AN- welcome to chapter 12. This one is over 7000 words. Mainly because I couldn't see a place to end it before my initial planned ending which you will see at the end of the chapter. However, I now have 100 followers, 124 reviews and 71 favs. I'm so happy :D. so I think the longer chapter is a nice treat for you guys. Enjoy.
Thanks GodofGreed for beta-ing again.
Hiccup noticed Toothless approaching and got up in a guarded stance just in case.
"Calm down, I'm not going to attack you." Toothless said sadly, "I'm sorry for earlier, it was an unexpected shock. Not in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined a human could be turned into a dragon. If I'd known sooner, I may not have even given you the chance to explain. I would have definitely left such an abomination to die and killed Ruff. I'm sorry. It must have been hard telling me the truth."
Hiccup was stunned at the apology. But he was glad they had come to an understanding and it seemed like Toothless didn't mind he used to be a Viking any more.
"And I'm sorry for keeping the truth from you."
"No, I can understand why you did. If I was in the same situation and been turned into a human, I would have done the same thing. I can only imagine how a Viking would react to a dragon turned human."
Hiccup hadn't even thought of the possibility of it being the other way around. Perhaps that would mean the transformation was reversible then? But then, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to his life as a human. He was always so weak and useless in their eyes. He was tired of the way the village treated him. He was clearly never meant to be a Viking. And now the possibility of ever being one had gone along with his human form. He was a dragon now and he preferred it that way.
"Would you want to change back if that happened?" Hiccup asked. He already knew the answer but thought to ask anyway.
"Of course I would want to change back! Humans are weak mindless beasts that rely on weapons and armor to protect themselves! They can't breath fire and they can't fly! They can't even keep themselves warm so they have to wear the skins of other animals." He said distastefully. "What I don't understand about you though is how you sided with us dragons straight away. I certainly wouldn't have sided with the Vikings that had slaughtered many of my kind, whether I'd been turned into one or not."
"Well I was never truly one of them anyway. I was pretty much the worst Viking ever born. I was weak and scrawny and I always got in their way. I always seemed to unintentionally help the dragons with their raiding over fighting them. The village hated me and I was an embarrassment to my father. He was the chief and I was his heir, but it was more likely my cousin would inherit the title since I was such a… hiccup. I wouldn't side with the dragons in the way of raiding the village and killing Vikings, but being one myself now I don't see why I shouldn't get along with them."
"I see. So if given the chance, you wouldn't want to turn back then?"
"No, becoming the dragon is the best thing to have ever happened to me. I see it more like a blessing then a curse. I'm strong with my own weapons and armor, I can fly and I can breath fire. The only thing I can say I miss are my hands."
"Your hands? Why?"
"Because even though almost everything else about me was a failure, my hands held skill. I could draw really well and I could forge the best weapons and armor. I worked in a blacksmith where I could put my talents to use. It was the only place I was appreciated. I forged all sorts of things there including jewelry and my crazy inventions that would always end in disaster, but I enjoyed coming up with the ideas and making them. My latest was a bola thrower that I was gonna use...I was gonna use it to shoot down a night fury." He said with a guilty expression.
"So if you hadn't been transformed, you would have tried to shoot me down?" He growled.
"Killing a dragon is everything in the village. I thought if I could kill a night fury my life would get infinitely better. I probably would have missed anyway though. My inventions never end up doing what they're supposed to do," He said sadly.
"I would have liked to see what your pathetic human self looked like, but oh well. It wouldn't be possible to turn back now anyway."
"Huh? Why do you say that? I thought if it was possible to turn me into a night fury I could be changed back."
"It's not the possibility of the spells existence that's the problem, it's the one who would cast it. I killed a woman in Berk's forest before I rescued you. She had the power to use fire blasts like a dragon that I now know as magic. I believe she was the one to transform you. But she'd dead now so she can't change you back."
Hiccup was shocked. He'd been worried that terrible woman was still out there, causing suffering to others. A smile graced his mouth. He was relieved she was gone. Sure, now he couldn't change back. But what did that matter? He'd already said he didn't care for being a human any more so it was fine.
"You seem happy," Toothless remarked.
"I am. It's like a weight has been lifted now that I know she can't hurt anyone else."
Toothless smiled and gave Hiccup a dragon hug.
His head leaned over Hiccup's shoulder and Hiccup did the same with him. Ruffnut watched with a smile as well. What ever had set them apart before had been sorted out and they were friends again.
"Now, let's get back to flying lessons. I saw you perform a successful glide which I'm very impressed about, so we can move onto the next step."
"Right! But could you help Ruff warm up some first, I couldn't do it too well on my own."
"Sure," He replied and began torching the wall. Ruffnut shuffled in close to the chard surface and sighed in content as she felt the warmth seep into her skin.
"Okay, now we're going to learn how to lift off the ground."
"Couldn't we have done that first? It would have made the gliding easier."
"No, since you need to learn to gather the air n your wings properly first. You also need to learn the correct positioning of your body, tail, wings, and fins. Just explaining it doesn't help either since you need to experience it for yourself and build up body memory. Flying is more simple but heavily relies on gliding knowledge."
"Oh, I see. It makes sense when you put it like that."
"Now I want you to run and leap again, but this time raise your wings right up and flap before going into a glide. Try to flap them at the same time to stay straight. It'll take several tries to get the balance right."
So he did. He ran as fast as he could then opened his wings halfway before leaping. He almost went straight into a glide again after the constant repetition but he forced himself to lift them right up and flap down, angling his wings to catch the air. He lifted slightly only to swerve straight to the left and have his tail lift itself upwards.
"Aaaghhh!" he cried as he crashed into the flooded ground.
He heard Toothless laughing several meters away from him.
"Hahahaha, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you not too keep your back tail fins completely straight. They should only be straight for gliding, when you want to create left you should hold them up in more of a 'v' shape. So do that on the lift off then re-straighten for the glide. The swerve was because your left wing flapped half a second faster than your right."
Hiccup picked himself up with a groan before running back to try again. Why did flying have to be so complicated? He ran again, partially opened his wings and leapt. This time he made the 'v' shape with his back tail fins and flapped. He gained some lift but ended up swerving to the right this time. Toothless was laughing again. He'd get him back for that later.
He decided to practice flapping his wings for a bit, trying to keep them in sync. When he felt he was ready he attempted the lift off again. This time, he did it. He managed to flap himself into a lift once before gliding down gracefully after all the practice from earlier.
"Yes! I did it," He cheered. Ruffnut had been watching the whole thing and started clapping and whooping in celebration.
"Well done," Toothless congratulated, "Now you can try getting higher. It should be easy now you can do the first lift and your glide is perfect."
Hiccup nodded and went to try some more before Toothless held him back.
"Hold on. I just want to inform you about turning. We don't want you flying straight into a wall." He chuckled. "When you want to turn, lean your body sideways in the direction you want to go. Spread your wings at a slight angle, keeping them in line with your body. Your back tail fins are the most important part. The fin in the direction you are going needs to be angled down and the other needs to be up. The sharpness of the turn will cause the angles to be different. Wind also has a deciding factor in everything. You don't need to worry about it in here, but when you are outside, you'll need to constantly re-balance yourself as to not spiral out of control. When you are halfway through a turn, make sure to flap to maintain altitude. That's all for now, good luck," He grinned.
Flight just got even more complicated and these were just the basics. He could already see the crashes ahead of him.
When he lifted off this time he kept flapping instead of changing into a glide. He went higher and higher until a wall was closing in on him. He was scared of messing it up and crashing but he had to try, so he angled his wings left and changed his tail fin positions at the same time.
Unfortunately, he angled his wings too much and he flipped upside down. Not knowing how to catch the air in this position he started to drop like a rock.
Thinking quickly, he tucked in his wings and spiraled back up right. He re-opened his wings and went into a glide before hitting the water. He let out a relieved sigh before flapping again.
Toothless had been impressed by Hiccups quick reaction after his initial failure. He'd spun back around and gone back into a glide like an expert.
What amazed him even more was how fast he was learning. Only yesterday he couldn't glide properly, now he was up in the air learning to turn and instinctively performing advanced correction maneuvers. He kept watching as Hiccup practiced. He overshot it again the second time but yet again performed the expert maneuver before trying again.
His third time, he undershot it and ended up fanning his wings out to stop himself from crashing into the wall. He bounced off it and went into another glide. It was hard to believe he'd been born a Viking when he was taking to the air like a natural.
It was the tenth try before Hiccup was able to do a wide turn in either direction. He didn't stop there though. He kept practicing, making the turns tighter until he could switch direction rapidly.
He even started doing spins in the air. He was having the time of his life. Flying was amazing. He felt so free and alive. The rush he felt whenever he came close to crashing but then correcting himself felt revitalizing.
His heart was pounding and his breathing heavy after all the exertion but he didn't want to stop. He just wanted to keep pushing himself, see what else he could do in the air. He even flew up very high, but not enough to leave the cavern, before diving down at full speed and fanning his wings out at the last second. He even fit some rolls in there.
When he started to find it harder to move and his eyes were drooping from exhaustion, he finally landed.
"You're a natural," Toothless remarked. "You've already gotten to the level a five year old should be at, within a day! I'm beyond impressed with your progress."
Hiccup felt elated, he'd never received such amazing praise in his life. Not only had he learnt to fly but he'd also performed advanced skills within the first day of practicing. He was aching all over from it but he didn't care. The feel of freedom and joy the flying gave him and the way Toothless was showering him in praise for his efforts numbed out the pain. He couldn't be happier. He just wished there was something to eat. All the exercise had made him ravenous.
"So hungry," he moaned.
"Well, go out and eat then," smirked Toothless.
"You mean you think I'm ready to fly out of here?"He asked.
"Well from the amount of skill you've shown, yes. I think you'll adapt to the wind currents easily since you're such a natural. Just remember to bring something back for me."
"S-sure. Are you gonna be okay on your own?"
"I'll be fine, I'll fire up the walls to keep myself from hibernating."
"You hibernate?"
"Yeah, but only when it becomes far too cold to live in or there's not much food to go around. I haven't hibernated for at least ten years since the last famine my nest experienced. Plus, It wouldn't be a good idea to slip into hibernation here. With the water rising, I'd end up drowning."
"How old are you anyway? I mean I haven't really told you my actual age but I was just wondering. I'm fourteen myself."
"Fourteen? Why did the spell make you about four or five then?"
"Maybe it was my size? I wasn't that big. A bit shorter than Ruffnut."
"Well I'm 20 years old. Since there's only a six year different, it makes me more of a brother than a father to you."
"You saw yourself as my dad? I much prefer the older brother thing. So…brothers?" Hiccup asked while outstretching his paw.
Toothless put his own paw in Hiccups and gave a grin, "Brothers."
"Okay, now before you go I want to teach you one more thing. What I want you to do is take off without the run up. Simply open your wings up high, then leap up and flap down at the same time. It helps to crouch and leap forwards during the jump. This is the more common method of take off since run up's aren't always possible and can waste time in escaping. It was just easier to learn to fly with the run up."
"Okay, I'll try." Hiccup replied. He crouched low and held up his wings, with an unconscious wiggle of his bottom he leapt forwards into the air and flapped down hard. After the take off he was flying again.
"Well done Hiccup. Now you can leave, just grab the girl in your paws, and make sure to land as soon as you can since the extra weight will put strain on your wings." he yelled up at him.
Hiccup dived down and grabbed a stunned Ruffnut who had no clue of what was happening. "Eyahhh," She screamed, not expecting to suddenly find herself in the air.
"What are you doing?!"
But she didn't need the answer when she saw they were getting closer to the opening of the cavern. "But what about Toothless?" She cried. He just shook his head. He'd explain when they landed.
They were finally out and Hiccup felt amazing. The wind blew past him at the high altitude and he could hear the wonderful bird song once again. The view from this height was spectacular; he could see the whole island.
He spotted the waterfall they had first entered and headed over to it. It would be good to get Ruff back in her warm clothing.
Like Toothless had said, he'd easily adjusted to the wind currents. It required more focus to balance along with it and holding Ruff didn't help, but he managed.
After the thrill of finally getting out, he realized how much pain his wings were in. The extra weight really did put quite a strain on his already tired and aching wings.
They landed beside the waterfall pool and Hiccup decided to rest on his now shaking legs as Ruffnut went to fetch her clothes.
He was exhausted. After spending the entire day learning how to fly and finally getting out of there. He began to drift off. Now they just had to get toothless out of there. But he'd rest first. And with that he fell into a deep sleep, he didn't even notice when Ruff came back and led beside him.
When morning arrived, Hiccup found himself entangled with Ruffnut.
His legs and arms were tangled and wrapped round her as she did the same. His wings were also draped over them. He quickly untangled himself and shuffled away in embarrassment, causing her to wake. She let out a yawn and stretched.
"Morning Hiccup. Sleep well?" She asked.
He gave a nod. Now they had some dirt under them he decided now was a good a time as any to update Ruffnut on what was happening.
"So he knows your secret now huh? It's good that he's okay with it now. I was wondering what the teenage angst was about. But I'm glad you're friends again and he's willing to let me ride him," She smiled. Just then they spotted some deer grazing near by. They looked over at the two for a second before dashing into the forest. Hiccup and Ruffnut's stomachs growled. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
He gave a nod of agreement before they both ran after where the deer had just gone. Hiccup stopped Ruffnut when he caught the whiff of the deer nearby. They both hunkered down, ready to stalk their prey. They were currently down wind so the deer couldn't smell them.
"Since I don't have a weapon, I'll sneak over to the opposite side and scare them towards you. Your a dragon now so you're strong enough to grab it and tear into it's throat with your sharp teeth."
He nodded and got ready as she slowly and silently crept to her position. Hiccup eyed up the prey, there were a few does and a couple of fawns. This was his first hunt and he didn't want to blow it, so he'd go for the fawn.
But then again, It wouldn't be a very big meal and there were two dragons to feed. It would be better to go for a doe. He didn't have much more time to think as the sound of a branch snapping could be heard to the upper right of him.
She'd made a mistake and now they were running diagonal to his position. He immediately ran out and chased down a doe. He was close behind her, but rather than get close enough to go for her throat he bit down on her hind leg. The doe gave out a panicked cry as she fell over.
But before Hiccup could pounce on her she kicked him in the face with her other hind leg, stunning him. She'd just started to run off again but Hiccup quickly pounced and bit into the soft flesh of her throat, crushing her windpipe. He felt the life drain out of it and the rush of the hunt cooled down. He let go and realized what he'd done.
It shouldn't affect him, he needed to eat. But he'd just killed a living creature.
He could taste its blood in his mouth as he watched it seep out and drain into the dirt. He felt himself going into shock at what he'd done. When Ruff came running up to him it startled him into turning and growling in a crouched down position. She stepped back scared.
"H-Hiccup, are you okay?" She said in fear. His eyes were wild, pupils slit. He was acting like a beast guarding its meal.
But at the sight of her, his pupils grew large and a guilty expression crossed him at what he'd just done. Hunting and killing this animal had brought out his feral side.
He needed to control it better or he risked harming Ruff. He carefully walked over to her before writing, 'sorry, I don't know what came over me.'
She let out a relieved breath, "It's okay, you just scared me there. I guess it was just your natural instinct kicking in after the kill. I shouldn't have approached you so suddenly."
Seeing the blood marring his scales, she gave him a pet rather than a hug before walking over to the carcass. "This hide would be useful for the prosthetic don't you think?"
He gave a quick nod, his mouth watering to get a bite of the delicious deer flesh.
"I need to skin it before you can eat it," She scolded.
She pulled out the spearhead. She'd detached it from the stick and hid it in her clothing. She'd had it wedged in her breast band the whole time without a need to use it again until now. She cut down the belly of the doe and along the insides of the legs, carefully cutting and pulling the skin away from the flesh. When she was done she folded it up and looked over to Hiccup who was now biting into it and gulping it down, getting blood all over his head and paws.
He really had become more dragon than human now. He hadn't even hesitated to dig into the raw meat. She started cutting into the doe, making small portions to cook for herself later. She couldn't eat it raw like the dragons after all. When she was done with that she asked Hiccup to drag the carcass over to the pond. She didn't want some predator going for it or her as she went to wash the hide. She found a stream coming out from the pond and left the hide in there. She needed to keep it moist for now and didn't want it sinking in the deep pool of water.
She cut into the doe carcass some more, this time cutting off the legs and head.
"You can take the rest back to Toothless if you've had your fill," She stated. "Just don't take too long, I don't want to be stuck out here alone."
He gave a nod, then grabbed the carcass in his mouth and took off. He switched it to his paws in mid air and made his way back to the cavern.
Ruff, took out the bones from the legs while she waited. She could make some nice weapons from them. They would be better than the stone spear head she was currently using. She also cut out the tendons so she could make some sinew for a possible bow. She's find some cedar bark and pine sap when Hiccup got back.
She had always hated the cloth making lessons she had to learn when she was younger. All the females had to learn how to make fabric from wool and hide, and thread from tendons, bark, fur and wool. She also had to learn how to turn that thread into string or rope and that fabric into wearable clothing. But she was grateful for it now.
She was stuck in the wilderness and the knowledge she had learnt was vital. With it she could make the prosthetic fabric for Toothless' tail and she could make some warmer clothing for herself. She wasn't that good with weapons, that was what the males specifically learnt. But she was sure Hiccup could help with that part since he'd worked in the forge.
When Hiccup returned, he looked worried. 'The water rose again.' He wrote.
"How much?" she asked, concerned she wouldn't get the prosthetic done in time. It would take at least a couple of days to get it finished.
'Well before it was up to your ankles, now it would be up to your knees.'
Ruffnut got up. She had to get started on the rope. "Guard the fur, I'll be back in a bit." She told him before walking off to find some suitable bark. She'd already laid the tendons out to dry.
She planned to use the sinew mainly for a bow and some other weapons. It wasn't waterproof so she'd need to seal it with beeswax, but even then she doubted it would be enough to stop it getting wet and it was too risky to use on a prosthetic that would put a lot of strain on it. The wet sinew would easily fall apart in the air, so she couldn't use it on the fin. She found what she was looking for, a cedar tree. She was glad to find one on this island. Now she had a place to collect both the bark and sap. She didn't have anything to hold the sap just yet so she got to work stripping the trunk and harvesting the softer inner bark. When she had her arms full of it, she headed back.
When she got back she saw Hiccup was doing something, he had his head over the water and...blew fire! He'd learnt to create fire! When had he leant to do that?
"Hey Hiccup, I'm back. When did you learn to do that?" She asked.
Hiccup turned around and began writing in the dirt. 'I asked Toothless when I delivered the doe. He told me the basics and I'm practicing now.'
"Cool. Do you think you could burn the ground a bit so the tendons I've laid out can dry faster?" He gave a nod and blew some on the ground, coughing a bit after it.
'I keep inhaling the gas' he wrote.
"Aww…well I'm sure you'll get the hang of it, thanks for the fire."
She got to work on the bark. She laid a strip on a stone surface and started pounding it with a smooth rock she'd found near by. She kept going until it came apart into small stringy strips and de-tangled them. She repeated this with all the bark.
Next she twisted the pieces together. She knotted more strands onto each individual thread at different sections until she had several long pieces of string. She then reverse twisted two of each string together to make a stronger rope. The friction of the reverse twist held it together.
It was mid afternoon by the time she finished and her fingers hurt like no tomorrow. Hiccup had also been practicing the whole time and had his tongue hanging out in the cool water.
It looked rather burnt along with his gums and throat. Apparently dragons weren't so fire proof on the inside. She wished she had something to help sooth the burns. She couldn't see any plantain or aloe when they were exploring the island so that option was out.
If there was a bee hive somewhere she could treat him with honey. She needed to keep going with the fabric making so she went to give Hiccup her advice.
"Hiccup, I think you should treat those burns before you carry on. I don't want you making them any worse and if we don't treat them they might get infected."
He turned away from the water and began to write, 'Night fury saliva has natural healing properties. It should be fine.'
"I don't care if it does, I still think you should have something so help sooth it, you're clearly in pain. Go and find some honey. You have better hearing and smell so you should be able to find them better than me. Bring back a hive when you find one. Make sure to kill the bees." She said, sounding like a concerned nagging parent.
'Okay, okay. I'm going ' He wrote before slouching off. He was in quite a bit of pain and the honey did sound nice. Didn't make it any more thrilling a thought to go hunting for a hive though. Who knew how far he'd have to go before he found one?
Ruffnut got back to work when he left. She began cutting and snapping some thick branches from nearby trees and tying them together into a square frame that she lodged into the ground. She then rung out and hung up the now smelly hide with the rope she made, stretching it right out on the frame. Her spear head wasn't too sharp so she used that to scrape off the excess meat and membrane from the inside at a ninety degree angle, before going round the other side and scraping off the fur.
When she finished, Hiccup had returned with a chard honey comb in his mouth and annoyed expression on his face. He was covered in honey and had twigs, leaves and dirt stuck to him. She couldn't help let out a giggle.
He looked hilarious.
He'd had to travel all the way to other side of the forest to find them hanging in large honeycombs off the face of a cliff. He'd shot some down only for it to land on him, covering him in sticky honey and having the bees swarm him. His hide kept him protected from their stings but it took a while to burn them to smoldering piles of fluff and make off with the prize. He drooped the comb letting out a huff and promptly dived into the pool. His mouth wasn't as sore any more after getting the honey in there, but he couldn't help wonder if it had been worth the effort.
After working all day on the hide and rope, Ruffnut was starving. She had yet to eat her venison, but now that Hiccup could make fire, she could cook herself some.
"Could you make a fire please?" She asked politely, since Hiccup wasn't in too good a mood. He gave a groan and lit a small pile of sticks on fire. Ruffnut then proceed to spear the meat with a stick and wedged it over the fire to cook.
While she waited, she opened up the deer head she had saved and scooped out the brains. She used the skull as a bowl as she added some water to it. She mashed up the brains and held the skull over the fire for a bit until it was warm and frothy. She then dug out a pit in the soil to use as a bucket, which she poured the mixture into. Being near the pool and stream, she didn't have to worry about it seeping into the ground too fast. She cut down the raw hide, getting rid of the unclean edges, and dropped it into the hole.
It would get a bit muddy but she didn't have anything else to put it in. After adding some more warm water, she massaged it thoroughly before leaving it to soak over night. Done with the days tasks and waiting for the venison to cook, she decided to cheer up Hiccup a bit. She walked over to him and started giving him a scratch. Although he was trying to ignore it at first since he was still in a bad mood over the burning of his mouth and the battle with the bees, he soon leaned into her touch and let out cooing and purring sounds. He rolled onto his back and unconsciously started to twitch a hind leg. He was very content once she stopped and went to eat her dinner. Stomach full, she curled into hiccup and they fell into a light sleep, worry on their minds about Toothless.
When the sun rose the next day, they got back to work. Ruffnut took the hide out of soak and began to wring it dry. She placed it onto a smooth horizontal branch and folded it twice. Then she rolled up each vertical end to the centre. She stuck another stick through the loop this had made and twisted it tightly, getting all the water out. She did this a few times, moving the loop around to evenly wring it. When she was sure she'd wrung it enough, she unfolded it and rehung it on the frame, making sure to stretch it out as much as she could. Then she took a smooth rock and rubbed it over the hide repeatedly to stretch and soften it. She tightened the ropes the more it stretched out, she wanted it nice and thin and flexible. She let out a sigh, this was going to take her all day. Hiccup had gone off fishing. Now that he could fly, he'd taken some tips from toothless how to do it and planned to try it out. She hoped he'd come back with at least one for each of them.
He came back mid afternoon with a fish in his paws. Although that clearly wasn't how much he'd actually caught when he started throwing some up to give to toothless. She briefly wondered when he'd learnt the reflex.
"Do you mind taking over Hiccup? She asked. "My arms are killing me and I've just re-tightened it so you only need to rub the rock on it for now."
He gave a nod but before getting to that, he drew some diagrams and instructions on the ground. It was for the rods that would act as the bones for the fins. Only they would actually be bones, given the materials they had.
"Thanks Hiccup, I'll get on that after lunch," she said before going to eat her raw fish. She didn't mind the taste of it so she didn't see the point in waiting for it to cook.
She watched Hiccup hold two stones in each front paw before rubbing them down the hide. It looked like he was playing with it like a cat, it was rather cute. From hiccups instructions, she had to cut the front leg bones into quarters and file them down into cylinders. Another hard and lengthy process giving she only had rocks to work with instead of a proper blacksmith grinder. Maybe hiccup could do it instead? He was more knowledgeable on the subject and he seemed to hold onto the stones okay. She'd just have to cut the pieces for him. Once she'd finished the fish she got right on that. It was rather tricky cutting into the bone with her now sharpened spearhead; she had just spent a while sanding it on a rock. She ended up splitting the bones a couple times, it was lucky they only needed six rods. She scraped out the marrow to eat later.
"Hiccup, could you do the filing at all? I'm better with fabric and you're blacksmith after all." He dropped the stones and slandered over to her. He attempted to take one of the bone sticks into his paws. It took a few tried but he managed to grip it awkwardly between his claws. He began filing them against the top of a hard rock, being careful not to use too much of his new found strength. Ruff went back to the hide, trying not to giggle at how strange it looked for a dragon to be grinding down a bone like a human.
The next day, the hide was nice and dry and stretched so it was ready for smoking. She took it down and stitched loosely into a tube shape. She then hung it over a smoking pit. she'd had Hiccup create a fire earlier for the process. She'd keep an eye on it to make sure it stayed smoking and not come out in flames again.
By noon, Hiccup had finished with the rods and they looked great. Considering he didn't have the dexterity of his human hands, he'd still done a good job and the bone rods looked finely crafted. He really was a great blacksmith.
"Those look great Hiccup," She praised and gave him a scratch. He gave a warble as a thank you and then trotted off. With nothing more for him to do, he decided to fly off to get some fish for the day.
Ruffnut took a well-needed bath and washed her clothes before she got to work making a thinner thread for the sewing she'd be doing soon, all the while keeping an eye on the hide.
She turned it inside out once the first side was done and took it down as it started to get dark. The hide was now waterproof and ready to be used as fabric.
Hiccup had had a better catch this time and gave ruff three fish before flying over to toothless. Apparently the water would be up to her waste now and she worried whether they'd be able to take off. It would most likely be up to her chest by tomorrow. She had to get the prosthetic done. Now all that was left was sowing it together and adding the bone rods. She cut the fabric into the shape required and placed the bone rods on top. She was amazed about how Hiccup had done them.
The ends of the rods had spheres and cup joints attached to the end, which would attach to another pole along the tail, while allowing movement of the rods. That pole had flattened ends with holes in for the ropes. She made sure they were in the correct places before laying over some more fabric and pinning them in place to the base fabric with smashed up shells she'd had hiccup collect. The second layer only covered the bones to make the fin as light and thin as possible. The main fabric would be the top half. She slid off the fabric to stitch later. She then attached the five rods into the pole where holes had been made. The cups had spikes on the end for easier insertion. She secured them with pine pitch. She'd collected the cedar sap earlier and had heated it with some charcoal to make the glue. She tied some thread around the joining to make them extra secure.
She decided to call it a day there seeing as it was becoming so dark it was hard to see. She'd stitch the fin in the morning.
It was finished. The fin folded smoothly and everything was secure. She'd tied some rope in the pole's holes and left a trail to tie around her foot for now. They didn't have time to make the saddle and peddles Hiccup had planned. They needed to get toothless out first. She'd also added more fabric to the pole and attached some string to either end as to attach it to his tail. The pole moved back and forth in the fabric sheath as to control the tension of the fin.
She gathered it up in her arms and Hiccup flew them off to Toothless. Hopefully they weren't too late and this fin would work. What worried her the most though was the darkening clouds and the whispers of thunder in the near distance.
Meanwhile on Stoic's ship.
They were coming back from another failed attempt at reaching the nest. He'd lost half his fleet. After setting off, they'd checked a few islands on the way but there wasn't any sign of the night furies or Ruffnut. If she'd fallen off she would have surely washed up on one of them.
They planned to spread their search a bit further before heading back to Berk, just in case. But if she had been taken to the nest, there wasn't anything more he could do. Why was it so hard to get there?
They'd tried time and time again, using different paths, sailing as slow as possible to avoid the sea stacks; but they could never make it. He looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were looming and thunder deafened the air. A storm was coming in, fast. The first flash of lightning let loose the rain.
"TAKE IN THE SAILS," He bellowed. The order was spread to the other ships and the men hurriedly started to untie the ropes and roll them up to the upper beams. The wind picked up, causing the waves to increase in size. Their little boats weren't made for storms.
In his hurry to set out for the nest, he'd forgotten to ask Gothi if it was safe to sail. Now the gods were striking them down for their carelessness.
Stoic looked to his right in time to see one of the ships capsize. They hadn't gotten the sails up fast enough when a gust of wind had hit them. Water poured into the boat, threatening to sink them. The sea had become a chaotic nightmare. The rain was so heavy, they couldn't see far in front of themselves. If they could, they would have seen the rocks ahead of them.
"TURN!" He shouted when he caught sight of them, but it was too late. The ship crashed into a low sea stack and broke into the ships hull. "ABBANDON SHIP." He cried and jumped over to a nearby boat. He only just made the jump, hanging onto the side of it. Others hadn't been as luckily and were swallowed into the dark frigid waters. The waves grew higher and their powerless ships were carried along for the ride. Before they knew it, they were quickly approaching an island.
Stoic's eyes widened when he saw it and all he heard after that was a loud crashing sound mixed in with his fellow Vikings' screams, as the ship hit the shores and he blacked out.
AN- so how was that? I had to do a ton of research for this chapter. It was an interesting learning experience. I also hope I got the facts okay on Toothless' tail since I couldn't find much explanation on the mechanics. Just say if I should add some info.
Reviews.
Lizzy – glad you like It so much. :) you know you could always make an account and follow me so you'll get an email when I've posted the next chap.
Fireflame159 - Thanx. I don't like to keep my readers waiting too long. I always appreciate authors who can get chapters out quickly as well. Although not the ones who make ridiculously short, rushed chapters and haven't even tried to proofread. You know?
Concrit – I'm glad you're still enjoying it. I noticed that most Vikings on Berk don't have their arms covered so they are pretty good in the cold anyway by the looks of it. Hiccup did go to warm her some when she was getting a bit too cold but I see what you mean by the exposure. I'm just gonna pretend they have adapted to the cold partially as well as that guy who swims in ice water. Think he's in the Guinness book of records. And I'm glad I got the balance right with Hiccup's confession. :)
Guest -Did you think about how hiccup is going to turn human.
Yes, I have it planned. But it will take a while to get there.
Thanks to everyone else who reviewed. Hope you liked the chapter. Next will be up within 3 days.