Chapter 7.
Disclaimer: Same as the first.
Review my chapter if you haven't already done so; it helps me out a lot!
There's a little bit of fluff here and there with the more boring parts in this chapter; a miniscule bit of mock survival.
On a side note: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- How to Train your Dragon didn't win an Oscar for best animated film nor best original score… ._.
Spiky landed on the Berkian grass with a loud 'thud' as his rider, Astrid, prepared to dismount. She bore a distinct scowl on her face as she jumped off the saddle, freezing from spending the whole day flying through the cold northern seas in search of a boy whom she would give her hardest 'cordial' greeting if she ever caught a glimpse of him again. A sudden gust of frosty wind blew, sending shivers up her spine. Astrid cursed at what a failure the day has been; from dawn to dusk, not one Viking has been able to spot Hiccup nor Toothless. A cooing sound emitted from the Nadder beside her, sensing the negative feelings of the young Viking.
"Its fine Spiky…" Astrid assured, giving her dragon's chin a scratch. Adjacent to her, Fishlegs and his Gronkle, Horrorcow landed on a patch of bare land in a very ungraceful fashion.
"Whoa, whoa there Horrorcow!" Fishlegs exclaimed, almost losing his balance as Horrorcow stumbled when she touched down. The boy let out a sigh of relief before turning his head towards Astrid with a beaming face. "I knew it! My calculation-"
"Not now Fishlegs." Astrid asserted, cutting him off with an irritated voice. She was in no mood to be chided by anyone, especially by Fishlegs. The boy caught onto the message and returned to unsaddling his Gronkle silently.
Just from a glance, anyone could tell the girl was as annoyed as they came, but underneath, she harboured a high degree of concern for Hiccup. Even saying so, she would never show it, oh no, she would keep her tough exterior prominent, and still do everything that was required of her in her usual fashion; with an aggressive, and determined attitude. With a final strap, the saddle slid off and she began heading back to her home, tired and exhausted. Her Nadder trailed closely behind with a mutual desire for some rest and sleep.
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"What da' ya' mean you didn't find him!"
Spitelout stepped back in surprise at the chief's sudden outburst. "Every men on the search party reported no sightings of ya' boy nor his dragon!" Spitelout reported. "We'll try again tomorrow, but now the men need rest."
The words of his second-in-command stung him achingly, but he knew this wasn't a time for panic and rash decisions. The man regained his composure and rationalized his thoughts. "Alrigh' go get some sleep. Tomorrow, we will resume the search."
"Aye chief." Spitelout affirmed, walking off into the direction of his home.
Stoic was appalled that even with the efforts of every Viking on Berk, Hiccup was still not found. Despite there being times where he urged to furiously scream at Hiccup for doing a disobedient action, this wasn't one of them. Yes, the boy blatantly disobeyed his rules, Stoic fumed just at the thought of it, but what if the boy's injured? Or possibly dead? His wife, now his son? What could Thor be possibly punishing him for! The man let out a sigh as he sat down on the bench, careless tossing his ram-horn helmet on the table. Stoic immersed in thought whether to be furious or worried out of his mind. The Mead Hall doors creaked open slightly as a familiar figured walked in. Stoic didn't bother turning his head to take notice.
"I knew I'd findya' here." The other man said, lumbering towards Stoic in a his usual limping gait, avoiding to apply too much pressure on his amputated leg.
"What am I goin' ta' do Gobber? How many men am I goin' to keep putting on the search until I find the boy?"
"I knoya' worried for Hiccup, but you have other responsibilities as well, namely, being the chief." Gobber opinionated while plopping down on the bench. "Besides, he's got that black beast guarding him."
Stoic speechlessly stared down a miniscule scratch the table's surface, considering what the other Viking said. He couldn't just abandon his son when he could very well be alive, he needed to find him. On the other hand, Berk was a priority as well. The village was nowhere near ready for the winter season and many preparations were still needed to be done. But which one should be weighed as the bigger priority? The man's head ached with confusion and indecisiveness.
"Ya kno' Stoic, if you weren't around more often, I could've safely assumed that the boy was the adopted offspring of that Night Fury." Gobber playfully mocked, attempting to lighten the mood.
Stoic couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, the mental image of how convincing that would actually be was amusing.
"Well, I gotta' leave ya' Stoic. With ya' son gone and all, the stall's been pretty swamped with orders…" Gobber sighed before standing up and parting towards the Mead Hall exit.
Stoic valued the long-time friendship between him and Gobber, branching from when they were wee boys all the way to today. From the time from when Hiccup was being, well, Hiccup, to now, the man was always able to give genuinely helpful advice that seemed to make sense, whether it was allowing him to be the blacksmith's apprentice to keep him out of trouble, to enrolling him in dragon training, the suggestions benefited both Hiccup and the village. This time was no different; he knew he couldn't just act selfishly to save his offspring and cause Berk to be caught off guard during the winter, but he couldn't ignore his duties as a father either. Obviously, a compromise was needed between his two responsibilities, but for now, the large scale search resume until a final decision would be made.
****LINEBREAK***
A pleasant, warm feeling seeped into his mind as he groggily regained consciousness. His eyes cracked open to see above him that the cover of Toothless's wing was slightly illuminated from what he could assume, was the morning sun outside. As he shifted, he realized that his movements were constrained, pulling him closer to the warm, sleeping Night Fury beside. The boy propped himself up on his elbows and gazed at large scaly black limb, laying across his stomach and bent in such a way that the paw was laid beside his head. Toothless was hugging him like a teddy bear! Although this was an odd predicament to be in, it was awfully warm. Hiccup didn't want to leave the warm embrace, but his bladder told a different story.
"Agh, Toothless… Come on bud, its time to get up." Hiccup said, pushing on the large arm of the Night Fury in a futile attempt to get loose.
Toothless groaned with irritation, pulling the boy closer and forcing a surprised yelp from Hiccup. "Bud, I need to go to the bathroom… You don't want me to go here, do you?" Hiccup asked sarcastically at the Night Fury.
Both of Toothless's eyes snapped open at the understanding of what his rider meant. With the intention of not wanting to be used as a latrine, the Night Fury took his paw off the boy and retracted his wing that covered Hiccup.
A rush of cold diffused the warm air that Hiccup enjoyed prior, inducing him to cross his arms as he picked himself off the ground. Simultaneously, his Night Fury rose, smacking his lips, still not wanting to get up. Toothless's ears perked to the sound of coughs emitting from the boy, prompting Toothless to turn towards his rider with a distinct look of concern.
"It's nothing bud, just a cough." Hiccup assured, convincing Toothless that everything was fine. The dragon seemed satisfied with his rider's words and departed Hiccup for a drink from the pond. Hiccup scanned his surroundings that the new day had given him; overhead was an overcast filling the sky for as far as he could see, leaving the world around him seemingly grey and bleak. The air today was a fair bit colder than yesterday, Hiccup thanked Odin that he had brought his autumn jacket or be in danger of severe hypothermia.
With a full bladder, the young Viking carried himself off into the adjacent bush, searching for a shrub he could call as his own. After finding an appropriate bush suited to his needs, he relieved himself while considering what course of action he should take for the day. Food wasn't a problem with the expertly hunting Night Fury at his side, and neither was water since there was a pond right beside them.
Hiccup finished up his business and just before heading back into the direction of his campsite, an odd hissing sound brought his attention to the ground. Hiccup jumped at the sight of a snake. Its head perched out of the bush, two black beads for eyes staring at the boy while threateningly showing its two fangs for teeth. Out of alarm, the boy kicked the snake with the tip of his boot, sending it flying into a patch of grass nearby.
Curiously, Hiccup crouched down and cleared away a section of bush where the snake appeared, unveiling a small indent in the ground. And on top of the indent to his awe, was five, perfectly oval white eggs. Smiling, the young Viking snatched the eggs and slipped them into his pocket, delighted that he could once again, have a reasonable meal.
On his way back to the campsite, he collected a flat stone, planning to use it in the process of cooking the eggs. After he washed the stones, he set it on two nearby rocks, creating a flat surface that acted like a stone pan. The boy pulled two out of the total five eggs from his autumn coat pocket, saving the latter three for lunch. Cautious to not waste a potential meal, Hiccup carefully tapped the side of the egg against the stone. A sizable crack had formed on the side of the egg before he utilized the tips of his two thumbs and pulled the two halves of the eggshell apart, allowing transparent goop to slither its way out of the egg and onto the makeshift stove along with a bright yellow yoke settling in the center. The young Viking repeated the same actions with the other egg. Now all he needs is a heat source.
"Hey, Toothless! Can you help me with this?" Hiccup hollered to his Night Fury, remembering how grateful he was to have best friend that could act as a fire.
The familiar black figure emerged from the cave, wondering what his human wanted. Toothless lazily trudged over to Hiccup and saw the two eggs, shells broken and the innards spilled over a rock. He immediately realized what his rider wanted, and the sound of rumbling from the boy's stomach strengthened his assumption.
Humans were odd in his opinion; instead of eating the egg whole and consuming all the extra nutrients that existed in and around the eggshell, they not only ate the insides, but they burnt it as well, turning the liquid contents into a more solidified form that retained much fewer nutrients. He could never understand humans and their odd rituals. And with a quick gas collection, he blew a steady stream of orange flames underneath the flat stone, assuming that this contraption was used in a similar fashion as the one in Hiccup's dwelling. After a dozen seconds of the intense heat of the Night Fury's flames, the whites of the egg began to solidify, discharging the wonderful smell of cooked eggs around the area they were in.
"Okay Toothless, that's perfect." Hiccup halted his dragon once seeing that all of the transparent part of the egg was cooked to white. "Thanks bu-" A coughing fit abruptly halted his sentence as the boy brought his arm to cover his mouth. The dragon looked over with facial concern before his rider regained his composure, returning the look of his concerned dragon with a cheesy smile, indicating that everything was fine.
Toothless nudged the boy in the chest, causing Hiccup to emit a small bit of laughter. "Ahh, Toothless…" Hiccup said, pushing away the Night Fury's scaly snout.
The young Viking glanced over to the side and noticed the fin beside him and an idea propped into his head; he quickly grabbed it and placed the fin under the cooking stone and lifted it up and onto his lap in a fashion that the heated cooking stone wouldn't come into direct contact with his legs. At the same time, Toothless meandered over and curled around Hiccup, laying his tail in front of the boy and purposefully leaving his side to act as an object for the boy to lean on. Hiccup reclined onto Toothless, sighing as his back was greeted by the blissful warmness of the Night Fury's scales. His stomach rumbled, demanding food as Hiccup stared at the eggs; cooked to perfection and awaiting to be eaten.
****LINEBREAK***
The cold autumn day rolled by, leaving rider and dragon in a state of exhaustion as they returned from exploring the island for a suitable cable replacement, but disappointingly to no success. Hiccup knew that he couldn't just tie the ends of the knots together, because one, the extra length of cable used in the knot would lock the pedal into the 'down' position leaving Hiccup unable to control the fin and two, the knot would be extremely uncomfortable for Toothless and Hiccup would not rather both a grumpy Night Fury and an enraged father upon his return.
With an exasperated sigh, the young Viking sat down in front of the cave's entrance, exhausted, tired, and most of all, demoralized. Toothless trailed closely behind and laid down with Hiccup, offering his usual comforts. The teen rubbed his injured leg, disappointment in his mind that a whole day had gone by with no substance even coming close to substituting the cable…
He carefully rolled up his pant leg to check the healing progress of his laceration, prompting Toothless to turn his head and stare at the large red blemish that took up nearly a quarter of his rider's calf. Toothless felt fully responsible for Hiccup's injury and felt guilty for not protecting him as he should've. Hiccup turned his shoulders and noticed the Night Fury's interest in his wound.
"See bud? It's healing, no infection, not a lot of pain..." Hiccup assured, sensing the feeling of guilt emanating from the dragon.
That was in fact true, it was fine; the wound had healed with miraculous progress; no signs of infection or other distinguishing features that suggested a non-properly healing wound. It was, at least in his opinion, the second stroke of good luck he'd had on the island. The young Viking tilted his head up, gazing in awe at the beautiful orangey-red sky which had appeared shortly after when the overcast had began to dissipate. He wondered what all of his friends and family was doing in Berk right now. Maybe they had forgotten he actually left…?
'Nah, they wouldn't forget me! They're probably searching for me right now.' Thought Hiccup. A slight bit of vertigo clouded the boy's mind before forcing him to return his gaze parallel to the ground.
"Must've overextended myself today or something…" Hiccup muttered. It had been an exhausting day, so he assumed that the slightly bout of dizziness was a result of overexertion during the day and sleep was probably the best remedy for it. Toothless let out a low pitched trill, seeming to ask if the boy articulated that he was hungry. The message seem to get to Hiccup about what the dragon was saying and he presented his Night Fury with an awkward stare. Toothless snorted in reply before gesturing with his snout to the pile of rabbit bones Hiccup had left on the far side of the pond from yesterday. Hiccup instantly got the message.
"Nah, not really hungry since that horse you got me." Hiccup said, referring to how Toothless actually hunted him a wild horse, misunderstanding Hiccup's expression when he said he was so hungry he could eat a horse. Toothless, satisfied with what his rider said, lowered his head onto his front paw, ready to sleep after a whole day of trekking through thick northern bush. Hiccup was ready for a rest as well; his muscles ached, and he felt as tired as he had ever been in years. The boy leaned himself over and onto the cold ground, moments before a black veil of the Night Fury's wing draped over him in a protective cover.
The familiar sensation of a warm dragon sitting next to him was bliss. He still deeply wished that he could be in his own bed, but out here, this was no doubt the next best thing. Hiccup closed his eyes and gradually dozed off into a deep sleep, warmed by the black beast sleeping beside him and comforted by a soft purr resounding from the Night Fury's belly.
Sorry for the massive delay in chapter, so many tests and projects that needed to be done that took up so much of my time. The copious amounts of procrastination could possibly have been a factor was well, considering the bits of research I had to do for this and the next chapter. (Whoops, foreshadowing)
Anyways, I can't wait for spring break because:
Break = more time everyday
More time = more writing
More writing = more chapter.
READ AND REVIEW! I looked at my traffic the other day and it seemed as though my reader numbers have been gradually declining and I really would appreciated why you do or do not, like my story. It helps a lot. Seriously, it motivates and allows me to have a sense of what I can do better.