Hiccup took his daughter to the Great Hall. He passed Prim a mug of Yak Milk and got some Mead for himself. They sat down on one of the tables.
"Prim, this is getting worse and worse."
Hiccup finally said, Prim not meeting his green gaze.
"You could have gotten into serious trouble. Our whole house could have burned to ashes! I know you'll like dragons sooner or later but…. We have to find a solution."
Prim stared at the ground, biting her lip. She was silent. Hiccup sighed.
"Prim, why don't you like dragons?"
This was the question Prim had heard almost every day of her life. Once again, she did not answer.
"I have to know why you don't like dragons. That's the way we can find a solution."
Hiccup said gently, holding his daughter's hands. Prim flinched at the touch and tried to pull away. Hiccup noticed her rejection and his eyes fell to her hands. His eyes widened.
"It's nothing! I swear!"
Prim yelped desperately, but Hiccup holds her hand firm. He observed her palm, fingering the ugly scar that crossed her skin. In Viking circumstances, a few scars or two wasn't much of a problem. Some were even proud of their scars. But the reason why Hiccup was so surprised was because the pale gash in his daughter's hands was a dragon bite. Dragon bites took quite a long time to heal; it took at least a year just to become a scar. A year ago….
"You got this before you began to dislike dragons, didn't you?"
Prim's grimace proved it. Hiccup began to remember. His daughter used to LOVE dragons, even more than his little son. She would beg for her own dragon, her eyes twinkled when Valka told her all those dragon stories, she would be thrilled when Hiccup had allowed her to ride Toothless. Then, just about a year ago, she suddenly changed. The same time period of when she got this scar.
"Prim. This scar…. It's got something to do with your fears, isn't it?"
Prim hesitated for a while. Hiccup knew. She was growing tired of hiding. She began to talk.
Prim merrily skipped around the woods. She was playing Hide and Seek with her friends. She looked for a good place to hide. Maybe she should climb on top of the trees? Or next to the rocks? In the caves? She walked along, counting numbers in her head. There was still time to find a place to hide.
Hmm…. Maybe…She began running towards the large cliff. It was highly for bidden for the children to go there. A perfect hiding spot! She carefully inched towards the cliff, hiding behind the large boulder that shielded the cliff. A few meters away, the cliff ended, dropping right down a few good hundred feet. She shivered at the thrill of it. No one would find her now!
A small, pitiful moaning reached her ears. She perked up, tipping her head to one side to hear it better. It seemed to come…. from the end of the cliff? But there wasn't anything there! Prim crawled up the cliff. The high drop made her gulp. She peered down curiously, and gasped.
Clinging on a small cliff, just barely in Prim's reach, was a little dragon. It seemed to be hurt, one of its wings was dent the wrong way. Prim's eyes widened. She immediately remembered one of the stories of her father- how he had helped the injured Toothless, how they had become close friends. If she helped this dragon, could she earn a friendship like that?
She reached down; stretching her arm as far at it could go. She grasped the dragon's belly. It was very warm, like the hearth back at home. She tried to lift the dragon up, but she did it too quickly. The dragon's eyes snapped open and it hissed in pain. It bit down on her hand, causing Prim to shriek and let go. A split second later Prim realized what she had done, and desperately tried to grab hold of the little dragon again. But it was too late. The dragon fell down, down; down to the Earth far bellow. It's eyes met with Prim's. It was full of hatred and fear. A large snap echoed through the cliff.
Prim screamed and ran off as fast as she could, not daring to look back, clutching her hand as it blood dripped from the bite. The dragon's eyes burned into her mind, it's yellow gaze following her until she reached the village.
"After…after that… I couldn't get it out of my head…
Every…. night…. the dragon came and dropped me off the cliff….I….I…"
Prim started to cry, gulping and breathing heavily, her body trembling with fear. Hiccup was astonished and a guilty, even. He remembered how Prim would wake up at the middle of the night, screaming in pure terror. So that was what she had been dreaming about! He had been foolish. He should have taught Prim how to approach a dragon. He should have said it was a very dangerous thing to do. But why didn't she tell him? Or Astrid?
"But Prim, why didn't you tell anyone?"
He asked, wiping the tears from his daughter. She breathed deeply and looked up at Hiccup with reddened eyes.
"You're the chief…the first Viking to train a dragon…the Dragon Conqueror….
Trainer, Hiccup thought immediately, although he did hear a few Vikings calling him by that name in times.
…And I killed a dragon…. I'm your daughter….and I…."
Prim cried harder, failing to continue her words. Of course. Even though Hiccup didn't say anything, many of the village people expected Prim to be a good dragon trainer too. Plus, Berk was now a place where living with dragons was an obvious matter. A 8 year old girl, that had been full of dreams and hope about dragons, how would have she felt if she had killed a dragon?
Hiccup hugged his daughter.
"You didn't do that on purpose. You didn't know how to handle a dragon. Besides, injured dragons can be really sensitive. Especially to little children."
Prim relaxed a bit, looking up in surprise. She had been expecting something harsh.
"Mmm...But just to make sure that the dragon doesn't hate you anymore..."
Hiccup lead out a very curious Prim to the Forge.
Hiccup began fumbling with pieces of wood and metal while he handed Prim a paper to draw on.
"Can you draw that dragon for me please?"
Prim didn't understand what was going on, but she began to draw anyway,
trying to remember how the dragon had looked.
Prim was a very good drawer, despite her age. Before she had been so afraid of dragons, she used to draw pictures of dragons in the Book of Dragons when her father was too busy to do so. People praised her neat, realistic drawings.
She drew the dragon's long snout, the two yellow eyes, those bat-like wings, and the horns. She tried not to look at the eyes.
When Hiccup was done with whatever he had made, Prim held up her drawing nervously. A dragon that looked very similar to a Typhoomerang rested in her paper, one of it's wings dent. Hiccup frowned.
"I don't think the dragon would like his drawing to have a dent wing. Wait a second."
He smudged the wing and drew it again, this time smooth and open majestically. Prim observed the wooden thing he had made. It was a small boat, with tiny sails. Hiccup grinned proudly.
"I thought giving the dragon a proper viking funeral would make it feel better! It's a great honor, you know. Your drawing will act as the dragon."
-0-0-0-
Prim shot the arrow with the help of her father.
The flaming arrow slightly spun through the air as it stuck to one side of the boat,
setting it alight. Prim did felt like her worries were drifting off with it. She hoped the dragon wouldn't hate her anymore.
She really was sorry for it. It had been so little. She promised herself she wasn't going to do a mistake like that again.
"So, Prim."
Hiccup's voice lifted her head.
"Let's visit the hatchery before we go home, shall we?"
Prim stared at him for a second, not understanding his words.
"Wait...the Hatchery is where...You mean..."
She stuttered, her eyes popping out of her head. Hiccup laughed and kissed her forehead.
"I've decided you're old enough for your own dragon. And this one will bond with you forever."
Hiccup took her hand, and they walked back to the village, Prim skipping cheerfully just as she had one year ago.
And...That's it! Was the ending okay? It's hard to imagine the feelings of an 8 year old.
The next chapter will be the Epilogue! Thanks everyone!