Uhg, at this rate, it will be years before this story is finished. I'll try to speed up. As an apology for such a long update time, this chapter is twice as long as regular Hiccup chapters. Well… not really. It was going to be this long anyway in order to meet Toothless' progress in the story. So for what it's worth, this chapter is long. I wish I could say that is why it took so long to write, but in total, this probably took about six days to write in total. The rest of the time was spent with family, games, or me staring at a blank word document thinking of how to start the chapter, while listening to music. The curse of the gamer is always felt…
-and yes, I am a gamer if you didn't catch the subtle hints in the past… Don't judge me.
It's best for me to stop delaying now, and just get to the point.
Here is Hiccup, a sensitive yet sarcastic Viking smartass and his 'friends.'
I blinked my eyes awake, and was about to sit up, but something poked the back of my mind.
I saw the misshapen headboard just above my head…again.
"Fool me once, shame on you." I said as I slipped out of bed via the side.
I ran downstairs, and picked up my father's woodcutting hatchet. I ran back upstairs, and looked at the headboard.
"Fool me twice, shame on me." I said to myself, as I began hacking at the headboard. After about 15 minutes of chopping, the headboard fell off of the top of the bed.
After picking up the headboard, I started downstairs, but stopped, and looked back at the bed.
"…Great, now there's sawdust all over my bed… That's going to be itchy tonight." I said as I rolled my eyes.
I sighed as I wondered downstairs again, and put the severed headboard onto a nearby table.
"Maybe if whoever crafted the bed frame used hinges, then this wouldn't have been so annoying to remove… and there wouldn't be sawdust in my bed…" I mumbled.
I paused for a few seconds.
"…I really need to stop talking to myself. It would be difficult to explain if someone happened to stop b-"
"Hiccup who are you talking to?" I heard Gobber's voice as he entered the house.
"Oh- uh hi Gobber… I wasn't talking to anyone just, uh, fixing my bed." I said quickly as I spun around to meet his gaze.
He only raised an eyebrow. Great, now he thinks I'm insane.
"…Well trainin's beginning shortly. You weren't at the arena yet, so I came to look fer yah."
"Oh yeah… Forgot about that."
Because being pinned against a rock by a Night Fury tends to make one forgetful.
"Kind ofa difficult subject to forget about. Have yah gotten bonked on the head recently?" He asked.
Oh you have no idea.
"Well you can blame this for that." I said as I held up the headboard.
"Ah, shoulda known the headboard was misshapen. Well c'mon now, we're burnin daylight."
I grabbed the axe my father gave me, and we walked out of the house, and started on the path towards the arena.
I can't get the Night Fury out of my head… I know I should. It's not like I can tell anybody who would believe me. I have no proof, no injuries, besides a bruise on my head. I want to tell someone, I really do. The first one to see a Night Fury… and yet no one will ever know.
Gee, now I know how the insane feel. I suppose a village like this can do that to you… ever so slowly losing your sanity.
"What are ya thinkin about?" Gobber asked as we kept walking.
"What?"
"Hiccup, ya aren't hard to read."
…Says the illiterate Viking.
"Err… Just thinking about how I'm gonna… be really good at training… today." I said.
"Also you aren't a good liar."
I remained silent as we continued walking.
"I'm not askin ya to share yer thoughts all te time, but I recommend clearin them before trainin, looks like you're distracted." He said without looking at me.
"I'll do that… I guess."
"Not ya guess, ya know. Guessn' never kept a warrior alive for very long."
"What does that have to do with what I was thinking?"
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
Gobber let out an exasperated sigh.
"Do yeh have to question everything?" He asked.
"Well not everything but-"
"My point is; a good warrior doesn't think… a good warrior knows." Gobber finished.
"Well that explains a lot…" I mumbled.
"Oi, I heard that." Gobber snapped.
We remained silent for the rest of the walk.
We approached the arena. We both started towards the entry gate, in which all of the other young bloods were already gathered. Astrid, Fish, Ruff, Tuff, Snout, they were all there.
Gobber opened the first gate, and closed it behind him as all of the young bloods entered.
"Welcome to dragon training." Gobber stated, as he pulled the secondary gate open.
Everyone walked into the arena, I, of course, being the last one in.
"No turning back." Astrid said.
"I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut said, clearly hyped to be in action for the first time.
"I'm hoping for some mauling… like on my shoulder, lower back." Ruffnut said afterwards.
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Astrid agreed.
"Yeah, no kidding right? Pain…love it." I said in my usual sarcastic tone.
"Oh great, who let him in?" Tuffnut asked, clearly annoyed.
"Oh don't get me wrong, I think burning agony and crippling injuries are great. Self preservation is for wimps, right?" I said, again sarcastically.
Snoutlout looked like he was about to say something, but Gobber cut in.
"Alright! Let's get started! Te recruit who does best, will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village!" Gobber announced.
"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him or..?" Snoutlout mocked, earning laughs from the twins.
"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut said.
Strange that he says that, there is only one class… Oh, I get it. Very funny…
The rest of the young bloods walked away. Gobber approached and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, you're small n' you're weak! That'll make you less of a target! They'll see you as sick or insane, and go after the more Viking-like teens instead." He said, and giggled. Obviously payback for the 'explains a lot' comment I made earlier… ouch.
He pushed me in line with the rest of the teens, and continued to speak.
"Behind these doors, are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight!" He announced.
"The Deadly Nadder!" He announced as he pointed at a door, with audible banging and roaring behind it.
"Speed eight, armor sixteen." Fishlegs added quietly.
"The Hideous Zippleback!" Gobber announced, pointing at the next door.
"Plus eleven stealth times two." Fishlegs added again.
"The Monstrous Nightmare!"
"Firepower fifteen."
"The Terrible Terror!"
"Attack eight, venom twelve."
"Can you stop that!" Gobber yelled, annoyed. He then moved towards the last door, and put his good hand on the release lever.
"…And the Gronkle." He finished.
"Jaw strength eight." Fishlegs whispered.
"Whoa whoa whoa wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first!" Snoutlout asked nervously.
Gobber grinned.
"I believe… in learning on te job!" He said, and with that, he pulled the lever.
The massive bar holding the door shut raised, and the Gronkle busted out. It instantly targeted the crowd, and we all scattered, some almost hit by the dragon's charge.
"Today is about survival." Gobber began.
The Gronkle's charge missed all of the teens, and he slammed into a wall.
"If you get blasted, you're dead!" Gobber continued.
The Gronkle got up quickly, and sighted a few nearby rocks. It quickly scooped them up into its mouth, and swallowed them.
"Quick! What's the first thing you'll need!" Gobber asked.
"A doctor!" I shouted.
"That's afterwards." Gobber said.
"Plus five speed!" Fishlegs shouted.
"That's on you!" Gobber responded.
"A shield!" Astrid shouted.
"Shields! Go!" Gobber shouted, pointing to the shields lined against the arena walls.
Everyone made a dash for the shield closest to them.
"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield!" Gobber continued.
I ran towards a red shield in the middle of the arena. I picked it up and was trying to figure out how to put it on.
Gobber walked towards me, picked the shield up, put my hand on the grip, positioned me to hold it correctly, and pushed me back into the fray, and continued talking.
"If you must make a choice between a sword, or a shield, take the shield!" He said.
Tuffnut ran to get a shield with flames and skulls on it, but Ruffnut grabbed it at the same time.
"Get your hands off my shield!" Tuffnut demanded.
"There are a million shields!" Ruffnut said, as she tugged on it.
"Take that one; it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers." Tuffnut said.
Ruffnut tugged the shield from her brother's grip, and smacked him on the head with it.
"Oops! Now this one has blood on it!" She said.
Tuffnut grabbed it again, and was struggling to grab it. They were so preoccupied; they did not notice the Gronkle targeting them. It shot a ball of flaming magma right towards them, but as Tuffnut pulled back, he moved just out of the way for the blast to hit the shield rather than his torso.
The blast staggered both of them, and they fell to the ground.
"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you're out." Gobber stated.
"Those shields are good for another thing! Noise!" He said.
All of us took it as a queue to start basting our shields with our weapons. Most dragons have sensitive hearing, and to our knowledge, their sight depends on it. Noise distracts them, and makes it difficult for them to see.
"Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!" Gobber finished.
As we were all bashing our shields, making a very loud and annoying noise. The Gronkle was clearly dazed. All of the younglings took this as a queue to start circling it, banging our shields.
"All dragons have a limited number of shots! How many shots does a Gronkle have?" Gobber asked.
"Five?" Snoutlout said.
"No, six!" Fishlegs corrected.
"Correct! Six! That's one for each of you!" Gobber announced.
Fishlegs stopped banging his shield, to answer, and the Gronkle saw him as the clearest target. However, all of the noise was still throwing off its aim, and it aimed slightly high. It shot a magma ball, but rather than hitting Fishleg's head, it hit just above his hand, and knocked the shield from him.
Some of the magma fell onto his hand, and he quickly yelped from the pain. He rubbed the hot substance onto his vest quickly, only for his vest to catch fire. He quickly discarded his vest, and ran to the corner to tend to his burnt hand.
"Fishlegs, out." Gobber said in a bored tone.
I was busy trying to make myself a small target, so I hid behind a small wooden panel near a wall. Gobber seemed to notice this.
"Hiccup! Get in there!" He shouted.
I began to walk out, but the Gronkle saw me, and shot a magma ball, barely missing me and hitting the wall behind me. I yelped and quickly retreated behind cover.
The Gronkle seemed uninterested in my, and turned it's gaze towards Snoutlout and Astrid.
"So anyway, I'm moving into my parent's basement… You should come by some time and work out. You look like you work out." Snoutlout said to Astrid, clearly distracted from the dragon rushing towards them. Astrid saw this, and rolled out of the way, but Snoutlout didn't take the hint.
The Gronkle fired another shot, and thanks to the shield's position, hit dead on the shield. It didn't fly from his hand, and all impact was forced into his torso, and he was knocked all the way back to the wall.
"Snoutlout, you're done!" Gobber shouted.
I was back in the fray, standing dumbly in the middle of the arena, as Astrid ran towards me. She looked back at the dragon, getting closer and closer.
"So it's just you and me, huh?" I asked, trying to act calm and casual.
"Nope, just you." Astrid said, before rolling out of the way.
The Gronkle fired at me, and it was heading right for my torso. I yelped and blocked it with my shield just in time. The blast spun me around, flinging my shield away. I quickly began to chase it as it rolled away, unaware that the Gronkle was closing in on me.
"One shot left!" Gobber yelled, but then he noticed the Gronkle heading for me, without a shield.
"Hiccup!" He shouted.
I turned around, and tripped, skidding against the arena wall. The dragon was on me in a second, opening its maw, ready to fire.
Talk about déjà vu…
Just before the magma fired, Gobber grabbed it's mouth with his claw hand, and dragged it away.
"And that's six." Gobber finished, easily pulling the dragon away.
The Gronkle would have easily overpowered Gobber, if it were not for the way he had grabbed it. A claw just behind a tooth is quite painful, and that restrains the Gronkle from pulling any harder from his grip.
"Go back to bed you overgrown sausage." Gobber said, as he swung the Gronkle into its cage, and closed it with the lever.
"You'll get another chance, don't you worry." He said to the Gronkle, before turning to the teens.
"Remember; a dragon will always…" He kneeled down to me.
"Always…Go for the kill…" He said, and hoisted me onto my feet.
I looked at the massive scorch in the wall, still hot.
Once again, I had just found myself in a near death situation… and that was just training for the many near death situations to come. Joy, I love it here.
"Gee Hiccup, you never cease to disappoint." Snoutlout said, with a smug grin.
"I can only disappoint if you have high expectation to begin with…" I said, as I walked past him, and towards the gate.
"You were out before he was, moron." Ruffnut stated, as she walked past him as well.
"Yeah, but I didn't cower like a little kid. The only reason he lasted so long is because he was hiding." Snoutlout defended.
"Well observed, eagle eye." I said in my usual sarcastic tone.
Snoutlout was about to retort, but Gobber cut in.
"That was only the first taste of a long and hard training season to come." Gobber said.
"I bet you love to taste long and hard things." Tuffnut snickered at Ruffnut. Then he got elbowed in the gut by her.
"I suggest you all go home and rest, because this is only going to get harder." Gobber continued.
Tuffnut snickered again.
"Will you shut up back there!" Gobber shouted.
And with that, both exit gates opened.
The teens went off to do whatever it is they do regularly. Astrid went home to train, work out, or whatever she does. Fishlegs to his home, most likely to study upcoming dragon tests. Snoutlout followed Astrid, and will most likely be seen by the healer soon. The twins ran to the mess hall, because they've skipped breakfast or something.
I walked to the smithy in hopes of remaking my bola launcher, preferably with less premature launches. Besides that, the first model may have been my first working invention, if it was not crushed by the foot of a Monstrous Nightmare. After all, it worked well enough to take down a Night Fury… not that anyone else knows that, but it counts for something.
As I approached the smithy, I had just noticed Gobber wasn't following, or headed in this direction. Then I noticed; all of the big warriors are on the boat to Helheim's gate, no need for weapon repairs or anything of that matter. Gobber doesn't have any personal projects like I do, so I suppose he went off to do whatever he does when he isn't training recruits or at the smithy. He probably went to get a stiff drink. With a class like ours, alcohol is probably a nice stress reliever.
I personally never liked the stuff. The taste is terrible, but it's not about the taste, it's about the effect… I also hate the effect. It makes me act like more of an idiot than I already am, as well as give me a massive headache the very next morning. No matter how stressful I am… alcohol won't fix much for me.
The English traders had great stress relievers. They had a plant, in which you throw into a camp fire. After you burn the plant, the smoke has a very interesting effect of everyone who inhales it for an extended amount of time. They stopped caring about things and got really really hungry. The English traders said they got it from a place called 'Kazakhstan,' some tropical place somewhere in Asia.
With plants and stories like these from the English traders, I can't help but wonder if we're a little too isolated from the rest of the world. I can't help but think, maybe I'm missing out on a lot of things… life isn't all about battle, killing, and farming.
Maybe, if I live long enough, I can sail away from this place I call home. Maybe see what has been a mystery to the people of this little island. Of course I do not mean the English Kingdoms, though. I would rather be eaten alive by a Night Fury than live among a ton of snobby accented 'gentlemen' with their theaters and their rubbish poetry. All of Europe can kiss my grits. If I were to escape this place, I would go to this 'Asia' place I've been hearing about. It seems to have plenty of interesting things. There is this massive culture I hear, almost as big as the English, which celebrate with dragons, although they've never even seen one! I hear they make replica dragons that reach for miles!
A few English travelers, the most interesting kind of Englishman, tell the village of a place far north. They say it makes Berk feel like Fiji (Whatever that is…). They say, after travelling in the cold for two days, they saw green lights shining in the night sky. They said it looked like the twinkle in god's eyes. I found it strange that they didn't specify exactly which god's eyes, but perhaps the god didn't tell them its name.
I approached the smithy, and I walked upstairs to the little room Gobber had given me to work on my personal projects, it's where I keep all of my designs. When I got upstairs, and looked at the bola launcher designs on the desk, I quickly remembered that it has to be loaded while I construct it, or I might get the launch trajectory off. I looked around for a bola, but quickly noticed they were all taken for the nest hunt, and Gobber wasn't making more. I need to find the cause and stabilize it.
I sighed. Well I can spend the afternoon smelting a new pair of bolas… or… I can reuse the one that shot down the Night Fury. The rope may be cut, but that is a far quicker fix than smelting a new pair.
I walked out of the smithy, and towards Raven Point.
I thought about how I wanted to leave this place and see the rest of the world. It wasn't that I wanted to leave, I suppose… Maybe I'm just so curious about the rest of the world. All things left unknown for that matter. It's just… my nature.
All human beings seem to know so much, yet so little. I don't know how grass grows, why the sky is blue, where rain comes from, what the moon is, and what the stars are. All of it seems to be behind the excuse 'Because Odin wills it' and while all of the other Vikings seem satisfied by this answer, something tells me there is more to the world and out existence than just because Odin willed it. Odin may have willed rain, but there must be a reason behind it, why the rain falls, how it falls. Odin may have willed it, but the world is far more complex than that.
We humans are here because Odin willed it, but we have functions. We have hearts, brains, livers, muscles, bones, organs, things that keep us running. Human beings are more complex than just being a bunch of moving blood bags. If there is more to humans than 'Odin willed it' then there must be more to everything else. Odin willed us with complexity. Gave us a reason to study, because there was something more than 'just because' behind us.
Just because it is not living means it has to have any fewer complexities.
Of course, the only reason the Viking answer to everything is 'because Odin willed it' is because it all comes down to the same general question. 'If it won't kill our enemies, and won't feed our offspring, what is the point of knowing it?'
My thoughts were silenced as I came across a familiar broken tree. I followed the indent on the ground towards a large blood-stained crater.
As soon as I came back to the spot, something flashed back in my mind. How the dragon had me at its mercy, similar to how I had it at my mercy, yet it let me go.
My memory flashed back to Gobber.
'Remember; a dragon will always… always… go for the kill.'
I sighed as I knelt down and picked up one of the weighted iron bolas.
"So why didn't you?" I asked quietly, looking at the bola, and the cut rope.
I noticed the scales all around the bloodstains, some tinted red, some untouched.
I left the bola where it is, and leapt over a log towards a small rock formation that seemed to overlap on itself, creating a tunnel-like shape. I crawled through, ducking under some overgrowth.
The mini-tunnel led to a large cove of some sort. Birds tweeted as they flew by.
There was a beautiful cove, with a large lake, a few trees and overgrowth all over the walls.
Besides the cove being quite a sight to behold, I realized I became easily distracted from what I was doing by a strange rock formation.
"This was stupid…" I verbally commented.
Just as I turned to grab the bola and leave, I noticed something out of place.
I saw black scales left on the edge of the cove.
The dragon shouldn't have gotten this far… It flew over this formation, and I saw how big it was… it cannot fit through the tunnel like I can.
I knelt down and picked one of the scales up and examined it.
Like the others, it was small, round, black, and surprisingly durable. However, unlike the others that were at the crash site, this one and the ones around it are not blood stained. The only way the scales could have gotten this far is if the dragon somehow tried to climb up the-
A black blur suddenly flew by the small tunnel entrance, causing me to yelp in surprise, and jump back.
I noticed what had just happened and got back on my feet. I peered around the tunnel entrance, to see the Night Fury I had shot down yesterday frantically clawing its way up the side of the cove. It seemed to have been making progress, until I saw it become physically fatigued. It fell a bit, clawing at a lower ledge before dismounting the wall altogether, and gliding to the other side of the cove.
I gazed with wonder, stunned by the creature somehow. I suddenly remembered where I was, and I climbed down a bit to get a better view.
I quickly noticed the gashes on its body when I had last seen it were gone, and no traces of blood all over the creature. The paw that had seemed to be disfigured was fixed as well. I quickly deduced that either I am crazier than I think I am, or Night Furies are incredibly fast healers.
The creature leapt off of a nearby log, took flight, but quickly began to fall. When it fell, it leapt again, trying to fly straight up, only to hover for a few seconds before falling again. While it was distracted, I pulled my journal from my vest, as well as a pencil.
Small head, short neck, medium-sized body, extremely large wings. Two sets of tailfins, one at the base, and one at the tip. It has ears or antenna of some sort on its head. It had a ridged spine, and four small legs, all of the described is jet black in color.
I looked at my drawing, and back at the struggling dragon. One question crossed my mind…
"Why don't you just fly away?" I asked quietly.
It stood still, and seemed to shoot a small blast of fire is frustration. I jumped slightly, but as it stood still, I noticed something.
It doesn't have four tailfins; it has three. The left tail-tip fin is missing.
That is when I noticed the full extent of the damage I had caused.
I didn't just shoot it out of the sky, break some of its bones, disfigure one of its claws, and bleed it out of at least a liter of blood, all of the following it seemed to recover from rather quickly.
I had crippled it. It is trapped here.
I looked back at my drawing, and rubbed away the left tailfin.
After I did this, it leapt, and attempted to fly again, only to glide ungracefully to the other side of the cove, landing just onto the shore of the lake.
I felt a tinge of guilt come over me when I saw the creature give a sigh of… defeat.
Familiar words began to echo in my head.
I did this.
It's disturbing for me to think about the creature. Had I not decided to 'become a legend' that day, it would still be flying, perfectly healthy, and positive. Yet, it would have been attacking the village still.
It's just disturbing to me that I alone caused this course of action. In the past, I have had such a loose grip on what happens in the world around me. I alone brought this legendary creature down, and I am still unsure if I should be happy or sad about it. I may not have killed it, but it isn't going to terrorize the village anymore, that's a plus. And yet, even though it is my enemy, a dragon, an unthinking unfeeling killing machine… It just seems to be suffering. It seems to have given up, and I feel guilty for it, like I would for making a human being suffer.
The dragon seemed to have spotted a fish in the lake, and it quickly dived its head into the water. I saw that it didn't catch anything, and sighed. If it didn't catch anything, it would probably starve to death. A terrible fate.
As I lowered my left hand, I clumsily lost my grip of the pencil. I rushed to grab it before it made a noise on the rock I was perched on, but I only pushed it away from me, and it fell all the way down the cove.
My eyes widened and I froze in fear when I saw the dragon see the pencil… and look straight at me.
Our eyes met in reunion as they locked in gazes. They call all dragons unfeeling, yet those eyes seem to tell so much. First it was fear, then it was anger, and now… well… it was hard to read.
First I figured it was hostility, but no, I didn't see it. Its stance was wary, and its eyes slightly dilated, but I saw something more behind the eyes… the unmistakable gaze of curiosity.
It cocked its head to the side, eyes that seemed to be questioning me, asking me why I was here.
As it looked at me, I started to wonder what exactly it was thinking about.
I got the urge to leave, as the tingling thought in the back of my mind said that if I outstay my welcome, it could very easily blast me to small pieces.
Its eyes never left me as I put my journal back into my vest, and ungracefully tried to creep out the way I came. I tripped once or twice, and it dawned on me what the dragon was most likely thinking about.
It was thinking, 'That fishbone is a clumsy fool.'
I walked back to the initial crash site, picked up one bola in each hand, and pocketed a single scale, as a souvenir. With that, I turned back towards the village. The sun was going down; I had been out here longer than I thought.
I arrived at the outskirts of the village. It was already nightfall, so there was no time to work on the bola launcher. I suppose it was later in the day than I thought when I left…
My first stop was the smithy. I didn't walk into the door, but I just put each of the bolas I had been carrying on the window to be picked up later. After this, I rushed towards mess hall, maybe there was some left over for dinner.
When I arrived, to my surprise, there were others inside of it; all of the young bloods as well as some other random Vikings scattered throughout, still eating or just drinking.
"-istimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble." said Astrid's voice from across the hall.
"Yeah, we noticed." Ruffnut said, in a 'duh' mocking voice. The jealousy is painfully obvious…
"No, no. You were great, that was so… 'Astrid'" Snoutlout cut in for yet another attempt to flatter Astrid.
"She's right; you have to be tough on yourselves. Where did Hiccup go wrong?" Gobber said over the voices.
I sighed as I picked up a remaining plate with a single drum of… some animal. I lose track of which is which.
"Uh, he showed up." Ruffnut answered.
"He didn't get eaten." Tuffnut answered.
"He's never where he should be." Astrid answered.
"Thanks you, Astrid." Gobber said, pleased with the answer, earning a 'WHAT?' from Ruffnut. I took the plate, and sat at the table next to the one everyone else was sitting.
"You need to live and breathe this stuff; the dragon manual." Gobber said, before displaying a book to the teens.
He then pushed some plates and food off of the table, in order to make room for the manual.
"Everything we know about every dragon we know of." Gobber continued. After this, the sound of thunder cracked outside.
Gobber knew what this meant; we know dragons have a hard time flying in storms, especially in long distances. Since we deduce it takes about four hours for a dragon raid to arrive to the village, they cannot make it in this weather.
"No attacks tonight. Study up." Gobber said plainly.
"Wait… You mean read?" Asked Tuffnut.
"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut added.
"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snoutlout said, while banging the table.
"Oh, I've read it like, seven times. There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face! And-and there's this other one that buries itself for like a week-"Fishlegs breathlessly spoke until Tuffnut cut him off.
Fishlegs is always so quiet until you ask him about dragons.
"Yeah, that sounds great. There was a chance I was going to read it…" Tuffnut said.
"But now…" Ruffnut said for him.
"You guys read. I'll go kill stuff." Snoutlout said, before jumping from his seat and walking away, with Fishlegs and the twins to join him.
Astrid was the only one left at the table, with the book in front of her.
"So I guess we'll share?" I asked.
"Read it." Astrid said quickly, before the pushed the book to me and walked to join the others.
"…All mine then… Wow, so, okay, I'll see you… uh…" Before I could finish, they had already slammed the exit door.
"…tomorrow." I finished. I sighed as I sat down to finish my meal.
It had been about thirty minutes, and all of the remaining stragglers in the mess hall had left, and the guards took the torches with them.
I had finished my meal, and decided to look up Night Fury in the dragon manual. What do we know about Night Furies besides that they like the night, and you don't want to be the subject of their fury…?
I grabbed a candle left on a nearby table, and took it to where the dragon manual was left.
I opened the cover, and read the first words.
"Dragon classifications." I read to myself.
"Strike class, Fear class, Mystery class…" I turned the page.
I saw an illustration of a drum shaped creature, with a massive serrated tail. Its head was its mouth, and just seemed to be a massive barrel with a tail and wings.
"Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range…" I read, as I saw an image of a Thunderdrum quite literally screaming a Viking's head off.
"Extremely dangerous; kill on sight." said the words underneath another image, showing a Viking stabbing a Thunderdrum in its stomach.
I flipped past a few pages, and stopped at the image of a massive-winged creature, with a long serrated neck and tail.
"Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full-grown trees." I read, and saw an image of a Timberjack cutting its way through a forest.
"Extremely dangerous; kill on sight." I read yet again on the lower right corner of the page.
I turned the page again, and saw an image of a more fish-like Thunderdrum.
"Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victim." I read as I recalled what Fishlegs was talking about earlier…
Unsurprisingly, I read the lower right corner.
"Extremely dangerous-"I was silenced by a sudden thundering sound of- well… thunder.
I turned the page, and saw an image of a creature that was looked Monstrous Nightmare-ish, only with its forelegs detached from its wings, and with two dorsal fins on either side of its face.
"Changwing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight." I read, before turning the page.
"Gronkle…Zippleback…" I read as I flipped through familiar pages.
I stopped for a brief second to see a bat-like dragon, with holes in its wings and a serrated tail.
"The Skrill." I read. From the lack of text, I noticed I was now in the 'Mystery' section, a section filled with legendary, mysterious, and unproven dragon species.
Out of curiosity, I continued reading.
"First sighted on a raiding boat headed home to Berk after a successful raid of the rival clan, the Snalrag clan. Half of the crew was intoxicated from celebration when they had seen a shadow of a massive bat-like creature. The creature destroyed the boat in minutes, with only two survivors to swim home and tell the tale. Extremely dangerous; kill on sight." I read before turning the page, and seeing a skeleton of a dragon.
"Bone Knapper. Only two recorded sightings of an extremely large dragon that was said to either be a skeleton or covered in stolen bones. Extremely dangerous; kill on sight." I read, before flipping past another few pages.
"Whispering Death…" I read as I saw a massive dragon, with serrated teeth all around the inside of its mouth.
"Seen only once; by a lone Viking explorer who had discovered a cave. He said that he had heard whispering as if someone was directly speaking into his ear, but in another language. When he had ventured into the blackness, and lit up the area with a torch, all he had seen was skeletons of many men and women, and a massive creature. The whispering never stopped after he ran from the cave, and the man died immediately after telling his tale to the elders. Extremely dangerous; kill on sight." After reading the text, I swore the image looked like it was coming out of the page. I quickly turned the page, and continued skimming through the manual.
"Burns its victims… Buries its victims… Chokes its victims… Turns its victims inside-out…" I continued to read as I skimmed through the pages…
One thing was in common with all of the pages.
"Extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous… Kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight…" I continued to read the lower right corner of the pages, when one page stopped me.
There was no image, and almost no writing.
I looked towards the top of the page, and read the title…
"Night Fury…" I said to myself.
I turned my gaze to the stats at the bottom of the page.
"Speed: unknown… Size: unknown… The unholy offspring of lighting and death itself…" I read, and I turned my gaze to the lower right corner of the pages.
"Do not engage this dragon. Your only chance: hide and pray it does not find you." I was surprised by this entry… No Viking hides, or runs from battle… (Excluding me, of course).
The way the entire page was empty seemed to put a piece in for me… The reason we fear this dragon most, is because we know the least about it. While the other legends had a vague idea of what they looked like, how big they were, and where to stab them, but for all we know, a Night Fury could be the size of a bloody mountain…
Or rather, for all they know… I pulled my journal out, and opened it to the sketch I made of the Night Fury… I placed the journal down where the Night Fury illustration should be.
I then picked up my journal, blew out the candle, and walked out of mess hall… I need sleep; after all, training is tomorrow… as it will be the next day… and the next day…
It's going to be a long season…
After I had entered my house, walked up to my room, lied in bed, and closed my eyes, something bugged me.
I felt a lot of saw dust rubbing against my back.
…Damn headboard. It's going to be a long night as well.
First thought when I snapped my eyes awake; get out of bed… it's itchy.
All night I had been contemplating sleeping on the floor, or perhaps outside. Though I may not exactly be the best Viking, a Viking's stubbornness is passed on no matter the size or personality, and now it has become self preservation cancelling just like everyone else. In hindsight, the floor did sound quite more comfortable.
I sat up, and brushed sawdust off of my back, and shook my shirt to flush out any remaining sawdust.
Second thought; I have not changed my clothes for a few days now… Not that I have a very diverse wardrobe… More green tunics, brown variations of vests, and more pants. I only have one pair of boots.
The choice is incredible! Should I wear a green shirt, a slightly brighter green shirt, or a green shirt with a massive tear and bloodstain on its abdomen?
…Why did I keep that shirt? That was a deep cut, and I learned that my 'blade launcher' likes to backfire. I probably would've been able to fix that if my dad hadn't promptly smashed it with a hammer. I worked on that thing for months.
Something tells me that if I don't fix my bola launcher design… the new one will meet a similar fate.
I just noticed how many launchers I've made. The blade launcher, the arrow launcher (Which I thought was good until the English traders introduced something called a 'crossbow' which made it completely obsolete…) stone launcher (Somewhat like a mini-catapult, only more broken.) and the bola launcher… the first launcher not to completely fail on me.
Then there were the other contraptions… like the automatic sword swinger, which damn near took my head off, the dagger flinger, which resulted in the scar on the upper right part of my forehead…that hurt, and several other failures.
Well at least they keep my days busy. I feel like without the contraptions I constantly build, I would be just sitting around all day.
Then I noticed that I had been sitting here for a good minute or so lost in thought. I hate it when I do that…
I changed my clothes, and ran towards the arena.
I approached the entrance gate, in which the other young bloods were waiting. There were noises come from inside of the arena, most sounded of wood.
The other teens were mingling among each other, most didn't seem to notice me, or didn't bother to look in my direction.
Snoutlout was talking to Astrid about how she was awesome or something, and she, as usual, was ignoring him. Ruff and Tuff were fighting over something, though I really couldn't tell what. It was probably something about Tuffnut calling Ruffnut feminine… which was a big insult to a Viking woman, fabled as the toughest warrior women across the seas. Fishlegs wasn't really talking to anyone, he was sitting in the crowd acting like he was doing something.
Fishlegs always perplexed me… He never really seemed to converse with the other Vikings, and he never directly insulted my like the others, he always just seemed to follow them around, making mocking grins whenever I was the subject of ridicule. He just seems to be fitting in… perhaps if it weren't for his bulky structure; maybe he would be just as much of an outcast as I am.
My thoughts were silenced as the gates opened, and three bulky men walked out.
"Thank ya for te help boys!" Gobber called from the upper spectator area of the arena.
The Viking teens and I entered, and we saw that the arena had walls placed inside of it, to set it up like that of a maze. There were shields and weapons lined up against the wall.
The twins quickly rushed for the same shield, and were fighting over the same shield again.
It took quite a bit of willpower not to call the two morons.
"Will one of you morons just pick another shield?" Astrid said, as she picked up a shield of her own.
"Yeah, moron, pick another shield." Ruffnut said to Tuffnut.
"I had this one first!"
"Will you two stop!" Gobber called from above.
Tuffnut begrudgingly let go and picked up another shield of similar color.
I picked up the red and white one I had last time, and an axe.
All of the trainees split up into the maze, moving slowly. The sound of a gate opening could be heard; however, no footsteps or sounds were heard. The dragon was in the arena, and it wanted to surprise us.
Although I should be focusing on what is around me, trying to avoid a dragon, but questions kept buzzing about in my head. Not questions about the lesson, of course, but the manual. I refused to believe that we know absolutely NOTHING about them, besides the assumption that it was birthed from lighting and death, etcetera.
As I continued to wonder around the maze, I saw Gobber above me and stopped. I figured if I am to ask anyone about this, it may as well be the person who had co-written the manual. Gobber can't write- he just told someone who could write what to write and how to write it. Does that count as co-writing? It's hard to know the technicalities of writing inside of a village that is pretty much devoid of it. The elders teach the children how to read and write, however because of how underused the art is, it is usually forgotten when the young bloods get older. Their counter argument for the whole thing is; why write when you can speak?
I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and turned to Gobber.
"Hey, you know, I happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies." I said to him, and Gobber looked towards me with a bored expression.
"Is there another book, a sequel, maybe a Night Fury pamphlet?" I continued.
Gobber seemed to have no interest in what I was saying, but as I spoke, his gaze turned slightly upwards as if he was looking at something behind me.
I turned around to see what he was staring at, and saw a Nadder perched on top of one of the maze walls.
I reacted just in time, moving slightly to my left before a fire blast missed my upper torso, and hit my axe instead. The blast obliterated the upper half of my axe.
"Focus Hiccup! You're not even trying!" Gobber shouted.
The Nadder jumped down from the wall it was perched on, and started charging at me.
In a panic, I ran to my right, still carrying the remains of my axe with me.
"Today is all about attack!" Gobber announced.
Rather than going through the maze like I was, the Nadder jumped on top of the walls, and hopped above me.
"Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker, and lighter!" Gobber said, as I turned the corner. The Nadder seemed to have found another trainee, and went after them instead. I noticed I was still carrying the handle of the broken axe, and I dropped it.
I saw over the walls as its tail raised, and shot quills at its target.
I heard Fishlegs scream immediately afterwards.
"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" He said, running somewhere in the maze.
"Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one." Gobber said in a bored tone.
I saw the Nadder was after me again. I ran and turned a few times in the maze, hopefully losing it.
"Find it, hide in it, and strike!" Gobber continued.
As I turned the corner, I realized the Nadder had suddenly stopped. Then I heard Ruffnut and Tuffnut talking to each other in a hushed, yet still loud tone.
Soon after, I heard a small roar, and the sound of a fire blast.
"Blind spot, yes. Deaf spot, not so much." Gobber said, giggling at the twin's idiocy.
As I ran down another corridor, Snoutlout and Astrid joined me. We crossed Gobber again, and I stopped. I still need to ask him about Night Furies, granted, it's not the best time, but where else will I ask him? He's not at the forge while the nest hunt goes on…
"Hey, uh, how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?" I asked quickly.
"No one's ever met one n' lived to tell the tale. Now get in there!" He shouted.
"I know, I know, but hypothetically-"My words were cut off by Astrid whispering my name.
I turned around, to see Astrid and Snoutlout crouched by a corner.
"Get down." Astrid whispered.
She looked around the corner, and then quickly recoiled to the wall.
She peaked around the corner again, and then quickly rolled across the turn to the next corridor, and Snoutlout followed soon after.
I ran to follow, and rolled across the turn, only to be weighed down by my shield mid roll, stopping me instantly.
I saw the Nadder had seen me, and was charging. I scrambled to my feet, and kept running.
The Nadder seemed to lose interest in me after I barely escaped its jaws. It moved on to what I assume was Astrid and Snoutlout. It jumped over the maze walls again, and jumped back down into the maze. I heard Snoutlout complain about the sun being in his eyes or something, I ignored it, and found Gobber again.
"So, maybe I could sneak up on one if it was sleeping. Maybe, they take the daytime off, right? Like a cat. Has anyone ever seen one napping?" I asked Gobber, as three other trainees pushed passed me.
"Hiccup!" Gobber shouted, annoyed.
I turned around, to see Astrid on top of one of the maze walls, which was falling right towards me…
How did she get up there?
"HICUUUUUP!" She shouted as she fell right on top of me, knocking the wind out of me.
Astrid was on top of me, and clearly annoyed. She kept trying to pry herself off of me, but something had her stuck for some reason.
"Oooh, love on the battlefield." Tuffnut mocked.
"She could do better…" Ruffnut said.
She continued to tug at my arm for some reason.
"L-Let me- why don't you- OW!" I stammered, as she stepped onto my chest, and looked ahead.
When she looked ahead of her, her eyes quickly widened with panic, and she grabbed her axe- which was stuck in my shield.
Oh… now I understand.
She then put a foot on my shield, and tried yanking the axe out of it, which only served to painfully yank my arm.
When that failed, she stomped onto my face. I really couldn't see much with a boot on my face, -ouch- but she yanked the shield from my arm –ouch- and ran ahead of me slightly.
I heard the dragon footsteps rapidly approaching, and I quickly shielded my head.
I heard the loud sound of wood shattering, and the whine of a Nadder soon after.
"Well done Astrid." Gobber commented.
Astrid then turned around, and looked at me.
"Is this some kind of a joke to you?" She asked.
Oh, and she broke my shield on the head of the Nadder. Great. Both of my equipment was broken today.
"Our parent's war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on." She said angrily, and stormed off.
She's angry at me? She's the one who stomped on my face, and damn near dislocated my arm!
I shook my head to clear my stress. Getting angry won't help. In fact, getting angry would only serve to injure me…
Speaking of injuries, I saw Fishlegs was holding his left arm, which was red and swollen.
I was about to question him, when I saw his shield that he dropped- it had several quills in it. That is why you want to dive out of the way of the quills, not block it. It probably broke Fishlegs' arm, dislocated at the least.
"That's all for te day." Gobber announced. Before I could ask him any more questions, he left through the spectators exit.
…These training lesions are incredibly brief. I mean, at least give us warm up exercises or something.
A dragon expert Gobber might be, but he obviously isn't much in the art of teaching.
The strange thing is, the Nadder seemed to go back to its pen on its own. I'm sure a Nadder could take much more punishment than a shield to the head, but it seems this one doesn't even want to bother.
Perhaps a few years of captivity has done something to its outlook on life. It seems to have stopped caring.
…Depressing when you think about it. It may be a beast, but put a human in its position, said human would probably be acting the same way after being captured for all this time, and used as a tool for training.
The exit gates opened, and the trainees rushed out, doing their own thing. That was what, a fifteen minute session, and we're done for the day? Not that I'm complaining, but it seems a little too brief when training for a lifestyle.
I saw Fishlegs go in the direction of the healer. It's probably only dislocated considering how bulky his arms are, plus his shield only had a few quills in it. If all of the quills had hit him, it might have shattered every bone in his arm.
I picked myself up from the ground, and walked out of the exit gate.
While I was going back to Gobber's workshop to start on the bola launcher, the Night Fury came back to my mind. I remember seeing it try to catch a fish, but fail.
It's been about three days since it crashed, and as far as I know, since it's eaten. I can't spare its life just to condemn it to starve to death, trapped inside of a cove.
…I don't know why I keep reasoning to go back to the cove. Usually one would want to avoid something that can kill them with the flex of a single muscle.
Yet, somehow, I feel like I can't just let it suffer, even if indirectly. I brought it out of the sky, so everything that happens to it from then on is my fault…
Yet another feature of mine that makes me non-Viking like; feeling guilty for crippling a sworn enemy…
Well, here I go again, doing something stupid and crazy; trying to feed a dragon, but not just any dragon, noooo. It has to be a friggen NIGHT FURY!
I walked to the docks, no one seemed to be particularly interested in what I was doing here… Well… not particularly interested in me in general, but none the less.
I saw that the fishing boats were back, and had a large net of fresh cod.
I walked past the fishermen and grabbed a single cod. I nonchalantly walked away from the docks and started towards Raven point.
I suddenly stopped, however. The dragon may have been docile when I was above it, and far away, but what if they changes when I get close? Then I'm probably going to die… but may as well pick up some precautionary measures to increase my survival chances by a few notches.
I first walked to the arena, and back into the training area to pick up a spare shield. Afterwards, I went back to my house, and grabbed my lucky knife.
I don't plan on killing it… actually far from that. I just need the knife in case it attacks, so I can wound it and get away before it wounds me… to death.
I don't know why I'm doing this anymore… I clearly have lost all survival instinct. What I get for being raised by Vikings.
With the shield in hand, the fish slung over my shoulder, and my knife holstered in my belt, I started towards Raven point.
…and I sincerely hope the dragon doesn't think I'm part of the meal.
As I approached the crash site, I noted it's probably best not to drop down from the crevasse I had found earlier. I might startle the dragon while breaking my legs.
I wondered around the massive cove for a while, until I found a slope downward. The path was jagged, giving plenty of things to step onto, much like a natural staircase.
After I had descended, I saw an opening into the cove- a crack between two massive boulders.
Just as I was about to question why the dragon hadn't escaped through this, I noticed how small it was. I am barely small enough to fit through.
I put my shield up, and carefully approached the crack. After I was at the end of the crack, and the cove just beyond me, I took the fish, and threw it out into the open.
After I waited for a brief second, I peeked out from the opening to see nothing was coming.
I attempted to move forward, only for my shield to suddenly stop. I jerked at it, and noticed it was caught between the two massive boulders. I sighed as I tried to pull it out, but just let it be, and crouched underneath it.
I walked slowly out into the open, and I retrieved the fish. I looked around the cove, and saw nothing.
I continued to tread lightly, looking in all directions, thinking that maybe it had escaped somehow.
My thoughts were quickly silenced as I heard a light growling noise behind me. I jerked my head to the source, and jumped in surprise to find that the dragon had been hiding behind a massive rock.
It jumped from the rock, and walked to a more open area, and positioned itself into what I assumed was a combat stance.
It took me a moment to notice that I was frozen in fear, and I snapped out of it. I held the fish by its gills, and held my hand out, silently praying that the dragon wouldn't bite my hand off along with the fish.
Its eyes narrowed dangerously, but once again had shown deeper meaning behind them. I saw curiosity, and paranoia.
It approached slowly, its eyes seeming to dilate as it did so. I fought the urge to run away as fast as I could, knowing that would probably only make it angry.
I leaned forward, hoping it would take the fish and be done with it, so I could go home and contemplate how stupid I was to come here.
When it was about a foot away from the fish, its gaze lowered quickly, and jumped back, growling more intensely than before.
I noticed what it was growling at; my knife. I pulled back my vest to reveal the knife, wondering how it noticed it when it was hidden. When I did this, the dragon took another precautionary step back.
I slowly reached for it with my other hand, as soon as I touched it, the dragon growled very loudly. I jumped at the sound, but an idea came to me. What if I dropped the knife? I might be defenseless, but as if a knife would help me against a Night Fury, of all dragons.
I picked the knife out of my holster, and raised it to my side, before dropping to the ground.
The dragon grunted, seemingly unconvinced by my efforts, and did what I assumed was a gesture to the lake. Was it asking me to throw it in the lake? A dragon is asking me to do something?
I shook off those thoughts, and picked the knife up, and tossed it in the lake with my foot.
…So much for my knife being lucky, as it slowly sinks into a river.
The dragon watched the knife, turned to me, and seemed to relax. Its eyes were no longer narrow, and the pupils are not… well… slits. I saw what I assumed was its ear twitch.
It… looks like a cat; a giant scaly winged fire-breathing cat that can kill me with the flick of its, erm, paw. Not very comforting that my only defenses was a shield –which is currently stuck between two boulders half way across the canyon- and a knife –which is currently at the bottom of a lake.-
Well, I've come this far.
I offered the fish yet again, and the dragon stalked over to me. It came close to the fish, and opened its maw. What I saw was… unexpected. It had no teeth. It was just gums.
"Huh… Toothless…" I noted out loud.
I recall the day I had freed it, and as it roared at me, it looked like it had teeth. Of course, after it roared I'm fairly certain all of the blood in my brain drained into my heart just so it can beat faster.
"I could've sworn you had-"Before I could even finish the sentence, with a single twitch of its jaw, a full set of razor sharp teeth shot out of the gums. Before I could even react, it lunged forward, snatched the fish from my hands before raising its head and chomping the fish into pieces in mid air, and swallowing. After which, it licked it's… lips? No it doesn't have lips, well; it licked its maw I guess.
…Retractable teeth. I didn't expect that. I'm not sure if anyone could've. New discoveries every day.
"-Teeth…" I finished my sentence.
After saying that, the dragon's eyes dilated, and it began approaching.
I backed up quickly, but it continued to come forward. Is it sniffing me? Is it going to eat me next!
"Ah, nonono." I stuttered as I backed into a small rock, and the dragon came really close to my face.
"I-I don't have any more!" I stuttered to it. I knew I should've brought more than one! It's a bloody dragon; of course it eats more than a single fish!
Wait, why am I talking to it? Well, I didn't know it had retractable teeth, for all I know, it understands Norse.
…Not impossible, just unlikely, just like a giant winged reptilian with retractable teeth.
It continued to stare at me for a brief second, before its eyes rolled to the top of the sockets, and it started to make a… very strange noise. Somewhat like 'HGULGH' but more gurgly and… disgusting.
Suddenly, the lower half of a fish fell from its mouth and onto my lap.
"…Ew." I looked at the remains of the fish, disgusted. Does it not like it?
Next the dragon did something else I wasn't expecting. It stood up onto two legs for a brief second, before sitting down onto the base of its tail, like a human would sit. Was it… mimicking me?
It was just sitting there, staring at me. I really didn't know what it was doing, but at least it stopped being…threatening. It never stopped being scary though.
Throughout the long moment of silence and staring, the dragon seemed to have a quizzical expression. Once again, the dragon had me wondering about what it was thinking. The dragon had a look of fascination, that would've reflected mine if I was not so frightened and confused.
Hah, funny how many times a day I question Viking beliefs. We believe that dragons are ruthless unthinking emotionless killing machines, yet this one spared my life, showed anger, and curiosity. As far as I recall, those are emotions.
Now it was just staring at me, mimicking my posture for what seemed like an eternity, before the dragon did something. The dragon glanced at the fish, and back at me. Suddenly I realized why he-I mean it- had regurgitated half of the fish.
It wanted to share the fish with me? Eating a raw fish is bad enough but couldn't it have thought of this before it went and swallowed it?
I sighed, and decided the best was of not getting killed by something bigger than you is to either run away, or do what it demands. Running away was clearly out of the question… so…
I raised the fish, and took a small bite out of it without swallowing, hoping the dragon wouldn't notice. When I did so, the dragon's head cocked slightly, and what I assumed was its ears perked up.
"Mhmm!" I moaned, trying to communicate that I thought the fish was good, and he can have it back now… Not sure how he-it, I mean it- could get that from just 'Mhmm' but none the less, raising the fish to it should get the message across.
I offered the fish back to it, and the dragon responded in a very… unexpected way. The dragon swallowed. It didn't have anything in its mouth… is the dragon telling me to swallow?
I dropped the fish to my lap, silently noting that I am going to be nauseas later today after this. I swallowed, and gagged once at the disgusting-yet apparently delicious to the dragon- fish.
I shuddered at the taste and texture, and the dragon seemed to licks its lips-I mean maw- I mean mouth, whatever dragons lick when they think something tastes good.
I smiled at the dragon, my fear beginning to dribble away, though I didn't notice it at the time.
In response, the dragon narrowed its eyes and leaned a little closer, seeming to be confused by me.
It stared at me for a brief second before its mouth began twitching, and bending upwards. It took me a minute to realize it was… trying to smile?
It was smiling. The most feared and mysterious dragon in Viking history is toothless and smiling at me. It was perhaps the (Smite me Thor if I ever use this word again) cutest thing I've ever seen an animal do, especially for such a powerful being.
But of course no matter how well things are going, Hiccup the Useless always has to do something stupid and screw it up. I reached out my hand towards it, hoping to know what its scales feel like when they're attached to its body, and it did not react very well.
It's 'ears' went back, its eyes narrowed and dilated, and its teeth retracted, growling loudly.
…I suddenly remember why I was afraid of it.
But, luckily for me, rather than killing me on the spot, it just jumped into the air, and glided to the other side of the cove, across the lake.
I saw as it landed, and began breathing a steady stream of fire onto the ground while turning around in circles. I was wondering what it was doing, until it seemed to knead at the ground, and lie down. It was… heating a bed?
This thing is looking more like a cat every second, if a cat could breathe fire, and was reptilian, etcetera.
I ran over to the other side of the cove, doing what Vikings do best; ignoring common sense.
The dragon seemed distracted by a bird fling overhead, staring with somewhat distant eyes. Another tinge of guilt assaulted me, but I ignored it.
I sat down about four yards away from the dragon, and the dragon turned its gaze towards me.
I casually waved towards it, and the dragon's eyes went half lidded, before it lied its head down, and covered its head with the remaining half of its tailfin.
…Night Furies have attitude, or at least this one does.
The curiosity overwhelmed me as to how its scales felt yet again, and I figured I won't have a better opportunity to touch it.
I scooted forward, still sitting, and I reached forward slowly, trying not to disturb it.
As soon as my hand was about four inches away from its tail, the tail shot up, revealing a very annoyed dragon's face.
On instinct, I instantly shot up from my sitting position, and I walked away as quickly and nonchalantly as possible.
I looked over my shoulder as I walked away, seeing the dragon walk underneath a large tree that was rooted into the canyon wall. I thought it was going to lie down and sleep there, but it surprised me when it jumped to the branch just over it, wrap its tail around the branch and hang upside down.
Well… I didn't know they liked to sleep upside down. That's… surprising indeed. Then again so was the whole retractable teeth and mimicking thing. I think I should just mentally prepare myself for the dragon to do the opposite of what I'm expecting from now on.
I expected it to kill me long ago, but it did the opposite luckily for me. However I was pushing my luck back there and I probably shouldn't do that in the future. From now on, just watch, no touchy touchy.
Why do the dragon's teeth retract anyway? No other dragons do that, what is the point of- oh, I may have a theory. The Night Fury blasts are so surgical, yet powerful that they pretty much obliterate anything in its path. With a Night Fury's mouth not able to open very wide, if the teeth didn't retract, it would blow its own teeth out.
…I wonder if any have done so accidently, or if this one has already done so accidently, but teeth grow back for Night Furies… or something.
Once again, I feel like I know so much –compared to other Vikings- yet so little. For all I know, Night Furies can turn invisible. That would explain why I couldn't see it when I came in here, wait, no, it was hiding behind a really big rock.
I think I should be heading ba- on second thought, I have all day. No smithing to do or training. How many opportunities do people get to spend an afternoon with a Night Fury, and not die! I mean sure, it may be sleeping upside down in a tree across the entire cove, but none the less, a Night Fury!
After spending what I think was a few hours gaping at the creature, absorbing every detail I could see from this distance, I sat down on a small rock and had started trying to draw the creature in the dirt.
Then spending another hour drawing it several times, yet I keep messing up and rubbing away the images.
I had been so absorbed in the mindless doodling, that I didn't notice it was dusk already.
I started on another image, drawing the outline of the head of the dragon.
Then, when the outline was done, I saw a shadow come over me, and heard a small gurgling noise.
I quickly deduced that the dragon was right behind me, but I tried to pretend not to notice and keep drawing.
Night Furies must not sleep much. That was what, about four hours?
I continued to draw the eyes, and I swore I heard a 'purring' noise come from the dragon. It trotted over to the lake for a brief second, and then came back behind me.
I drew a few more details before I heard the dragon trot off. After about a second, I heard the distinct sound of wood splintering.
I turned around to see the dragon ripping a small tree from the ground with its mouth, before dragging it into the dirt. It dragged the tree past me, leaving a very large indent in the dirt. It took me a few seconds to realize the dragon was… drawing?
It continued to drag the tree around, twirling and trotting around as if it was dancing. It stopped for a brief moment, looked back at me, before adding a dot with the tree, and it continued. As it dragged the tree past me, I was hit by a branch, but far too… shocked to even remotely feel it.
Eventually, it dropped the large tree, and looked down at the lines, making the 'purring' noise again.
I stood up from the rock, to see that the dragon had only scribbled all over the ground. Huh, I was expecting it to draw me, or something, but instead it just scribbled. I thought I had already mentally prepared myself to expect it to do the opposite of what I am thinking…
I began to walk out of the scribble, when the dragon suddenly let out a sharp growl, making me freeze. I looked at the dragon, which currently had its eyes narrowed, and its teeth bared.
I lifted my foot off of the ground, to take a step back, when the growling abruptly stopped, and it continued making the 'happy' noise again.
I looked back at the dragon, and it's previously angry narrow eyes now were open, with undilated eyes.
I looked at what I had stepped on, and I noticed it was a line the dragon had made.
I put a toe on the line, and the dragon abruptly growled yet again. I raised my foot, and the growling stopped. I put my foot down on the line again, for the dragon to growl again, this time putting its paw down, as if about to pounce. I figured that the joke had best end here, and I raised my foot, and set it over the line.
I looked back at the dragon, which no longer looked angry, or even threatening or scary. I'm not sure when the terrifying beast stopped being scary, but it happened.
I smiled, trying to reassure I won't step on any more lines. I then continued to work my way out of the scribble-maze, concentrating on my feet, careful to only step on clear ground.
I continued to tread my way out of the maze, until I was stopped by a large breath blowing onto me.
…The dragon is right behind me, isn't it?
I turned around, expecting it to be furious that I was so close to it, yet it seemed so calm. It wasn't threatening, nor trying to get away from me, just staring back at me with those eyes… the eyes that seemed so infinite, windows into the dragon's very soul… But dragons don't have souls. All Vikings know this.
Yet… Once again I found myself doubting Viking beliefs, as the dragon stared back at me, seeming content, and curious.
I reached for it, wanting to touch it, at least once.
It flinched, squinted one eye, and growled lowly. Not nearly as dangerously or furiously before, but it seemed to just be a warning…
I pulled my hand back, and the dragon stopped.
I sighed… I had come this far, why stop now?
I raised my hand, not looking at the dragon, reaching, but not touching. I wasn't sure what to expect, but what was the worst that could happen? Well, it could walk away… or bite my arm off. Yet, something told me it wouldn't do that.
I closed my eyes, expecting it to walk away, or growl, or something. But I only sat there, with my arm raised for what seemed like an eternity.
Suddenly, I felt this sleek, yet warm surface come to contact with my hand..
I flinched, before I opened my eyes, and turned my gaze to my hand, to see that the dragon had pushed it's snout to my palm. I figured scales would be sharper, and rougher. It didn't feel like there were scales at all, just really dense skin. The scales were so finely woven together, it almost seemed impossible that anything could break them, or pull them loose.
Yet I did. I pulled and broke the scales. I brought this dragon down. I wounded it, I drew its blood. It suffered, and probably is still suffering at my hand, which was currently rested on the beast's snout.
For what seemed like an eternity, I was staring at the dragon, which had its eyes closed while it pressed its snout to my hand. It just seems so peaceful, so gentle at the moment. This is as far as one can get from bloodthirsty.
But because time is a cruel maiden, eventually the moment had to end.
The dragon raised its head from my hand, snorted, and walked away.
I gaped at it as it walked away, unbelieving of what just happened.
The dragon spared me, didn't eat me, mimicked me, and touched me. Yet, throughout all of this, I saw its eyes had thought. They were windows, and there was a soul behind them. I knew it then.
There was thought, feeling, and intelligence. It seems unfair to call something that shows these traits a beast.
The dragon doesn't act purely on instinct. The dragon is clearly self aware, and possibly sentient.
Something like this doesn't deserve to be called an 'it' like an object or a simple creature.
I don't know what gender it is, but for now, I'm going to make the assumption that it is a male. I will look into that later…
I walked back into the crevasse from which I came, only looking back once.
"See you later… I guess…" I said quietly.
Well, I'm happy to announce I am now a part of the elite group of people who managed to write over 30,000 words without falling out of their chair and breaking their spine. Whoopee.
This chapter is about 40 pages long and has 12,819 words. Something scary is that word 12,666 is 'beast.' I'm serious. Start counting.
I apologize for the wait, but I'm happy to say at least it EVENTUALLY came out.