"That was the fastest yet!" I yell to Toothless who let out a roar as we fly over home, slipping into one of the hatches and greeted by the same, familiar sight as always.
"Next time don't be so loud!" is what greets us. A call from an older Skrill named Brinna from where she rests in her cave.
"Sorry!" Toothless and I call to her and she humphs as we coast by.
"Whoa, this place is huge." Aster said behind me as Toothless and I greeted several dragons who bothered to yell a greeting.
Toothless quickly flies to our house where I see Cloudjumper sitting on the roof.
"Cloudjumper!" I yell as we land, instantly making her.
"Good to see you back, Hicca." she greets as we land. "I presume this to be the human." she says and edges closer, her large eyes focused on Aster as he gets off. At first he is unaware that Cloudjumper is watching him. To be fair, he is trying to navigate off the saddle but when he does, he fall right on his back and lets out a painfully loud hiss.
Crap. I forgot. Again.
"Aster! How's your rib?" I ask and lean down next to him.
"Fine, just hurts." he mumbles as I help him stand up.
"My Hicca, I knew you were short, but not this short in human standards." Cloudjumper chuckles.
"That just means I'm faster." I grunt and begin helping Aster inside the house as he protests.
"I'm fine! No pain anymore. Lo-"
"Hicca!" I hear mom yell, the beats of wings above us. In an instant mom is dropped to the ground, landing in a perfect crouch as Titan drops her to the ground, yells a quick greeting before flying off.
"Hi mom." I say. Aster pulls away, standing on his own, though with a slight limp.
Mom runs towards the two of us, flitting around like a bird,"Oh dear! Come on in!"
"I'm fine, don't worry." Aster tried to assure her but she scoffed.
"You remind me of people that I used to live with. Berkians are stubborn if anything." she mutters and Aster says nothing as I lead him inside, followed by Toothless and Cloudjumper.
"So, I'm going to assume you're Aster?" mom says as she bustles around the kitchen as we settle at the table, Cloudjumper on the opposite side of the table while I'm next to Aster.
"Yes ma'am." Aster nods.
"Since when do you have manners?" I ask him.
"I've always had manners!" he protests and Toothless chuckles where he's curled up next to me which makes me laugh and him turn red.
"Sure you have." I say sarcastically.
"I do have manners! All Hoffersons do!"
CRASH.
"Mom!" I yell, shooting up to where several things have clattered to the floor.
Mom stands there in shock, frozen mid action, her eyes wide and only I can see the tears welling in her eyes already. No one moves. A dragon roar echoes outside as all of us watch her. Even Cloudjumper is silent. A few times this has happened in the past. Where something I say or something she sees reminds her of her home and she freezes. Sometimes she cries. Sometimes she sobs. Others she shakes it off and tries to set things back to normal but I can always feel the frigid atmosphere that may surround us for a few hours afterwards.
And then she asks in a voice so hoarse of which I'd only heard once before, "Why does he have to be from Berk?"
"Mom." I whisper but she practically explodes.
"NO!" she roars. Literally, a loud roar escaping her which puts a Screecher's scream to shame. And then she collapses with a sob.
"Mom!" I yell again and in an instant I'm by her side as she sobs. Her shoulders are shaking and her face quickly reddens and warm, fat tears roll down her face which she hides in her hands.
"It's okay, it's okay." I whisper to her, rubbing her back. She shifts her weight to hug me as she continues to sob.
"It'll be fine mom. We'll be okay." I tell her and my gaze shoots to Aster, who's still sitting at the table watching us. I give him a nod and stand up, bringing mom to the table as she begins to calm down.
Hurriedly, I get some water and sit down next to mom. Toothless has edged his muzzle into her lap and Cloudjumper has wrapped a wing around her.
"Sorry about that dearies." she mutters, her voice slightly hoarse.
"No, I'm sorry for mentioning Berk." Aster apologizes.
"Ah, I guess I'm a bit too sensitive to my old prison." she mumbles, before smiling a lonely and heart broken smile. "I suppose I owe you an explanation Aster, though it may seem a bit weird as I've only met you. Though, Hicca trusts you, so that's enough for me." she smiles at me for a second before her eyes return to her cup.
There's a moment of silence as we wait, though I'd heard this story many times.
"Yes, I once lived in Berk. I was a viking. Though, I did not kill dragons. No, I was the only one who believed that dragons had a conscience. And I was right, though I wouldn't know for many years. Most vikings thought I was crazy, wrote me off as an insane girl who would eventually end up dead. I'd tried so hard to change their minds, to show them that dragons weren't beasts, but intelligent creatures, who had emotions and feelings. Everyone thought I was crazy. But somehow, years later, I ended up getting married. To Stoick the Vast no less. Ah, I love him." she sighed, and it might've seemed weird, but in the way she looked, so broken hearted and hopeless, it was not pitiful or weak. Just sad. "And then I had Hicca. For a time we were happy," a smile finds it's way onto her face, "but then you got sick." her eyes flick to mine.
"Your father believed that you would make it the winter. I didn't. And he was right, though not in the way he thought he would be. A few days after you got sick, Cloudjumper broke into our house during a dragon raid. And she was concerned, so she brought us to the nest. The King healed us, welcomed us and made us a part of his family. And so I decided to never return to my prison, where people taunted me and whispered behind my back." she sniffled and jolted her head upwards.
"Sorry for being so depressing." she apologized with a small smile.
"It's fine. It's hard not to be sad after a story like that." Aster told her.
"Well, as nice a place as mopey town is, let's lift our spirits! Eh?" I offered, making the two of them laugh.
"Yes well! Let's go meet the King!" mom jumped up and in a second we were on the dragons.
"Hey! Wait up crazy dragon people!" Aster called after us which made me laugh.
"Get on slow poke!" I yell as he clambers onto Toothless, plopping right behind me. Toothless instantly takes off, in seconds we're at the other end of the cavern and before the King and I help Aster clamber off of Toothless.
"My King." all of us except for Aster repeat, bowing low.
"Hello. And I'm going to assume the human is the new 'play friend' of Hicca?" the King asks, making me blush.
"No! Stop laughing!" I snap at mom, Toothless, and Cloudjumper who are snickering while Aster just looks confused.
"Anyways," mom says, still snickering, "this is our King. One of the few Bewilderbeasts left."
"King? What do you mean by King?" Aster asks.
"Well, each nest has a king or a queen." I begin to explain. "They are kind of like a chief, but they can have absolute control their subjects if they want to. Though, our King is a great ruler, unlike the queen who rules the nest near your home."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on." Aster says. "What do you mean 'queen by Berk'?"
"Well, the dragons that raid you guys, they're sent by a queen for food. I've never seen her, but she doesn't seem to good of a queen." Mom says.
"So, the dragons don't actually want to raid us?" Aster asks.
"Yes child." the King's voice reverberates through everyones minds, stunning Aster for a second.
"Dammit, I should've expected something like this!" he yells which only makes mom and I laugh.
"Yes, well. We're lucky to have a very amazing King." I say.
"Thank you, princess." the King says.
"Princess?" Aster asks.
"You can explain that one mom." I say, blushing. Though, despite myself, a smile breaks across my face.
— Two Months Later —
"I did it!" Aster yells, arms up and a huge grin on his face. He was sitting atop StormFly, having just performed a barrel roll with his new saddle.
"Nice work Aster!" I yell to him as we side up beside him.
"He's done good. For a human." Skreed agrees which earns a whack from StormFy. She'd learn to become protective over Aster after he'd ridden her so much through these past two months. At first he'd been wary of learning to ride, but eventually he began riding and while being an idiot almost killed himself. Several times.. Thank gods I made him a saddle.
"Aster is doing fine." StormFly replied with a humph before furiously flapping upwards and performing several more tricks which Aster did with her.
"He's actually doing well." I smile to myself as Toothless and I soar.
"I thought he'd kill himself." Toothless chuckles which earns him a whack from me."Protective of Aster, are we?" he asks. Eventually most of the dragons came to embrace the new human, those who haven't still tolerate him as most dragons have come to liking him. Most dragons including me.
"Oh shut up you overgrown lizard." I mumble before slipping off of him, extending my wings and catching on a drift of wind.
"Hicca!" Aster yells to me. "Up for a game of dragon tag?" he offers.
"You're on!" I shout back.
Titan, Skreed, Blown and Cloudjumper are flying with us while mom is in the forge putting on the finishing touches to a leg.
"Dragon tag!" I yell to everyone below as I fly back up and land on Toothless.
"I'm it!" Titan yells before ramming into Skreed.
"No fair!" Skreed yells back and begins to chase after him.
One game of dragon tag later and several 'accidental' bruises and cuts, and we're back inside.
"That was fun." Aster smiles as we sit at the table. Over the past couple months everyone had taken him in, almost like family which made me pretty happy.
"Indeed. Though, it did hurt when Titan hit me. He almost knocked me out of the sky!" I yelled, rubbing my shoulder where a purple bruise was already forming.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, of course." I reply and I feel my face begin to heat up and the stupid sensation came back when he leaned too close. It had been here for several months now and I was beginning to resent it very much so. The feeling was almost as if there were a couple of dragons in my stomach, poking at my stomach and spewing fire and just being annoying.
"Ah! Odin's stinking throne!" mom storms in, her face sooty and dark, her forging apron still on.
"What's wrong?" I ask her as she furiously sits down.
"Damn leg. I can't get it right." she mutters, clearly frustrated.
"I'll finish it then." I say, already getting up.
"No, no, it's fine." mom protests, already getting up.
"Mom, I can finish it by tonight if I start now. And Lilac would really like her new leg." I reply before I'm already out the door and heading towards the forge, Toothless bounding behind me when he noticed that I left the door.
"What's mom upset about?" he asks as we enter the blazing hot forge. The tables are littered with metals and tools, several fires going at once and a small pool of deep, cool water next to them. The forge is mostly closed off, save for the entrance which could be sealed off. Though, that made it seriously hot. Like, almost melt off your pants hot, which is the way that I described it to Aster who then blushed and edged away. Thor that human was a strange one.
"She can't get Lilac's leg right or something." I say as I begin taking off my gear. Unlike mom, who can magically stand these temperatures for so long, I can barely survive in my clothes, much less half of my gear. So, I quickly take off my gear and chest plate, plus my shoulder and knee pads and shirt, leaving me in my wrappings, regular pants and boots.
"She seems really worried lately." Toothless observes as I examine what mom has got so far.
"I think she might be missing Berk." I say, and even to me, the words sound bitter.
It takes a bit before Toothless speaks, "If she wants to go back, what would you do?" The words stop me in my tracks.
"I-I would go with her." I reply before picking up the leg and beginning to work on it. Toothless knows I don't want any more said on the topic.
Several of the pieces are the wrong sized and several springs and gears aren't lined up properly so I begin to work on those. My mind already tells my arms what to do, my feet where to go. Which metal goes where, the amount of dragon scales or the amount of metal to add to each piece and the exact way to place it or cool it. Before long I don't even know what I'm doing, yet I know exactly what I am at the same time. Sweat trickled down my forehead as I plunge another gear into the pool with the tongs.
Placing it onto the table I begin to fit it into the design, comparing up the measurements written down when I hear a small knock. My head instantly perks up, my movements ceasing as I see Aster standing there. He's holding a fish, his forehead scrunched in concern.
"You know, you should really eat something. It's been three hours since you've been in here." he says and sets the fish in front of me.
"Really? Well, thanks." I say, though my mind is still tinkering with the leg.
"You're welcome." he says and makes his way out the door. "And that fish better be eaten or else!"
"Thanks for the concern, mother." I reply with sarcasm and hear his laugh as he continues to walk back to the other house.
Finally, I finish fitting the gears in, springs all adjusted right and measurements perfect. Sighing, I set the leg to the side. And I look at the fish, which is cold and still uneaten.
So, I munch on it while looking at one of my newest designs.
An axe.
Hola everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and it might be a few days before I get the next chapter up as I'm having some family (and internet... groan) troubles but hopefully it'll be up soon! Thanks for reading and I really love and enjoy reading all of the comments and reviews so thanks! :D