AN: Heeeeyy! Wassup homies! New chapter for my favorite peeps in the 'verse!
Song: Money for Nothing by Dire Straits (and your chicks for free)
Disclaimer: (sigh) Do I have to do this still? Fine. I don't own httyd. There. Happy?!
I woke up that morning feeling ready to take on this new world, and I was betting on needing every last drop of energy to make it through the day. First, I had to straighten up my new house. I rearranged the tables and chairs to fit them around the open fire pit. Then, I swept the rugs and made the bedspread. Finally, I looked over the house, checking for any other work that needed to be done. Satisfied for now, I walked out the door, met by a blast of icy air. I huddled in my t-shirt and hurried down the hill towards the docks. As I neared the forge, I heard the thud of hammer against iron, and saw the sparks flying. I hoped that Hiccup knew what he was doing.
I knocked on the side beam of the entrance, and Gobber noticed and stood up, waving. "Ah Brandon, what brings you 'ere? Not takin' me up on me offer yet, are ye? I got workin' to do!" Gobber chuckled.
"Not yet, Gobber. Tonight sounds much better." I laughed. "But right now, I'm looking for Hiccup. He said he'd be here. You don't happen to have seen him, have you?"
Gobber straightened up. "Why, I 'ave. 'E's in 'is section of the workshop, in the back. I'm sure you can find 'im."
"Thanks, Gobber. See you tonight in the Great Hall," I waved goodbye and smiled, before turning to make my way in between the grindstones and anvils that crowded the front of the forge. After a few minutes of bobbing and weaving, I made it to a door in the back. I reached out to open it.
And got slammed in the face.
Hiccup burst through the door, a grin all over his face. He then saw me, melded with the door, my eyes slits staring at Hiccup in anger and extreme pain. Hiccup's face fell and he began to laugh nervously.
"Thanks, Hiccup." I growled, removing my face from the door.
"Anytime, Brandon," he replied casually. "But, anyways, perfect timing. I need you to help me with something."
"Ok," I replied as I entered Hiccup's workshop. The walls were full of drawings of dragon weapons and traps, all very detailed and smart. Almost all of them, however, had a red X over them, indicating that they had failed. I felt bad for Hiccup that all of his good designs failed somehow, as indicated by the sidenotes on them: blown up by Nadder, trampled by Gronkle, accidentally set off by twins, etc. One didnt have an X on it: the bola launcher. Instead, it was circled with the sidenote: works! Night Fury shot down.
Hiccup was over at the table, pouring over one drawing, and I went to take a look at what it was. "Hey! That's a mattress!" I realized as I saw it. Hiccup's face lit up as he turned to me. "You had these in the future?!"
"Yeah, and I can show you how to make one." I offered. Hiccup quickly nodded. "Ok, I need some paper to draw on, to show you what you need to know." Hiccup slapped down a fresh piece of paper to write on, and a small charcoal stick to write and draw with. I began to draw a spring for Hiccup, explaining to him what this did in a mattress. I stood up, and faced Hiccup. "Let's get to work."
After a few hours, I had enough springs to create an actual mattress. "Ok, now let's fill the sheepskin up with these to make the actual mattress." I instructed Hiccup. With Hiccup's help, the mattress filled up quickly, and we sewed up the hole that the springs had gone in through. Finally, it was done. "Give it a try, Hiccup," I gestured to the bed. Hiccup laid down on the mattress, occasionally shifting around from side to side. "This is a big improvement over straw mattresses," he said. "I think that if we traded this for a lower price than those feather mattresses that Trader Johann brings in, then we could make a nice profit off these."
"Traded?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah, traded. You see, we don't use real money here. Instead, we trade things, like chicken and yaks, for things that we want."
"Huh, so, what do you think we could get out of this?" I asked.
"Well, the feather ones are about three yaks, so this could be about one yak and two chickens. Don't forget though, we barter and dicker a lot over trades down here. I'm not good at it, so I won't get the highest prices." Hiccup lamented sadly.
"Don't worry, I drive a hard bargain. I'll get us some good chickens and yaks," I assured Hiccup.
"Ok then, let's get out there and sell this thing, Brandon!" Hiccup cheered. I, meanwhile, groaned, knowing we'd have to get the mattress back through the forge again. I shuddered at the thought of the mess out there.
After many minutes of dragging the mattress around, we stumbled outside with the mattress in tow. Hiccup set it down on the dirt and leaned over to me. "Now, we sit down and wait." I proceeded to sit and wait while passerby gave me odd glances. Hiccup had pulled out his notebook, and I leaned in over his shoulder to see what he was drawing.
The page he was on contained a detailed drawing of the Night Fury from the cove. As Hiccup thought, he suddenly erased the left tailfin from his drawing. 'Was that what was wrong with it?' I wondered. I still had never gotten a good look that night because it had slept on the other side of the lake. Six shadows appeared, interrupting my thoughts and Hiccup's drawing. He snapped his book shut and we both stood up.
In front of us were five teenagers, six if you counted Ripper sitting in the back. The one in the front looked muscular, like a young Stoick. However, unlike Stoick, I could tell that he had Evan's brain just by how he acted. The next two were bashing their helmets together - with their heads still in them. Their long hair made them look eerily similar, and I could tell they were twins by how they acted with each other. The next boy was quite - well, husky, but he seemed to be the only one so far with a brain. Then, I saw the last teen, and my heart leapt up into my throat.
This last teen was a goddess among mere mortals, a shining perfection of a girl. Her long blond hair matched her ice blue eyes so perfectly, and her shoulder pad and leather headband only added to her shining complexion. I was so spellbound that I didn't notice how my jaw was hanging down until she brought the blunt edge of her axe up and gently closed it. I stood there, stockstill, absolutely stunned.
"Haven't seen you around before. You must be that new guy who got shipwrecked here. The name's Astrid. Astrid Hofferson. The buff loser is Snotlout, the two idiots are Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and the husky one's Fishlegs."
"H-H-H… Hi! My name's Brandon. And your guess was correct, I am the guy that shipwrecked." I stammered, looking red as a beet.
"So, what are the two of you doing out here? And what's this?" Astrid looked down at the mattress.
"Oh, that's a new type of mattress that Brandon helped me with. We call it a spring mattress, because it uses this metal thing called a spring to…"
"Blah blah blah! Nobody cares about your stupid inventions!" Snotlout piped up. This struck a serious chord, and I straightened up slowly. Astrid tried to motion for Snotlout to shut up, but it was too late. "You and your friend could matter less to me, especially your new friend of yours," he said to Hiccup, before switching to me, "yeah, you! Why'd you make friends with this loser! You're probably a loser yourself, then!"
I had had enough. I stepped closer to Snotlout and said, "I'd be careful if I were you. You don't know what you're up against. You'd better watch your back, Snot." I gave him a glare, hoping he would take the bluff. I knew that I was no match for him, but I gambled on the fact that since I was new, he wouldn't know what I was capable of. Surprisingly, he bit. Snotlout backed away and stayed silent. Astrid gave me an impressed smirk before picking back up with our conversation.
"So, are you selling it?"
"Yeah, we wanted a yak and two chickens for it." Hiccup set the price.
"Well, I need a new mattress, but I don't think
a yak and two chickens are worth it." Astrid argued, and Hiccup glanced at me. I knew this was where the haggling began.
"Why would you think that?" I questioned.
"Because, I don't know how good it is," Astrid replied.
"Well then, give it a spin." I gestured to the mattress, and Astrid lay down on it, slowly shifting around.
"Well, this is definitely better than my old one," Astrid decided, standing back up. "But, I still think it's not worth the price.
"Why not? From what Hiccup's told me, this is cheaper than the feather mattresses that Trader Johann brings. It's a better deal, and it's better than a straw mattress."
Astrid seemed stumped for a moment, but then smirked. "But, you don't know for sure what it's actually worth. You don't know what a yak or a chicken's worth yet." My eyes widened, and I glanced back at Hiccup. Astrid was right, I didn't know exactly what it was worth. She had found my weakness.
"Well, I trust Hiccup to set the right price." I countered.
"But you don't know for sure. Hiccup could have insanely overpriced it." Astrid shot back.
"I trust Hiccup. Here, I'll make you a deal. I'll take one yak and one chicken for it, AND I'll throw in a free sharpening for that axe."
Astrid tried to fight back. "No, that's still too high," she said.
"Take it or leave it." I shrugged and then stared down an unwavering Astrid. Our eyes locked and had a power struggle, ice blue meeting sapphire blue, until Astrid looked away. I smirked. I had won.
"Deal." Astrid finally accepted. She spit in her hand and stuck it out, and I did the same. We shook, but she pulled me over to her and leaned in. I was afraid that she would punch me, but instead, she whispered, "I like you. I like that fighting spirit. What do you say we talk over some mead?"
"Well, I've got a drink to have with Gobber, if you don't mind the company." I replied. Astrid cracked a small smile.
"Done. See you tonight." Astrid leaned back out and said in a louder tone, "I'll bring your payment and we'll trade in a bit. See you guys." She walked away, with the other teens, except Ripper, following behind. Hiccup, meanwhile, was staring at me like I was a god. "What is it, Hiccup?" I said, exasperated.
"You won an argument with THE Astrid Hofferson!" Hiccup said. "Yeah, I know her name." I said sarcastically. "That's, like, impossible! She tears people who argue with her to shreds!" Hiccup ranted, amazed. Ripper clapped me on the back, saying "Congrats. You did the impossible."
"Hey, at least it sold. What are yaks and chickens really worth, anyways?" I said. Hiccup laughed at that. The three of us then stood there for about another minute, when Astrid arrived, alone this time. Trailing behind her was a yak on a rope, and she was holding a chicken under her arm. "Here you go, guys," Astrid said, handing me the rope and chicken and handing Hiccup her axe, with him struggling under its weight. "That should be sharpened by tonight, just in case of a dragon attack." She took the mattress from Hiccup and began to lug it back up the hill. With our business concluded, I turned to the next matter.
"Snotlout."
"What do you want with that overgrown yak?" Tuffnut asked.
"I want to teach him a lesson. Show him that he's not the best." I said.
"But what are you gonna do?" Ruffnut asked, confused.
"That's where you two come in. I need you guys to help me prank him - hard." I said, smirking.
With Ripper's help, I had found the twins, and now I was counting on them to help me. Of course, I needed to convince them that helping me was worth it.
"What's in it for us?" Tuffnut asked.
"You get to see Snotlout's face when we prank him," I egged them on. I didn't have to.
"Deal!" They both immediately shouted. I grinned. This was going to be funny.
The three of us snuck up to the window of Snotlout's room silently and looked inside. I pointed to a stuffed yak on his bed. "There. That's perfect. He'll be so humiliated if the village finds this out."
"Yeah, we can use this. Ruffnut, go put this in a place where everyone can see it." Tuffnut ordered.
"Ok... Wait, where is that again?" I had to put my hand on my chin just so that I wouldn't facepalm. "Up in the middle of the Great Hall." I sighed.
"Oh, right! Ok, I'll go and do that!" Ruffnut said, dashing off up the hill towards the doors.
"Oh, this is gonna be gooooood." Tuffnut said, chuckling, and I joined in. This was gonna be goooood!
After I left Ruff and Tuff, I fed my new yak and chicken and decided to build the chicken a coop. Within an hour, that was done and I built the yak a water and food trough. After that, I tilled my new garden, and got it prepared to grow seeds. Then, I went inside and started a fire in the pit for later, and lit all of the candles. Finally, nighttime had come, and I walked up the hill to the giant doors of the Great Hall. I opened them and immediately saw Gobber sitting alone at one of the tables, and I walked over there. As I sat down, Gobber smiled and said, "Ey, Brandon! Grab a drink!"
"Ok, be right there. Where's the mead at?" I asked, scanning the room.
"Over there, by the fire. Just pop open a barrel an' dip a mug." Gobber directed me.
I left the table and grabbed a mug before dipping it into the barrel, pulling it out full of mead. I sat back down next to Gobber and took a few swigs, quickly getting used to the bitter taste, when a hand slapped me on the back. I turned around to see Astrid and the other teens, who left as Astrid grabbed a mug and sat down next to me. She took a swig and then cleared her throat.
"So, where did you come from? No one ever told me." Astrid asked.
"Rune. My parents had a divorce. I couldn't live with that." I said.
Astrid looked at me with a stoic expression, but her eyes betrayed a hint of... pity, I'm guessing. "Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I've honestly gotten used to it," I said, shrugging it off as I took another swig of mead.
Suddenly, our conversation was interrupted by a panicked yell. I turned around and saw Tuffnut pointing at one of the roofing beams over the giant pit fire. I followed his finger, and saw Snotlout's stuffed yak sitting there. I turned back and saw Snotlout panicking next to Tuffnut. He climbed the beam and got his stuffed yak back as he then proceeded to run down the main walkway. I swear that I heard him say as he passed, "Don't worry Fluffy. You're safe now,". Gobber, Astrid, the rest of the hall and I were dying of laughter as Snotlout sprinted out the doors.
"Let me guess, that was you." Astrid said between laughs.
"Guilty as charged, but with help from the twins," I defended myself as I began to cry from laughing so hard.
"Well, it was worth it. I don't think Snotlout will act so high and mighty anymore," Astrid chuckled.
I laughed all the way until my mug was empty, and I bid my new friends goodbye. I laughed all the way to my house. I laughed as I blew out the candle to go to sleep. But right before sleep took me in its clutches, I realized something.
I was making a name for myself in this world.
AN: Hahahahaha! Sucks to suck, Snotlout! (coughs) Man, these outbursts are getting out of control. Anyways, I thought that the verbal power struggle between Brandon and Astrid was a really bad scene, but I couldn't make it any better than it was. Oh well. Please review and have a good day!