OKAY HERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER AND I JUST WANTED TO ISSUE A WARNING! YES AT THE MOMENT THIS FOLLOWS THE STORY LINE AS I HAVE THE DVD WITH SUBTITLES AND HAVE GOTTEN THE SCRIPT ONLINE BUT LATER IT WILL BE COMPLETELY AU OKAY! JUST A FRIENDLY HEADS UP TO THOSE WHO ARE ONLY READING THIS BECAUSE THEY THINK IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON BUT WITH FEMALE!HICCUP! ALSO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR AWESOME REVIEWS, I'LL TRY TO UPDATE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE WHILE STILL TRYING TO FINSIH MY OTHER STORY! LOVE YOU ALL! 3. Plus to my reviewer snowowl94 I found it by researching names that could fit a dragon and found that it means 'fire' in old Irish it just seemed to fit Toothless' character perfectly
Hicca felt her back being slammed into the wall of the small alley and a sharp pain shot up her spine, temporarily winding her. The hand over her mouth loosed but the grips of her arms tightened, she was sure there would be bruises. "Hello useless, long time no beating," a taunting voice called and she glanced up into the cold blue eyes of Bones, a burly dark haired girl who had graduated from dragon training the year before and along with her gang was the most… vicious of Hicca's childhood tormentors. "We heard about your failure in the ring today, did the big brave Astrid have to save you. You're pathetic, the future leader of this tribe, this village. You don't deserve to have a father as great as Stoic, you don't deserve the chance to be in dragon training just to screw up and you definitely don't deserve to live" Bones hissed, her cronies smiling maliciously beside her.
Hicca identified the two holding her as Blade and Striker, the male brothers of the Seafront family. Slice and Fang, the two girls who followed Bones everywhere were flanking her, the completely opposite girls' fighting with each other was often compared to that of the Thorsten twins though they did not share blood. Bones curled her right hand into a fist and drew it back, placing all of her strength behind the punch she let it fly, Hicca muffled a shriek as she felt her left ribs bend under the pressure but not break, the brutal girl continued targeting that side till she suddenly switched, bringing her massive fists down on the right side of Hicca's chest, drawing pained grunts from the girl as she refused to give them the satisfaction of screaming.
Two hard blows to her face brought her to her knees and she saw Fang stepping back, shaking the hand that had just connected with the bones around her right eye and left cheek, Bones stopped for a second to inspect the damage. "Idiot!" she shrieked at Fang, rounding on the quivering girl with a scowl. "That is going to leave bruises in plain view, you know how overprotective her father and Gobber are, how do you think we're going to hide that?" she asked, Fang grimaced and shook her head in thought.
"Sorry but who said they have to know she was hit, she could have… I don't know, fallen and hit her face on a rock, the gods know she is clumsy enough for that to happen," Fangs voice lightened as she thought of a reasonable excuse, Bones smirked and turned to Hicca with a frightening smile, her eyes lighting up in recognition, "You hear that useless, you fell. You understand you were going for a walk in the forest and fell down a ditch; you hit your face on the rock. No one did that to you and if I hear you saying anything different next time I won't go so easy on you," she hissed, pulling the smaller girl from the brothers' arms and held her roughly by the neck, making sure not to increase the pressure enough to create a hand print.
Hicca nodded weakly and Bones smirked, loosening her hold and letting Hicca drop to the ground, leaving the alley with her cronies as the injured girl collapsed in a heap on the ground, her legs refusing to hold her weight. She saw that the sun only had a while to go before it set and groaned, pushing herself up off the hard dirt, her hands shaking as the weight settled onto her bruised ribs making them cry out in agony. She began the long and painful path to her hut, knowing that she had an emergency kit for situations such as these under her bed.
She didn't meet anyone on her way, most of the Vikings were off searching for the nest and the older ones that weren't were probably in the food hall as dinner would be being served early like it was every day the village went searching. The other teenagers were most likely already at the tower waiting for Gobber; they wouldn't even care if she was late. They barely even noticed she was there most days, unless she messed up of course that was really the only time they paid any attention to her. Hicca finally managed to drag herself up the steps to her house and pushed weakly against the door, almost falling inward as she stumbled across the interior.
She groaned loudly as she slowly made her way up to her room, each step on the stairs making her ribs throb in pain. As soon as she entered her room she collapsed, landing heavily on the bed with a short cry, her hand darted down beneath her bed and she retrieved the medical kit. Pulling her aching body up against the headboard she opened it, grabbing some salve for her ribs, bandages, and cream for the bruises on her face. Finally gathering her courage she stepped off the bed, moving sluggishly across the room to gaze in her mirror, her eyes widening in surprise as she removed her shirt and wrappings to inspect her ribs.
Her left cheek and the side of her right eye were both sporting large purple and yellow bruises, there were two large hand shaped marks on her biceps and both sides of her ribs were dotted with huge bruises in colours of angry reds, purple, yellows and even some black, she grimaced and grabbed the salve, smearing it gently across her chest before binding it with bandages and pulling her shirt back on, she noted with distaste that even though the bandages were tight they did nothing to pull in her chest and her chest was pushed against her shirt in all its glory. Before she capped the salve she rolled up her sleeves and covered the hand prints there in it, hoping that it would help them as well.
Finally she moved to the bruises on her face and cursed under her breathe, normally whenever Bones and her gang of thugs got to her the bruises were never in plain sight and she could easily cover them up then go about her life as if they never happened, albeit she would still be in pain but no one had to know that. These bruises would be on her face for at least a few days and she knew that there was nothing she could do to cover them up from the other teens and older Vikings. Hicca scowled and grabbed the cream, gently coating each bruise in the clear sticky paste, smearing it generously against each bruise and sighing in relief as the cold cream helped to ebb away the blistering pain.
Realising that they would still be in plain sight she began brainstorming ideas on how to cover them, a bandage was just so obvious and would get her immediately caught, masks were only used for festivals and she had no makeup to cover it up with as only the older Vikings in the village wore that and only for special events like weddings and parties. She scowled as she came to the only logical conclusion; she reached back a shaking hand and slid out the ties that bound her hair back, tugging them out gently so her hair fell from its usual stiff plait that stopped just below her shoulders.
Without the restraints her hair was back to its usual curly glory hanging in curls and ringlets down to her waist, she pulled several of the long strands forward so they draped over her face, hiding the multi-coloured bruises from sight. "Yay, the two things I try to hide for most of life are about to come to light all because of stupid Bones and her thugs," she muttered sarcastically, twirling a red lock between her fingers and grimacing at the mirror, trying desperately to suck in her chest before giving up.
She groaned and checked how she looked in the mirror one last time before hissing and turning to leave, rearranging her hair so it looked more natural but still covered her bruises. She shuffled awkwardly through the town to the base of the tower, being extra careful not to jolt her ribs and send the now familiar sparks of pain up her sides. She could see that the bonfire had already been lit and there were shadows clustered around it, forming a tight knit circle, one shadow was large than the others and Hicca had no problem believing this was Gobber.
Tuffnut glanced around the fire before his eyes darted towards the stairs, his eyes not betraying the growing concern he felt inside when he couldn't see the red haired girl on the tower. He caught his sisters knowing look out of the corner of his eye and averted his eyes back to the fire, uncomfortably aware of just how suspicious that looked. He could tell his sister thought so to as she grinned triumphantly and turned back to the front, her eyes following the movements Astrid was making across the fire with a dreamy look on her face.
Tuffnut jumped startled and whipped his head around to look over his shoulder when Astrid stilled, her eyes going wide as they focused on a point past his head. He felt his eyes widen as well but couldn't look away, it was Hicca but unlike anytime he had ever seen her. Her hair wasn't in its usual plait it hung to just below her waist in waves and ringlets the colour of fire, strands of gold seemed to be woven into her hair as the light from the fire caught her head on an angle and she was covered in a warm glow like a halo. That wasn't all, her ahem… womanly assets were much larger than he had ever seen them and strained against the now too small top.
Hicca looked up from her embarrassed gazing at her feet, her eyes locking with a pair he colour of molten silver before she glanced back at her feet. The climb up the stairs of the tower had nearly killed her and she could swear she could actually hear her ribs as they strained to break her chest from the inside out. She saw that all of the boys on the tower were staring at her chest and she blushed, moving as quickly as she dared with her ribs over to sit by Fishlegs only to be intercepted by Gobber, she sighed and moved towards him as he beckoned her towards the side of the tower away from the other teens.
She had hoped that Gobber would just let it be, he knew about Bones but not how bad it got, he only thought they went as far as teasing her. No matter how much they hurt her she didn't want the same to happen to them and she was certain if Gobber got mad enough and found them there would be hell to pay. But of course he had instantly known something was up, he would have to have been stupid not to know, Hicca wouldn't have let her hair down if it wasn't important, she had kept her hair hidden for way to long for her to suddenly unveil it for no good reason.
Astrid and the other teens watched fascinated as the smallest of their group sighed wearily and plodded over to the blacksmith, her recently unveiled hair hanging around her face and acting like a curtain. Astrid and Ruffnut looked at each other in shock, not only had she finally taken her hair out of the braid but she had unbound her chest to. To them the only surprise was the hair, sure they had known that it was red and long the length of her plait proven that but they had always thought that she had straight hair, they had never assumed that it didn't look like the usual style on Berk.
Tuffnut couldn't help but stare at Hicca; the fire reflected off her emerald eyes and made the flecks of silver in her eyes shine, like moonlight that had been sent to the heavens. The group of teenagers discreetly moved forward to hear the conversation going on between Hicca and Gobber, Hicca was faced towards them but kept her eyes on the ground and her hair hanging in front of her face.
"Right Hicca, fess up," Gobber stated, staring worriedly down at the young girl as she tried her hardest to avoid his gaze. "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about Gobber," she said innocently, averting her eyes as he tried once more to catch her stare. Gobber frowned as he heard her talk, her breath came out slightly halted and he knew from years of training and battles that meant something had been done to the persons chest, judging from the fact that Hicca was still walking he thanked Odin that they had not been broken still, Hicca was clumsy yes but she had never been injured bad enough for her ribs to be hurt like that.
"What are you hiding Hicca?" he growled, crossing his meaty arms across his chest and staring down at her only for her to swerve her head at the last second so her hair covered her face. The other teens looked on with interest as the chief's daughter stubbornly faced down with the old warrior; her hair was now tumbling about her face in her effort to hide her eyes from Gobber's relentless stare. Finally the smithy lost his patience and grabbed her jaw firmly in his hand, using the other prosthetic hand, a metal rod for roasting the chicken over the fire to push back her hair, his eyes widened in horror as he took in the colourful bruises that flourished across her face.
The group of teens sat in their circle gaping at her and trying not to look too concerned. The young girls face was like a canvas for the colours, the two bruises were roughly the same size and shape indicating that this had not been just coincidental. Hicca sighed and looked away, missing the sharp glance of hatred that stole through Tuffnut's eyes as he took in her broken complexion. "Look Gobber it's not too bad, I mean it's not as bad as my other ones…," her voice trailed off as she realised what she had admitted and she darted to the side, trying to make a break for the stairs.
"Astrid, hold her" Gobber commanded flatly and the blond girl darted in front of the escaping Hicca, stopping the girl with a well-placed tackle. Hicca shrieked in pain and pushed Astrid off her, grabbing at her ribs as sharp pain shot through her chest her bruised and aching ribs had quickly become worse, she could have sworn she heard a crack when Astrid tackled her. Astrid stood quickly and moved to Gobber's side, "I didn't even tackle her that hard Gobber, she shouldn't be acting like that," Astrid worried, glancing at Gobber as he stared at his wriggling apprentice. "Ay lass, unless she already had something there," he hissed, moving forwards and towering over the young girl.
"What else did they do to you?" Gobber commanded, pulling her up by her arm and gently setting her on her feet, "Can we do this later Gobber it's just I really don't want to take my shirt off her," she mumbled, glancing down embarrassed at the ground, he nodded in approval and turned her to face him, "Just one more question Hicca. Who. Did. it?" he enunciated slowly and she grimaced, looking to the side again. "It was Bones and her gang again wasn't it?" he asked flatly but she could see the murderous glint in his eyes. She nodded slowly and moved closer to the stairwell, ready to block Gobber from going after them.
"Move aside Hicca," he ordered and she shook her head determinedly, standing with her arms crossed across her chest, "No Gobber, I don't care what they did but I will not allow you to go after them. You will not hurt them," she hissed and he narrowed his eyes at her. "I WILL TEACH THEM NOT TO MESS WITH MY APPRENTICE NOW MOVE ASIDE HICCA!" He roared, moving swiftly forward, she glanced pleadingly at the other teens who had been watching this amazed.
The gang of older Vikings had beaten her to a pulp and she was still defending them against Gobber, why would she defend someone who hated her? Tuffnut meanwhile had not even contemplated stopping Gobber, those bastards had hurt his Hicca and it was time the paid for it… wait, his Hicca? Where the hell did that come from? He wondered, seeing Hicca send them another pleading look as she tried to stop the stronger man from escaping and hunting down the gang. Astrid grimaced and moved forward, helping Hicca push Gobber back towards the fire pit, "I heard you have some great stories Gobber, how about you tell us some," Astrid soothed, moving quickly over to the chicken and placing it on Gobber's spit hand over the fire.
"Fine lass but Hicca you will show me what else they did to you. You understand me?" he asked and she nodded hesitantly, padding quietly over to the benches and sitting on Gobber's left, making sure to stay in his range of sight. Once during a dragon raid she had been badly injured and her father had hardly cared but Gobber made sure she stayed within his sight for a week after that, whenever she wasn't he became slightly hysterical.
The other teens quickly pushed the thoughts of what had happened to the back of their minds, all of them sitting comfortably on the logs as they settled in to be regaled by Gobber's stories of past battles and the loss of his arm and leg. Hicca had heard all this before and spent the time staring into the fire and concentrating on her breathing, attempting to ignore the striking pain that was snaking its way up through her left side and settling into her ribs. She looked up briefly and her eyes locked with a pair of silver ones from the spot on her other side.
The group of teens were too busy concentrating on Gobber's story to notice the intense eye conversation going on next to them. Hicca hadn't noticed how handsome Tuffnut was before; his golden hair fell to just above his elbows, contrasting perfectly with his smooth golden skin. Though he was slighter in stature than Snotlout Tuffnut had built up quite a bit of muscle over the years and it showed his lean frame full of hard, compacted muscle. Her gaze was drawn once more to his face and she took in the sight of his eyes, shimmering pools of liquid silver that had never ceased to amaze her, any others Vikings eyes that looked even remotely like his were plain grey, nothing very special about them but his were something different.
His beautiful eyes were set in a handsome face a strong jaw line and prominent cheek bones gave his a slightly aristocratic look, coupled with a sharp nose, arching golden eyebrows and lips that looked both soft and warm it was no wonder she liked him. She started mentally and backtracked, looking over her thoughts of the past few minutes. Since when had she started liking Tuffnut Thorsten, he made her life a living hell practically from the day she was born… then again it wasn't that bad just to look right?
Tuffnut kept the eye contact, his eyes never leaving her face as her eyes quickly scanned his body, his breath hitched in his throat and he tried to look nonchalant, his eyes moving up and down her body in quick glances. Her hair by the firelight looked like it was a light, whipping about her face as the night-time winds buffeted the top of the tower and sent it into disarray about her face. Her emerald eyes locked with his and she stared at him with a strange intensity that almost had him squirming in his seat, her eyes were still scanning his face and he noticed her gaze land on his lips more than once.
He himself couldn't help but think what it would feel like to taste her lips, as soft and juicy looking as the biggest strawberries in springtime. Often when passing her in the village she had reminded him of springtime, no matter the time of year she always seemed to smell of strawberries, her hair, her body, her entire being was almost a strawberry itself. And no matter the season or the weather she always had a bunch of strawberries on hand, often the younger children in the village, those not yet able to understand how much of an outcast she was came running up to her asking her for them, she would always oblige and they would run away happily with their precious treats.
He once more locked eyes with her and he could feel himself falling even further for her, her gaze was full of so many emotions, such pain and sorrow but there was more than that, they held a shine of innocence, hope and peace that comforted Tuffnut. She blushed when she noticed he had caught her looking and turned her head away, biting softly on her lower lip as she tried to concentrate on what Gobber was saying. Tuffnut held in a groan, she didn't know just what she was doing to him, or just how much he liked it.
"…he took my hand and swallowed it whole! I saw the look on his face… I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg," he gestured towards his peg leg and the teenagers drew in a collective breath, Hicca smirked, she had heard this story a million times before and each time it became grander and grander than the last. "Isn't too weird to think you hand was inside a dragon? Like if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed the dragon from inside by crushing his heart or something," Fishlegs interjected, narrowly avoiding hitting Astrid with his leg of chicken only to get several weird looks from his fellow trainees.
"I swear I'm so angry. I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face," he added, seeing that his peers didn't look so impressed with his earlier statement, Hicca barely managed to hold in a snort of contempt. Gobber made several sounds of disagreement and wiped his greasy face on his sleeve, "It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon," he finished, finally throwing down the bone of his chicken. Hicca thought of the night fury all alone in the cove and stored the information in the back of her head for later, suddenly the world around her began to go fuzzy.
Her hearing faded in and out and her eyes unfocused, her vision becoming distorted and she began to sway in her seat, unable to keep her balance. "Gobber, I think something's wrong with Hicca," Tuffnut interjected, seeing that Hicca had begun to pale slightly before the swaying began. "Right, Tuffnut pick her up and take her to the healer's hut, I would but I only have one hand to carry her in, the rest of you off to bed, I want you up bright and early for training tomorrow. Tuffnut I'm just going to shut down the forge, take her to hut and quickly, I fear something may have happened to her chest," Gobber ordered and the teens filed out, Tuffnut was left for last and he watched as Gobber walked down the stairs and across the village towards the forge, his steps surprisingly quick for a man with a peg leg.
He reached down and scooped her up, draping her arm around his neck to allow him better chances of not dropping her, one arm encircled her waist and the other her knees, lifting her easily into his arms. He was once more reminded of the way her had carried her before dragon training when she had come stumbling out of the forest half-dead. It seemed Hicca was having the same thought as she giggled suddenly, attracting his attention. "We really have to stop meeting like this," she murmured, laying her head against his chest and cuddling closer to him.
He stiffened for a fraction of a second before relaxing and continuing at his brisk pace, "Such pretty eyes," he heard her quietly whisper to herself, bringing one of her soft hands up to rest on cheek and pull his head in her direction, "Silver," she sighed, dropping her hand and balling it up in his shirt, tucking her other arm securely around his neck and looking up at him. "You need to sleep Hicca, there's something wrong with you and we have to find out what it is. This will all go faster if you're asleep," he muttered, she nodded sleepily and looked up at him innocently.
"I'm trusting you not to drop me Tuffnut, please don't make me regret that" she pleaded softly then relaxed against him, curling at to his warmth even further as he continued his brisk pace, the steady rhythm of his walk soon sending her to sleep. "I promise I won't let you fall," he whispered quietly, unaware even to him just what he meant by those words.
