Hey there folks! I know I promised more regular updates, but do you know how hard it is to write in the middle of a heatwave? Because that was my life last week. So this chapter was a little delayed, and is therefor a little short, as I wanted to give you something. Can't keep you waiting forever, now can I... Coming chapters will most likely be longer again!
Enjoy!
The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou
A Storm Blows Through It, Part II
As soon as they landed in Dragoncity, mumbles arose from the crowd surrounding them quickly. Before they had a chance to speak, a voice rang out across the plaza, and the mass of riders and dragons parted to let a large man and an equally large dragon through.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked frowning, crossing his arms when he saw the two young riders, "what are you two doing here? You are not allowed to come to Dragoncity without specific permission!"
"I... we're sorry sir," Wrenlou said sliding to the ground, "Dale send us. There's a storm coming, a big one. And it's heading for the city. He asked us to warn you, and to say that it would be best to send a warning to Lightcity as well."
The man's frown deepened as he drew his brows so close they almost touched each other. "A storm you say? This early in season? Are you sure?"
"We both saw it sir," Wrenlou said sounding a little offended, "off the coast. It's a few hours out I think."
The man hummed thoughtfully, then turned to two riders on his left. "You two. Check to see how far that storm is out. And you." he turned to a woman on his right, "go to Lightcity and warn them. The rest of us will prepare the city."
While the dragons and their riders fanned out to get the city hurricane proof, Wrenlou climbed back onto Snowflake's back and turned to Hiccup. Before he could open his mouth to speak, the large man approached them again.
"We will need your help. With three riders out, we can use all extra hands."
"But sir," Wrenlou protested, "Dale expects us back in the Bay. If we stay, we won't make it back in time."
The man smiled softly. "You are hereby permitted to stay in the Dragoncity shelter until the storm blows over. And I'll personally escort you back to the Bay to explain things to Dale. Okay?"
Wrenlou glanced at Hiccup, who just stared back. The man's size was overwhelming and reminded him of how his father had always towered over him, so he felt a little overpowered. Wrenlou, realizing Hiccup wouldn't help him make a decision, looked back to the man in front of them, and finally nodded.
"Alright!" the man cheered, "why don't you help with boarding up the rooms? Will be good practice too."
Wrenlou nodded and the man left. As soon as they saw his dragon take off, Hiccup seemed to come out of his trance and he looked over at Wrenlou.
"Boarding up the rooms? What does that mean?"
In response, Wrenlou just pointed to the row of rooms behind Hiccup and when he turned, he found that the riders were busy securing metal plates in front of the openings.
"How does that work?" Hiccup asked, his curiousity spiked.
"There are sloths around it, the metal covers slide right in. Come on, they need our help."
Hiccup nodded and followed Wrenlou towards the other riders already working on securing the rooms. After one of the older riders had shown them how to lock the covers in place, they set to work on the middle section. Every one of them required two riders, one on the outside to hold it in place, while someone on the inside secured it. Since Hiccup had to control Toothless's fin to keep him flying, and that was very hard to combine with holding a large metal circle, he was inside the rooms locking the metal covers while Wrenlou was outside, holding them up.
"You know, this is hard if you don't stay still!" Hiccup yelled.
Wrenlou squinted at him, his black hair flying around his face. He shouted something back, but the wind blew his words away before Hiccup could hear them. He didn't really need to. The wind was blowing through the city, dark clouds quickly drowning out the sunlight, and he saw how the dragons were fighting to stay in the air. Across from him, one of the younger dragons was blown from her wings, and she fell to the ground, flailing her wings to regain control, but the wind was too strong.
Snowflake wailed, her wings straining tremendously as she fought to keep her position. Just as Hiccup locked the cover, Snowflake also lost control in the strong wind, and she was blown away from the opening. Hiccup couldn't see her, but he heard her shriek and Wrenlou's terrified scream, and he ran down the stairs.
Just as he stepped outside he saw them tumble towards the plaza, making a rough landing where the dragon was able to pull her legs under her just in time. Struggling to stay standing in the strong wind, Hiccup made his way towards them. When he reached them, a low whine drew his attention to Toothless, the dragon pressed against the ground while the wind was pulling on the prosthetic on his tail. Before he could do anything, the strong wind got a grip on the fabric and ripped it from the metal rods, the green piece dancing through the city.
"Hey!" the same big man from before called out, "get inside you two! We can handle the rest!"
Wrenlou nodded, practically clinging to Snowflake's saddle and Hiccup turned to Toothless, finding the dragon still pressed on the ground. He gestured to the dragon and Toothless crawled towards him, whining softly at the loss of his tailfin.
"It's okay bud," Hiccup whispered, although he wasn't sure if the dragon heard him as his voice was blown away in the wind, "we'll make a new one."
He climbed onto the dragons back, clinging to the saddle much like Wrenlou was, and they were led towards the shelter, a few of the other riders going in with them. The shelter was a large space, carved into the rock wall, the door shielded by an rocky protrusion that kept most of the rain and wind away. Inside was a network of tunnels, splitting up in several directions, each new tunnel leading to a large room with a row of beds, a table, some cabinets and a large space where the dragons could curl up to sleep. The rooms were lit by torches and fires, the fire giving the rooms a soft orange glow.
They were led into the second room, a few other riders already there. One of them was a young man, missing his right hand, and Hiccup found his eyes immediately drawn to the shortened limb. He remembered what Wrenlou had told him some months earlier. About a young rider losing his hand due to sheer stupidity. Rico, his name had been. He looked away ashamed when he realized he was staring at it, and sat down one of the beds.
As the other riders came in, some entering the large space then exiting again, he started to calm down again. The frantic running around and scare of Wrenlou almost crashing had left his heart racing. He now also realized he was afraid. He knew the forces of nature, he had seen storms before, but now he realized he had never seen something quite like this. A whole new kind of storm. Deadlier than the ones he knew, much deadlier.
He found his gaze drawn to the young man with one hand again, unable to stop staring at his arm. The man caught him looking and smiled, sitting down next to him on the bed, regarding his frightened face.
"First time in a hurricane kid?" he asked, but there was no mockery in his voice.
Hiccup nodded wordlessly, trying his best to look every where but the man's stump. He jolted a bit when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and found the man smiling at him.
"It's okay. I've lived through tons of these, I'm still scared. In all my life I've never slept through a hurricane, not once. I still don't. What's your name?"
"M...My name?" Hiccup asked a little confused.
Ever since the accident that caused him to lose his memory, the question of what his name was seemed to confuse him. It took a moment, then he realized what the man had asked.
"Hiccup," he mumbled, "my name is Hiccup."
"So you're the one that Wrenlou found?" the man questioned and Hiccup nodded.
The man smiled a little. "My name is Rico by the way, Rico Badger."
"I... I know," Hiccup mumbled, and Rico raised an eyebrow.
"Wrenlou told you about me?" When Hiccup nodded he raised his right arm, "how I lost my hand I suppose?"
Hiccup nodded again, and stared at the stump. It was a clean cut, but there were some scars up the arm towards the elbow, possibly made by teeth or claws. Rico started laughing, gently punching Hiccup's shoulder.
"Don't worry, everybody knows. It's no secret. It shouldn't be. No one should repeat my mistake."
Hiccup just nodded and leaned back against the wall. He knew he was save inside this room, that the storm couldn't come in here, and he still felt uneasy. The idea of a tremendous amount of wind and rain and possible hail Wrenlou had told him would soon beat down on the city scared him. He couldn't shake the though of what would have happened, had they not gone fishing when they did.