So... after finishing ROTDR I had a little after story writers block, but it's gone now! Thanks to the wonderful E-kathryn who gave me a wonderful idea, I was able to slay the dragon called writers block and get back into the saddle!

Sorry for the long wait! I will definitely try to make the updates more often, but I should be updating at least once a week. School is getting more and more, so I have less time to write. At least once a week should be doable though!

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

Learners Bay, Part IV

Hiccup bit his lip as he tried to keep the bow steady. He was reasonably skilled in archery, but he hadn't done it for a long time, and he could feel the effect the lack of practice had. He took a deep breath and let the arrow fly. It hit the target only inches from the center, but closer to it then the other two. Wrenlou chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"See? You're improving already!"

Hiccup smiled weakly while he pulled the last arrow from the ground and readied the bow again. After he notched the arrow he slowly pulled the string back, until his hand touched his cheek. After staring at the target like it would come to life and run away, he let the arrow fly and it hit the black center circle's outer edge.

He smiled widely as he looked up to Wrenlou, the older boy looking back with a grin. Dale had allowed them to go off together, seeking some seclusion as Wrenlou taught Hiccup the finer tricks of archery. At first he had been confused as to why the dragon rider would allow them to go, but then he learned that Wrenlou was by far the best archer in the group and that he took archery very seriously.

But he had turned to be a great teacher and after just a few hours under Wrenlou's watch he had improved a lot. He no longer missed the target, all his shots hit and with every shot he took he got closer to hitting the bullseye. Wrenlou returned with the arrows and planted them in the ground again, giving one to Hiccup.

"Do it again."

Hiccup nodded. Any other saying that to him would have made given him a feeling of being inadequate, but Wrenlou was smiling as he said it so he notched the arrow on the bow again. He pulled the string back, trying to keep it steady but just as he wanted to let it fly, Wrenlou stopped him.

"You're left handed, are you not?"

"Eh... yes..."

"Then why do you use your right hand to draw back?"

Hiccup ducked his head. He didn't think Wrenlou would have noticed. He should have known better.

"I thought... I just..."

"Don't doubt yourself Hiccup. Try again, use your left hand this time, okay?"

He nodded and switched the arrow to the other side of the bow. He pulled back, let the arrow fly and promptly hit the center of the bullseye. Wrenlou started laughing and ruffled his hair.

"Why didn't you start with left?"

"I just thought... it's the wrong hand."

"Wrong hand? What do you mean?" Wrenlou asked as he offered him another arrow.

"Well... it's the hand of a traitor."

Wrenlou frowned and crossed his arms. "I don't understand. It's perfectly normal for some people to be left handed. You're not the only one in Dragoncity who is left handed. Rico is too. Although he lost his right hand and had no choice... but there are a few others. Is it viewed different in viking society?"

Hiccup nodded while he drew the string back and let the arrow fly again. It hit the bullseye right next to the other one, just a little closer to the edge.

"In viking society the left hand is the hand of a traitor, as I said. If you want to kill someone, real sneaky like, you use your left hand because they never suspect that. That may be part why nobody ever liked me I think."

"Well, here there's no difference. Besides, most people here can fight with left just as well as they can with right. You just need practice. Okay, last few arrows, then I say we're done for today. Teaching is fun and all, but it has never been my thing, and you seem to be rather good with a bow."

"I... I had a bow. I... lost it..." Hiccup mumbled, fumbling with the string

"You'll get your own soon enough. I believe Dale had one made, or at least he sent out the order. It should be here soon enough. Now, shoot those arrows and we can be done with it. I'm getting bored."

Hiccup smiled at Wrenlou's words and fired the last few arrows, each one hitting the black inner circle. He knew he had a long way to go before he could fire all of them in a matter of seconds and hit the target dead centre every time, like Wrenlou could. This time he collected the arrows himself, then he offered the bow to Wrenlou.

"Can you show me again?"

Wrenlou chuckled and took the bow from him. Holding the arrows in one hand, not sticking them in the ground like Hiccup would do and walked over to where he had been standing.

"At least challenge me." he said, gesturing to their target before he proceeded to fire all the arrows in the blink of an eye.

Hiccup stared wide eyed at the bundle of arrows packed together in the center of the black circle. "How do you do that!" he gasped, looking up at Wrenlou.

Wrenlou chuckled as he tossed the bow back to Hiccup and walked towards the target to get the arrows out again. "I have been practicing for a very long time. I got my first bow when I was eight. I still have it, it's just a little too small."

"It's awesome! Will I be able to do that?"

"With lots of practice? Sure! Why not? Now come on, I wanna go to the beach!"

"Can you do it with left too?" Hiccup asked and Wrenlou sighed

"Last time," he warned while he readied the bow, taking it in his other hand, "after this, I really wanna go to the beach."

Hiccup nodded and took a step back as Wrenlou shot the arrows, again all hitting the bullseye.

"Awesome," he whispered.

"Come on! Let's go to the beach!"

Hiccup nodded and they quickly gathered the rest of the things and when they had everything, they walked back to the little village to put the weapons away in the armory. There was no sign of the other dragon riders when they walked towards the Hall for a quick bite to eat.

After their short meal consisting of bread and fish Wrenlou leaned back, stretching his arms.

"What to do next..."

Hiccup shrugged. "Can't we explore the Bay some? You know, a proper tour?"

Wrenlou smiled and stood up. "Certainly! Come on! And bring oranges! I know the perfect place to go!"

Hiccup jumped up, eager to go and he quickly collected a few oranges in a bag. He had been careful with them, holding back on his urge to eat them all at once and now they had been in Learners Bay for a week, and he still had plenty left. He ran after Wrenlou, finding him staring at the two dragons.

"Wrenlou? Something wrong?"

"No... just, look at them. They're having fun together, it's cute."

Hiccup smiled widely as he adjust the bag on his shoulder and the dragons came running towards them. Snowflake, being the younger one, was a bit more playful , but Toothless was just as energetic. They mounted the dragons, which was not as easy as it sounds because neither of them wanted to sit still, and their riders hadn't even sat down or they ran off again.

They raced over the beach, wings tucked tightly to their bodies as Snowflake chased Toothless. The water splashed up as the dragons dashed through it, spraying their riders with a fine salty mist. Hiccup shrieked with joy as Toothless suddenly turned and run over the beach, away from the water. Snowflake dashed passed them, wailing happily as she led Toothless and Hiccup through the trees.

Toothless turned sharply, almost spinning around on his hind legs and Hiccup yelped when he had to grab the saddle to not be thrown off.

"Hiccup! What are you doing!?"

"I didn't... AAHHH Toothless!"

But the black dragon was now running at full speed, chasing something he couldn't see. He clenched his hands around the saddle so tightly that his knuckles were turning wide, getting tossed from side to side as the dragon swerved through the trees. He heard Wrenlou call out behind him, but his voice grew weaker until it vanished. Snowflake was a strong dragon, but she was still young and she did not yet possess the strength that Toothless had and she was not as fast as the older dragon.

Toothless jumped left, then right then suddenly to the left again and that was where Hiccup lost his grip and he was flung from the dragon's back. He didn't even realize what was happening until he was smacked against the smooth stem of one of the palm trees and the moment he hit a tree, his shoulder cracked and a flashing pain shot through it.

He screamed when his vision washed white as he felt how the impact dislocated his shoulder and he started crying while he crumbled to the warm sand, grabbing his shoulder. Toothless wailed loudly and came closer, tentatively reaching out to his boy. Hiccup lay curled up on the sand, crying as his shoulder hurt with every movement. Toothless gently nudged him and he whimpered. The dragon backed up, crooning softly, obviously feeling both worried and guilty.

"Hiccup! Hiccup, are you okay? Hiccup..."

He felt how Wrenlou knelt down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and he whimpered when the pain flashed through it again.

"Hiccup... come on, sit up."

He allowed Wrenlou to pull him into a sitting position, but he kept his hand on his shoulder. Wrenlou eyed him worriedly.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I don't know," Hiccup whispered, "he just ran off..."

"Chasing the butterflies I think, they do that sometimes. But what happened? Did you fall?"

Hiccup nodded. "I was thrown off. That has to make me the most pathetic dragon rider ever right? What rider gets thrown off their dragon..."

Wrenlou chuckled. "When Night Furies go after the butterflies, it's very hard to stay on their back. Come on, let's go."

"But... my shoulder..." Hiccup muttered.

"What's wrong with it?" Wrenlou asked, the worried tone seeping into his voice.

"I think it's dislocated..." Hiccup mumbled, grabbing his shoulder and Wrenlou turned to him.

"Are you sure?" he asked, kneeling in front of him again and when Hiccup nodded, he sighed, "alright. Stand up."

He scrambled back to his feet, careful not to move his arm but the pain in his shoulder had almost subsided already. He bit his lip when Wrenlou pressed down on it and the pain flared up again, but he managed to stifle the cry.

"It is dislocated. I think I can put it back..."

"No!" Hiccup shrieked and Wrenlou sighed.

"Hiccup, it can't stay like that. It has to get back in. and the sooner we do it, the easier it will be. The longer you wait the more it will hurt."

"But it hurts already!" Hiccup cried while the tears started to fall.

Wrenlou sighed and wrapped his arms around him. "I know. But if you leave it, it will hurt much more. According to Broghan that is, I have no experience with it."

Hiccup wiped his sleeve over his face. "But... can you put it back in?"

"Well," Wrenlou said slowly, "I have never done it before, but I was there when the healer put Broghan's shoulder back and I read some books about it. Do you trust me enough?"

Hiccup nodded wordlessly, but he was crying as Wrenlou took his wrist.

"Relax, okay? It will be fine, this really isn't that hard. Just relax your arm, it will make it easier. Trust me, it will be fine."

Hiccup nodded and he winced when Wrenlou bend his elbow into a 90 degrees angle. Slowly he moved his arm to the side, then up and Hiccup screamed when he suddenly felt pain flare through his shoulder as he felt how the joint slid back into place. Crying, he collapsed and Wrenlou guided him to the ground.

"It's okay now... see? That wasn't too bad, was it?"

"That's easy for you to say," Hiccup sobbed, but he had to admit that the pain was gone. His shoulder felt strained, as if he had been carrying large quantities of heavy metal, but the pain was gone. He sat on the ground for a while, his arm pressed against his chest, then he let Wrenlou pull him up. By then his tears had dried, and his shoulder was feeling almost normal again. He looked at Wrenlou.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault. You just had a bad fall. I do think you have to rest your arm now, but I have the perfect place to do that. Come on, we'll walk."

Hiccup nodded and picked the bag from the ground. Toothless slinked closer, sniffing his arm.

"No more chasing butterflies!" Hiccup said in a firm voice, the best he could muster and Toothless crooned softly. He gave the boy an apologetic lick across his face, then stayed at his side dutifully, making sure he never tripped or fell.

"It's okay bud, I'm not mad at you." Toothless crooned in response, giving him another lick over his face. "Toothless! That's disgusting!" but he was laughing as he pushed the dragon away and Toothless crooned again.

They followed Wrenlou through the forest of waving palm trees. It looked completely different from the forests he was used to, it was nowhere neat as dense or dark as the pine forests on Berk, and the sand was warm between his toes. Wrenlou led them to a small, secluded beach where the sand was perfectly white and the water so clear and still that it was like it was not even there.

Hiccup's jaw dropped, the incident for earlier forgotten as he stared at the serene little beach. Wrenlou smiled when he turned around.

"Welcome to my sanctuary," he said softly, and Snowflake dashed past him, straight into the ocean.

"Sanctuary?" Hiccup asked surprised, "what do you mean?"

"This is where I go when I need some alone time. I don't think the others know of it. I'm here almost every day, after training. Broghan always thinks I run off to some random place, but I seldom do, I usually come here."

"It's... it's beautiful. It's so peaceful."

"Just sit down somewhere and rest your arm. Eat some oranges. Enjoy the peace."

"Wait," Hiccup frowned, "you're not staying?"

"Of course I am!" Wrenlou laughed, "what makes you think I would leave?"

Hiccup shrugged, unsure of where the assumption had come from. Wrenlou sat down next to him, his feet in the crystal clear water and peeled an orange.

"Wren? What will tomorrow's training be about?"

"Tomorrow is history," Wrenlou said, "the history of Dragoncity and our way of life. There's a thousand years worth of books in the library in Dragoncity, we only learn the most important parts."

"Can you tell me some now?"

"Sure," Wrenlou said, setting his hands on the sand behind him and leaning back, "what do you want to know?"