Hi Lads and Lasses, another chapter to add to the pile, bit shorter than usual, was going to make it longer but decided that the next one will give me some time to think on how to word it down. As i said last chapter thanks to race to the edge I've revamped this stories plot but the same results will occur just now will have a bit extra thrown into it. Been one hell of a month for me, mainly personal problems but hopefully will sort themselves out soon. Anyway enough about my bullshite, lets get on with the chapter.
Just to let you all know, no cats were harmed in the making of this chapter, although they did get very angry.
Chapter 19-Awakening Start
Hiccup POV
*Boom!*
"Gods dammit! Hiccup! Watch yer dragon's blast will ye!" I heard Gobber shout, wondering where he was since I couldn't see through the smoke that filled the forge.
"Sorry Gobber" I coughed, Toothless must have heard me as I felt a rush of wind and the sound of flapping wings, all of a sudden the smoke that was in the forge was blown outside and everything came back into view including a very irritated and slightly sooty Gobber "what were ye thinkin lad!" he coughed still having some of the smoke in his lungs, I simply rolled my eyes.
"I'm experimenting Gobber" I casually said like it was a common thing, okay so in my opinion it was a common thing. Gobber however raised an eyebrow "what ye mean experimenting? With what?" he asked more curiously than annoyed. I showed him the vat of Gronkle iron that was behind me and Toothless, as he looked in he could tell straight away it was an odd colour, granted Gronkle lava was a weird colour before but this was a weird colour even to that, I was a darker shade of lava not a full black but more a purplish black sort of colour. Ever since the incident in Berks arena where I asked Toothless to fire at my Nightmare saliva covered blades causing them to catch fire with a purple flame, it made me wonder what would happen to the properties of Gronkle iron if dragon fire was introduced with it was in it's liquid form, and so many tries spanning over a week I came up with this. Gobber looked from the vat to look at me, from the look in his eyes he wanted to know what was I working on so I sat down, taking the weight off my feet, well foot and peg-leg as I explained what I was doing "well you see Gobber, I'm trying to determine if adding dragons fire to the mix of Gronkle lava while it was still hot changes it's properties" I turned the stone tap on the side of the vat on letting the dark coloured lava slowly pour into a sword blade cast and stopped as the lava completely filled it fully, I already did the same earlier with the regular Gronkle iron and was waiting for that to cool down, after I pounded it into shape first.
Gobber seemed intrigued by what I said "sounds like ye trying te create ye own form o metal...again" I shrugged like it was no big deal as Gobber looked into the vat of dark lava "so wha name ye got fer it?" he asked as I looked at him before looking at my feet, well foot, I didn't think that far ahead, just making the stuff so far was on my list, but now I have made it, a name for it would suitable for it would be the next step. Looking around, spotting Toothless 'hmm Night Fury iron? Yeah would be good but it too direct' I thought to myself 'yeah sure it was made using his fire, but there was a bit of Stormfly magnesium flame and Meatlugs Gronkle iron mixed in too, so I can't name it After one dragon when other have done there part for it too' and then it hit me like a Gronkle wanting a hug, snapping my finger and thumb together I look up to Gobber to address him and I smiled.
"Dragon steel"
Gobber simply raised an eyebrow at the name, was it too corny , too over the top, maybe I could come up with a better name for it. But Gobber smiled and nodded before replying "Dragon steel? Ya know I would have expected something so crazy, so insane , so unViking like" thank you Gobber for your encouraging words I sarcastically thought to myself as he carried on "if it been anyone else I would have knocked some sense into em long ago, but ye Hiccup, crazy seems to work so well fer ya" he finished off leaving me smiling as I nodded and went back to hammering the Gronkle iron blade before it cooled down too much "thanks Gobber, I guess crazy is in my nature" I replied back, even though I couldn't see him I can tell he was nodding in agreement "aye lad, it's one thing Astrid loves abou ye" he paused before carrying as I was hammering away "oh speaking about the lass an ye, have yew two slept wi each other yet?" this stunned me so much that as I was raising my hammer for a strong hit, it slipped out of my hand and went flying out of the window behind me.
*Crash!Bang!Meow!*
Slowly turning around, I look at Gobber first before looking through the window my hammer flew out of to see what damage it caused. All I could see was a broken fish barrel, the hammer embedded into a stone wall and a very pissed off looking cat.
*Whistle*
"Nice aim Hiccup" Gobber said as I turn around to address him with a glare, his reply was a shrug and a "what?"
"Slept with each other? Really Gobber?" I said to him with a dull tone in my voice, he decided to look at me like I was crazy "oh come on Hiccup, it's not like ye weren't thinkin abou it" okay I'll give him props, I do sometimes think about those things, but I want things to be done right, after all she's still a shield-maiden in my eyes and will want to follow things the right way. My thoughts were snapped back into reality from the laughter of my fellow blacksmith "ha! Told ya!" he said loudly, I simply rolled my eyes and smirked "yeah yeah Gobber you guessed right, but you know I wouldn't do that..."
"Unless Astrid wanted ta" Gobber interrupted me, the creepiest thing is he knew what I was about to say, but before I could ask our conversation was interrupted by Fishlegs who looked like he had been running, seeing as he's out of breath and sweating like a dragon at an eel party, but he seemed...excited?
"H-Hiccup!" Fishlegs shouted breathlessly as he tried to catch his breath "y-you gotta come and see...this!" it was at this point I had to hold on to my large friend to get him to calm down and hopefully allow himself a chance to catch his breath before he passed out from lack of air, and there is no way in Hel's domain am I lifting him up, especially since I'm still working on my new leg. "okay calm Fish, take a deep breath" I tell him as he complies by slowly breathing in and out to calm himself, after his breathing is back to normal I then gesture to him to repeat himself "okay, okay I'm good Hiccup, it's just I've been doing my daily checks on this Sand wraith to see if it's feeling any better, because we need to know all about the dragon's behaviour while at full health" Fishlegs kept babbling on, although it was nice to talk to someone about dragon's on a high intelligent level, it does annoy me when he starts talking yak balls instead of getting down to it.
"Fishlegs!" I shouted causing him to shut up "please get to the point before I smack you over the head with my peg leg" I said calmly causing the large teen to gulp before nodding "sorry Hiccup, okay, the thing is,the Sand wraith is fully awake and..."
"Wait... it's awake?" I said interrupting which must have ticked off Fishlegs as he went red in the face before shouting "let me finish!"
Guess I was right.
Within seconds his face changed back to his original pinkish colour "thank you" he said calmly before speaking once again "now as I said, the Sand Wraith is awake and appears to be doing ok, although slightly nervous, but saying that any dragon would be, even Meatlug told me of a cousin of hers who was killed in one" he paused to address Meatlug who was wide eyed before looking down. "Yeah I never like to talk about it much" she growled before munching some left over rocks from the forge. Yeah, reminds me of Fishlegs when he gets depressed, ate a while berry bush, then the bush. Come to think of it it seems dragon and rider share personalities for all of us, it makes me laugh inside what sort of dragon my dad would have, might be a Thunderdrum, considering they've both got big mouths. I start to frown thinking about my father again... no! Snap out of it Hiccup! What's done is done and all I can do is figure a way to make peace with him...somehow.
"Err Hiccup, hello, Midgard to Hiccup" I snap out of my thoughts as I hear Fishlegs and Gobber snapping their fingers in front of my face to get my attention.
"Huh? What?" I quickly said not understanding at first why they were doing that, until I realized I must have zoned out for quite a while "I was out for long wasn't I?" I said in a dead-panned voice to which they replied with a nod. Okay that was embarrassing, even for me. Sighing, I gesture for Fishlegs to repeat himself, much to the large teens annoyance "anyway like I was saying, we could use your help Hiccup since you're the first dragon rider out of all of us" he said as he stands in one place waiting for my reply.
Like he needed an answer.
I reached over to the prosthetic Gobber made me, a simple metal peg leg with a bit of my flare added in. I attach it onto my stump, still feels weird to wear and makes my still healing wound on my leg hurt, but I've lived with pain most of my life so getting used to the aching pain in using a fake leg should be easy.
I hope.
Adjusting my prosthetic to make it as comfortable as possible, I carefully place it on the ground, adding weight to it, unfortunately as I tried to walk forward, I nearly topple over and would have hit the ground if it hadn't been for Toothless who rushed to my aid, offering his head as support "thanks bud" I said smiling at him as he gave me a concerned look "take it easy brother, you're still learning how to walk" he cooed and chirped as he gestured for me to jump on his back.
Smiling at him again, I straighten myself up as I slowly take a step forward "thanks bud, no offence but the next time I'm back on top of you we'll be back in the air we'll belong" I said to him scratching him behind the ears making him purr with delight.
He knows I'm stubborn so knows I'll do whatever it take to get us flying again so simply gives me a nod as we start to walk with the others towards the arena, with Toothless by my side as support if I need it. Most of the journey to the arena was done in silence, except for Fishlegs babbling on about how the Sand Wraith compares to other dragons making me smirk as I shook my head. It's funny how even before discovering about dragons properly, Fishlegs always seemed to be fascinated in them, rather than kill them he'd would have been more on the studying side, something that would have been thought as being an outcast even for Viking standards, sure Bork the bold studied dragons but he also fought them too, badly if I recall Gobber's tales.
After ten minutes of walking, painfully, we finally make it to the arena where a paranoid Sand Wraith is running around the ring in a panic, must be wondering where it is was and how it got there I assume. Looking closer in the ring I see that it's the only on in there, sure enough as I look among the top of the arena where the seats resides, a crowd has gathered around watching the dragon curiously, typical Viking fashion really, see a dragon in a ring and they'll sell tickets.
I look towards Fishlegs and Gobber and, by the looks on their faces, are wondering what to do. I then look toward Toothless who looks back at me, it was like we could read each others minds as we smile and nod before stepping forward towards the closed gates.
"Hiccup wha are ye doing lad!?" I hear Gobber shouts in panic as he stands there watching me and Toothless open up the gate and walk into the ring as the gate automatically shuts behind us, I turn my head towards him and give him a reassuring smile.
"Trust me Gobber, I know what I'm doing"
I hope.
Normal POV
The Sand Wraith didn't know what to make of it's surroundings, the only thing it could clearly remember was fighting that Scauldren before falling in and out of conciousness only to find walls and several humans looking at them, including that male on that Viking boat who watched the whole battle take place, somehow the dragon, knowing what humans were capable of if given the chance, seemed to see this boy not as a threat but something much more, might have been a moment of weakness, after all what explains them being in this predicament. As the Sand Wraith runs about, it doesn't notice the small Viking and his Night Fury walk through the entrance of the ring until it was too late, coming to a halt, it thinks it's being attacked, raising its wings and standing on it hind legs to make itself look bigger, it roars at the two in defence, causing Toothless, who will do anything to protect his human brother, also stands on his hind legs and raises his wings as he roars back. This carries on for several minutes, with the Vikings up on top wondering who will attack first. But that never happened as they were about to both attack, Hiccup, getting annoyed with both dragons behaviour and loud roaring causing pain to his ears hobbles in the middle of the two dragons holding his hands out in front of both.
"ENOUGH!" he shouts so loud even the two dragons flinch before backing off. Hiccup however wasn't finished with them just yet as he gives each of them a glare "now is this any way for you both to behave!?" he then looks towards Toothless who seemed to of shrank "Bud I know your instincts were to protect me, but trying to pick a fight with a scared dragon is uncalled for" he said calmly as Toothless bows his head in shame, only lifting up slightly so his wide eyes were showing "sorry Hiccup" he whimpered apologetically, he never wanted Hiccup to feel like he needed saving every time, but with him losing his leg and being unconscious for over two months, he couldn't help it. Hiccup only smiled at the wide eyed unholy offspring of lightening and death himself, who at this moment reminded him of a scolded puppy, Hiccup could never stay mad at him when he makes a look like that. He then turns towards the Sand Wraith, who at this point was baffled at how a small boy, even by Viking standards, could have a loud voice just like that, and then it hit it, there were some dragons a few months back who escaped from the queens control by a boy who had a shout that could break a dragon out of the trance, it's was also the reason it was out in the middle of the sea in the first place, the Sand Wraith wanted to know if the rumour was true, and got the answer just a few seconds ago.
"Now as for you" Hiccup calmly said as he looked at the bewildered Sand Wraith before carrying on "I know you're scared, I would be too, but if we wanted to harm you, we'd have done so the second you were taken off the boat" the Sand Wraith seemed confused, mainly because of the word 'boat' was that the thing I fell on? It wondered, the dragon knew the humans called it something along those lines but thought it was 'butt' boy did it feel stupid.
Meanwhile Fishlegs and Gobber watch in amazement as Hiccup calmed the situation between the two dragons, more to the surprise of the others who never heard Hiccup shout before.
"Wow, remind me never to piss off Hiccup in future" both Fishlegs and Gobber turned around to whoever just spoke only for it to belong to Thuggory as he looks through the gate in amazement at how the situation went from tense to calm in a matter of seconds.
The two Viking nodded in agreement as they turned around to see what will happen next. They notice that Hiccup talking calmly to the Sand Wraith, who seems to be warming up to the small Viking.
It was then that the Sand Wraith looks directly at the gate, or more pacifically, at Thuggory, confusing the Meathead heir. Hiccup follows the Sand Wraiths gaze as he sees that the dragon is looking at Thuggory, figuring out why, he ponders for a moment to think of why. Suddenly he smiles at his realization before turning back to the gate "Thugs!" he shouts getting his fellow teens attention "I have an idea, but it requires you to come in here please"
Silent whispers could be heard around the outer wall of the arena as the crowd wonder what's going to happen. Thuggory however was in two minds, should he go in there or not. But he had to trust in Hiccup, after all if a small teen like him could get in there with two dragons, so could he. But before he could enter the ring, Hiccup points towards his hammer on his back "no weapons!" he shouts, confusing the taller teen but Hiccup carried on talking "first rule of befriending a dragon, no weapons, this'll ensure that you give your trust towards them" Thuggory hears scratching going on behind him , so as he turns around to, skeptically of course, place his hammer next to the gate he sees Fishlegs scribbling something in a large book, the chubby blond teen looks up and sees he's being watch "what? I forgot to write the rules down in my book" Fishlegs simply answered earning a shrug from Thuggory as he slowly turns back around towards the two dragons and the small teen in the middle of them as he makes his way to them.
Once all four were in the centre of the ring, Hiccup gestures for Toothless to move back and for Thuggory to move forward as they both look at each other "okay Thugs, remember to follow my instructions on this" Thuggory nods in acknowledgement as Hiccup carries on "okay first thing I want you to do is to get in front of the dragon" Thuggory complies by slowly stepping in front of the Sand Wraith, causing it to growl protectively and nearly freaking out Thuggory, lucky enough was there to reassure both "it's okay you two, just take it nice and easy" he said calmly as he carried on "okay, next thing is to give it a name, this be another form of the trust, but choose carefully..." "or you might end up with the name Toothless" Toothless said interrupting Hiccup causing him to look at the grinning Night Fury "you do know Thuggory can't understand you yet smart ass dragon" Hiccup replied causing Toothless to grumble as he decided to lay on the floor pouting. Hiccup simply rolled his eyes as he looks back towards Thuggory and the Sand Wraith, neither haven't taken their eyes off each other the whole time, hearing the names shouted out from the crowd, including the name 'Sandy' from Tuffnut earning a dead-panned look from both human and dragon. After what seemed like a long time of thinking Thuggory thought of a name that hopefully the dragon would like, taking a deep breath while still looking at the sand coloured dragon, he slowly starts to speak "hey there..." 'well here goes nothing' he thinks to himself as he carries on talking "Sigurdr" at first the Sand Wraith didn't know what to make of the name until Thuggory calmly explained "it means guardian of victory seeing as how we saw you won against the Scauldren and even protected us, I thought the name would suit you well, we could shorten it to Siggy if it makes it any better" after what seemed like a long time, the dragon looked at Thuggory once again and bobbed its head up and down as if saying 'yes' making the teen smile.
Hiccup meanwhile watched the whole thing as he stood away from the two, smiling that a name suited for the dragon "okay now good, final thing to do now is establish a bond. What I want you to do is first look away from Siggy to show your respect and slowly hold out your hand to left them know you can trust them" Thuggory nodded as he looked away and slowly held out his hand wondering if Hiccup knew what he was doing.
That thought went out of the window as he felt a shock go throughout his body before feeling the warm wet scales on the palm of his outstretched hand, looking back to Siggy only to smile at the sight in front of him, the dragon trusted him, it felt nice, all those years of being drilled into his skull about how dragons were evil and here he was bonding with one.
Applause could be heard from around the arena as yet again Hiccup has proven that he can train dragons, this sealed it for both the Bog Burglar's and Meathead's, they wanted to train dragons too. Hiccup couldn't help but smile knowing he was useful for something, and for something that is big, with him and his fellow riders by his side, he'll prove to everyone that humans and dragons can live in peace.
Speaking of his fellow riders, he looks around as he finds Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs standing next to Gobber near the gate and Cami next to her mother up above, but someone was missing. Hiccup turns and walks towards the gate as he gestures for his fellow riders to open it up, as soon as it was up Hiccup looks around again but still no sign. Slightly worried he turns to the others to address them "Guys where's Astrid?" all three look at each other before Fishlegs walks up to Hiccup with a concerned look on his face "Hiccup, it be easier to show you than explain" now Hiccup had a reason to be worried if they all had to show him, he nods for them to lead the way as Thuggory and Siggy get to know each other, with Cami coming down to explain how he can understand his dragon. Hiccup was in no mood to explain as now a new problem has arisen that demanded his attention as they start to exit the village towards the heavily wooded area, all the while the same sentence kept popping into his head.
'Gods I hope Astrids okay