Chapter 8:
After being in the dark stable for a little too long, the late morning sun was nearly blinding as Arkyn came face to face with the Triplestryke for the first time. It was rather big for its species- almost full grown. Comparable to the sizes of Toothless and Stormfly, sure, but slightly larger. From what Arkyn knew about their growth cycles he estimated it was around 18 years old. Strangely enough, however, it seemed to be getting bigger. A lot bigger. Very quickly. Stupidly, Arkyn snapped out of his analyzations and realized the reptile was charging him, and it was not happy. It didn't take long after this for the adrenaline to set in.
Arkyn quickly stepped out of the way and ran close to the arena's wall to avoid the attack. The Triplestryke went speeding past him and skidded to a halt just before the stable door Arkyn had just exited before whipping around and locking its deep red eyes on the boy. Standing taller on its hind legs, the beast reset, arming its 3 stingers for battle. They curled up and over the dragon's abdomen and pointed directly at the sole Viking in the ring. It was like a scorpion on steroids.
Moving closer to the center of the arena, Arkyn raised his shield to the beast, not wanting to appear weak in any way. He was ready for what was about to happen. Slowly, the Triplestryke advanced on him and twitched the tail it would normally use for stunning. A deafening roar was emitted from the dragon's beak-like head just before it lunged at Arkyn and extended the first tail for attack. Arkyn saw it coming and quickly braced behind his shield, blocking it in mid air.
Back behind the stable doors, the teens had all crammed against the crack between them to keep an eye on what was going on. Astrid gasped as she saw the first tail strike the shield. A dull thud followed the contact, barely loud enough to make it to her huddled position. Seeing the true severity of the situation she had helped to put Arkyn in, Astrid immediately began to feel guilty about not stepping up in his aid. Her whole life her parents had been pushing her to be prepared to fight dragons, and as soon as one showed up threatening her friends she had cowered behind a wooden door. Things were different now that Berk didn't actually hurt dragons, but the weight was still there. If anything happened to Arkyn now Astrid would never be able to live with herself for it. Giving a small prayer to the gods, there was nothing she could do now but wait and watch…and hope.
Recoiling the first tail, the Triplestryke wasted little time before sending out the second and third tails in Arkyn's direction. He moved the shield around to defend against their lunges but they were quite hard to predict. Folding its tails back again and again, the Triplestryke sent out volley after volley of stinging attacks towards the boy, all of which he was able to avoid with a combination of fancy footwork and swift blocking. After failing to land a single blow, however, the Triplestryke decided to switch its strategy slightly.
Without warning, the tails fell back behind the dragon once more and it dove head first into Arkyn's outstretched shield. The thick armored plating of the skull easily encompassed the diameter of the wooden tool, providing immense force against the object. Arkyn braced with all his strength and dug the heels of his boots into the hard dirt of the arena, but it wasn't enough. He began to slide backwards with each advancing step the dragon took forwards. Glancing behind him at the ever approaching wall, Arkyn suddenly realized that he was either going to be flattened against it or flattened beneath the Triplestryke itself. Nothing could be done. He closed his eyes and waited for impact, still sliding against his will.
Arkyn held onto Stormfly's tail spikes as he accepted what was about to happen, quickly recalling his life over the last week or so. He had met 6 new friends. 6 friends that had brought him into their group almost without question. All of them so different, yet so fun. They had given him one of the most helpful things in the world: hope. Hope that his loss didn't have to define him forever. And at the end of it all…the last thing he had received became the most powerful gesture from his time on Berk: Astrid's hug. Her stupid, thoughtful, cute, simple hug. He chose it as the last image he would see before the inevitable happened, and decided that it wasn't a bad one to have in the slightest.
Now less than 10 feet from the wall, time slowed almost to a halt…and then the unthinkable happened. In an event that could only be described as a miracle brought upon by the gods themselves, there was an awfully sickening crack as the shield in Arkyn's hands broke. Well…more specifically, the wooden surface that was actually meant for blocking things splintered into pieces, leaving only the hardened iron ring around the outside in tact. Due to all of the force Arkyn was still pushing back with, the iron ring was forced over the Triplestryke's snout, catching it with friction like a muzzle and not only closing its beak, but also shaving off several armor scales in the process. The Triplestryke immediately stopped advancing forwards and reared back on its hind legs, roaring in pain, apparently being extremely sensitive to the damaged scales on its snout. Arkyn took the opportunity to move through its blind spot and escape his position between the screaming dragon and the wall behind him.
The dragon shook its head and removed the ring before spinning all around in search of the boy who caused this, the Triplestryke finally caught Arkyn's gaze and returned to a lower position on the arena's surface, crouching down in an attack stance in preparation for its next move. What came next was a move that would send most Vikings running if they were ever on the receiving end of it, especially if they were defenseless, like Arkyn now was. The dragon growled and intertwined its 3 tails into 1 to set up for the killing blow. The typical 3 clicks that accompanied this action followed right on cue, and that was when Arkyn knew it was the right moment to make his countermove. It's about damn time you pulled something like that. He thought to himself, having waited for this action the previous 10 minutes of fighting.
Just before the singular tail was launched in his direction, Arkyn raised Stormfly's shards and clicked them together 3 times to mimic the sound the Triplestryke's tails had made. This immediately confused the dragon, who unfolded his stingers and shook his head briefly before once again spinning them together in a preface to attack. In response, Arkyn repeated his action, this time stepping closer to the increasingly static reptile.
"It's alright. Everything is fine." Arkyn stated in a soft voice. "There's no need for you to get hurt anymore."
The Triplestryke finally lowered its tails and emitted rapid, heavy, frustrated breaths at the young Viking, still unsure of what to think regarding Arkyn's presence.
"Boy…you're an impressive thing, aren't ya?" Arkyn gushed to the large dragon before him. Clicking the shards twice more, the Triplestryke's breathing finally calmed down, and Arkyn was able to drop the spikes as he stopped just outside of an arm's length in front of the large beast. Ever so slowly, the boy reached up with his hand and held it in front of the dragon's beak. It was close enough that he could feel the now shallow breaths coming from the creature, but wasn't touching it. Time really had stopped now, and Arkyn held his own breath as tension built in the stressful moment. After what seemed like an eternity, the Triplestryke bowed its head, spread its wings, and met Arkyn's gloved hand with its head.
Arkyn couldn't believe it. He'd never had the opportunity to tame a Triplestryke before, and he had just done it on his first try without complete training. He couldn't have been more ecstatic. It was at that moment an idea came into his head. Now's my chance. Thought Arkyn. It's this dragon or no dragon. Not daring to take his eyes off the dragon but still tilting his head towards the closed stable door, Arkyn called out to Hiccup.
"Hiccup?!" he yelled. No response. "Hiccup?! It's ok to come out now, everything's calmed down a bit." And with that the wooden stall doors swung open slowly and the group of teens emerged, dragons in tow. The Triplestryke started sniffing the air and turned towards the other dragons walking in its direction. It backed away slightly, giving a slight growl. "Hey, hey…nothing's wrong. It's ok." Arkyn encouraged as the two parties finally met in the center of the arena for the first time.
The dragon riders facing Arkyn were all wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Their mouths hung open in sheer disbelief of the scene before them. Arkyn stood with his hand now on the Triplestryke's neck, wearing a stoic expression. He looked a little shaken up from his recent near death experience, but otherwise uninjured. The dragon itself was rigid and unmoving, as if trying to defend its territory. The stinging tails rested on the arena's earth while the armored head remained bowed, emitting soft huffs every now and again. The rest of the teens had never been so close to a dragon of this species before.
"How did you…" Hiccup started, but the rest of the sentence died in his throat.
"I know how." Snotlout offered. "It's because he used the magic hand thing that you always do every time we meet a new dragon."
Arkyn looked puzzled. "Magic hand thing?"
"Yeah. The move you did where you held your hand up and let the dragon touch it. Hiccup does that all the time. It's so annoying." Snotlout explained.
"Sorry to disappoint then." Arkyn responded, sarcastically.
"Whatever you say Snotlout, but I've never been able to do that with a Triplestryke before…" Hiccup mused.
Before anyone could speak again, Arkyn decided to put his plan into action. "Hiccup?" He questioned. "I was thinking…what if I made this Triplestryke…my dragon. You all have your companions, and so far I'm the only one who hasn't flown yet. Is it too crazy to want to learn with a creature I can form my own personal bond with?"
Hiccup thought for a moment. "Well you clearly have its respect…I'll tell you what. Why don't we feed it and clean it and put it in one of our stables tonight, and if we come back tomorrow morning and it doesn't want to fly away, then we can start teaching you how to ride."
Arkyn's face lit up at Hiccup's response. "Awesome…" he breathed, extremely excited at the prospect of being able to have his own dragon, a Triplestryke, no less. The species he had grown up admiring would (hopefully) now become his closest non-human contact on Berk. "Shall we get started then?" Arkyn pushed, and so it was: The teens immediately got to work helping the boy feed and clean his new friend, collectively deciding to skip lunch in order to make sure this opportunity didn't slip through anyone's fingers.
—
It was early evening before the work was finally finished and the Triplestryke was safely tucked away in the stables for the night, made as comfortable as possible by the resident dragon riders. The teens now gathered in the center of the arena, about to leave in the direction of the great hall for a well deserved meal. Once everyone had stepped out of the arena's entrance, they closed it up for the night and started off towards the rest of the town. Everyone…except Arkyn, that is. "You guys go on ahead. I'll meet everyone over there soon for something to eat. Don't wait for me." He told the group as they walked away on the narrow road.
Hiccup gave an acknowledgement of approval and soon enough they disappeared out of sight. Arkyn sighed to himself and began to move around the outside of the arena up on the grand stands the townspeople used to sit in. His steps were slow and heavy. Almost lazy. They made a thunk sound each time one landed. Eventually he made it to the chief's throne. Studying its ornate construction and intricate details, Arkyn not only noticed it boasted the best view of the arena itself but also of the open sea beyond. This time of night the sunset was again rather impressive, so minding his time, Arkyn took a small liberty and sat down, gazing at the beautiful colors before him.
He was deep in thought about what might happen the next morning when he heard footsteps coming around the arena's perimeter to his left. Tearing his eyes away from the view of the sky, Arkyn turned to find Astrid approaching him, evidently having not gone with the rest of the dragon riders to the great hall right away.
"Hey you." Arkyn called out.
"I wondered where you might have gone." Came the girls reply. "It's kind of suspicious when you just wander off like this, you know."
"Well it's not my fault you're so nosy." Arkyn chuckled.
"Who said I'm nosy?" Astrid defended herself. "I just…wanted to know why you didn't come with the rest of us to the great hall."
Arkyn rolled his eyes as he climbed down from his perch on the chief's throne. "Yeah…because that's definitely not being nosy."
Astrid scrunched up her face, looking offended. "Anyway." She said. "I noticed you weren't with the rest of the group and thought something might be wrong. Are you…ok? I know today was kind of rough."
"Oh yeah." The boy responded. "I'm ok alright. Just needed some time to think."
"About what to name your dragon?" Astrid questioned. "He really is cool, you know."
"Thanks, but I'm not going to name him until after I know he's actually going to stay with me. Can't get too attached…to anything…" Arkyn finished with another sigh, his expression falling slightly.
Astrid paused for a moment before offering her next words. "I understand. He will stay though, just so you know. I've never seen a Triplestryke so docile in a new environment. There's no reason for him to leave now."
"I thought the same, but you can never be sure." Arkyn replied.
There was a much longer pause this time before Astrid spoke again. "While we're here, I wanted to tell you how bad I feel for sending you into the ring alone earlier. I definitely should have been there for backup. All of us should've been."
Arkyn shook his head. "It's ok, don't worry about it. I know Triplestrykes have given you guys a lot of trouble in the past. It's only natural to react that way under pressure. It flew in out of nowhere."
"No, it's not ok." Astrid pressed. "What if something had happened to you? I couldn't live with that."
"But nothing did happen, so you have nothing to worry about." Arkyn smiled, resting his arms against the arena's railing.
Astrid looked up at him, studying his face very carefully. A perfect half of it was lit up in the evening light, and the boy wore an expression capturing the perfect mixture of happiness and longing- for what, she couldn't tell. Instead of trying to argue with Arkyn anymore, she moved next to him, mimicking his stance at the railing. The wind blew Astrid's braid up and ruffled Arkyn's hair in the slowly dimming light. They stood there in silence for a moment, staring out into the sea together.
Reflecting on everything that had happened that day, Astrid thought back to the fight she had witnessed earlier. Arkyn had put himself in a great deal of danger for that dragon. She remembered how he continued to block tail after tail from the creature while trying to find an opening for his own opportunities. Even while sliding towards the wall, his gloved hands had gripped the shield tightly, never backing down. And more than that, he had prevailed. A knot began to form in her heart. The more she thought about Arkyn, the more relieved she was that he was ok.
Astrid turned to look at him once more, and he noticed the movement and rotated his own head to meet her gaze. Mesmerized by the orange sky reflecting in Arkyn's eyes, Astrid couldn't help but let the knot break. Slowly, she leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss, letting it linger before pulling away.
Arkyn was stunned, eyes locked on the girl after what she had just done, but before he could say anything, Astrid snapped back to reality and moved the situation along quite quickly, almost as if nothing had ever happened. "Oh Thor…we'd better get to the great hall. The others are surely wondering why we're not with them right now."
"Erm, uh…y- yeah. Of course." Arkyn agreed, still not sure about what the hell had just happened. Astrid ran off towards the road and Arkyn had to put up a decent effort to keep close. She was clearly in no mood to discuss anything further, and it didn't take a genius mind for Arkyn to realize he was not to speak a word of this to anyone, or else.
Eventually they bounded up to the doors of the great hall and stepped inside, joining the rest of the dragon riders at their go to table in the back. They tried to act normal as they sat down, but as they did, Ruffnut addressed them from the end of her bench.
"Hey there lovebirds, it's nice of you to finally join us."