Chapter 7:
Marko woke up with a sudden gasp, before quickly pulling his upper body up, and looking around: he seemed to be in a house. On a closer inspection, he saw he was in the main room of a house: the floor in front of him was covered in a thick fur blanket, and there was another chair on the opposite side of the room, which looked like it was covered in an old fur coat of a wolf.
There was a creak of wood, and Marko flinched, turning his head violently to the side. He waited a few seconds, to see if there was any other movement in the house. After a few more seconds silence, Marko relaxed ever so slightly, and thought about what happened yesterday, to think of anything that might have led to him being where he was.
Suddenly, there was another, much louder creek of wood, which was followed by multiple other creaks. Marko couldn't see where the sound was coming from, as the only light was coming from under the front door. As the creaking came closer, Marko was getting desperate, he had to find a way out, or at least somewhere to hide until the sound was gone. In the low light, Marko looked around to find something to use as a weapon, and then he remembered: he still had his most important weapon left at his side.
He looked down at his left arm, and clenched his left fist, and the blade shot out and Marko relaxed his hand, lifted his left arm lower arm up to his head, and looked at the stainless blade: he had never stained his blade with anyone's blood before, but still, there was a first for everything...
As the creaking got closer still, Marko took a couple deep breaths to calm himself. As he felt he way to a corner that was just a few feet from where the sound was coming from. Then, all of a sudden, it stopped. And there was silence. A cold, scary silence that could chill the spines of even the bravest men to the core. Then, Marko heard an oddly familiar sound: it was a low purring noise. Ice? No, it was low to be Ice. So that meant, was it...Toothless? Then, if it was Toothless, then wasn't this Hiccup's house?
Breathing a bit more calmly now, Marko clenched his fist again, and the blade retreated back into his arm. As he turned around, he came face to face with a pair of acid-green eyes...
"Ah, Toothless. Hiccup. Could you please explain to me, why I'm in your house?" asked Marko, and Toothless just looked at Hiccup, but Hiccup said, "Sorry, Marko, but I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to: all I know is that Toothless came in with you on his back, looking as though you had passed out." At this, Marko's eyes widened: he remembered what happened yesterday...
"Um, Toothless? Have you been able to tell Hiccup what you told me yesterday?" Marko asked, while looking at Hiccup, but he could tell that Toothless was looking at the floor. "Toothless, what's he talking about?" asked Hiccup, looking at Toothless. But Toothless was still looking at the ground, so Marko told Hiccup, "Toothless might be a father by the next spring. And his mate...is Ice." Hiccup was just standing there, too shocked to say anything. He looked back at Toothless, and tried to say something to him, but was still too shocked to say anything.
"So, is there anything going on in the village today?" asked Marko, trying to change the subject of the house. Hiccup had finally got over the shock, and faced Marko, saying, "Um, yeah, actually. There's the Fight of the Vikings." Marko raised both his eyebrows, and asked, "Tell me more?" Hiccup smiled, before telling him about all about the Fight of the Vikings, "Well, it's a collection of fights that take place over a two day period. It's basically two people fight until you either disarm them or they can't stand anymore. And, on the final day, the two fighters left fighting fight to the death and the one who lives is the winner, and you are awarded the legendary Sword of the Viking. It's the most powerful weapon of the island."
Marko was looking impressed. But he was still wondering something, "Um, where do you sign up for this Fight of the Warriors?" Hiccup chuckled, then said, "You don't sign up for it, you just show up. It's a Viking thing, you know." At this, Marko smiled, before saying, "When does this Fight begin?" "Around midday." Marko's smile became slightly bigger. "So, that gives me a couple of hours to prepare."
Hiccup looked at Marko, before saying, "You're not seriously considering being involved in this, are you?" Marko looked at him in confusing, before saying, "Why not? It's a chance to prove myself." Marko took a quick look at Toothless, who was still looking at the floor, then he said, "Could I borrow the key to the blacksmiths for a few hours Hiccup, just to get everything ready," Hiccup looked at him for a second, before reaching into his front pocket, and pulled out his key to the blacksmiths and handing it to Marko, who thanked him, and said he would give it back to him by the start of the Fight of the Warriors.
Hiccup looked down at Toothless, who had now looked up from the floor to meet Hiccup's eye, before he sighed and scratched his behind the ear, which caused him to purr quietly. "Bud, let me just tell one thing," he started, and Toothless prepared for the worst, "I'm very proud to you." Toothless perked his ears up in confusion. "Did you think I would be mad at you?" asked Hiccup, and Toothless looked at him, a look of sadness evident in his eyes. Hiccup sighed, then told Toothless, "Tooth, I would never be able to get mad at you. But, I'm just filled with...a sense of pride. And Toothless, I know you're going to be a good father." Toothless then smiled his signature toothless grin, before jumping up and knocking Hiccup down, and licking him into submission. Hiccup was laughing loudly, before asking Toothless, while still chuckling, "Come on, Tooth! Please, I don't need a bath yet!" Toothless finally stopped licking his rider, and Hiccup was able to get up.
They made their way through the door, and when they got out, they could already see a few Vikings making their way to the old dragon killing Arena: this is where the Fight of the Warriors takes place. Hiccup looked up at the sun: they still had a few hours at the most to get down to watch the first fight. Toothless went to find Ice, which he did surprisingly fast, as she did stick out like a sore thumb, as her white scales reflected the sun with ease. As Hiccup had nothing better to do, he started to make his way to the blacksmiths, to see what Marko needed his key for.
As he started the trek towards the smiths, he could hear the faint conversations coming from the other Vikings, things like 'I'm defiantly going to win the Fight' and 'It's a last man standing game, anything goes', before he finally made it to the blacksmiths. But when he got to the back door of the blacksmiths, he couldn't hear the usual grinding of weapons against the rolling stone, but what he COULD hear confused him...
He opened the back door of the blacksmiths as slowly and as quietly as he could, so as to not to cause the source of the sound to stop. As he stopped around a corner that led to the backroom, and he saw something that made him become very confused.