A/N-Back again for a little while! I've received a few reviews recently that I'd like to address, probably new readers. First off, do remember if you post as a guest or anonymously, I can't reply directly back to you, and I enjoy doing so! And I cannot guarantee the review will be posted as multiple or redundant ones tend to be deleted. Also, Book 1 was written in my earlier days of writing (a good 3 years ago), and so naturally it's going to be lighter, happier, and a lot more playing around than the rest. It's an introduction book, even if it's so far the longest, so there's a lot of get-to-know and explore the world type things.
So yes, this book is happy and not a lot of pulling on the heartstrings type activity, and for those who like that, I enjoy writing happier things a lot. But, Book 1 does have at least one major battle, and in the rest of the series you can well expect more battles, arguments, tense situations, and painful scenes, though I have yet to decide if I have the heart to actually kill anyone off in the final couple books.
Beyond that though, the story continues and we have much to come, so please read, and review, I like your thoughts!
Chapter 23
Back to Real Life
The days came and went extremely quickly. My sleepover "party" for all of the Viking teens came, and it went just as I expected: lots and lots of questions about this, that, and the other, Hiccup and I using the snakes to scare everyone out of their pants (unfortunately for Snotlout, it was actually literally), lots of roughhousing and almost an accident with the display cases in the living room, and plenty of other good-natured fun in the back yard, especially at night when the dragons were able to come over. As always, there was the inevitable breakup of a "twin-fight" by me, but thanks to the invention of water hoses, it ended more entertaining than badly.
In all reality, it went quite well compared to how such an unorthodox sleepover could have ended, and, naturally, I made sure to give everyone a few good laughs by popping in the movie: How to Train Your Dragon. I bet you didn't know that Snotlout actually has a very weak stomach; he nearly threw up at the bonding scene (we made sure to tell Fireworm to try out that little stunt on him).
As the days passed, I continued my lessons to Hiccup, Astrid, and occasionally a few of the other teens (mostly Fishlegs) and even Stoick, on how to read and write in the English alphabet (though I am still completely hung up as to why in the world they are able to speak English, as any sane person would expect Vikings to speak Norse). There was also another visit from Camicazi, as promised, where we were able to pull off some worthy pranks on the three biggest jokesters in the village: the twins and Snotlout. There was also the inevitable sword sparring between me and Cami. I don't know why, but she's continued to become more and more determined to win at least one fight fairly against me, though my, uh, abilities make that the slightest bit impossible. This was also the point where Cami made her first trip to my house, and Hiccup and I made sure it was memorable.
As time continued on, not caring about how much fun we were having, there was one nagging pest that kept on popping up, a reminder that glorious summer was slowly drawing to a close, and my "real" life would begin again soon. It began with the signs and ads at stores, then registration and shopping for supplies, the newspaper comics showing the characters getting ready for the start of it, and finally, it came: the last empty day before the dreaded school year began.
I headed out with great sadness into and through the portal. Luckily, Hiccup and Toothless were down in the cove, so I didn't have to go far. I jumped down into the oversized pit, spreading my usual pair of wings to slow my descent, and unsurprisingly Toothless noticed me first. ::Hawken! It's been a bit of a while since your last visit. What's been keeping you?:: Surprising how attached to me he's become since our first eventful encounter with each other. "Sadly, that's exactly what I'm here to talk about," I said, landing next to Hiccup and startling him a bit. "What?" he asked, not being able to understand Toothless' side of the conversation. "Toothless asked me what I've been up to recently, and that's what I'm here about," I explained. Hiccup suddenly got wide eyed and nervous. "Wait- you're not leaving are you?" he wondered. I gave a sad laugh. "No, nothing like that, but my visits will likely be far less frequent for the next nine months or so. I'm afraid my life has caught up to me again." "What do you mean by that?" Hiccup asked. I shook my head. "School has started for me again, or at least it will tomorrow, so for most of the time, I will be getting educated five days a week, with only a couple breaks here and there. Therefore, my nearly daily visits will probably be cut down to weekly at best, possibly even longer if my weekends are busy." I smiled and sat down on a nearby rock. "I promise I will try to visit regularly, but we'll be seeing quite a bit less of each other for a while," I continued.
What surprised me was who looked the most disheartened. Hiccup was depressed by the news, but I could see his look of understanding on his face. He, at least, knew how important learning really is to keep up with the world. Toothless, on the other hand…..
::Can we just visit you every day?:: he pleaded. I laughed and shook my head while rubbing his. "First of all, you need to stay and watch Hiccup, as we all know the trouble he can get into alone." "Hey!" "Second, school gives me a lot of work that keeps me very busy in the evenings too. I won't be available at all." ::Aww, come on. Hiccup's usually busy in the forge, so I won't have anyone to hang out with.:: I sighed and gave him a deadpan glare. "There are always the other dragons in the village, I'm sure you can find something to do with them. And think about others for a change, Toothless. We have very busy lives that are extremely important to keep up with. Hiccup helps keep the village going by repairing tools, weapons, saddles, so on, so forth. I need to keep learning to survive in my world, and to keep anyone from discovering this tantalizing secret we're hiding for a good long time, alright?" Toothless hung his head, looking defeated. ::Alright, but I still don't like it.:: I laughed. "None of us do, bud."
We spent the rest of the day relaxing around the cove, playing around with each other and the other teens who showed up later, and having races in order to make the most of my last free day for a good long while. We eventually went to the village and kept the roughhousing going, though a little while before I had to leave, things took an emotional turn. The teens had decided it was time to tell me how they really felt about me, and it nearly made me stay for the night. Astrid, as it turns out, saw me almost like a brother, or at least family, and even more surprisingly, Tuffnut and Snotlout had been secretly making a sort of present for me, you know, as part of the gang and occasional partner in pranks, or so they said. I never thought of them as detailed artists, but when someone is a really good friend, I guess it pays to try and make the gift as accurate as possible. They had crafted a wooden plaque for me, and though it consisted of all of us standing together, admittedly with me in the middle and standing out more, it was kind of a gift for the whole gang. Anyway, the day rolled to an end with some more roughhousing, pranks, and joking around, and generally having a good time. I even had the chance to say farewell to the draconic friends I had made before everything began to settle down. Finally, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, it came time for me to head home, as staying out late was really not an option anymore for the rest of the year.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye for a few weeks, at least," I said after the gang had quieted down. "I promise I'll keep things interesting around here, though, and I'll let you guys know what's going on when I do visit, okay?" They all nodded, and Astrid stepped forward, pointing her axe at me. "I'm holding you to that promise, you hear me?" she warned. "As much as I love him, Hiccup just doesn't make a good sparring partner yet." That got a chuckle out of everyone except said twig. "Hey! I can fight, you're just too good for anyone around here!" I snorted. "Sure, Hiccup. I've seen your skills before." Another round of giggling. "Well, I'll see you guys around! Bye for now!" I turned and spread my wings, and shot up to the portal entrance, followed by a loud unanimous "GOODBYE!" from everyone and a bunch of waving hands. I waved back, then walked back into my world, only barely ready to return to my original life, a life of learning and, compared to what I had experienced over the summer, boredom. Luckily, though, I was dead certain that I wouldn't long be having any more annoying kid problems from now on.
BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!
"Urgh." I groaned as I reached up to turn my alarm off. "Come on, can't I have just ten more minutes of….. wait…" Then I remembered what that day was, what the alarm meant. "Oh, goody goody. Back to the penitentiary, I forgot." In case you didn't pick up on it, I have never liked school, never will, but it is definitely an unavoidable and ugly truth in life, and sadly, I understand its importance. That's why I at least managed to drag myself out of bed and get dressed, then began my usual school morning routine: eat breakfast, get my school supplies packed up and ready, deal with a couple plant problems, yell at Holly to get her butt moving so we wouldn't be late, and finally, get in the car to drive to school. For the most part, the trip to school was uneventful, but luckily there were some good songs on the radio. "Hey Hawken?" I heard from the passenger seat. I glanced over at Holly, waiting for her to continue. That was an annoying habit she'd picked up from my dad, starting but never finishing her sentences. "Yeah?" "Are you sure you're not going to have problems at school with your new powers, are you?" I sighed and gave her a deadpan look. "Why does everyone have to ask me that?" I snapped. "First mom when I got home last night, then dad when he got home, and now you? You don't remember my plan, do you?" I turned back to face the road, getting even more irritated by the driver in front of me who couldn't even get to 10 miles under the speed limit. "I want to keep all of this turn-into-a-dragon-and-hero-of-a-whole-world thing under wraps for as long as I possibly can, thank you." "Alright, I just don't want you to get in trouble. That's embarrassing for a little sister." I just gave her a stink-eye as we pulled into the parking lot at the school.
I stepped out, and headed in after saying goodbye to Holly and locking up the car. Surprisingly, even after all I had gone through over the summer, school seemed like the most daunting and overwhelming thing yet. Maybe it was because I was now a senior, I don't know. I was now used to burly Vikings with bad manners swarming around me, not the five-to-eighteen year old kids and teens texting on their cell phones and not watching where they were going. And of course, everyone noticed me. For some reason, I stick out like a sore thumb wherever I go, probably because of my outlandish hair and habit of carrying a bag full of plant files, but still, I look normal past that. In any case, I was glad my hair was long enough to hide the spiral of scale on my forehead. They were nearly the same color as my skin, but that would still be something people would notice.
As I headed for my first class, I was bombarded with a bunch of "Hi Hawken" and "Where's your glasses?" and so on. Rather annoying it is after being somewhere nearly every day where everyone knows and respects you and gives you the space you need because of it. Luckily, my first class was right inside the school entrance, so I made it there in one piece, only to get bombarded with even more hellos from everyone in the room. At least there was one really good friend there I could talk with without going nuts: my friend Leighton.
The first class I had was rather boring, but as the advising period passed I started getting fidgety. Even staying in the library during an open block I felt uneasy, uncomfortable. I had never been so glad for lunch time, and I quickly heated up my food, then went outside where my friends and I had decided to hang out. Sure enough, about 2 minutes later Leighton appeared, walking over and sitting down under the tree near me. "Hey Leighton," I said. "Hey," she replied. She looked at me. "Something wrong?" I shrugged. "I just don't feel right at school today. Too much happened over summer." "Oh? Anything really interesting?" I smiled. "You don't even know the half of it." She shrugged and took a bite out of her sandwich. "So tell me about it," she said. My smile froze, and I shifted uncomfortably. "Eh, maybe another time. It's not something I really want to share with the world right now." Leighton nodded. "It's alright, I understand. There are a lot of things I never like to talk about either, but you know it helps to tell someone."
We sat in silence for a few minutes before some other friends showed up and gathered around the tree. I turned to Leighton, who was looking through her backpack. "I got a new snake over summer," I said, out of the blue. She looked up. "Oh yeah, I saw that on Facebook. Mine is still the same old, same old." I nodded, then looked around and sighed. "Hey, about what you said earlier, maybe it would be better if I told-"
"Well, if it isn't the plant nerd," a voice said behind me. My mood dropped really quickly at that point, and I growled a bit before turning around. "This your girlfriend?" the owner of the voice teased. I stood up. "Look, it's the first day of school, Gareth; can't I even have one moment of peace before I have to deal with you again?" Gareth laughed and gave his backpack to one of his motley crew of friends. "What's the matter, don't like me being around?" he asked innocently. "No, I don't," I snapped back. "I get it, you're new here, this'll be your first full year at this school, and you want someone to pick on. I ain't gonna be that guy." I turned around to pick up my stuff, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. "Something I say make you mad?" Gareth continued. "What are you going to do to keep me from annoying you, run to a teacher and whine?" I smiled. "Not at all. If need be I could deal with you without even raising a finger." I reached up to pull his hand off and turned back to my stuff, picking it up and nodding to Leighton, letting her know I was moving elsewhere.
"Hey, I wasn't done with you yet!" Gareth shouted. He reached out and grabbed me by the shoulder again. "Gareth, leave him alone already," Leighton said. I turned around and grabbed his hand again, but this time I didn't let go. Gareth had pushed me just a little too far. "Don't. Touch. Me," I hissed, and threw his hand back hard enough to make him stumble. That really did it. Gareth grabbed me by both of my shoulders, and Leighton came up to help move him away, but a look from me kept her back. I reached up, grabbing both his hands at the wrists, tightly enough to make him let go. Then, I activated a new ability, one that's not visible on the outside, but it sure can be felt.
"AAAAHHH!"
Gareth screamed and yanked his hands back as mine began to burn like a Fireworm's skin. He looked at his wrists and the new red handprints that went all the way around them. He glared at me. "What did you just do to me you little twerp?!" he screeched. But I held up a hand. "Let's say it's a different version of the Indian burn," I said, smirking, but still plenty angry. "Tell you what. Meet me after school on the platform by the swamp. No teachers to get you in trouble, just you and me. Then I can show you exactly why you will not bother me again." Gareth snorted, not believing a word I said. "Fine," he spat. "I expect to see you there." He turned around and stomped off, but some of his friends got wide eyed and pointed at me before they followed him. I turned to Leighton, who also got really wide eyed. "Hawken," she began, "first of all, what did you do to him, and second, why are your eyes bright red?"
That sentence hit me like a brick. I raced into the school and to the bathroom, followed by Leighton, and looked into the mirror. Sure enough, my eyes were the same ember red as a Shadow Dragon's. I blinked and focused, changing my eyes back to the normal color, then made a fake stab at happiness. Just as I suspected, my eyes changed to a bright green, like Toothless' eyes. I changed them back, and walked out to where Leighton was standing. "What was it?" she asked. I sighed, and motioned for her to follow me. We went around to the back of the school, down to the platform I mentioned earlier.
"I have to tell someone, and since you've already caught onto one of the clues, it might as well be you," I said. Leighton raised and eyebrow, but didn't say anything. I looked around to make sure that no one could hear us. "You know how there's that one movie I really like?" Leighton rolled her eyes and smirked. "How to Train Your Dragon. How could anyone ever forget?" I nodded. "Well, you also know about the little short fun story I was writing about it?" Leighton nodded. "Well," I began, "let's just say a version of that actually happened."
The silence was deafening, until Leighton started to chuckle. "Do you really expect me to believe that? I mean, there's no way it could be poss…." She trailed off as I shifted my eyes to match Toothless', not just in color but shape. I continued by holding up my hands and making rows of black scales form across them. Then I reverted back to my old self. "Yeah, it happened. That's why I wasn't really wanting to talk about what happened this summer," I said. "I found the portal, and it leads right to the cove." The silence continued for another few minutes, and I started to cringe at the thought of Leighton's reaction.
Finally, she blew out a breath. "I'll keep your secret, if you want me to," she said, "but you'll have to tell me what happened." I smiled, and let out the breath I was holding in relief. "Well, there's a few more minutes before the next class starts, so: I was working in my garden when I found the portal, and so I went through and…."
It took until class was about to start before I had laid out a bare skeleton of what happened. Leighton found most of it entertaining, but she admitted it was a lot to take in, had it not been for the fact that I had grown scales before her eyes. When it was time to head back to class, she told me that she would have to be there when Gareth got what was coming to him. "There is no way I'm going to miss the look on his face when you do whatever you're going to." I nodded, then we headed back to class, me feeling a bit more relieved now that there was someone at school I could talk to about what happened.
I only had one more class that day, then an open block I used to think about what exactly I would do with Gareth. I decided there was no way I would show him any more of my dragon side than my eyes, so I would rely on heightened senses instead. Finally, the torture-that-is-school ended, and I headed to the science room where I spent time after school to put my things down, before going out the back door of the room and down to the platform. Only a couple minutes later, Leighton showed up, then Gareth and his motley crew. From the science room above, someone else also emerged, who I had completely forgotten about: my other friend, Cameron. I held up a hand to tell him not to come down, as Gareth stepped up onto the platform.
"So, ready to be humiliated?" I asked sweetly. Gareth snorted. "The only one who's going to be humiliated here is you, for giving me these burns, however you did that." He held up his hands to prove his point. Then he stepped up to me, wound up and swung for a punch. Six inches from my head, I grabbed his fist, bringing it to a halt and even forcing him back a bit. Gareth went slightly wide eyed, but wasn't deterred, and brought his other hand in for an uppercut against my chin, but of course, it never made it above my chest and, now that I had both of his hands, I twisted him down and gently dropped him to the boards below. I heard Leighton laughing from next to the willow tree nearby. "How the… oh, never mind," Gareth hissed as he got up and came at me with a simultaneous fist and backhanded swing. I bent back to avoid them, touching the platform behind me with my hands, and did a hand standing flip at just the right moment to kick Gareth's wrists out of the way. Now with more space between us, Gareth ran at me with both fists aimed at my head. I smirked, and sidestepped just before he would have made contact, and barely put my toe out in front of him.
"AAAHHH!" THUNK!
Gareth tripped over the side of the platform and landed in the cattails of the swamp. Now, it wasn't just a chuckle coming from by the willow, it was gasping laughter from Leighton, and I heard Cameron chuckling from up on the hill. I stepped off the platform as Gareth rolled onto his back and placed a foot on his chest. "Had enough of this, or do you want to go another round?" I asked innocently. "I could go all afternoon, that was just too easy." Gareth grabbed my foot and tried to flip me over onto the ground, but found that he couldn't budge my foot even an inch. He glared at me, but the glare melted and he scrambled up and back from me as I lifted my foot off. I half expected him to try and come at me again, and I was prepared to give him a literal pain in the butt just to end this useless show of strength, but instead he turned and ran across the field in the other direction, grabbing his backpack and bolting for the neighborhood nearby. I glanced over at his friends (as always their names escape me) and they soon followed suit. I shook my head, then walked over to Leighton. She, of course, was cracking up. "I-I don't think… he'll be a problem from now on," she gasped. She bent down and picked up her belongings. Then she looked at me. "By the way, your eyes are bright orange now." I blinked and changed them back to normal, then looked up the hill at Cameron, who was waiting for an explanation. I sighed and we both went up to the science room so I could figure out a story for what happened.
Leighton was definitely right. Gareth and his gang kept a pretty good distance from me, and it seems that rumors of the "fight," if you could call it that, spread quickly as everyone showed me just a little more respect in the days afterward. At the very least, those who taunted me did so with a bit of a cringe whenever I glared at them. Then again, it may have just been my eyes doing that. As it turned out, somehow the different eye colors and shapes that came with different dragon species had somehow connected to my eyes' natural ability to change color according to my mood. Therefore, when I was excited or happy my eyes changed Night Fury green. If I was extremely relaxed (which wasn't that often anymore, sadly), they changed to sea dragon blue. Anger went with the red eyes of the Shadow, fear was bright yellow, and adrenaline was orange. Depression, as I sadly found out, was the black color of a few dragons whose names escape me. Thankfully, though, my eyes stuck to only changing color, rarely ever changing shape unless the emotion was really strong. I never lost control over the rest of my abilities, thankfully, though a few times I was very tempted to give a few brats a new fiery hairdo. Don't worry, no one is walking around with black heads yet.
Leighton eventually convinced me to let her meet the gang as well, and came over once or twice. I was right about the shock, though, as she barely talked for the first hour we were in Berk, but eventually she warmed up to the idea a bit more. Also, I have to mention Cameron: we managed to convince him there was nothing out of the ordinary, at least for now, but he stayed suspicious.
Days began passing faster again after that, and my visits with Hiccup and the gang became more and more frequent again as I found out I learned and did my homework best when I was teaching the gang something new (though very rarely did they all sit through it; the twins and Snotlout are still adamant about not learning). Time flies quickly when you're having fun (and when you're a senior in high school, it flies by no matter if you're having fun or not), and soon the warm days of summer also began to come to an end, and as fall began, a chill formed in the air both at home and in Berk, and as days grew shorter, the onset of winter loomed near as well.