After changing back into my normal clothes, I head over to Skullette's house to help her unpack. Skullette's house was very similar to mine. Basic living room and a single wooden staircase to get to the second floor.
Much like mine, her room was upstairs. It was much bigger than mine since it didn't have a bed for a dragon, but still nice. As Astrid and I are helping unload all her things, Skullette was outside with her dad. As we're unpacking, I managed to find several sheaths of arrows. After unloading them all, I find she had a total of four sheaths, giving a total of forty-eight arrows.
"She must be some hunter."I comment.
"No kidding. Check this out." Astrid says.
I turn and see that she's found at least three bows. Perfectly carved and preserved and yet you could tell they were well used. I couldn't help but feel that these were only a small portion of others she might have stowed away. We hear Skullette walking up the stairs with a couple more trunks. They were pretty huge. You could at least fit three of me in them.
"Sheesh Skullette, don't you think you have enough?" I tease.
She laughs and my cheeks get warm again. "Don't worry; this is the last of them. And these are the essentials." She says.
She opens the trunk, and inside is the widest variety of bows, arrows, sheaths and quivers I've ever seen. Bow's made of wood and metal and plastic and materials I can't even name. Arrows with feathers cut into flawless uniform lines. I've never seen such an inventory, even at Gobber's shop.
"I'm guessing you like hunting?" I ask rhetorically.
"Totally. I've been hunting since I was, about eleven." She says.
My eyes widen with astonishment, and yet out of my peripherals, I can just make out Astrid rolling her eyes.
"Want to try one?" Skullette asks.
"Sure!" I say.
She hands me a stunning wooden recurve bow. Its limbs were black with a brown middle. It featured a crowned, cut-past-center arrow shelf with a bear hair mat and a leather side plate. Matched hardwood laminates give this bow a truly handsome look. It's a lot lighter than I anticipated. I hold it up and line my vision.
"Oh man I would love to take this for a spin." I say.
"You want to?" she asks.
I'm hesitant for a moment since Gobber told me how I can't handle weapons. You can't life a hammer, you can't swing an axe I remember. Then again, he said nothing about archery. And if I can at least hold this bow, maybe I could shoot too. Also the look on Skullette's face shows me she's just dying to go into the woods.
"Yeah sure. We've got plenty of time." I say. Then as she's prepping two sheaths, I hear Astrid say something.
"Wha-what? Sorry Astrid I didn't hear you." I say.
"I said, don't be late for the Dragon Academy. Remember it starts at noon." She reminds me. I nod, but something had me on edge. The tone of her voice, she sounded irritated. But before I can even ask her what's wrong, she turns and leaves.
I turn back to Skullette who's all set with her sheath of arrows. She hands me her second pack and I sling it over my shoulder. It's a little heavy, but not like it's holding me down. More like carrying one of my wicker baskets. We head outside, and I find Toothless waiting, lying on the grass as a green-blue butterfly flies over his head. His head cocks in our direction, and as I'm walking toward him, I find his attention diverted. I turn and find Skullette standing back, still pretty uncomfortable.
"Uh, looks like we're gonna walk today, bud." I say. Skullette rubs her arm out of feeling guilty since it's obvious I like to ride a lot. "No really it's okay. Right bud?" Toothless replies with a rather pleasant sounding bellow.
Once Skullette's shoulders relax, we make our way to the woods. Skullette leads the way while I trail close behind her and Toothless not far behind me. Once we're in the shelter of the trees, I can just see her relax fully. To the point where all her cares just get thrown into the wind. She pauses for a brief minute, and just drops her head back to bask in the sunlight. Rays break through the canopy of trees, and the way they dance on her skin, simply entrancing. I'm rather on edge though, even with the protection of the bow and arrows and Toothless.
Naturally, the animals on Berk stay out of the village unless we heard them in. But inside the woods, they roam freely, and there are added concerns like venomous snakes, rabid animals, and no real paths to follow. The only real path I know is the path to get to the Cove, and that was only because I was visiting Toothless daily, about a year ago. Other than that, I have no real reason to go to the woods. Usually Mulch and Bucket catch everything for us. But there's also food if you know how to find it. And Skullette sure does know how.
I watch as she naturally loads an arrow in her bow and lightly stalks through the foliage. She would tend to look at Toothless and I, as we would tend to crack dry twigs and leaves along the ground. But she needs to remember that we're not used to hunting, so she lets us off easy.
Once I see her relax, and walk lazily, I then ask, "I'm guessing you've done this before?"
"Yep, since I was eleven, like I said." He reminds me.
"Do you mind if I ask why?" she cocks her head toward me, obviously puzzled. "I mean, you're the daughter of the Chief. I just thought that naturally, everyone else gives you the food. You know? Like you never would need to go to the woods."
"Well, that's true, but my dad wanted me to learn how to fight. He wanted to make sure I would always be able to protect myself." She says.
"Smart guy."
"Bet you thought I was kind of, prissy?" she teases.
"No, no, no. Not at all." I admit. "In fact the exact opposite."
We share a laugh, then let the conversation drop. We then go on and ravage through the woods. Or more rather I watched Skullette as she hunts. It's very interesting to watch her hunt. It's eerie how little sound she makes, even when the leaves have fallen and it's a challenge to move at all without chasing off the game. We keep going in deeper and soon the rocks eventually turn to pebbles, and then, to my relief, we're back on pine needles and the gentle incline of the forest floor. I soon realize we have a problem.
Navigating the rocky terrain with little to no experience – well, you're naturally going to make some noise. But even on the smooth bed of pine needles, Toothless and I are loud. And I mean loud loud, as if we're stomping our feet or something. I feel terrible, and yet Skullette doesn't tell us anything. I'm not even sure if she plans on hunting anything today. She just got here. As we prowl through the trees, I let her get twenty, maybe thirty yards of space from me and Toothless.
She ducks behind a tree, and ever so slightly turns her head. I look in her same direction, and I find out she's adjacent to a wild boar. I sink down behind some bushes and watch through the leaves as Skullette pulls back her bowstring. My eyes home in on the wild boar, and within a split second, the arrow shoots him through the heart. I jump a little, but then stand there astonished. She had managed to take down a boar with one arrow, one shot, and not even needing a knife.
As she's removing the arrow, I come up behind her and say, "That was amazing!"
"Thanks." She says with a smile.
"You've got to teach me how to do that." I beckon.
"I'd love to. It's really fun, and I guess you could say it gives you that sense of independence." She says.
With that said, she leads me deeper into the woods. It's weird having her lead me even though I'm the one who's lived here for years and yet have never made even the slightest attempt at venturing into the woods. Feeling like I'm mooching off of her, I felt compelled to give her something in return. Probably not cash, but maybe knowledge. I certainly know how to fish well, and I can teach her how to build certain things, but that all depends on her interests. Weaponry is a definite option. I bring this to her attention, and she agrees something can be worked out.
Over the next hour, I spend it with Skullette as we talk hunting and constructing. She teaches me the basics of hunting, and when I manage to kill my first squirrel, the poor thing is mostly a charred mess because it took a direct hit to the body. But she shows me how to skin and clean it – which wasn't my strongest point since I kept gagging and even felt like I would vomit at any moment. But she tells me with a little practice, I'll get it.
In exchange for one hour of archery/hunting lessons, I give her an hour of fishing tactics, snare trapping, and plant recognition. I even took her to one my hidden places that are blossoming with wild plums and berries. Toothless kept himself occupied by chasing around any birds or butterflies that crossed his path.
It's about late afternoon when we finally materialize from the woods. By then we have three gallons of mixed berries, about three squirrels – not including my badly shot on – and at least two rabbits that I managed to snag in my snares, along with the wild boar Skullette shot. We keep them all in separate burlap sacks except for the boar which we tied to a tree branch Toothless had snapped off. This is one my best hauls for my first hunting trip, and I feel very proud. Not to mention ecstatic when my father hears about me hunting.
It's not something I normally do, and the thought of his possible reaction makes me lightheaded with giddiness. But when we walk into my house to divide up the haul, my thoughts are crushed. Inside waiting for us was: my dad, Gobber, Chief Boggs, and, Astrid? Something felt wrong. I turn to Skullette who's as oblivious to everything as I am.
"Hello son," my dad begins, and immediately I know I'm in for a lecture.
"Hey dad, is everything okay?" Skullette and I drop out gatherings as we walk forward.
"Not really, son. Do you remember you other duties of the day? Besides welcoming Skullette to our island?" my dad asks. I can almost interpret the rhetorical tone in his voice.
Bam! It's like someone has punched me in the stomach. Of course no one has, but the pain of it is so real, I need to take a step back. I forgot about the Dragon Academy! Oh gods! I panic to myself. "Dad I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to forget, I-I just lost track of time and-" he stops me by holding up his hand in a gesture to stop. I swallow hard.
"Look son, I know you're not one to forget things like the Dragon Academy, so I'm letting you off with a warning. But you need to remember other important things in your life. Like your job as a trainer." He explains.
"Yes dad." I say. It feels like I'm a child again, and he's correcting me like the way he did when he use to take me fishing.
"Good. Now, what do you two have here?" he motions to the haul behind Skullette's ankle.
"It's the reason why we're late." Skullette says. She brings forward the burlap sacks and dumps our catches on our wooden table. Gobber's and my dad's eyes widen at the catches. Then when Toothless helps Skullette bring in the wild boar, their mouths agape.
"You two caught these?" My dad asks astonished.
"Well Skullette shot the boar and a couple of the squirrels, I just caught the rabbits and harvested the berries." I say.
"Well this certainly is quiet the gathering son. Great job!" my dad says with a hard punch on my arm that sends me stumbling back into Skullette. She catches me and helps me gain my balance. While they both talk over the catches, Skullette talks with her dad. Leaving me to talk to Astrid, who still won't let go of the disappointed and angry look on her face.
"Look Astrid, I'm sorry I forgot okay? But it's not like it's the end of the world." I say.
"Maybe for you, Lover Boy. But for me, it was like managing hell without you." She says, trying her best not to scream and rip me apart.
"I'm sorry. But look it was a onetime thing, it won't happen again." I promise. The oddity of this talk dawns on me. It's almost as if I should've been saying this to my dad rather than Astrid.
"Just remember how to keep business, and pleasure separate." She says in a sour tone. Then he leaves, not forgetting to bump my shoulder just to show how mad she is with me.
Pleasure? What pleasure could I possibly have? And what was with that 'Lover Boy' comment? Is it really that obvious I had feelings for Skullette? But I don't even know if they're real, or just a crush. We literally just met hours ago, and already she's making assumptions?
What happened to the "Don't be so quick to judge?" quote she told me? Not to mention the fact that she helped in unpacking Skullette's things. Now she's being distant. I'm sure she's making everything more dramatic than it needs to be. Could it be possible she's just jealous? No. Not Astrid. She's never jealous of anyone. Then again, these are different times now, and back when we were fighting dragons, she was so focused on that that she didn't care what people did. Now, with me being the head of the Dragon Academy, it's almost like she still is focused, but she needs me there to help.
My thoughts become so overwhelming that I excuse myself to my room. I plop on my bed and cover my face with my hands. I hear Toothless walk up the steps not long after me. I feel his breath on my face and when I uncover my face, I'm staring into his green eye. He gives a concerned purr, but I simply pet his head and assure him I'm okay. I hear more footsteps bounding the stairs, and Skullette appears.
"Hey Hiccup. Everything okay?" she asks.
I rub my temples then shift to a sitting position, cross-legged. "Yeah, just a lot of things suddenly going on." I say.
"Yeah I could tell. Your girlfriend seemed upset you missed the Academy." She says. I look to her and her face shows she's being genuine rather than teasing me.
"Oh no, no, no. She's not my girlfriend. Far from it actually." I say.
"Oh, sorry. It just seems like you two were together." She retorts.
"Nope." I say.
"Well I should probably get going." She says.
"Uh, actually wait, Skullette. Uh, why don't I show you around the village? Maybe you could meet some local butchers who would like your rabbits and squirrels." I say.
She turns to me and after she briefly debates in her head, she smiles and says she would love to. We leave the house once again, leaving Gobber and my dad with the haul. Chief Boggs had already left. We reach the Plaza in less than a minute, and I show her all of the little shops and houses we had. I even took her to see Gobber's shop, which had recently been transformed into a dental shop for the dragons. As we're walking, a sudden cold chill runs up m spine. I turn and find Mildew walking toward us.
"Well, hello there Skullette. What a pleasure meeting you. I am Mildew" He says. His voice gives me chills, and the way he says her name. It sounds as if he's getting ready to eat her. What's even worse is his stench. I look behind him and find his sheep Fungus.
"Nice to meet you too." Skullette says, trying to be polite. Although it's clear she has no interest at all in even talking to Mildew. Her instincts are good.
"Just thought I'd say welcome to the island." He says.
"And thank you Mildew. I'm sure we appreciate it." I interrupt. Then I pull Skullette away, afraid she might choke on his foul odor. Or at least I will.
We manage to get out of hearing range before she comments, "Well that was unusual."
"Tell me about it. He's never the meet-and-greet type. I don't think I need to tell you to stay away from him." I say.
"Definitely no need. But who is he?" she asks.
"He's basically the most annoying old man on the island. He'll try and do anything in his power to drive the dragons away. And since he's a village elder, he's basically using that as a shield to avoid any kind of punishment." I say.
"Has he done some things before?"
"Oh plenty. But he only paid for one out of all of it." I bitterly remember.
"Sheesh. I bet you would like to give him the worst punishment there is." She assumes.
If it were up to me, I would NEVER give Mildew any form of justice. I would honestly just sentence him to death for everything he's done. And I would do it too. No one would protest against me. But it is of the highest treason if you kill a village elder here on Berk. That's where his protection comes in. But almost no one likes him, and I'm sure everyone wants him dead. And as much as I want to admit this, I keep it to myself.
As we're walking through the village, I see Skullette's head turning from side to side to take a look at all of the dragons and people. As we make our way towards the Academy, we keep up a conversation about hunting and training the dragons. We make our way to the Animal Farm, and we find a Monstrous Nightmare and a Deadly Nadder outside the fence of the sheep pen. Suddenly, there's a shift. I look all around and find no one. I feel and strange suspicion crawl up my spine. I manage to find Mulch leaving with Bucket.
"Hey Mulch, what's going on? Why aren't there any animals out?" I ask him.
"We locked them all in their stables. Your father has called for an urgent meeting at the Great Hall. He also wants you there." He says.
"Well, I guess we're going to the Great Hall next." I joke to Skullette.
We rush with the crowd toward the hall. There's a slight commotion as the crowd surges to the left. We find Astrid and the others along the run and once we walk through the gigantic double doors, we try to find our seats outside of the crowd. I pull up a chair for Astrid and Skulette, and as I'm about to sit, Gobber finds me and tells me to head up front with my dad. My mind is racing a mile a minute. Nonetheless I head up and I find my father, relieved to see me. I take a seat next to him, and then lean forward and find Chief Boggs sitting next to my dad. Gobber to my right, and I can see Skullette and the others in the back.
"Alright, let's get started." My father says. His voice echoing all along the walls. The acoustics in here are amazing. "Now the reason why I called you all here is because we're dealing with yet another, Outcast problem." The crowd gasps and murmurs. "Now, now, let me finish. Alvin has recently sent us an ominous letter, saying he wants Hiccup." My heart sinks immediately into my stomach like a rock. "And he says, if we don't give him up, then he'll invade the island, and take him by force."
I can almost see the battle against Alvin and his army right in front of me. Punches thrown, swords clash, dragons setting the beach ablaze. My mind goes straight to Toothless, Astrid, Skullette, Gobber, my dad. I'm definitely not afraid of Alvin, but I am afraid of putting the people I care about in danger. Risking their lives just to protect me.
I can feel Toothless nudge my arm, then my father's hand rest on my shoulder. I know I'm probably pale white, but I still listen as my father goes on. "But we are not going to let that happen." His voice was directed to me to give me reassurance, and promise.
But my heart is racing, and I'm suddenly searching for a way out; feeling so suffocated even in the twenty-foot tall and thirty-foot wide hall. I know if I run out I'll appear cowardly. But after defeating the Green Death, facing Alvin at least twice, and finding a long lost treasure that not even my dad could find, I've definitely proven myself.
But still there are those who think I'm still an embarrassment, and if I run out, I'll only prove them right. I will give no one the satisfaction. So I just stay put, and stare at the fire that always burns in the circular pit at the epicenter of the hall. Toothless licks my hand, vying for my attention. My fingers somehow find the will to scratch his ears, and I feel him take a seat next to me. His head resting in my lap. I actually find scratching him distracting, enough so that I can still listen to my dad, but occupy my thoughts.
Not many things register. My dad explains a war strategy, people debate on how to keep me protected. People just keep talking. Talking. Talking. Talking. My dad. Gobber. A couple other Vikings. The way they talk about Alvin. About me. As the double doors open, I can see that it's late afternoon. The sky becoming dark. Soon the talking becomes too much.
My body reacts before my mind and the next thing I know I'm outside. It was the best thing I could think of. There was the sound of someone calling my name, but I ignored them. Once I'm at the last stone step, I begin walking. Across lawns, past my home, and into the dark beyond. My movements are so robotic, and it feels like I'm in a daze. Like my body is still working, but my mind is blank. The summer's been scorching hot and dry as a bone. There's been no rain, leaving the plants with brittle leaves, building a crunchy carpet under my feet.
Where? Where to go? I don't want to go flying. The woods perhaps? I'm at the edge of the village before the sudden dangers of animals make me remember how trapped I am. I back away, turn on my heel, and take off again.
The next thing I know, I'm in my room at home and I'm curled up on Toothless' bed. It's still fairly warm from last night and the stone hold in heat. My escape has done nothing to subdue my rising hysteria. It feels like it'll drown unless I release it, but I don't know how. Alvin and the Outcasts. Not what I expected, but still a man of nightmares. Now I know the real reason why Chief Boggs is here, it's so that he and my dad and come up with strategies on keeping me safe.
I curl up on my side and stare unblinkingly at my headboard placed at the foot of my bed. My muscles relax, my heart rate slows. In the distance, there's someone calling my name. But at the moment, I excuse myself from thinking about even those I care most. I only think of me and what lies ahead.
I can just see the end of hope, the beginning of the destruction of everything I hold dear in the world.
When is Alvin going to give up? I've already beaten him twice. While his knowledge of warfare is impressive, I'll admit, he still hasn't beaten me yet. But he'll never stop until he has me. I never meant for anyone to be involved. He is our long-lost rival, and the history with him and my dad goes way back, but by me showing him that we can train dragons, he's now set his eyes on me. And in turn, I've endangered everyone I care about. I can't let Alvin hurt them. I could just hand myself over, but no one would ever forgive me.
And while his offer was given to me before, I just know that within time, I'll have a knife in my back. Literally. Unable to stand the confinement I soon feel, I get up and leave my home.
I walk through the village, which is now dark. Decorated by shadows and the light of the moon. It's about ten o'clock at night, and everyone's gone to bed. Any other houses give off a warm glow of life. Lit windows, smoke from the skylights, and it's boot night. Great. The last thing I wanted was to smell the stench of foot fungus.
But I walk through the village on silent feet, but suddenly I'm tackled to the gravel so harshly I'll be picking it out of my hair for a week. I look and find Toothless hovering over me and licking my face repeatedly.
"Hey, hey bud." I say. He nuzzles my cheek and once he lets up, I hop up and we ride around the entire village for hours.
When we get back home, my muscles are sore and stiff. I can tell from the smoke coming from the skylight that my dad's home. Not wanting to get into a lecture or conversation about my protection, I have Toothless land in the second skylight above my room and I jump off and land on my bed. Toothless, after setting his bed ablaze, settles down and rests his head. I pull my blanket over my body and blow out the candle next to my bed. I stare out at the sky for about another forty minutes before I even begin to drift off. Even when I do drift off, I'm taunted by horrific and graphic dreams that have never manifested before.
But now, everything screams in my dreams tonight.