A.N.: Sorry for the delay, I got busy with other projects and life and all that...but I finally managed to finish it! :D I'm pretty please with how it came out, I spent some time writing it so I really hope ya'll enjoy it!
Also, I split "New Tail" Into two parts mostly because the chapter would have been longer if I hadn't, and I didn't want to add to much in one chapter. So here is Chapter 7!
"Son of man look to the sky,
Lift your spirit, set it free.
Some day you'll walk tall with pride.
Son of man, a man in time you'll be."
You know, if someone had told me three days ago that I would find one of the most dangerous dragons in all existence and befriend it, I would have laughed. I'm sure anyone would have. It was just something that didn't happen, especially to Vikings. Now, however, it seems more realistic then ever. I was still trying to decide if it actually happened or not, it all seemed so unreal. This doubt resulted in me staying in the valley until dark.
I had voice nagging at me, even though I didn't want to, to get back to the village. Working up the will to, I picked myself up, my eyes scanned the area for Toothless; who had seemed to vanish in the blink on an eye. It always fascinated me how he seamlessly blended in with the shadows that now surrounded the glistening lake. The only thing about him that stood out were his piercing green eyes that watched me as I reluctantly edged toward the sliver of space I'd managed to come through.
'I am definitely coming back tomorrow.' Everything inside of me wishing that this wasn't just some dream that I'd conjured in my subconscious, so to reassure myself that it was indeed real I, instead of walking forward, started backing up toward the exit. Those unforgettably expressive eyes slanted slightly, as they continued to peer at me. A smile fell on my lips as I imagined him tilting his head at me.
'He's probably wondering what I'm doing.' Shaking my head, I decided that I should probably really leave now that I've solidified that it was indeed real. So I finally flipped around, only to come to abrupt stop, I had ran right into the shield that I had gotten stuck there earlier.
"Oh, man." I stumbled back a little, squinting at the stubborn object in front of me. Furrowing my brows. I grabbed the top of it and started tugging. Frustration filled me as I kept getting nowhere with it. The finalizing squeaks that it was still just as stuck as it was before grated on my eardrums like an irritating scratching sound. Sliding back underneath it, I start tugging at it from the handles from the other side hoping that it would help in freeing it from it's confines. No such luck.
"Come on…come on!" I yank as hard as I could, but it still didn't budge. Leaning on the top I sigh, contemplating on leaving it there. A slight movement in front of me caught my attention, the next thing I know I'm peering into those green eyes, that were all the way across the valley a second ago, were now right in front of me.
"Ah!" Startled I fell back, I had forgotten how silent he could move, and hated how he seamlessly blended in with then night. "Toothless?" Those green eyes gazed at me for awhile, they seemed to hold an
'I'm not amused' look, which then shifted down, regarding the shield with slight annoyance, before wrapping his tail around it and with a one tug, it groaned and came out with a pop. Gazing up at him, I watch as he drops it to the ground with a thud at my feet. He then peers at me with a look that said, 'that wasn't so hard'.
"Uh…thanks." I mutter as I pick myself up along with the shield, now awestruck that he'd helped me get my shield out of the entrance. I heard him give me a derisive snort before vanishing from my sight again. Biting my lip, I turn from the valley and head back up the hill, not really wanting to leave. For the first time in my life, I'd found something incredible.
I'd stumbled onto a dragon that's not everything that we think he is. He's actually smart, and seems to understand that I meant him no harm. A smile broke on my face as I remember his scales on the palm of my hand, the warmth still left its mark on my hand.
'This is so amazing, I mean…who would've thought that I would have actually touched a dragon…me!' Ha, this had to be the best thing that has ever happen to me…no this was the best thing to happen to me. My mind was still so wrapped up in what had happened today that I was just moving on autopilot. I didn't remember walking up the steps to my house or going inside.
The thing that broke me out of my revelry was a heavy pounding on the door; it stopped me mid-way up the stairwell. 'I wonder who…' I tilt my eyes toward the door, staring at it and starting to wonder if there was indeed someone at the door. I jumped when the pounding came again, followed by a voice that I recognized.
"I know yer 'ere lad! Hiccup, open th' door!" Gobber.
I nearly trip on the stairs trying to get to the door before he pounded it down, which I'm sure he'd do too. Finally making it to the door, I yank it open to see Gobber standing with his hand on his hip, lips curled into a frown but his blue eyes regarded me with concern touching at the tips of his aggravation.
"Wha' 'appened to ya boy? I 'adn't seen yeh since yeh took off this afternoon."
"Umm…" He'd seen me take off? I thought he'd left with everyone else. The fact that he hadn't and he'd been wondering where I'd been, kind of made me feel like I wasn't completely hated here. Sighing I drop my hand by my side. I didn't even think that Gobber would've noticed either, but I suppose he would seeing as how he seems to be the only one who really cares for my well being. I look down; feeling guilty now but I couldn't tell him where I'd been. He never would believe me, no matter how much he cares for me. He'd think I'd gone mad, so I just opted for plan b.
"Sorry, I just…I couldn't stay in the village after…" I flinch at the memory of the training with the Nadder. Gobber just shakes his head at me. It's better if he thinks I was out to clear my head, and get over my recent failure rather then going in search of a dragon. For the time being anyway…at least until I get a better feel of what was going on with him.
"Tha' was pretty pathetic, but eh, there's always tomorrow righ' lad?"
I couldn't help but smile at the failed attempt to make me feel better, he was so bad at it, but I had to cut him some slack because at least he was trying. After all, I suppose he was right. There always was tomorrow. A frown tugged at my lips, I wasn't so sure that I wanted to continue on with the training, seeing as how we were being trained to kill dragons and I just didn't think that I could, especially now that I had a Night Fury in a valley that I had named Toothless.
A hand fell on my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts and pushed me forward, blinking out of my thoughts I turned to see Gobber leading me away from my house. Quirking a brow I look up at him, wondering what he thought he was doing.
"Uh, where…are we going?"
"I thin' tha' it would be good if'nstead of havin' our li'l meetin' in th' Meade Hall, we could hold it in one of th' watchtowers."
Thoughts of the last meeting we had as a group made me shudder, I did not want a repeat of the insults and chills that I got last time. So I try to pry myself away from him, I force a smile on my face, "As fun as that sounds Gobber I think that I'll pass on this meeting. Besides it's been a long day and I really think that I should rest up for tomorrow!" He looked like he wasn't gonna be having any of it.
"I know, yer no' use teh being around th' others and they might come off negatively toward yeh, bu' I really thin' if yeh give'em a chance they'd warm up to yeh."
Might come off negatively? They emit negativity toward me so much that I think I can see it coming off them. Frowning, I look at my boot; something tells me none of them really wants to warm up to me as much as they'd enjoy throwing me into a fire.
"I don't think so…" I mutter to the ground. I heard a grunt from Gobbers' end.
"The're no' tha' bad a bunch. Sure, they are irritatin', loud, 'nd 'ave a 'ard time listenin'…bu' they're jus' like yeh are."
"How do you figure?" This I had to hear.
He laughed at me, looking down at me as if the answer was obvious. Scowling, I cross my arms and quirk a brow at him.
"Oh, c'mon Hiccup, yeh aren't as different from them as yeh thin' yeh are. The're kids jus' like yeh are, wantin' nothin' more then teh fit in 'nd make their paren's proud. I be' anythin' they're jus' as nervous 'bout this as yeh are."
That would make sense to me, if I'd been on the same level as them, the sad thing was that I wasn't. I knew I wasn't, they were already ahead of me in the "fitting in" cataory. I shake my head as I felt all the pressure and need to fit in come crashing down on me. The unfairness hit me in waves, without even thinking about it I start to let the words fall out of my mouth.
"Yeah, as true as that is, none of them have destroyed the village trying to fit in and make their parents proud! They aren't as awkward at it as I am! They can lift hammers and swing axes without toppling over! They have a higher chance at actually completing the training and becoming apart of the Village without fear of become out casted if they don't! They aren't the son of the chief, whose suppose to be a shinning example of what a Viking is suppose to be, only to end up being the exact opposite! They are already much closer to becoming a Viking then I am! I'm not on the same level as they are; I'll never be on that level…" I tear my eyes away and walk away from him as my fathers disappointed face flitted in my mind, and the hope that hung in his voice before he left. Hope that I'd be everything he's wanted me to be when he comes back. "I…want so much to be a part of them; I want to be on that level…I just…can't."
A hand roughly grabs me and spins me around; I blink up at Gobber who gazed down at me with a hard expression. He held his hand on my shoulder held me in place and pointed at me with his hook hand.
"Now yeh lis'en teh me Hiccup, yeh do have the makin' of a grea' Vikin' in yeh. This talk 'bout no' 'avin' th' same chance as the' do is nonsense!" I open my mouth to say something, but he cuts me off with a wave of his hook hand. "I don' wanna 'ere no mor' of yeh excuses. So, yeh failed more then mos'! So, yeh 'ave to work 'arder then mos'. So wha'! We are Vikin's Hiccup, we didn' ge' 'ere by givin' up jus' cause it seems hopeless! We don' give up an' I ain' 'bout teh let yeh do it, I wouldn' 'ave convinced yer father tha' yeh could do it, jus' teh 'ave yeh fold two trainin' sessions in!"
I blinked shocked. "Yo…you did?" He had vouched for me, I didn't even think about why my father had changed his mind, I was struck by the confidence that he had in me. He was willing to give me a chance when not even my own father was ready to give up. I had no idea that he would be the one to do something like that.
"You…talked to my dad? You're the reason I'm in training in the first place?"
He sighed and ran his hand down his face, "Course I did! Afteh wha' yeh said abou' wantin' teh be one o' us! I though' yeh at least deserved a chance teh at leas' try. 'Sides I thin' with th' right trainin' yeh might actually catch a dragon withou' destroyin' th' village in th' process." A crooked smile twisted his face, then it fell as he watched my face, "So, I don' wanna 'ear no more o'this no' bein' on th' same level as th' others. Yeh, go' it?"
I couldn't help but feel touched by the man in front of me. He still believed in me, he was the reason that my father changed his mind about letting me train to fight dragons, because Gobber still believed in me. I couldn't stop myself from hugging him, I had thought that he thought I was never gonna accomplish becoming a Viking when all this time, he was trying to push me forward.
"Eh, s'all right Hiccup…c'mon now lad." He said patting my shoulder briefly before pulling me away from him. I looked up at him and he look flustered, he really isn't all that good at comforting people…I think it makes him uncomfortable. I couldn't blame him though, Vikings were trained to fight dragons, defend their village and fight the most dangerous creatures with out breaking a sweat, but when it comes to trying to comfort someone we are the most awkward at it. Still I couldn't help my self, he believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself.
I open my mouth to say something, but he stopped me by shoving me forward toward the watchtower where we're having the meeting at, "Le's jus' keep movin'. Bes' no' be keepin' 'em waitin'."
"Yeah, probably better not."
The rest of the walk was done in silence, and as we neared the tower, I began to question what I was doing. Numbly walking up the steps, I begin to wonder if wanting to get closer to the dragon was such a good idea, I mean there is still the chance that he could snap and decide to kill me. A fish on a stick was handed to me; I took it without looking at the provider. I just sat down and began to spin the fish above the fire, my gaze flitted to the fishes face and I remembered when I had handed Toothless the fish and he took it from me without taking my fingers off. He had been hungry, but he had taken care to not get my fingers as well. Gobber's speech about me having the makings of a great Viking swirled with the images of Toothless showing me a different side of them were swirling around in my mind and fought to gain the upper hand.
'I still want to know more about him. I've already told my self that there's no turning back from the moment I entered the cave…so I'm going to go through with this…although I'm not so sure what 'this' is exactly.'
Gobbers' voice thundered through my thoughts, I hadn't heard the beginning of the story, but it didn't take me long to recognize it. "…and with one twist th' dragon took my hand an' swallowed it whole, an' I could tell from the look on it's face; I was delicious! It must've passed the word because it wasn' a month later tha' anotheh one of 'em took my leg." Faint gasps of awe drifted to my ears as Gobber had finished his story.
"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon, like if your mind was still in control of it, you could've killed the dragon by like crushing it's heart…or something…"
Shaking my head at Fishlegs, I began to wonder how I haven't befriended him before. Then I rolled my eyes rolled as Snotlout voice slithered its way into my ears.
"I swear I'm so angry right now! I'm going to avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'm gonna chop of the legs of every dragon I fight…" I cringed at that, it seems a little unnecessary. "…With my face." Now it seems less threatening then it was before. Closing my eyes, I had to try to remember why I was here in the first place.
'Oh, right to try and fit in, I can see that it's working so well.' Then again I wasn't even trying that hard to fit in. I was really only here for Gobber because I didn't want to disappoint him besides I was really only here because of Gobber. I couldn't be mad at him really, he is only trying to help me after all.
"Hunh-uh, uh! I's the wings an' th' tails tha' yeh wan'." This caught my attention, "If it can' fly, it can' ge' away! A downed dragon…is a dead dragon." Everything fled from my mind and my heart sank at this thought. Toothless's tail fin popped into my mind, the healing side pressing against it!
Dread conquered me as the thought of someone finding him, and he couldn't get out. I mean he could kill me, but if a swarm of Vikings happened to stumble on him, or even just one did and he brought others. Images of Vikings coming at him with spears and swords gave me chills and propelled me out of my seat and down the stairs.
"I can't let that happen to him, I won't! I won't have him getting killed because of me!"
My feet flew all the way toward the blacksmiths shop, determination giving them wings. I had to make this right, I had to fix this I just had to! Pulling my vest off I replace it with my apron. Running all the way back to my little room in the back, I lay a paper the length of my desk down and sit down, starting to sketch the tail fin. Remembering how it looked up close, and I tried to calculate how long it could have been. I had to get this right.
My hand started flying across the page as I sketched out the plans for the artificial side of his tail fin. I don't know how long I'd been sitting there drawing and measuring but I knew that I had to get this right. A smile formed on my face as I pulled back from my sketch. Picking it up I carry it onto Gobbers desk, pinning it down so it would stay. I look at the numbers that I had carefully calculated as his the length of his tail fin. Furrowing my brows, I try look around the room for a sword or something long made of metal.
Grabbing the several different swords, I examined and measured them until I found the one with the right length. Thinning my lips, I threw it on the coals, jumping on the fan, spurting the fire on, and heating the coals underneath.
I kept the image of Toothless' tail in my mind; I had to make it right. There was no room for guessing. He just had to fly again, and I wasn't gonna rest until I'd accomplished that. It felt like forever before I noticed the sword come to life with a red glow. Pulling away, I grabbed a pair of gloves and some pliers. I carefully picked up the sword and placed it on the anvil next to me.
"No, where is?" I search around for a hammer, and not the huge one that Gobber uses there'd be no way I could use it, no I'm looking for the one that I made. Frustrated, I started throwing things around to find it. I had to find it before the metal cooled. A sharp pain shot up my hand as my finger rammed into something hard.
"Ah, great Odin's beard that hurts!" I shake my hand trying to wave the pain away, I reach my other hand in, and it wraps around the handle of the hammer. Excitedly I pull it out and rush back toward the anvil, happy to see that the metal hadn't cooled down much. Stepping up on my stool, I grab the pliers and start to beat the sword.
I didn't know how long I'd been swinging the hammer down, but I could definitely could feel it in my shoulder and upper back. Blowing hair out of my face, I carry the half-rounded object back to the coal and reheat the metal. I'm not sure how long I was there before I finished the rounding off the metal.
Halting just a second, I eye it to make sure that it was where I wanted it to be, before blowing on it and sticking it in the water to cool off. Steam rose out of the water and it let out an angry hissing sound. Biting my lip, I slowly pull it out of the water, seeing the reddened metal had cooled to a gray metal color.
Grinning, I place it back on the anvil to finish cooling. While that was cooling, I went and looked over my diagram of the artificial fin for Toothless. I'd tried to make it as life size as possible, still not knowing if that was even the right size. Going back over to the metal rod I'd just made, I slipped my glove off giving it a slight tap to make sure it wasn't still scalding to the flesh. I was satisfied that it wasn't to hot, picking it up I then walk back over and place it on top of the diagram, perfect fit. Now that I've gotten the base made…now it was time to make the skeleton of the fin
I wasn't really sure how much time had passed, but after many tireless hours I'd finally held the completed form of Toothless' left tail fin. Snapping it shut, I place it on the desk and look up at the drawing of the diagram.
"Oh, I really hope this works…" I couldn't fight back the yawn that teased at the back of my throat. Stretching my aching muscles I finally feel the result of all my careless toiling got me, my left shoulder felt the worst, what with all the hammering, puling, pushing and shaping. It really did a number on me, I know I'm really gonna feel that in the morning.
Another yawn forced me to see how far I'd pushed my self, my body was exhausted, but I'd done it. I'd hopefully created a new side for Toothless' tail and he would be able to fly again. Replacing the work apron with my vest, I fold and tuck my sketch of the tail fin in my sketchbook and place that in my vest, then I pick up the artificial tail fin. After blowing out the candles, and putting out the fire under the coals I carefully lean out. No one was around, scattered clouds covered the sky and the moon shone through some of them.
From the placement of the moon, I could tell that it was indeed really late in the night…perhaps even almost early. I had been working on the tail fin for some time so I'm not surprised that it's so late. Getting home wasn't so hard, if it hadn't been for the fact that I was ready to just lay down and go to sleep where I stood. Shaking my head, I shift the artificial tail fin so I was holding it in both arms instead of just one. I had to focus on getting home.
Finally reaching the threshold of my house, I sluggishly pull on the door, my tired arms protesting, but I knew I could sleep outside. Sliding inside I lean my body against the door to shut it, then I close my eyes, which was a huge mistake because sleep had almost claimed me had the clatter of the artificial tail fin hitting the floor stirred me.
Jolting I, sluggishly pick it up and lean it against the wall, then I slowly began to make my way upstairs. After that point everything was auto-pilot, the only thing I wanted to do was collapse into the comfort of my bed. Slipping my vest and boots off I slump happily into bed, and I pull the covers around my neck and snuggling into the coolness of my pillow.
A smile fell on my face as images of Toothless using my fin to help him fly again filled my sleepy mind.
"Get ready Toothless," I mumbled into my pillow, "Cause you're aren't gonna be a downed dragon anymore."
A.N.: So tell me whatcha think of the that little scene with Gobber and Hiccup huh? Cute right? I think that Gobber would be the one to try and keep him from giving up mostly because I think that he's raised Hiccup most of his life because Stoick, being the chief, is usually gone most of the time. Not his fault, but I'm just sayin' that this, I think, would cause a father/son relationship between Gobber and Hiccup.
ANYWAY, enough about that on to "New Tail" Part two.