Important Note:
I have changed Jack's family name to Overland, because for some reason a lot of people on tumblr call him that. And i'm not conforming, but it seems like a good last name for him (much better than Palenstine i'd say). Who knows? Maybe it's his actual last name. So, yes, Jack's full name is Jack Overland.
Review Replies:
TrueLoveIsReal, Why thank you!
Loti-miko, Don't worry, Toothless will definitely show up sooner than you think! And yes, I do agree with you, without Toothless there is no Hiccup.
LovelyDeath97, Oh gosh, hahaha! Actually, if I was ever in your same situation, i'd most likely go straight to the rated M version too!
Himeco-Krk, Thank you! That's so sweet of you! I'm glad it's worth your time to read! I haven't written a story in a while, i'm glad i'm still at the top of my game (even though I feel like chapter 1 still could've been better). I KNOW MBVCDRTYUIKMBVCSQWERTYUIKMVC DOIOUINKXNOIWE
Hadescantsmile244, I'm glad you enjoyed it! And Thank you, because of you I went straight to Amazon and ordered them online. Because of you, I took the decision to watch both movies to make this into a better story. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you very much!
Just Call Me Endy, I'm happy that you're interested! I see what you're saying with the "Legend says" idea. Don't worry, there's plenty more to come. Haha, yes! They did literally fall! Hahaha, that was a punny joke. Literally punny. Punny and funny.
The First Night
Walking back to the village with Jack had never before felt so awkward. We had literally walked back a little more than an arm's length away from each other and we didn't dare to look at one another either, or even speak. Though I did expect Jack to distract us both from the situation by starting a snowball fight again, or at least blabbering on about some irrelevant subject, but I guess our kiss left him feeling too uncomfortable.
I feel weird thinking about it. It feels odd saying it that way.
Our kiss.
Jack's and my kiss.
The kiss Jack and I had.
Great, how in the world are we going to get over this? I mean, I already feel like I have to introduce him in some different manner: Oh hello there person i've never met before! I'm Hiccup, and this is my best friend Jack. We've known each other all our lives and there's nothing we don't know about one another. Oh, have I mentioned that we've kissed? Yep, that's right, lip to lip contact.
Oh boy.
But in fact, we didn't really actually kiss. All our lips did was touch...just interlock a little bit.
And i'm pretty sure neither of us wanted to do it anyway. We certainly wouldn't of have done it at our own will. We're both guys for crying out loud!
Either way, what a relief that no one saw that, that's for sure. I don't need Jack and I to feel any more out of place than we already are.
This little incident deprived him of his garrulous mouth, true, but I can't live with him being silent all the time, we have to break the ice somehow. But I guess I'm going to have to fix this later.
At the village center, rows of logs were circularly fixed around the bonfire for the whole tribe to have a place to sit. As volunteers scramble to fix any final preparations, Jack and I wander around to find a good seat.
We never got to eat pot roast, unfortunately. Jack's mom and Emma had already been out of the house when we arrived, Mrs. Overland left a note at the door:
Sorry boys, maybe tomorrow.
Our little detour to the hill took too much time away from our hands. All the front row seats had already been taken so we end up somewhere a little further back than the middle row of the logs.
As we sit down, I know Jack's worried about Aquilone again. I can see him glancing up to the sky and searching for his dragon through my peripheral vision.
"Hey," I mutter, tapping his arm after I do.
Jack instantly flinches away from me and cringes.
"Whoa, what did I do?" I ask, somewhat defensively, "I was just gonna tell you to not worry about him."
"Oh," he collects himself, "right. Umm. Sorry." he weakly apologizes.
I stare at him unbelievably.
Are you kidding me? He couldn't of have possibly thought I would've pulled a move, did he? For Thor's sake, he can't be serious. Does he honestly believe-!
I exhale deeply. Yup, this is definitely going to affect us for a very long time.
As much as I want to slap him silly right now, I change the subject instead, "You...you want us to go look for your mom and Emma?"
He shows no response to my question. He just remains seated there, blankly, not even gesturing that he heard me speak. And he freezes like that for longer than I expected. I blink at his silence. He looks like he's staring out into space.
"We'd probably lose our spot but I think Emma would really like being with you right now. She's never spent the ceremonies without you," I add on to my previous sentence.
And again he remains quiet. I see him tighten his grip on the log slightly and he faces a direction away from me. Hoping he'd see from the corner of his eye, I raise a brow at him, but he fails to even register my existence.
Oh my- Would he please grow up?, "If you don't wanna go look for her, i'll bring her here mys-"
"This is just the introduction Hiccup," he finally speaks in a quick stern tone, "I'll look for her afterwards."
I stare at him again, is he...angry with me?
Really? I understand why he wouldn't want to talk to me, but angry? Does a measly kiss makes him so stubborn that he won't bother to so much as stand up and glance around for his own sister? This is ridiculous!
So I gather my emotions up, "Listen," I snap and he turns to me in shock, fully attentive. I've also gotten the attention of a couple vikings around us, "If you don't want me to be here I'll gladly leave you alone, but don't be so hard-headed that you won't even try to be there for Emma," I scold him.
At first he's left speechless, he sits with his eyes in surprise and his lips slightly parted at my assertiveness. The air feels tense as well, many of the vikings are gawking at our small dilemma as if it were a soap opera. But Jack swiftly breaks back into reality, closing his lips and forming a scowl.
"Fine, i'll go look for her," he lowly growls and stands.
He begins exiting the row, "I'll go with you," I notify him as I stand up as well, "I think I know where-"
"No," he interjects in the same bellicose voice, stopping in his tracks and turning to me, "I'll go alone," he finishes. We both scowl as at each other for a second or two and he continues on his way.
Once he's gone I sit back down, exhaling and groaning as I do and smacking my hands on my face, slowly dragging them down to my mouth.
This is so stupid, all of it. If only we had stayed at his house with Emma, everything would've been swell. We would have eaten pot roast, we would've gotten front row seats, and we wouldn't of have kissed. Why is he even mad at me? What? Is this my fault now? Sweet Odin's ghost, I was fine with us being a bit awkward with each other but now he's gonna lash this out on me? Wonderful. Just grand.
Where is Toothless when I need him? I haven't seen him all day, where in the world could've he gone? I probably shouldn't of have built that new tail wing of his, since I made it especially for him to be able to fly on his own. But I wanted to give him a little freedom this winter. It's practically an early Christmas gift, and I guess he decided to take full advantage of it. But he wouldn't just run off for a whole day and not come back.
Had I hurt him?
No, that couldn't be possible. Yesterday he was just fine and we had a great day. We had had a training session with Aquilone and Jack again. I gave Toothless more fish than I usually would've. As a matter of fact, I gave him double! So food couldn't be the problem. I didn't neglect him either. I hardly ever ignore him, only during the busiest of days. He knew today was the ceremony, I told him it was, he wouldn't just leave out of nowhere.
He couldn't of have flown too far either. I'm pretty sure he'll be back by tomorrow.
But what if he doesn't come back at all? What if the Red death somehow resurrected and is out to get Toothless for revenge? What if Toothless was ganged up on by a bunch of dragons and is hurt somewhere on an island? Or even drowned in the sea! Oh Thor, what if he's dead right now!
I stop myself from thinking any further and deeply inhale.
It's alright Hiccup, Toothless is going to be just fine. You just have to chill.
Just chill.
Chill.
Oh gosh, it's cold.
I hug my hands to my elbows again to generate heat. It's not snowing, and the bonfire is up and alive, but since I'm somewhat in the middle row of the seating and I don't have my vest, i'm pretty chilly. And Jack is gone too, it makes a big difference not having his body warmth near. Not that the big vikings around me don't warm me up, but Jack still counts.
I should've grabbed my vest a long time ago, but after I gave the designs to my dad, I didn't expect to go off on an adventure into the woods with Jack, which turned out obviously worse than I imagined. Maybe I can still make it to the house, I can just run there, run to the top of the hill. Even though I can see that we have a couple of minutes left since everyone's nearly at ease, I think I can make it.
I can't be late because, being the chief's son and all, not being here while my dad is "welcoming" the winter spirit would be a great dishonor. But i'm gonna give it a try anyway.
"I'll be right back," I quickly inform one of the vikings beside me as I stand up from my seat, "Mind saving my spot? Jack's spot too."
"Sure lad, sure," he agrees, of course he can't deny me either, i'm Stoick's son after all.
I begin squeezing through the seated vikings, "Where are you going though Hiccup?" my neighboring viking asks a bit concerned.
"Don't worry," I keep walking as a raise my voice so that it reaches the viking, "I'll be back in a flash."
I turn around and begin sprinting to my house but nervousness instantly intrudes my stomach. I feel the vikings glare at me with fear and shock. Clearly they know of the dishonor thing, including the viking that was seated next to me. I can hear their thoughts already:
Where's Hiccup going?
Is he crazy!
Oh, he's gonna get it alright!
I suddenly feel like puking from all my anxiety.
Oh shut up, shut up, shut up.
I try to get these thoughts out of my head and keep running, setting my goal and head for home. But doubt takes from little to no time to fog my mind.
Maybe I should head back to my seat. Maybe Jack's so freaked out with the kiss and all that he'll go ahead and give my seat to someone else. Because most likely I won't make it back on time.
So I slow my pace from a sprint to a fast walk.
Ugh, but it's just so cold and I can't handle it anymore! Ceremony or no ceremony, I need to be warm!
But if I don't make it back on time...
I'm practically stripped of my opportunity to make up my mind because I bump straight into someone.
"Hiccup?" I hear her voice.
"Astrid!" I yap a bit too loud.
She giggles at my reaction, "Where are you headed to?" she asks, giving me a light punch on the shoulder.
I fumble to find my own words and try to play it cool, "Uh, well, you see, I don't feel like freezing to death out here so i'm-"
"Your cold?" she presumes and then suddenly grabs my hand. She begins pulling me over back to the crowd, "well come on, we can sit together," she flashes a smile at me.
"O-okay" I stutter and she continues dragging me.
Dammit, I'm leaving Jack alone. I guess he's going to have to sit by himself. Then again, he might be with Emma, and it could be a good thing. He probably does need some space...away from me.
Astrid ends up dragging me all the way to the front row where she had saved a spot for herself. The others on that same log gladly scooted over and made room for me as well. Obviously the whole village approves of Astrid's and my growing relationship and they won't do anything but try to push us closer, especially since my dad had announced once that he swore someday we'd be married. He was drunk that time, but a drunk man is an honest one I guess?
When we sit, Astrid crouches over to grab a nearby bag, I take this chance to glance around and look for Jack.
I squint my eyes and scan the mass of people behind me, locating my thin, brown haired best friend, the only viking in this village that wears some sort of poncho-cape his mother sewed him.
And then I spot him, along with Emma lifted up on his shoulders, walking over to that same spot we had been seated at before. At least he's not all by himself. It gives me an excuse if he turns out, even the slightest, angry with me. Which I doubt considering our current situation.
He'll be fine.
Before entering our row though, he sees that i'm gone. I see him turn around and glance all over the place, startled at my sudden disappearance. I watch him, it's pretty amusing seeing him fret over me like this. Emma seems scared too.
Then I feel our eyes meet but as soon as I think they do, I feel a warm coating over me. I turn my focus back to Astrid, who has brought out a blanket out of her bag and has wrapped it around both of us. She scoots closer to me.
"You still cold?" she asks sarcastically with a playful smirk.
"Haha," I mock laugh a little nervously, "No, thank you. I-"
"Welcome everyone!..." I hear my dad boom out from the center of the circle.
Where did he come from, I didn't even SEE him walk to his spot.
" ...to the 317th annual welcoming for the Winter Spirit, Jokul Frosti!" he finishes. A wave of cheers travels the crowd.
"As you know every year we-"
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every year we celebrate the coming of winter and its seasonal made-up fairy, blah, blah, it's a great honor to be here, blah, blah. Mother of Thor, would it kill him to change the wording a bit? Does he really have to repeat the same exact speech verbatim every year? I find it shocking that people still attentively get through this, I mean, they know exactly what he's gonna say! It seems like every word comes as a surprise to them.
Or they could be just pretending to not upset him, especially since that burning bonfire behind him make him look only more intimidating.
Actually, now that I think about it, I know Snotlout has noticed the same-speech-every-year thing and when he found out, he told everyone: Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Astrid, Jack and I. Fishlegs and the twins seemed surprised, it's as if they've never before in their lives bothered to take note of it. Of course Jack and I knew, and I had already told Astrid. But seriously, what is it with that speech? Do people really forget it after a year and not notice the same routine? Is there no sense of Deja-vu in viking's systems?
I swear, after this year's ceremony is over, i'm gonna make sure it isn't the same long, tedious announcement next year.
Oh look, and here comes the reason why I need to be present.
"I," my dad starts and then points to me, "along with my son Hiccup, have-"
Have planned out this year's celebration, yada, yada, yes dad, I know, because who else would organize all this but the chief and his son? Clearly no one.
Yes, THAT is exactly why I absolutely cannot miss this part of the party, because my father must be able to point at me and tell the whole world that, hey, I was part of creating this too, surprise surprise.
I unexpectedly feel Astrid lightly elbow my arm, so I turn to my head to her, "Yeah?" I whisper to not interrupt my dad, because Odin knows what he'll do to me.
"Are you alright?" she asks in a low voice as well, looking as if she's stifling a laugh, "you look kind of annoyed."
"Oh, you know, this intro is just getting old." I explain, she nods in agreement already knowing what I mean.
"Don't be so glum, it only lasts a short time anyway." she tries to lighten me up.
"Yeah, I know." I sigh out, "But this is always the part I really hate, the initial announcement. It's boring. There's nothing to do but sit here and-"
Astrid abruptly gives me a quick peck on the cheek, stopping me mid-sentence.
Well, I didn't see that coming, just like all the other countless times she's kissed me.
"You know that story that goes around about a couple kissing on the first and last night?" she asks me. I simply shake my head in agreement, automatically knowing what she was trying to do just now.
Does this mean that she wants to be in a relationship any time soon or-
"It's a nice little story isn't it? Too bad I can't actually kiss you." she balls her hand into a fist and brings it up to her mouth to perform a fake cough, "I have a little bit of a sore throat," she admits with a small smile, "but that's a good enough alternative right?"
"Actually, you know Astrid, I wouldn't mind getting sick at all. It's just a sore throat anyway," I let out.
Please Astrid, just please remove the feeling of Jack's lips off of me, I could really use that right now.
"Well, someone's a little desperate." she smirks and teases me with an eskimo kiss instead of an actual one.
I groan in annoyance, "I'm not, it's just-"
"And so let the celebration begin!" my dad bursts out in his loud voice to emphasize the beginning of another winter party as another wave of cheers travels the crowd.
The tribe begins to disperse to the entertainment stalls and bars surrounding the seating area. Music begins to play, some begin to dance, others begin to chat, and within seconds the fairy of winter fest comes to life.
Astrid takes her blanket back and stuffs it into her backpack once more. She takes my hand and stands up, prompting me to get up as well, "So, what do you wanna do first?"
"Get a kiss," I lowly murmur a barely audible sound.
"What was that?" she asks, her brow raised questionably.
"Nothing, nothing," I shake off and take a look at what's around me instead, "let's see..."
I catch Snotlout, the twins, and Fishlegs spot us and they begin heading over to where Astrid and I are.
"Well, here comes the whole gang," I inform her.
She glances over to the group and squints, "Hey," she says suspiciously, "where's Jack?" she asks, turning to me for an answer.
I become uneasy, "Ahh, about him," I stall before replying, eyeing away from her look several times, "Let's just say that we got into a little mishap."
"You guys had an argument?" she asks, a little more concerned now, "Why? What happened?"
"I don't really want to tell anyone Astrid, seriously. Let's just keep it at this: Both of us did something we didn't really mean to do. And it's just very awkward between us right now. I think Jack is mad at me but I don't really know why," I explain to her and then promptly grab both of her hands, "Just please don't tell anyone about me and Jack alright?" I beg.
"Umm, sure, that's fine Hiccup," she promises, "And hopefully you guys fix whatever it is that's going on," she tells me.
"Thanks Astrid, and yeah, I hope so too," I finish off our conversation and release her hands before the group finally arrives.
"Hey, you guys headed anywhere? Cause we should totally go to the fortune teller's hut, they have one this year! The elder is gonna tell everyone their future!" Fishlegs excitedly informs us and tries to jump in place.
"No way, you're always into all that superstitious stuff," Tuffnut tells Fishlegs.
"Yeah, we should sneak into the arena and mess around with the weapons instead," Ruffnut suggests, "Everyone's distracted anyway."
"I agree with the twins," Snotlout kicks in, "after all," he flexes his arms, "these biceps don't grow by themselves," he finishes and smirks straight at Astrid.
Of course, I'm not worried. I know Astrid wouldn't even bother with Snotlout, he's not much of a rival anyway. In fact, he's a big weenie deep down. What's there to panic about?
"Well I think we should do what we do every year," Astrid starts, "We should ditch the ceremony, race each other with our dragons, and come back before midnight in time for the fish."
Snotlout, still flexing, forms a dumbfounded face and quickly snaps back to play it cool, "Yeah, totally agree with Astrid. Why would any of you even bother to change the routine," he changes his plans to conform.
"Fine, fine, but tomorrow," Tuffnut smirks evilly, "it's weapon time."
"I call riding Belch this time!" Ruffnut shouts and runs towards where I presume her dragon might be.
"Hey no fair, you got a headstart!" Tuffnut runs after her.
"I put Hookfang on a leash for eating my dinner plate tonight, so I'll go untie him." Snotlout explains as he jogs towards his house, "I'll meet you guys at the cliff!" he yells from afar now.
Astrid and I glance at Fishlegs, who I think is still wanting to go to the fortune teller's hut, "Umm...I guess i'll go get Meatlug..." he takes defeat and slowly walks away.
I frown a bit. I don't know if he's actually playing depressed and innocent but, "Hey Fishlegs," I call out and he turns around, I catch a glimpse of hope in his eyes, "we can go to the hut afterwards, alright?" I assure him.
"YES!" he throws a punch into the air, "Thanks Hiccup! Thank you! Oh I could just kiss you right now but that would be incredibly disgusting but ohhh thank you thank you thank you!" he blurts out and runs off.
"Yeah! Ha, kissing! Yep, ha, very disgusting," I yell out and gradually quiet down to an unenthusiastic mumble.
Hah, speaking of kissing... He just had to say that didn't he? Yes, I think kissing Fishlegs would be incredibly disgusting.
"Disgusting huh? Funny, not too long ago you were willing to get sick for one," Astrid teases me.
I give her a lopsided grin, "Oh Astrid come on, a kiss with Fishlegs is different." And so is a kiss with Jack..
She just laughs and pushes off the subject, "Well, i'm gonna go wake up Stormfly, i'll see you at the cliff?"
"Hmmm, I won't be going with you guys. I'll just wait for all of you down here I suppose," I turn her down.
"What do you mean? You never miss a race, you always win!" she tries to convince me otherwise.
"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I don't have Toothless. He left. You remember that new tail I made him not too long ago, don't you?" I ask. She nods as a response.
"Well I don't know, I guess he's really enjoying it because he hasn't been here since I woke up this morning," I explain as I rub the back of my head.
"Oh," Astrid processes what I just told her, "Well, you can ride Stormfly with me if you want," she offers, "She comes in second every time anyway," she adds, winking as she does.
I smile at her offer, "Thanks Astrid, but you go ahead. I'm gonna look around for Jack. We have some things to straighten out anyway."
She shrugs and nods, "Okay, but I'm coming in first this time," she playfully warns me and walks towards me. Then she places her hand on my shoulder and gives me a serious stare, "Good luck with Jack."
"Thanks Astrid," I smile her and smiles back. And just like that, she removes her hand off of my shoulder and heads away.
Alright, time to look for Jack.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It's not a surprise that it's been an hour and I haven't spotted Jack absolutely anywhere. I've probably walked by the same dancing group of people at least ten times. I've checked the entertainment stalls, all of them. I checked the pub, I checked the area back where we were seated at, I even checked the bathrooms five times! Curse you Jack, making yourself so hard to find.
No doubt he's hiding from me on purpose. I had bumped into Emma and Mrs. Overland three times as well, and of course I asked them where Jack was. All of those times they gave me a different answer: he went to the bathroom, he went off to get a snack, he went to fetch something he dropped. They might've believed him, but I didn't. They're all lies.
I make my final search around the place and stop in front of the pub, where I can hear the boisterous, slurred voices of many drunken vikings behind two giant solid wood doors.
Agh, what's the point anymore? If i've been searching for him this long it's clear that he's not gonna let me find him. Fine then, let him be. There's plenty of days left in my life to see him anyway.
I look up at the gargantuan closed doors of the pub, examining the carved dragon designs in them.
I've only been in there a couple of times, times when I needed to tell my dad any important news, or when it became really late at night and he drank away his worries here instead of sleeping at home.
I step closer and grab the both metal door handles with a firm grip.
Everyone's racing at the cliff, Toothless is missing, and Jack's hiding from me. There's absolutely nothing to around this place. I guess a little visit here wouldn't hurt.
I forcefully pull on the handles, grunting here and there as I opened the heavy doors.
Thor Almighty, what kind of trees are these doors made up of? I feel like i'm dragging boulders!
Upon creaking the doors open, the smell of beer, sweat, and alcohol breath invade my nostrils.
Ahh yes, the manly smell of manliness, my dad always says. This scent is very familiar indeed.
The ambient of laughter and intoxication hushes when a viking seated at the bar shouts across the room, "Why, look there fellows! It's wee Hiccup!"
A rise of exaggerated, forced laughter comes about the room. The Vikings laugh like maniacs as they point at me or drop their beer to the floor.
What the?
The room momentarily halts their outbursts when the viking across the room yells again, "Come for a drink, ay Hiccup? Well I hate to break it to ya, but the pub doesn't serve yak milk!" he intensifies the last part.
And again, like some magic spell, the room becomes a big ruckus. And you'd think training a dragon would earn you some respect around here, but nooo. You're not a man until the whole village has seen you drink your consciousness away, something I've never done. Some vikings slam their beer mugs onto the tables while others resolve to banging on it with their hands continuously instead. A couple grab their bellies as if it were to fall off, and one viking I see curled up in the corner seems to be running out of air to even laugh.
Ohh, so he wants to play games, does he?
"You got some nerve," I shout over the laughter and continue once the voices have dimmed again, "to think that I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, first dragon trainer of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, can't handle a single cup of beer!"
"Oh really?" he sarcastically questions, "Then how about you drink three cups of beer!" he challenges.
"Three? Pathetic!," I spit out, "How about five!" I use my hand to represent the number.
"Alright, five!" he agrees, "or..." he starts off with a sinister grin forming on his face, "We'll have a beer drinking competition, you and me," he proposes, "man who drinks the most before passing out wins."
There's a sudden shift in the atmosphere at the end of his offer, made obvious by a unison gasp from the surrounding vikings. Faces morph from happy to shocked. There are murmurs and whispers around the room.
From what I can tell, this guy must be good for everyone to be so daunted. But I'm feeling too confident to care.
I scowl and smirk at once, "You're on."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Wood. My ceiling pooled in sunlight. That's the first thing I see when my vision comes into focus. And I stare at the sun rays for a while. There are little dust particles I can barely take note of, dancing and swirling in the light.
Then I hear a purr on my right side, and scaly texture rubbing against my hand. These characteristics, I can't miss them, I know it's...
"Toothless," I mutter, still staring at the sunshine above me.
Toothless purrs again and licks my hand. Then he sits up beside me, his features finally coming into view.
I blink and my eyes corner to take a glance at him. He stares at me attentively, head slightly tilted to the side, eyes wide and green, moving restlessly in place.
I blink again and yawn, rubbing my eyes after I do. Only to afterwards stare at the moving dust above me once more.
Wait...
Toothless...
he's...
My eyes shoot wide open and throw myself to my dragon at the sudden realization, "Toothless!"
I hug him tightly and he only purrs more and rubs himself against my chest, "Oh gods bud, where were you yesterday? I was worried sick!"
Toothless squirms out of my hold and I watch him as he crawls over to his stone bed, where a big red bag rests. The bag spans over the whole length of his resting area. A grin so wide spreads over his black-facial features, and he wags his thick tail in excitement.
I raise my brow in confusion, "What's this bud?" I ask him and I stand up to begin walking over to the bag. Once at the foot of his bed, I squat down and pet him before I realize there's an odd scent coming from the red cloth. I untie the knot at the opening of it and take a peek inside.
The first thing that plops out of the bag is a fish's head, "Huh?"
But I unravel the rest of it, only to find that it's a giant Yander Flow, only the best-tasting fish of the whole sea. I look at Toothless and the fish back and forth, chuckling to myself. Toothless tilts his head in confusion.
I remembered now, why Toothless had left.
Jack and I had been talking not too many days ago about the ceremony. It was after training and after I had given Toothless his new tail. We sat under tree with Aquilone and Toothless laying at our sides, conversing about the midnight fish-eating during the ceremonies.
"I mean, sure, It's nice that we all get together as a tribe and roast fish by a huge fire pit," Jack had said, "but the least the fisherman can do is catch fish with, oh I don't know, better taste quality?"
I gave him a sympathetic grin, "Jack, you know that the fisherman can't go too far out into ocean in one night, obviously they're going to catch much more common fish," I told him as I petted Toothless.
He lifted his index finger into mid-air, "Correction, they only catch one type of fish, and that's the puny Green Gil," he explained and then crossed his arms, "It hardly has any flavor at all, it tastes like unflavored chicken!," he pouted, "They should start fishing early in the morning, not right before a ceremony begins."
Briefly, I had taken my index finger and pointed to him, "They can't do that either," I smirked as I had corrected him, having stifled a laugh as he pouted more, "The ceremony finishes practically a little later than midnight. Why would anyone, fishermen included, want to wake up early the next day?"
His eyebrows knitted together, "Alright wise guy, i'm pretty sure you'll backfire any argument I put out there," he paused momentarily, still scowling, as I laughed at his frustration, only to smile warmly at me after, "But you know what fish i'd really like to eat?" he asks.
"Don't tell me," I say, my right hand returned to pet Toothless, "a Yander Flow."
"Oh Thor, yes!" he had thrown his arms into the air, and if prompting the sky to hug him, "A heavenly Yander Flow! What I would do to get my hands on one of those babies!"
"Actually, you're right, I won't fight that. A Yander Flow would be pretty nice," I had agreed simply.
"Not just pretty nice," he had put up his index finger again, "extremely delicious!"
I giggled a bit, "Yeah, extremely delicious," and I had directed my attention to Toothless for a moment, "What do you say bud?" I asked and he glanced up at me, "Would you like a Yander Flow too?" And he had purred and licked my hand.
That's it! That's the only way Toothless would've gone out of his way to get me one! No wonder he was missing for a whole day, Yander Flows swim miles away from Berk! But where did the bag come from? Oh who cares!
"Awww, come here bud!" I fling myself at him again and hug him tightly. He hugs he back with his stubby, short black arms and I open my eyes, only to have a good view of his tail.
Hey, what's this?
I lightly push him away without taking my eyes off of it, "Toothless, where's the tail I made you?"
I look at him and he bows his head as he whimpers and frowns, "What bud? You can tell me, I won't get mad," I assure him in a soft voice, petting him again.
He exhales sharply and heads over to my window, "Toothless?" I call out.
But he jumps out swiftly as soon as he's by the pane.
"Whoa, hey, Toothless!" I yell out as I run over to my window. My eyes automatically latch onto his traveling figure as he makes his way into the main village.
Looks like he expects me to follow him.
I turn around too quick and trip over my prosthetic foot, "Ow!" feeling an increasing pain on my right knee, I instinctively overlap my hands on it.
"Ahhh, fuck fuck fuck fuck!," I mutter as I rock my knee around on the floor. It's not until then that I begin feeling a strong throbbing pain coming from my head.
"Owwww!" I moan and move my hands to grab my temples instead. Oh right, I had been drinking yesterday hadn't I? Wonderful. My first hangover. Looks like my body is wide awake now.
What happened yesterday anyway? And now that I mention it, how did I even get to my room? I don't even know who won the damn competition, but I doubt it was me. I just took the challenge because I was so worked up about Jack and Toothless that I decided to do something stupid to flush the frustration out. Plus, that guy pissed me off! I feel like i'm never gonna get any permanent recognition around here. If anything, the tribe probably thinks i'm more of a nuisance now, I lost that bet for sure. Ugh, bad luck is always biting me in the behind.
I rub my temples slowly in a circular motion for a couple of minutes before I get up on my feet.
I gotta move quick or I won't find Toothless.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
My dad wasn't downstairs. But that's not a surprise, he's gone early every morning, he's probably somewhere in the hall.
As I barely begin to make my way into the main village, a fellow viking stops me in my tracks, standing proudly over me and giving me a firm smack on my shoulder, the impact traveling up to my head and making me wince a little.
"Congrats Hiccup!" he phrases me.
"Wha-what?" I lightly mutter, rubbing my temples again, but he immediately continues on to his business and doesn't catch my words. He walks by me and I turn, following him with my deeply confused eyes.
What was that all about?
I shrug it off and return to my previous task, glancing back around and scanning the area for Toothless.
But all I see in front of me are the guys from the pub, progressively surrounding me, I note the ecstaticness in all of their faces.
Various compliments I hear coming from the crowd, all directed towards me:
"Congratulations Hiccup!"
"I can't believe you managed to do that!"
"You the man, Hiccup!"
and a lot of others and can't make out over the gradual growth in commotion.
It comes to a point where I am enclosed in the center of a circle of strong men, they take turns giving me tight hugs and lifting me up like I was the newborn in town.
"Um, Yes, thank you," I stutter at every comment they throw at me, trying to be as kind as possible to everyone, despite me not knowing what this is all about.
They've gone mad. I haven't gotten this much attention since I woke up with a prosthetic foot.
"Ahh!" I yelp when a big, buff viking suddenly picks me up on his shoulders.
"Who knew you had it in you, ey Hiccup?" he shouts, his voice dominating over everyone else's.
"You beat Stump the Oblivious, who by the way has never been beat before, AND you managed not to pass out until midnight, just before the fish-eating!" he boasts, to which the crowd cheers loudly at, waving their fists in the air and rustling around.
Is he...is he talking about the drinking competition? Stump the Oblivious? Was that my opponent's name?
"Woooo boy! You were the life of the party yesterday!," the man carrying me continues, "You need to get drunk more often!"
"Wait," I stop the commotion, "so, you guys are telling me I won yesterday?" I asked with a hopeful smirk growing on my face.
He chuckles loudly at speaks to the crowd, "Poor boy ey?" he manages through his laugh and points at me, "he doesn't even remember!"
The whole crowd comes to life again in loud, booming laughter, just like last night.
Odin! I-I can't believe it! I won? Hah! I actually won!
I pump my fists onto the air repeatedly into the air, "I won!" I shout at the top of my lungs, ignoring the strong ringing in my ears formed by my aching head.
The vikings powerfully cheer in approval. Lost in the epiphany only momentarily, I briskly bring myself back into reality.
Toothless! I've got no time for this, I have to find Toothless!
I transition to a nervous, shy laugh while the crowd begins to tame itself, "Well thanks guys," I say shakily, squirming in the viking's firm hold, putting me down after he catches my vibe "but I really have to get going now."
The vikings mumble what I sense to be an approval so they make way and I continue onto my task, turning swiftly to ask, "Umm, by any chance have any of you seen Toothless anywhere?"
"Oh, your giant lizard?" one of the vikings shouts, "I saw 'em heading over to Gobber's forge, lad!"
"Thank you!" I shout, continuing to ignore the throbbing against my skull, and begin running to the workshop.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
I enter through the old doorway and my eyes catch sight of Gobber and Toothless, both of them pulling on an object in the opposing direction, ripping it in two.
Toothless spots me and bows his head in fear again, whimpering. Gobber faces me as well and jumps a little at the sight of me, "H-Hiccup!" he gets on his feet promptly and dusts himself off, lifting his hands in defense, "Listen Hiccup, I know this looks bad," I lift my brow and walk towards the object lying on the floor as he speaks, "But I swear it's nothin' we can't fix," and I finally get a good view of the tail I had made Toothless to fly on his own, leather cloth tattered and metal broken and bent.
I pick it up, examining it some more and gliding my hands over my ruined invention, my face in a blank expression while Gobber and Toothless' faces I see from the corner of my eyes are as anxious as ever, "True, it's something I can easily fix," I tell Gobber, "but the real question here," and look over at him, "is why this happened," I finish with a lopsided grin.
He's clearly shocked to see that I didn't turn into a raging mess, partly because my head is forbidding it right now, and he shakes back into composure as I walk over to Toothless, contraption still in one hand, and pet him lightly over his scaly head, trying to comfort him again as I did not too long ago.
"You see lad, yesterday morning Jack told me Toothless went missing!" Gobber begins to explain as he paces back and forth, the sound of Jack's name reminding me of our situation, "And the first thing I thought was oh that Hiccup, I told him an automatic tail for Toothless was a bad idea, but kids these days, they never listen! But-!" he pauses briefly, applying emphasis before he continues, "I found him! After the ceremony finished, Toothless landed not too far from the forge, and I ran straight for his tail and took it right off with my only hand!" he proudly declares with a smug grin as he rests his hand and hook on his hips, "Ohh, but he was a rough one, he was," he points at Toothless several times, Toothless gives him a very low, quiet, growl, "and he had a red bag too, but he wouldn't let me have it! He ran straight to your house and I let him go from there, I figured you'd know what to do with him," he finally finishes and he sighs, "but sorry for the tail lad, he came runnin' into the forge wanting to take it back, and well.." he gestures to the broken invention, "this happened."
I take a moment to register the whole explanation, Jack's name still sticking out in my mind, nodding and approving of what was just told to me, but only one thing still doesn't seem to make sense, "Wait, so, you didn't give him the red bag?"
"No boy, he already had that thing tightly gripped in his teeth," mimicking Toothless's grasp by biting into his own hook, "I couldn't grab it! Did he give it to you?" he asks.
"Yeah, he did," I answer, "Don't ask what it is, you'll see later," I add quickly, "and Thanks, thanks for getting a hold of Toothless," I finish as I pat my dragon on his back. Hmm, I wonder where the bag came from..
He shrugs, "Alright, I won't ask. And no problem lad. I guess i'll be seein' you around? I've got work to do," he tells me as he walks over to a bucket and begins pulling out scraps of metals and giant pliers, setting it on a desk beside him.
"Yeah, see you later Gobber," I dismiss myself and signal Toothless to walk with me towards the door, pausing momentarily before pushing on the handle, Toothless takes a glance up at me for suddenly halting.
My mind finds itself back to Jack and I and our kiss. Back to wondering why Jack is mad at me. Back to feeling his lips still lingering over mine. I remember Fishlegs telling me he'd kiss me but how utterly disgusting it would be, and I don't disagree with him. But when I think about the kiss Jack and I had..
It was disgusting, wasn't it? Right? Of course it was, why wouldn't it be? He's a guy and two guys kissing is just...unacceptable, and...weird, and...disgusting.
I rub my temples again, half of the reason being the hangover and the over half being frustration. Toothless looks at me with concerned eyes, and I return his gaze, but my thoughts remain fogged with Jack.
Or maybe I just want to believe it was disgusting. Honestly, I just thought it was an awkward moment. I didn't really feel the urge to spit out, or to push him away, or anything bad. I just felt reluctant to talk to him afterwards, but I certainly wasn't comfortable with it either.
Does Jack feel the same way? He probably found it more disgusting than me. I mean, I feel like he's angry with me. And he was avoiding me yesterday as well. I don't know if that's his way of showing awkwardness or he's just really annoyed with my face.
I just want to get rid of this whole situation. I wanna get this feeling off of my lips. I want us to go back to normal and joke around like we did before rolling down that hill yesterday. Usually he stops by my house every morning simply to greet me, but i'm pretty sure this time he made sure to stay 50 feet away.
I sigh a tired breath and pet Toothless once more, "Hey Gobber," I call out, still looking at Toothless, "How do you get rid of a feeling?"
"A feelin', you say?" he answers, still working on who knows what, "that depends on what type of feelin'."
I shift around uncomfortably, frowning a little bit. Obviously i'm not gonna tell him I kissed Jack. Toothless tugs on my shirt with his teeth, beginning to worry more, "It's okay bud, it's okay" I quietly whisper until he lets go.
"Well, let's say I did something I didn't like," I cautiously start out and pause, watching his actions.
"Mhmm? and?" he prompts me to continue as he works.
"And...I can't get rid of the feeling of it. I keep thinking about it and I want it out of my system," I finish and await his answer.
"What? Like bein' the drunk mess you were yesterday?" he blurts out.
"W-what!" I raise my voice in shock, again ignoring the ringing it caused my ears, Toothless flinches at my voice, and I walk over to his spot, "How did you know about that!" I ask loudly standing beside him.
"Well, your father wasn't too happy about carrying you back home, in fact, he had to get Jack to carry you upstairs. Stoick would come tumbling down with you altogether on that weak, frail staircase! Heheheh!" he finishes off with a laugh.
Jack carried me up to my room? So then, he isn't completely mad at me...or most likely he was forced to do it.
"But all in all, he was proud that his own son beat Stump the Oblivious, the tribe drinkin'-champion," he finally faced me, "You broke his record Hiccup, 50 cups of beer and you were still up and runnin' for another 3 hours! Ha! Miracle!" and he turned back to his work.
"Yeah, but I've got a massive headache for that," I practically groan out and rub my head with a little more force this time, rubbing my face afterwards as well.
"Recognition comes with a price, boy," he tells me, "You should go home and take it easy today."
"Yeah, you're right" I sigh out.
But not before I see Jack.
I head for the door again, "Come on, Toothless" I call out to him and finally get a grip on the door handle, opening it and letting Toothless out first. And Gobber calls out to me again before I step out.
"And about the feeling thing," he says, making me turn to him, "If something's really botherin' you all that bad, do it again."
"Do-d-d-da-do it again?" I spit and stutter out, "What do you mean do it again?" I fling my hands questionably in mid-air.
Kiss Jack again? That's ludacris!
He turns his body to face me, and by the look on his face, he isn't messing with my head.
Shit.
"I know it sounds crazy lad, but sometimes you have to do things repeatedly to get used to them. Eventually it won't bother you and you'll get so bored with the feeling, you'll stop doing it," he explains and immediately gets back to work, "now good bye, this is gonna take me all day," he waves me off.
My eyes are nearly bulging in fright out of their sockets. I put my right hand on my chest and breath out a long exhale before I forget how breathing even works. And with that, I finally motion out of the forge, closing the door behind me.
Toothless tugs at my shirt again, signaling me towards home.
So, getting used to kissing Jack until I feel nothing. Sure, sounds like a great plan if i'm trying to deprive us both of our friendship! And sure, Astrid and I aren't dating, but if she ever found out about this, she wouldn't dare to look at me anymore! And I doubt Jack would even talk to me if we had a second kiss! Should I even take this advice into consideration?
I shake my head and rub away some pain again, motioning Toothless to move in a different direction, "We're going to Jack's first, bud." I notify him. He seems to grin and walks right ahead of me. Getting a good view of this tail, I realize that i'm gonna have to pull out his old tail part and use that instead for a while, but i'll do that when I get home.
I have to fix this little mishap between me and Jack today, advice or no advice. I'm not gonna sit around and wait for him to come to me.
I take a step forward and head over to Jack's house.
I hope it wasn't too long or tedious, and I'm practically less than thirty minutes away from my deadline right now. I could've edited it some more, but time was not on my side.