughed. "You sure are competitive with her, aren't you?" I chuckled again. "Don't worry, I'll do my best. Besides, I let her beat me once, and I'm not letting that happen twice." Astrid laughed. "Alright. Well, I've got to go find Hiccup now." I nodded. "Keep the kisses to a minimum, will you? I can't fight with the distracting sound of smooching nearby." I grinned. "Oh, shut up!" she said, giving me a playful punch on the arm, then running out of the ring and up to Hiccup. Sure enough, they both engaged in a long, heated kiss. I heard Toothless snicker quietly, behind them, and I just shook my head before walking out of the ring for a "rest" before my round against Camicazi the Stealthy.
After about 15 minutes of sitting on the competitor's stands for what everyone thought would be a "well-needed rest" (dragon stamina; who needs rest?) a horn sounded, signaling me to head into the ring. I stepped inside and grabbed my trademark sword, and turned. In pranced Camicazi, showing off her famous agility as she cart wheeled over to the weapons rack. Interestingly, she grabbed a sword as well, though I guess it fits her size better (hee hee). She turned to face me. "Ready to lose, Lizard Breath?" she taunted. I laughed. "You never quit, do you?" Cami just twirled her sword nonchalantly. "You do what you do best, right? You know, if you don't like it, you can always forfeit now." She smiled deviously as I just snorted. "Not likely."
A bell rang up above, and Stoick stepped up, yelling out," Take your positions!" Cami and I both headed to the center, and stood about 10 feet apart. "Now quiet down everyone!" Stoick yelled, and the crowd hushed. "Today is a historic day! Here are the final competitors for this gathering, and for the first time ever, both are our newly minted Vikings!" A cheer rose up, and Stoick held out his hands to quiet them down again. "The opponents are: Camicazi the Stealthy…" She thrust her sword high as the crowd cheered, "… and Hawken the Powerful!" I held up my sword as the crowd cheered again. "The winner of this match," Stoick continued, "will be named top fighter for this year!" The audience cheered on again. "As we all know, this is a great honor, and for the final competitors to be just proclaimed Vikings last night, it is unprecedented! Now, may the best Viking win, and let the fight begin!"
A bell sounded again, and the crowd roared. Cami and I looked at each other, and raised our swords. "May the best one win," I said, smiling. "I plan to!" Cami said cheerfully. With that, she took two steps toward me, and jumped. "HHYYAAAAHH!" I sidestepped as she brought her sword down right where I was, and she spun and brought her sword up at me. I met it with my own, and slid it down her sword in an attempt to slam both to the ground. "A bit slow today, aren't we?" I taunted. "Not likely," she snapped, and slid her sword out from under mine, spinning to gain speed and bringing it down toward my arm. The only problem was, my arm was no longer there, instead being above her head by then, and I brought my own sword down toward her back. She rolled out of the way and lifted her weapon, the swords meeting with a mighty BANG!
"So Scaly's getting' faster, is he?" Cami queried. I shook my head as I somersaulted out of the way of a lightning-fast swipe, which ended up just slamming into the ground. "Nope," I said, "I'm just bringing out my better side." CLANG! "So you're saying you let me win two days ago?" CLASH! "Yep. That's exactly what I'm saying." BASH! "Yeah, right. I don't believe it. You're not going to win this round, Dragon Butt!" SCHWANNGG! I rolled behind her and brought my sword back around to hit the back of her knees, knocking her to the ground. Cami, being Cami, was just quick enough to spin and land on her palms, and push herself back up, just barely blocking my swing to take out her legs again. "That was cheap!" she yelled. I shrugged, blocking her again at the same time. "Hey, you win how you can! All is fair in love and war!" At this, her eyebrows rose up. "Oh, really? That's how you're going to play, huh?" She charged at me.
"Whoa!" I barely sidestepped in time, and as I did, she spun, expecting that move, and hit me across the chest with a sidelong blow. Using the momentum of her charge, she spun completely around and leveled her sword at me. I took a step back to regain space, and hit a wall. At that point I realized I had backed up against the side of the arena. Cami smirked. "What you gonna do now? You're luck's run out!" She clashed her sword against mine, and while I was still sorting things out, she spun it out of my hand and tossed it behind her. Cami looked back at me. "What do you say now? Give up?" I looked to either side, back to her, then smirked. " I say… see you on the other side!"
Spinning and catching Cami off guard, I jumped up, using the wall as leverage to get high enough to back flip over Camicazi's head, landing right next to my sword. I picked it up and spun, just blocking a blow and meeting Cami's blunted blade with my own. I heard a few cheers from above, along with a couple of chuckles. Upon hearing this, Cami went beet red. "That's it, you are so dead!" she snapped, and began swinging her sword fast enough to make it whistle. I dodged or blocked each swing, slowly letting Cami get angrier and angrier, to the point of boiling over, and therefore becoming less and less coordinated as she went, using a lesson my father had taught me years before.
Finally, a few minutes later, Cami stopped for a split second to breathe and readjust herself. It was all I needed. I rushed forward, grabbing the hilt of her sword while knocking the blade away from my face with my own sword. Twisting it out of her hand, I backed up and leveled both swords at Cami. "Another lesson you need to learn, apparently," I said, smiling, "never let anger get the best of you. You will always lose."
The winning bell rang out, and the crowd exploded into cheers and applause. I lowered the swords, and Camicazi nodded. Stoick stepped up to the ring. "We have a winner! As our new top fighter of the year, I give you… Hawken the Powerful!" I sighed at hearing the cliché title, but I was drowned out and my eardrums nearly burst from the applause that followed. Cami stepped forward and gave me a friendly slap on the back. "Alright, you beat me fair and square," she said. "I guess I have to say congratulations!" I laughed and gave her a friendly hug, much to her dismay. "And to you too," I said, letting her go. "That was a good fight." "Eh, you know me, I ain't goin' down without one!" All this time, we were sauntering toward the arena exit, and the second I stepped out, I was swarmed by a huge crowd of Vikings.
Suddenly, I found myself getting tossed into the air (or that's what it felt like) as they congratulated me, and then I found myself being carried across the bridge and through the village. The gang trailed behind me, giggling and thinking I couldn't hear them, but I glared back at them, and they shut up for a few seconds. Let me repeat: a few seconds, because soon afterward they burst out laughing again at the ridiculous sight of scrawny me being hoisted through the village like a prize. Finally, we reached where I guess the destination was, and they set me down in the town square, where Stoick was waiting with Gobber.
"Well now, lad," Gobber started," now tha' ye've won the title o' top fighter, ye get to pick a brand new weapon! Take a look." He stepped back and displayed the assortment of weapons and tools to choose from. "Why do I need this?" I asked. "Part of the tradition," Stoick said. For a minute my mind went blank, but then an idea popped into my head. I looked over the display, but didn't see anything close to what I had in mind. I looked up at Gobber. "I've got an idea of what I want, but I don't see it here. Mind if we go down to the forge, real quick?" He nodded, and while Stoick gave the announcement that I had chosen my weapon to somewhat distract the crowd, I followed Gobber, motioning for Astrid, Cami, Hiccup and Toothless to follow.
"So what was it ye had in mind?" Gobber asked as we neared the forge. "I'm looking for a set of four swords," I replied. Gobber gave me a strange look. "Why something so commonplace?" I shrugged. "It won't be when I'm done with them." He shrugged, and went into the forge. There was much rustling around and clanging as various tools fell to the ground. Hiccup sighed. "You know I'm going to be the one picking those up, right?" he asked. I shrugged an apology. "I know they're in here somewhea-ah, there they are," Gobber said, emerging from the shop with four identical, gleaming swords. I nodded. "Perfect. Now I just need something very pointy." Gobber handed me a large metal needle. I nodded, then turned to Toothless. "Can you heat this up for me?" I asked. He gave me a strange look. ::You can breathe fire, can't you? he asked. I shook my head.:: "That's not the point," I said. "I'm making something…" I looked over at the three teens, and dropped my voice, "…something for all of us, and since you can't wield a sword, I need to involve you somehow." ::Oh, alright, I get it,:: Toothless replied. I held up the needle, and carefully, he heated up the tip until it was red hot.
I got to work carving on the hilts and lower blades of the swords, and hiding each one behind Toothless to keep the others from seeing them. "What are you doing Hawken?" Astrid queried. I just smiled. "You'll see. Patience, patience." After each sword, Toothless heated up the needle, and soon, I was done.
"Hiccup, put out your hands." He stepped forward and held out his hands. I placed one of the swords in his hands, and he raised an eyebrow. "Why?" he asked. I laughed. "Hold on for just a minute, and you'll see. Don't look at it yet. Astrid, Cami, you too." I gave them each swords, and held onto the last, my newest addition. "Now, turn them over, and look at the blades," I said. They did, and immediately noticed and recognized the drawing on each blade. Hiccup spoke first. "It's Toothless!" he said, smiling. The other two nodded in agreement. ::Let me see!:: Toothless said, and ran up to me. I tilted the sword so he could see. On the blade was a carving of Toothless' head, complete with big eyes and ears. ::Not bad.:: I smiled. "Well, I've been practicing a lot. Now everyone look at the handle." They did, and gasped in new recognition. "These… these are our names," Cami said. I nodded. When she was last here, I had taught the three of them enough of my written alphabet and language for them to recognize their names in English writing, and I had learned the runic alphabet. I had written each of their names on the hilts of the swords in both writing styles. "You're right," Astrid said. "Hawken, why…" I held up my hand. "Think about it. What have the five of us here become in the past couple months?" I gestured to the three of them and Toothless. "We are friends, good friends, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other a lot as time goes on. So, what I've given each of you is a symbol of that friendship. Toothless is carved on there to represent him as well, and all the names are written in the same style, in the same places." I smiled. "Since they're swords as well, they'll be a reminder wherever we go not only of our new friendship, but of what we are, and we proved it today: warriors, fighters, even if in our own different ways. So what do you say: friends?" I held my sword out.
For a minute there was silence. Then Hiccup held up his sword, followed by the two girls, and Toothless raised his wings. "Friends!" we yelled simultaneously, clashing the swords together as Toothless shot a bolt of fire up. Then we all high-fived and slid the swords into the scabbards they came in. I smiled. Something told me that symbol would mean a lot more as time went on.
The rest of the day went on rather uneventfully, as it was also the day for trading, and come evening I headed home for the night. Stepping in through the sliding door, I yelled, "I'm back!" Unsurprisingly, Holly came rushing around the corner. "Did you win?" she asked. I nodded. "Yay! Was there a prize for you?" I smiled. "Yeah, another title for the Vikings to call me by." She shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean, like a trophy or something." I smiled. "Yeah, but I shared it with my friends there too, so we all won." I brought out the sword and showed it to her. "Look close." She did, and her eyes widened. "It's Toothless!" she squealed. I laughed.
For a little while, I continued to show and tell Holly, but what I didn't know was that I was setting myself up for another complication the next day. But for the time being, I just worried about getting to bed. I needed the rest, because tomorrow were the main competitions: the races, and there would be an extra bit of fun to be had as well.