Woot! Thanks for all the reviews! This story has been eating away at the back of my head all night, so here I am obliging it! Read, review, and enjoy! Tell me your thoughts and input, I don't turn away criticism, I enjoy it.
italics = thoughts
Me: Dare I say it?
Karma: He Owns Nothing!
Me: SHUT UP!
Karma: No! I still have some rights after you destroyed my eye!
Training had gone well yesterday, the kids were getting good at flight control over their dragons, and Hiccup had found it easier than he thought to shut up the worry screaming in the back of his head; this was the end of the first week. Today's lesson was on the ground this time, and the class was waiting for a few of the stragglers to show up so they could begin. Well, waiting as quietly as teens can be . . .
"So what do you think your dragon's stats are?" a gangly boy asked the shorter, chubbier boy next to him. It was a common question "what are your dragon's stats?", now that thinking had become more of a habit in Berk, children had developed new ways to boast superiority and this was the most common. Ridiculous, Hiccup thought to himself as he listened in, soon enough they'll be bragging over whose dragon has shiniest scales!
"Change Wing: 7 speed, strength 11-" the plump boy was about to continue when another young man butted his face into their conversation.
"Hey guys, were taking bets, you want to put one in?" the interrupting teen said excitedly to the two young vikings, who looked at him with blank stares.
"Bet on what?" the gangly one asked confused. This perked hiccups interest, what were these kids betting on?
"On Karma, of course! We're putting stuff in the pot for whether he survives or not. It's great fun seeing what kind of wagers people have put; Boneshod bet his dagger saying 'he aint coming back'" Hiccup stopped what he was doing, trying not to look conspicuous with his eavesdropping.
"A'ight, write me up." gangly agreed, and bet: "I'll eat a fish raw if that jerk lives!"
"Hear hear." Chubby conformed, and the bet man wrote their names down in runic along with their wagers. Hiccup could take it anymore, the curiosity was killing him as he walked up to the stout boy that was writing down the stakes.
"Has anyone bet that he will come out alive? Any of his friends perhaps?" he asked, wondering just how good of friends Karma had. The boy just stared at him for a minute before speaking.
"With all due respect sir, Karma doesn't have any friends; they all left when he started pulling stuff on their dragons." he looked at Hiccup as if to say "where have you been?". That was a mental blow; everyone had staked against Karma not because he had no chance, but because they didn't want him to. Hiccup took a deep breath before asking another question.
"Who gets the pot if he doesn't die?" Hiccup asked shakily. The bet boy thought for a minute before replying.
"I dunno, we didn't plan for that."
(scene change)
Ooh gosh it itches! I didn't sleep all night because of that one thing, and the occasional bout of throbbing. The tickly tingly feeling in my eye was insufferable; when I did give it a scratch, the thing felt like I had ripped a scab out of my eye with a butter knife. Glint had stuck with me in my clearing the whole time, refusing to move when I pushed him to go. I had used leaves to wipe up and stop the blood that was trickling out of my eye, a big one was spread over it right now; maybe that was what itched.
I was ripping my piece of leather in hopes that I could make an eyepatch; Glint was helpful, letting me use his claws to cut through the fabric. My plan for the patch was simple: a band of leather that would go around my head like a headband, a piece attached to the headband that would cover my eye, and a piece that would loop around my ear with one end attached to the eye cover and the other end to the band. As you can probably guess, it was a lot harder than I had designed it to be. In example: I had to poke holes with Glint's talons and feed a bit of twine through for each stitch in the fabric, and there were quite a few stitches to be done.
I finished just as the sun came bubbling up from the sea's horizon line, and tied it around my head. It wasn't the best "patch" job in the world, the ear loop felt weird and other little niches, but it did its job of covering my eye. I pinched the leaf that I had put over my eye as a substitute patch and ripped it off like a band-aid, I hissed in pain as little flecks of dried blood fell to the ground. Glint was up and ready to pounce before I knew it, I held up the blood stained leaf wearing the "duh" expression; he only calmed slightly with this, still darting his eyes around with his ears up.
"I'm okay," I tried to reassure him by placing my hand on his shoulder, yet I couldn't figure out why. Why did I want him to know that I was fine? Why did I care that he cared? I've always hated dragons since mom's accident! So why not you?
He seemed to have remembered something, because he started nudging me in a direction I couldn't entirely recognize. I right eye ached a little as it moved in hateful unison with my left, looking to find something familiar with where Glint was pushing me. If anyone has ever tried to walk with their right eye closed, I would eat my pelt if they never tripped; I know I did, twice: the first on a fallen tree in my blind spot, and the second tumble was solely on the imbalance of only seeing to the left, both times I was caught before I landed by Glint. Why did he care?
We reached the beach, I instantly recognized the rock that I had sat upon while fishing. So thats it. You brought me here for a guilt trip! Apparently his scheme was working, I felt a little bad for the way I had blown up after he lost my fishing pole. Wait, No! Why do I care? I've done so much worse than that, why do I feel all emotional over this!
It wasn't a guilt trip, I discovered as Glint waddled over to the rock and picked something up with his teeth retracted. He came sauntering back, proud of something as he deposited his mouthful in the wet sand at my feet. It was the fishing pole that had started the whole incident last night, given, it was bent slightly and the spool twine was missing. He looked at me expectantly, his eyes saying "well, what do you think?". I was dumbfounded, this was the first time someone had come back and apologize for something that was more my fault then theirs. As I picked the pole up, Glint looked at me hopefully, his ears rising, his tail beginning to wag.
"Come here ya big scaly lug!" I cried as I lunged in, hugging his neck as he tried to maneuver himself around to lick at my face. For the first time in a long time, I cried while smiling; I didn't care that my eye ached with the tears, it didn't matter that I was stuck here, it didn't even matter that I had hated dragons only a day previous! I had a friend that had stuck with me in a situation that even I wouldn't have stayed, and that was enough for me.
When I drew away, Glint looked at me worriedly while lapping at the tears from under my patch whose water had been substituted with blood. Funny . . . I couldn't feel an ounce of pain, just his tongue wiping away the tiny beads of blood, it tickled . . .
Yay for short feel-goodness! There is still a week left of Karma's punishment, or even longer depending on whether he can prove he has learned his lesson or not, This Is Not The End! You have read to get this far, so review! Like? Dislike? The details thereof? TELL ME!
Astrid: Make him suffer!
Karma: Yeah, press the button!
Me: When will you learn that I am a masochist for criticism!
