I'm back, faster than I thought I would. I can't thank you guys enough for all the love and support you gave me when my uncle died. It really helped me through it. The reviews brought smiles to my face, seeing strangers help strangers. The ones that really brought a smile to my face were the ones that referred to me as if I was a guy. Yes, I am a girl so that mystery is gone. If you were one of those people, do me a favor. Don't apologize, you didn't know that I was a girl. If you want you can keep referring to me as a guy, I really don't care.
Anyway, I had fun with this chapter, despite the writer's block I had with it. Only now did I realize that I placed Hiccup's prosthetic on the wrong leg. I thought it was the right leg but it's actually his left. So you probably can guess that any right has been changed to left. If I missed any, let me know.
Ok, I have a serious question and I'd appreciate a serious answer. How do you guys like the idea of me converting this fiction to a novel? I realize that I have to change a lot to prevent being sued for copyright but in general?
Nothing to report really except that some of you might have a few feels. Enjoy!
Chapter #18: Flight
The days in DunBroch passed like everyday does: quietly and nothing out of the norm. One rose at sunrise and laid back down when the day was done. All did this. Well, all except one.
Hendry wasn't only living the life of a Scottish blacksmith and a Viking in hiding. He was now living the life of a dragon rider too. After the small success of the prosthetic tail, Hendry had worked each and every night on projects that he hoped would make it possible for Toothless to fly and for Hendry to ride Toothless.
First, he made a saddle for himself but when Hendry presented the saddle to the dragon, Toothless ran around the cove with the blacksmith chasing him. It took an hour but Hendry eventually strapped the saddle to Toothless' back.
Next, Hendry attached a long rope to the fake tail and got Toothless into flight. When they were gliding, he pulled on the rope, hoping the dragon would turn right. He shot to the left, causing the rider to fall into the lake. His project that night was a riding vest that could be attached to the saddle to prevent falls.
Hendry tried the rope again, this time tied to his prosthetic but once again, dragon and rider crashed, unfortunately on the hard ground. Hendry gained a plethora of bruises due to the fall and decided that, after he perfected the flying gear, he would upgrade the vest to leather armor.
Days passed with trails and error, parts were added and parts were removed. The contraptions and equipment that now donned the dragon looked unnatural but it was necessary for the dragon to be able to fly, even though he could only do so with Hendry.
In this time, Hendry figured out how to properly maneuver Toothless' tail. A line leading from the tail to a paddle operated by Hendry's prosthetic could open and close the tail. He figured out what different positions did to Toothless' flight. One position would make Toothless fly up, another turn, and another glide. By the end of this process, there were 6 different positions.
But it wasn't only training that the two did. Hendry found a more playful side to the dragon when some metal casted a reflection of light on the ground and the dragon started chasing it. Hendry also discovered that Toothless loved it when he scratched his neck and under his chin. They also began to understand each other better. Hendry could understand the strange words of the dragon while Toothless began to understand human better.
The more the two spent time together, the stronger their bond grew.
By the time Hendry decided it was time for the first flight, they were inseparable.
Hiccup's POV
The wind in my hair, the world below me, the sky with me. It was an incredible feeling. It felt like freedom, like all my woes were being blown away.
"Alright, Bud," I said, briefly leaning forward to pat the dragon's neck, "We're going to take this nice and slow."
"Me not too fond of slow." Toothless whined. I rolled my eyes as I looked at the piece of parchment that attached to the saddle. All the positions were drawn out on it,
"We'll speed up soon enough. Alright," I sighed, "Position 3- No, 4!" I adjusted the paddle to the right spot and the tail changed position. I guide Toothless through a slow and wide right turn. During the turn, I checked if the saddle and the straps keeping me on it were not falling apart. They were just fine, "How are you feeling, Toothless?" I asked. He didn't reply but only needed to hear a croon to know that he was happy that he wasn't grounded anymore. I looked back at the disappearing shore and the prosthetic tail, "Alright." I whispered. I leant forward and led Toothless down towards the ocean, "Come on, Bud!" I encouraged. He straightened out just before the waterline and brushed his wing into the water then the other wing, causing sprays of white. We flew under a large arch of jutting rock and a flew gulls joined above us, cawing loudly.
We shot by them in seconds,
"Yes! It worked!" I exclaimed, talking about making it through the arch rather than beating the birds.
"Look out!" Toothless screeched but it was too late to avoid a minor crash with a jutting rock. As we regained flight, I yelled,
"Sorry!" But I didn't notice the second rock until we crashed into that one too, "Sorry," I said again, "That was my fault." Toothless let out an annoyed groan and he whacked his ear plate into my face,
"Stupid human. Do it right next time!"
"Yeah, I got it!" I retorted. I quickly checked the paddle to my good foot before looking back to the parchment, "Ok, position 4- uh, 3." Toothless snorted as I pulled him up. Higher and higher we flew up, so close to the clouds you could touch them, "Yeah," I yelled with ecstasy, "Go, Toothless!" We flew even higher, "Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my- CHEATSHEET!" The parchment had blown lose from the saddle. I was barely able to catch it but I made the mistake to yell 'stop'. Toothless stopped flying and the momentum caused the straps to detach themselves from the saddle, causing me to fall off of Toothless. We made eye contact as we began to fall back to earth, "NO!" I yelled. Toothless began to wriggle, trying to straighten himself, "Oh gods!" I screamed as I passed him, hitting the edge of his wing hard, "Oh, no!"
"Hendry!" Toothless screamed and he managed to briefly angle himself so he was falling right beside me but he quickly lost control and began to spin in circles. I tried to tell him what to do but the wind was so loud he couldn't hear me. He finally realized that he was doing something wrong when his tail slapped across my face.
He straightened out, somewhat, and I managed to get above him and get a hold of the saddle. With much struggle, I managed to set myself back on it and reattached the straps. I stuffed the parchment into my mouth and pulled with all my might to straighten the Night Fury to prevent a collision with the water. We barely skimmed across the water but headed towards a maze of jutting stones. I looked at the parchment, the wind causing it to move so much it was impossible to decipher. I glimpsed at the rock, the parchment, and let it go.
I lowered my body and entered the maze. I switched the paddle rapidly and excellent precision as if I had been doing this for years. Position 4, 2, 5, briefly back to 4 and then to 2 and we were out of the maze.
As soon as we glided, I threw my arms in the air and yelled out in joy. I had done it! I flew with Toothless and came out with it with only a bruise that would surely appear on my jaw.
Toothless must have been happy too with the achievement as he sent a blast of plasma ahead of us. To my surprise, the flames started rolling back! I pulled Toothless up, barely able to dodge the flames,
"What was that for?!" But the dragon just laughed.
We kept flying, slowly drifting further away for the Scottish lands. After flying for hours and hours, we had found a small beach with an island surrounded by mist behind it to land on and rest. With a small fire cracking at my feet, I leaned back against Toothless and watched as the sun slowly fell towards the ocean to make room for the moon. Toothless had his head perched on his front paws and had his large eyes closed but he wasn't sleeping. The time passed slowly and quietly. The serenity ended when Toothless' nostrils flared and he lifted his head to smell the air.
"What is it?" I asked as he stood up and continued to smell. As he spoke, I stood up and walked up to stand beside his head,
"Me smell something." He turned his head towards the mist covered island and smelled again.
"What?" I asked as I looked into the same direction as he was.
"You."
"Toothless! I'm standing right beside you!" I yelled. He began to walk calmly towards the rest of the island, into the mist. I watched him disappear before I smelled myself, "And I don't smell that bad!" I yelled but got no reply. I stood still for a moment, waiting for Toothless to either say something or come back. When he did neither, I followed. As I walked into the mist, it seemed to retreat. I eventually came to a large wall of rock but Toothless was nowhere to be seen. Using lower areas, I walked to the surface of the wall that housed a large forest. A wide area of snapped branches told me where Toothless had walked. I followed the trail.
Everything was silent.
"Hiccup!" A voice screamed but it wasn't Toothless'. I gasped and spun around, something white disappearing fast. Breathing heavily, I continued walking but quickly fell when my prosthetic hooked onto a branch. Laughter rang in my ears, cruel laughter,
"He's going to be the next chief?"
"'Hiccup the Useless' couldn't suit him better."
"So pathetic. And he calls himself a Viking?"
I recognized the voices. They were the voices of people from Berk, people who have been gone for a long, long time. With watered eyes but no tears, I got up.
The rest of the walk happened quietly and the voices of the past stayed their torment. The forest soon gave away to a large open field, the mist completely gone.
This island once supported a village as there were many burned homes, some still had a frame of black wood while others were little more than a few lines of ash. A overgrown path led through the middle towards various sections of the village.
I walked to what clearly used to be the town center as it was circular and had no evidence that there ever had been a building there.
A large set of nearby stairs lead to a building that seemed to be build into a mountain, the wooden doors and the wooden statues that stood guard beside it were worn but still in good shape.
It looked awfully familiar.
I continued in a different direction, towards the highest part of the village. There I saw Toothless, his nose sniffing the ruins of the largest house I had seen so far.
"Toothless?" I joined beside him and saw what he had been smelling: a small stuffed toy, "What have you found here?" I picked it up and examined it. It was small, covered in ash and grime, and was shaped like a dragon. Runic writing was stitched into the side for decoration. Though I hadn't read runes in years, I didn't take long to figure out what the writing said,
Hiccup.
"Impossible." I mumbled with disbelief, recognizing that the toy had once been mine. Clutching it tightly, I looked out to the ruined village. I tried to imagine repaired houses, a smithy, large torches, people. "Twelve days north of Hopeless." I whispered as the houses magically began to repair themselves, "Few degrees south of Freezing to Death" Smoke rose from the smithy's chimney and the walkway to the docks was repaired. I stopped breathing when I saw the ghostly figures of the inhabitants, going about their daily business. "Meridian of Misery." I looked at the toy then back at the ghost town.
This is - this was Berk.
Rapunzel's POV
The sun had already set when Jack came back from a meeting with Aileen. Along with its usual topic of where Vikings were hiding, which had to be moved, and which could flee, Jack had been called to the meeting to inform him that Jack and I didn't have to use our codenames anymore, Sax for Jack and Ang for me. He had also been given the good news that Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Rannveig had made it safely to England. According to the man that had met up with them at the wall, Tuffnut, as soon as they were across, had collapsed to the ground and kissed it, muttering in Norse, "We are free at last."
We were sitting quietly by the table, me spinning wool and Jack playing 'Scarborough Fair' on his fiddle. As he played, I hummed along and sang the words in my head,
Are you going to Scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
He once was a true love of mine
Tell him to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seam nor needlework
Then he'll be a true love of mine
Tell him to find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the salt water and-
The knocking at the door broke the song. Jack placed the fiddle and the bow on the table and walked to the door to answer the knock. I looked to the door when he opened it but all I saw was a figure clad in a black cloak, their face barely visible under the hood but Jack must've seen it,
"Mavis?" I stood up at the name, placing the spindle and distaff on the table as Mavis entered the room,
"I had nowhere else to go." She said when she had sat down and pulled down the hood, desperation ringing in her voice. As Jack closed the door, I knelt in front of Mavis, placing a hand on her knees,
"What happened?" She looked at me, a tear rolling down her pale cheek,
"I'm pregnant." At that she started to cry. I wrapped my arms around her, trying to comfort her as she cried into my shoulder,
"Who's the father?" I whispered, a feeling in my stomach telling me I already knew the answer. Mavis left the embrace and look down at her hands,
"Onceler." She briefly met my eyes before looking back at her hands. Behind her, Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. I took hold of her hand and gave a comforting squeeze. Jack and I made eye contact and he motioned his head to the side. Giving one last squeeze in Mavis' hand, I joined Jack,
"We have to get her to England." He whispered, "If Cairbre finds out, he'll kill her. If I can get Aran to a full gallop, I can ride to England in less than two hours." Aran was one of the horses used by the messengers. She was one of the fastest horses in DunBroch. I nodded,
"Go. The sooner you go the better." He nodded and turned to get his cloak but I grabbed his arm, "Please be careful with her. I don't want her to have a miscarriage." Jack nodded slowly and gave me a quick peck and retrieving his cloak, throwing it around him, and coaxing Mavis with him towards the stables. I watched them disappear into the night, "Safe travels. May God protect you."
Jack's POV
It had taken three hours to ride to Onceler's house. With Aran, I could easily ride to England in an hour but I had to be careful with Mavis. The house still looked the same as when Rapunzel and I had left 5 years ago. The stables hadn't changed a bit either. Still the same size, the same stalls, nothing had changed. Melvin still had the same stall, the one closest by the door. After giving Aran some food and water, I led Mavis to the front doors of the house. The shutters were closed and the rooms they were hiding were dark. I pounded my fist against the door loudly 3 times. I listened for the familiar creak of the stairs and after a long time of silence, I heard it. The creaking was long and slow. After a moment, the locks behind the door started to move and the door opened. There stood Onceler, half-dressed, with a candle in his hand,
"Jack?" He took a step closer to me, holding the candle closer too, "What are you doing here?" I looked to figure behind me and Onceler's gaze followed. Mavis lifted her head so Onceler could see her face, "Mavis?" He whispered, the disbelief yet happiness evident. Mavis nodded, her eyes starting to water. Onceler handed me the candle and quickly enveloped Mavis in a tight hug. Though I couldn't see it, I knew he was crying. I stood by awkwardly as they embraced each other. For a moment, I thought they'd never let go of each other, so engrossed they were in their embrace. I cleared my throat and the two lovers looked at me,
"You're welcome." I said with a smirk.
And there ya have it folks! I got quite a bit written out for the next chapter so that one will be showing up sometime soon. Review, favourite, follow.