Let me just start with another note to Aj:
I agree that email is the best way, but unfortunately the site removed yours from your review. So that is why you haven't heard of me yet, I'm sorry! Anyway, my email is aurorathethird at hotmail . Com.
Alright. Second announcement. I have never used songs like I did in this chapter, and it wasn't easy. The songs I used are at the bottom, should you want to listen to them.
Enjoy!
The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou
Crystal Light, Part V
Dale had woken them at the break of dawn, ordering them to the Hall. When they had arrived, he had allowed them to eat something, then he had given them another list to finish before he was back. While Dale left with the other students, once again taking their dragons, Hiccup sighed and stared at his hands.
"Come on," Wrenlou said, pulling him along, "I'll take care of your hands, then we have to go to the garden."
"Garden?" Hiccup asked surprised, "there's a garden?"
"Yes. Remember how I told you we grow everything ourselves? We have a garden with some vegetables and date palms. It's not very far from here, but far enough so that the dragons won't mess with it." He paused and turned to Hiccup. "Not that dragons like green things."
Hiccup chuckled and stepped into the healers hut. While he sat down on the bed, Wrenlou pulled some fresh bandages from the cabinet.
"I actually like working in the garden," he said while he started to unwrap the bandages around Hiccup's hands, "it's hard work, but I like it. I don't know why he thinks that's punishment."
"It is for me!" Hiccup practically shouted, "look at my hands!"
He held them out to Wrenlou, his palms up. The blisters weren't bleeding anymore and the wounds had closed, but he knew that the moment he started to shovel or something, the wounds would be pulled open, start bleeding again and only get worse. Wrenlou took his hands, his own palms also red from working all day, a few small blisters, but nowhere near as bad as Hiccup's.
"It will be fine," he said softly, "just leave the hard work to me, okay?"
"But that's not fair," Hiccup protested as Wrenlou bandaged his hands again, "you shouldn't have to do all the hard work!"
"We'll just see how it goes. Alright, I'm done."
Hiccup sighed while he slipped from the bed. He waited for Wrenlou to put the things away and together they walked towards the shed where the gardening tools were waiting. With a shovel, a rake and some other tools slung over his shoulder, Wrenlou led Hiccup to a secluded area not far from the small village. He opened a small gate and allowed Hiccup into the garden before stepping in himself and closing the wooden gate again.
Hiccup was staring at the garden in front of him. There were palm trees lining the fence all around, creating a sort of roof that let in plenty of light, but also provided plenty of shade. There were several different beds, some just filled with flowers, while others were filled with all kinds of vegetables.
"Dale is usually the one to maintain the garden," Wrenlou said while he put the shovel down, "he comes here after we've finished training."
"But now he lets us do it," Hiccup said as he looked around the garden again, "it looks really nice and peaceful."
Wrenlou smiled as he put the rest of the tools down and pulled out the list "Alright," he said then, "we should start with weeding every bed. After that we have to water the plants, harvest the ripe crops, trim the palms..." he took a shaking breath as he looked up the long stem of the tre next to him, "it's going to be a long day."
"Yeah..." Hiccup sighed as he looked at his bandaged hands again. It was indeed going to be a long day.
"Here," Wrenlou said as he guided him over to the first bed, "see all these little green things?" he pointed at the tiny plants that were growing between the crops, "that has to go. So if you just start on that, I'll get some water from the well so you can water the plants when you're done with weeding, and some rope and the saw so I can trim the palms, okay?"
Hiccup nodded and carefully knelt next the plants. The tiny green sprouts were loose in the soil, and he could pull them out easily. After Wrenlou had given him a bucket to collect the weeds in, the boy left running. When he came back he was carrying a rope around his shoulder, and he had a saw strapped to his belt. He was carrying the bucket from the well in his left hand, stepping carefully to not spill the water.
"Wren? How do you trim a palm tree?" Hiccup asked, looking up the long stem of the tree, void of any branches at all.
"Climb it. That's what the rope's for. Don't worry," Wrenlou laughed, but it was nervously "you just keep weeding and watering the plants. I'll take care of the trees, okay?"
Hiccup nodded and plucked another little plant from the ground. He didn't see how Wrenlou's expression changed when he looked at the trees, fear flashing over his face. He took a deep breath before he took the rope from the ground and started untying the knot that held it together.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Hiccup asked, once again sitting back.
"It is," Wrenlou said, "but I've done it before. My dad's hobby is gardening. He started when he lost half his hand, and he always involved all his children in it. So I've climbed palm trees before. Doesn't mean it's not dangerous, and doesn't mean I like it. In fact, it's my least favorite. But you certainly don't know how to do it, so it has to be me. Besides," Wrenlou glanced at the trees, "I have to do five, the rest looks fine."
Hiccup stared up at the trees. A few of them had some brown leaves that were hanging down and had clearly lost their spring. He watched how Wrenlou fastened the rope around his waist, then around the stem of the tree. He couldn't help but hold his breath as he saw Wrenlou use the rope to climb up the tree and he secured it at the top.
After watching him for a while and feeling his own stomach turn when he saw how the tree swayed lightly in the wind, he remembered he had his own work to do and and he quickly went back to the place where he left off.
It was clear to him that Dale took care of this garden with a lot of love and dedication, because the weeds he pulled out were almost too small to be called plants. After he finished with weeding, he took the bucket and sprinkled the water over the plants. Wrenlou had explained to him that he needed to sprinkle the water, because if he just doused the plants, the heat would scourge them and they would die. He glanced up again, at Wrenlou high up in the tree, and shuddered. He knew he would have never been able to do it.
"Okay," Wrenlou told himself as soon as he reached the top of the tree, "it will be okay. You're not going to fall. Just don't look down."
But the moment he had secured the rope, he looked down at the ground, seeing Hiccup as a small speck, on his knees next to one of the flowerbeds. Immediately, his heart was racing and his breath caught in his throat. He pressed his head against the rough stem of the tree and tried to even out his breathing before he pulled the saw from his belt.
While he severed the dead leaf from the tree, he kept muttering to himself, as some sort of reassurance. When the leaf finally broke free and fell to the ground, he sighed in relief. Only one to go and he could go down again. Of course, there were four more trees he had to climb...
When the second dead leaf fell to the ground, he descended as quickly as possible and when he reached the ground he was shaking. He stood for a moment, his hands on his knees while he was trying to get his racing heart to calm down.
"Okay," he mumbled softly, "one down, four to go. I got this... I can do this... man, I don't like this."
As soon as he secured himself to the top of the second tree, he glanced down again, again cursing himself for doing so. While he clenched onto the rope with his left hand, he shakily took the saw in his right again.
"Right... don't look down. Don't. Look. Down."
Hiccup stood up and stretched his painful legs. The kneeling position he had been in for the past few hours was starting to hurt. He stretched his back until he heard a slight pop, then he stood for a moment, unsure if the sound meant something good or bad. But when he moved, nothing started hurting, so he just assumed it wasn't bad. He picked up the bucket and walked over to the second last flower bed. This one looked like it hadn't had some attention in a while, and the weeds were bigger and more abundant.
As he sat down, the bucket next to him, he realized that he was happy, even if his hands were bleeding, his knees were hurting and the sun was burning on his back. He started humming softly while he carefully removed the weeds from the flowerbed. He did it without realizing it, like he had done countless times when working in the forge. He sat down, in the middle of the flower bed to dig up a bigger weed that refused to be pulled out, and started singing.
Du kan om du vil
Ingen ka ta ditt valg
Bare plante tvil
Det er så mange veier å gå
Mange mål som kan nåes om du våger
He sang softly, mostly to himself, singing a song he had sung countless times before. The gentle words in Norse felt familiar on his tongue, completely different from the language of Dragoncity, and a smile crept on his face.
Vi har alle tvil
Spørsmål om valg
Er dette det du vil
Det er så mange hensyn å ta
Mange strenger som drar hver sin retning
Frykten for feiltri...
"You have quite a good voice you know."
He jumped up, almost destroying the flowers in the process and he felt his face turn bright red as his eyes met Wrenlou's. He turned his gaze to the ground, fumbling with a plant he just pulled out.
"I..." he stuttered, "no, I... eh... I mean, I never... ehm... I can't really sing..."
"That's not what I just heard," Wrenlou said, lifting his chin, "it sounded really nice. A little sad, but really nice."
"Oh..." Hiccup mumbled, "thanks..."
"Teach me," Wrenlou said softly, and Hiccup's head shot up.
"What?"
"The words! Teach me!" Wrenlou laughed, "I liked it, come on. Please?"
Hiccup stared at Wrenlou for a while completely flabbergasted by what he had just said. He remembered how Gobber would have made some sort of snobby remark if he started singing, and the last time he had done it was a few months ago, when he was flying on Toothless.
"O... okay," he mumbled, "right now?"
"No, not right now. Later. Tonight maybe," Wrenlou crossed his arms, "how far are you?"
"Well," Hiccup said turning around to the flower beds, "I did those six over there, but the bucket's empty, so I have to water those four, and these right here."
"I have two more trees to go," Wrenlou said with a sigh and he blew a lock of hair from his face. It fell back in exactly the same place and he blew it away again. When it fell back again, he brushed it aside, "I'll get you some water so you can water the plants. How are your hands?"
Hiccup looked down on his hands. The bandages were streaked with dirt and plant sap and blood, but he realized it didn't hurt anymore. He shrugged.
"It doesn't hurt now," he said, "it did before, but not right now."
Wrenlou chuckled. "Do you know why?" when Hiccup shook his head he pointed to a patch with plants the boy had already weeded and watered, "remember that paste stuff I put on yesterday? It's made from those plants, by crushing the leaves with some water. They have very strong numbing abilities, just touching the leaf will help. You've been touching them a lot."
Hiccup looked from his hands to the plants, then back to Wrenlou, then he smiled. Wrenlou smiled back and walked over to the now empty bucket. After he had left the garden, Hiccup sat down on his knees again, still humming softly.
Wrenlou came back not only carrying the bucket of water, but also two flasks. He put the bucket down, then held one of the flasks out to Hiccup.
"Drink something. We've been working all day without stopping, we can't risk dehydration."
Hiccup took the flask with a mumbled thanks you, and gulped down the cool liquid within. The water was heavenly on his dry tongue, and before he realized it he had drank it all. He set the now empty flask down and stretched again while he went to water the plants. In the meantime Wrenlou collected the dead palm leaves from the ground, dragging them all to the same spot and just dumping them there.
"Right," he mumbled while he rubbed his hands together, "two more, and then we're done... okay..."
"Are you okay?" Hiccup's voice suddenly asked behind him, and he jumped up startled.
"Yes..." he said hesitantly, "I just don't like climbing the trees. I like gardening, but I don't like climbing the trees."
"I wish I could help," Hiccup said, "but..." he held out his hands and Wrenlou laughed.
"It's okay. You just keep doing what you're doing, you're doing a great job. I got this. I can do it."
While Wrenlou climbed the next tree, Hiccup went back to his flower bed. He started humming again. Softly singing the words of the song while he continued weeding the beds and watering the plants. He was enjoying it, and he smiled. He liked gardening. And he was sure he would like it even more if his hands weren't raw and bleeding. He shrugged it off, and moved to the last flowerbed, this one filled with red and blue flowers on long delicate stems.
His nimble hands stopped when he heard another voice and he turned around to look at Wrenlou. The boy was still on top of the tree, but now he was singing his own song, and Hiccup smiled while he listened for a while. It was a song on the language from Dragoncity, and he didn't understand all the words, but he could make out a few.
I'll ride with the horses.
I'll swim trough the sea.
I'll climb to the mountain tops.
Won't you come follow me
His smile widened as he listened silently to Wrenlou's deeper, warmer voice and he found himself trying to mimic the words. He started laughing when Wrenlou threw the palm leaf down, loudly proclaiming: "fly away!" before he started singing again.
I'll fly away, fly away.
Fly away, fly away home.
I'll fly away, fly away.
Fly away, fly away home.
Still listening to Wrenlou's voice he sat down again and continued pulling the little weeds from between the flower's thin stems. He was about halfway through when he heard a shriek. He jumped up, looking around and he saw Wrenlou next to the tree, holding his hand while swearing softly. He ran over to him.
"Wrenlou?" Are you okay?"
The boy nodded and flexed the fingers of his left hand. There was a long gash across all of his fingers and Hiccup gasped.
"Palm leaves are sharp," Wrenlou breathed, "don't worry, it looks worse than it is, promise."
"Are you sure?" Hiccup asked, "it looks pretty bad."
Wrenlou nodded, the started chuckling. "Do you think Dale had taken things like this into account?" he asked, and Hiccup shrugged.
"Right," Wrenlou sighed, "are you done?"
Hiccup nodded and lifted the bucket with weeds. "I just have to empty this."
Wrenlou nodded and took the palm leaves in his right hand, staying away from the sharp edges of the smaller leaves. Once they had discarded of all the plant waste, they walked back to the village again. By that time the sun had begun to set, and once they entered the plaza, they could hear the other dragon riders in the Hall. After a short glance at each other, they went the other way, towards the healers hut. There Wrenlou first took care of his own hand, as he had said the wounds were shallow, and after he had done that, he bandaged Hiccup's hands again.
"Wren?" Hiccup begun as he watched Wrenlou wrap his hands, "you're not a bad singer you know."
Wrenlou just smiled, his cheeks only slightly flushed. "Thanks," he mumbled, "I can teach you that song of you want."
"Sure," Hiccup said and he held up his other hand. "Wren?"
"What is it now?"
"Can you teach me now?" Hiccup asked.
Wrenlou sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I would really like some sleep." Hiccup nodded in agreement. "Do you want to go to the Hall?" Wrenlou then asked softly.
Hiccup shook his head. "I'm not hungry," he lied and he knew that Wrenlou didn't believe him, but he didn't argue, "and I'm tired. I want to sleep."
"Me too," Wrenlou replied and he stood up, "come on then, we'll sneak into bed."
Hiccup nodded and walked over to his cabin. The only thing he took off were his boots, then he just fell down on the blanket and grunted. It may not seem like a lot of hard work, but a whole day in the garden had taken it's toll on his body. He could now feel every muscle ache and his back burned from the sun and the scar and he could feel fatigue pull on him from all sides. He didn't even realize that Toothless wasn't with him yet. He was so tired that he just closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Songs used: Compass, Thomas Bergersen
Fly away home, Pink Zebra
Compass lyrics:
Du kan om du vil
Ingen ka ta ditt valg
Bare plante tvil
Det er så mange veier å gå
Mange mål som kan nåes om du våger
Vi har alle tvil
Spørsmål om valg
Er dette det du vil
Det er så mange hensyn å ta
Mange strenger som drar hver sin retning
Frykten for feiltrinn kan mørklegge al
Vi har alle tvil
Men det vakreste du har
Er et lys som skinner klart
Og det bor det inne I deg
Et kompass som lyser opp din natt
De vet ingenting
De har ingen svar
Det er det kun du som har
Det er så mange veier å gå
Mange mål som kan nåes om du våger
å tro på at du har det som skal til
Vi har alle tvil
Men de vakreste du har
Er et lys som skinner klart
Og det bor det inne I deg
Et kompass som lyser opp din natt (2x)
Compass translation:
You can if you want
No one can take away from you.
There are so many goals
many dreams that you wish will come true
believe that you have what it takes
But the most amazing thing
is the light that shines above
And will live inside your heart
A compass that lights up your night
We all have doubts
Questioning all our choices
Is that what you want
There are so many paths in your way
So many curves and turns line up ahead
But the most amazing thing
is the light that shines above
And that live inside your heart
A compass that lights up your night
Fly Away Home, Pink Zebra
I'll ride with the horses.
I'll swim trough the sea.
I'll climbe to the mountain tops.
Won't you come follow me
.
I'll take time to notice.
All that I see.
And after I've come so far.
You know where I'll be.
I'll fly away, fly away.
Fly away, fly away home.
I'll fly away, fly away.
Fly away, fly away home.
Live is a vision.
That's how it should be.
The world is a canvas.
And the choices are free.
At the end of the journy.
Where all is complete.
They'll all wonder where
I've gone.
But you where I'll be.
I'll fly away, fly away.
Fly away, fly away home.
I'll fly away, fly away.
Fly away, fly away home.
Our dreams last forever.
For all that we know.
The roads come together.
And that's where we'll go.
We'll fly away, fly away.
Fly away, fly away home.
We'll fly away, fly away.
Fly away, fly away home.
We'll fly away, fly away.
Fly away, fly away home.
We'll fly away, fly away, fly away home.