AN: I'm BAACCKK! Hopefully you guys enjoy this, as there were no reviews for the last chapter D: Oh well, I guess Sunday is a bad day to post. Let's try Saturday!
Song: Good Life from OneRepublic
Disclaimer: Hell, you already know it but I DON'T OWN IT! (panting from outburst)
A few hours later, I was with Hiccup and Ripper, huddled around the campfire they had made, chilled to the bone under the twinkling nighttime sky. My hands and feet were bound so tightly that I had lost circulation an hour back, and I couldn't sleep yet. Every time I tried conversation, the two teens would brickwall me, so I stopped trying. The three of us just sat in an uncomfortable silence, each unwilling to talk as all of our brains worked overtime.
As the logs turned to embers, Hiccup finally broke the silence, asking "What is this thing?", pointing at the gun in his hand. I replied, "Imagine one of your catapults or bows, but super small and ten times more powerful. Don't fire it though, it's dangerous."
"Wow," Hiccup said, amazed, "how come I - er, we haven't invented this yet?"
"Because the main thing that the gun uses to propel the projectile - or bullet, as it's called, is a complex chemical formula called gunpowder." I explained to an excited Hiccup.
"Huh, I see. What about that?" Hiccup pointed to the mangled wreck of Lightning.
"That thing's called a plane, and it's a machine that flies. It uses a machine called an engine to propel it forwards."
"Interesting. How does this engine thing work?"
"Good question. You see, it takes this liquid called gasoline, and then it..."
As I continued to explain the intricacies of an engine to Hiccup, Ripper looked around the clearing, not caring about our conversation. Then, he suddenly blurted out, "Where did you come from, Brandon?"
I was a little stumped on how to answer this question, fully knowing that revealing the truth could shatter any friendly relations between us. However, I knew I had to come clean or else those Hairy Hooligans that Ripper talked about earlier probably couldn't help me get back home. I took a deep breath, and took a giant leap of faith.
I told the truth.
"You see, one day I was flying with my plane over a mountain range of my country, the United States of America, and-"
"The United States? What's a state?" Hiccup inquired, puzzled.
"Well, it's like one of your tribes, like the Hairy Hooligans here on Berk. The United States is like 50 of those tribes working together, like a confederation."
"Interesting idea. Anyways, continue." Ripper beckoned.
"So, I saw some little ripples in the air ahead of me, and I headed towards them. When I got close, the waves opened up and I saw your ocean through it. I flew through the portal thing to the Barbaric Archipelago, as you called it, and flew over to here, looking for a place to land my plane. I witnessed that dragon attack on your village, and then that Night Fury flew up next to me. After that, two giant nets, the one I'm tied up with, came up and one hit the Night Fury. The other hit me and my plane. I crash-landed here, with a giant wooden spike lodged in my arm from the landing. I had to perform an emergency surgery, but the bit fell out as I was pulling, and I let out that howl that brought both of you here. I heard everything that happened with Hiccup and the dragon, as well as Ripper getting here. And here we are." I explained all that had happened to me lately.
Hiccup had an ashamed look on his face ever since I mentioned the nets, and he soon spoke up. "I'm sorry," he said, crestfallen.
"For what?" Ripper asked.
"Those nets came from my new bola launcher that I created to shoot down the Night Fury. I had set up on the hill that night, and saw the Night Fury, but not you. I took a shot, and managed to hit the rarest dragon in the Archipelago." Hiccup explained.
"Well, you can also cross a time and dimension-traveling teenager driving a plane off that list of the rarest things you've ever shot down." I replied, irritation dripping from my mouth.
"Well, now that that mystery's cleared up, let's move on to the other one: what are we going to do with you?" Ripper changed the subject.
I gulped hard: that question had a very sinister double meaning to it. "You could take me into town, maybe." I replied, clearly shaken.
"And we'd tell everyone what? 'Hey guys, look, we found a time traveler from the future, accept him like he was here the whole time!'" Ripper said, mocking my idea.
Ripper did bring up a good point there, though. How would the village react to me if I just waltzed in? I'm sure it wouldn't be like The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy headed into Munchkin Town, that's for sure. "Um, well, maybe you could bring me in as a prisoner, have me serve a small sentence, and then say that I'm rehabilitated, or something like that. I can't leave, 'cause my plane's screwed and I can't stay out here, I don't know the terrain or how to hunt, not to mention that I'm defenseless against a dragon attack."
"He's got a point, Ripper. He can't really do anything but be taken into the village, but he can't give out his real alibi." Hiccup backed me up.
"Ah! I've got it! We say that you were shipwrecked off the coast, in the Sea Stacks. Then we request that you stay, since you don't want to go back to where you came from, lets say, Rune." Ripper laid out his master plan to us.
"Alright, that sounds good, but one more thing, Brandon: Can we trust you?" Hiccup asked the vital question.
I already had the answer ready, locked and loaded. "Cut me free. Let me show you." I invited. Ripper looked quite on edge and nervous, but Hiccup was willing to give me a chance, and I was not planning on staying tied up like a criminal. Hiccup moved over to me and sawed on my leg ropes first, then moved behind me and freed my arms. I rubbed my chafed wrists, with the two teens eyeing me carefully. I strolled over to Lightning, and called back to Hiccup, "Can I use your knife?" Hiccup hesitated for a minute, but then said, "Yeah, sure," as he tossed the knife over to me. I cut out the holster from Lightning, and looped a small leather string through the belt loop on my sky blue jeans, connecting the two and making me look like a wannabe Clint Eastwood. I walked back over to the two, and asked Hiccup the critical question: "Can I have my gun back?"
I knew that this question was going to be hard, so I reassured the teenagers. "Here, I'll give you your knife back. If I try to do anything, you can just stab me." I handed the knife back to Hiccup, who took it with a wary eye. After a few more minutes of silent debate, Hiccup made his choice.
He handed the gun back towards me.
I took it from him as I inspected it, making sure it was in working order. Then, I proceeded to unload the gun, taking out the clip and clearing the chamber. I took the clips and shoved them in another belt loop in my jeans, showing the emptied weapon to Hiccup and Ripper before putting it in the holster. I was ready. "Ok, let's go," I said, beckoning for Hiccup to take the lead. Ripper would guard me from behind, just in case I tried something stupid.
We trudged through the winding path, trees shadowing the three of us as we hiked through the forest. Soon, the trees began to thin out, and we came among small farms and houses, the beets and turnips that were growing in the rock-hard soil looking tough and tasteless. I saw a few people walking around, adorned in furs and iron, being almost inhumanly tall, like giants. They didn't notice us however, as they minded their business and we minded ours. We soon arrived at the outskirts of Berk, as the houses got very crowded up ahead.
I took a deep breath as I walked into the town square. All of the people that were active there stopped what they were doing and stared at me, soon whispering about my strange clothes and attitude. I breathed a laugh, as jeans and a t-shirt were usual where I came from. Nevertheless, the three of us quickly pressed on, hiking up the hill at the bottom of the giant mountain that dominated the center of the island. At the top, it leveled out to reveal a pair of colossal doors that were implanted into the side of the mountain.
"We're here," Ripper said proudly.
"Where is 'here' exactly?" I asked.
"The Great Hall. This is the place where the tribe meets, sometimes about important stuff, but usually to share a tankard of mead." Hiccup said. He pushed open the massive doors, revealing the giant interior. I stood in awe.
There was a giant open pit fire in the middle of a giant cave, crisscrossed with wooden beams on the roof, all intricately carved and painted. The cavern itself was big enough to house the same hangar that held Lightning back at Little Rock. There were a few people drinking and talking around the fire, and Hiccup walked towards one group of two, with Ripper motioning for me to follow, so I did.
As we got close, Hiccup said, "Hey Dad, Gobber, look who we found on the shore!" The two burly men turned around and I visibly gulped and started to sweat.
They were both monsters of men, being very muscular and strong. One of them had a red beard stretching out from his chin like it was on fire, and his green eyes narrowed a tiny bit as he saw me, but remained silent. The other examined me with his blue eyes, stroking his blond beard softly, deep in thought. I noticed that he was missing two of his limbs, one arm and one foot, replaced with wooden substitutes. The red bearded one spoke first, saying, "Who is this, Hiccup?"
"This is Brandon, Dad. Brandon, this is Stoick the Vast, the chief of the Hairy Hooligans - and my dad. The blond's name is Gobber the Belch. He's the village blacksmith, and I'm his apprentice." Hiccup replied.
"H-Hello, um, what should I call you?" I stuttered. "Just Chief is fine," Stoick boomed. I backed up a step, almost tripping over myself. This was not a good first impression. "You can just call me Gobber," Gobber said, chuckling quietly. I laughed nervously. "Ok, Gobber."
"So, what tribe do you come from? Let's just say you don't look like much of a Viking." Stoick asked.
Hiccup saved me, saying "He's from Rune. His ship crashed offshore and he got washed up on the beach. We were hoping that you would let him live here, because he doesn't want to go back. He was leaving when he shipwrecked, you see."
Stoick rubbed his chin, thinking hard. He finally asked me a question: "Why don't you want to go back?"
I panicked, before my brain finally had a great explanation. "My parents just had a divorce. I couldn't live with the shame and ridicule that would bring me." I explained, praying that Stoick would believe my reason. From what I had learned about ancient cultures, divorces were shameful to anyone in the family.
Gobber butted in to our conversation, finally breaking his silence. "I see, that 'ould be hard to live wit," he said. His thick Scottish lilt made him sound just like an Englishman, but, it was better than the Saxon accents that everyone else had. Stoick nodded along with him.
"Alright, I'll let you stay, if Hiccup and Ripper vouch for you," Stoick said. My heart leapt for joy at that. "Well boys, do you?"
Hiccup responded immediately, "Absolutely. I trust him with my life." He had taken my gestures of trust back at the plane fully. Ripper, on the other hand, didn't reply immediately, and Stoick's eyes took on a cold glare. I gulped, begging Ripper silently to vouch for me.
"Yeah, I trust him." Ripper finally decided. I did a mental fist pump, cheering for my new best friend.
"Ok, you can take Finn's old house. He just died and he had no relatives or children, so it's open now. You can move in there." Stoick said.
"Thank you, Chief. Your kindness is much appreciated." I bowed respectfully, not entirely sure what to do, before a hand clapped me on the back so hard I almost fell over.
"Congratulaterns, Brandon! Let's celerbrate wit a bit o' mead!" Gobber congratulated me.
"I'll take you up on that later, Gobber. Right now I had best be getting my new house in working order." I laughed.
"See you later, Dad!" Hiccup yelled over his shoulder as the three of us strode out of the Great Hall. "That went over better than I had thought it would." I sighed, relieved.
"Well, I'll show you to Finn's old house. Let's get going." Hiccup said.
"I can't, my mom's probably furious for being out so late already. Being gone longer will only make it worse." Ripper apologized.
"Ok, see you tomorrow, Ripper," I said. Ripper waved goodbye as he bounded back down the mountain. Hiccup and I started the descent, getting two-thirds of the way down before Hiccup took a dirt path running off to the side of the road, and I quickly followed. After another few minutes, we came across a house, and Hiccup stopped. "This was Finn's house. It's yours now," he said.
The house was a triangular shape, with the base being at the front. Sitting on the hill over the village, I could see all the way to the sea from here, a beautiful view. The house itself had many carvings and murals on the front. On the main beam, a dragon's head stuck out, it's eyes staring at all who passed. Up against the left side was a small patch of dirt that was fenced off, which I presumed was a garden. However, the house was falling apart. The paint on the carvings was flaking and peeling on everything, and some of the wood looked rotten. The garden hadn't been tilled in a while, and grass was growing in it. I sighed. This place looked like one of my grandparents' restoration projects. "It'll do, but I'll have to do some work on it." I said.
Hiccup laughed. "It certainly needs some love." Anyways, I'll see you later. Stop by the forge, and we'll see about getting you a job."
"Bye, Hiccup," I said, giving him a firm handshake as he left.
I went inside and looked around, it being just as out of shape as the outside. I slowly trudged up the stairs to my room, collapsing on my straw mattress in exhaustion. I blew out the candle and fell into a sound sleep with no dreams, no new worlds to explore.
After all, I was already in one.
AN: We're gonna live in Berk! Huzzah! (coughs) Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy that chapter, and please leave a review! I need to know if anything's wrong with this so far so I can fix it!