Chapter 9:
AN: Sorry this one took so long! Like I said, I'm going to try and be consistent with at least one chapter a week, but I'm only getting busier. I hope you enjoy it though. As always, feedback both positive and negative is always welcome!
Arkyn and Astrid froze, looking at each other nervously. Ruffnut couldn't possibly have known, could she? Arkyn thought to himself. "Uhm…" He stuttered. "What are you talking about?" Arkyn blurted out in a shaky voice. Astrid immediately kicked him under the table, hard. The boy tried to hide his flinch but even he knew he deserved it. His bullshitting skills were definitely not up to par.
Luckily, Ruffnut's face broke out into a wide grin and she began laughing, apparently not noticing the awkwardness of the situation at all. "Come on you guys! It's just a joke! You two should see the looks on your faces right now."
Astrid glanced at Arkyn once more and the two began hesitantly laughing alongside the twin, trying desperately to cover up their guilt ridden expressions. You cannot be this stupid. Astrid's mind raced along with her heart rate as the tone de-escalated gradually, everyone returning to their normal resolve. She hadn't even known Arkyn for that long—little more than a week—and here she was, caring way too much about him. She couldn't stand it. He was just so…interesting? Astrid had trouble deciding on the perfect word. Maybe there wasn't one.
But Astrid was supposed to like Hiccup. She did like Hiccup. Not only was he not uninteresting, but of course, Astrid found him adorable as well. He was the one who had showed her what it meant to really fly. Her friendship with Stormfly would have never been possible without Hiccup's bravery. Sometimes though, it felt as if he only cared for the dragons. Astrid was aware that the boy did have feelings for her, possibly strong ones at that, but she found it annoying that rather than owning them and talking about it with her, he would rather occupy himself with learning as much about dragons as possible.
The truth was, Astrid didn't know what she wanted at all. She was in a weird state of limbo with her feelings. Aside from being sure she wanted something, the notion of what exactly she was looking for escaped her, and although they had their similarities, Hiccup and Arkyn were still quite different from each other. As long as she didn't end up with Tuff or Snotface, Astrid decided she would be ok. More table talk interrupted her thoughts.
"So, Arkyn? Have you decided on a name for that Triplestryke yet?" Hiccup asked from where he sat.
"Nope. Not quite yet." Was all Arkyn said, not caring to list his reasoning. Astrid wondered if this meant he felt more comfortable sharing things with her specifically, which would be nice, but she couldn't be sure.
"That's ok, you'll have plenty of time." Hiccup spoke again. "You might be worried about it leaving, but I'm not. I'm sure by tomorrow you'll really have a dragon of your own."
Arkyn smiled, noting he repeated Astrid's comments from down at the ring. He really hoped they were both right. "Thanks Hiccup." Arkyn responded, not wanting to dwell on it any longer for the rest of his evening. "By the way, tonight should be my last staying in your house. The builders should be finishing up the last things on my new one tomorrow morning."
"Cool!" Hiccup sounded enthusiastic. "I look forward to seeing what they came up with."
"I'll give everyone a tour after I've settled in." He promised. "Luckily there aren't many possessions to move over." Arkyn said this still smiling. He truly wasn't too bothered by his lack of stuff at the moment. What made him happiest was living. New and exciting experiences were all the boy was after. The people Arkyn met along the way made even the bad days worth it. Physical holdings had never produced the same effect for him. On the note of living with Hiccup, the young Viking had been an excellent and hospitable host, but Arkyn was happy about gaining a little more privacy in his life. Sharing a room was only fun for so long.
The table quieted down for some time while everyone dug into their food. Most of the older Vikings began to file out for the night which brought the noise levels in the hall itself down even further. Soon the teens themselves were done eating and, being so tired from their hectic day in the arena, got up to leave. Once through the front doors of the hall it didn't take long for members of the group to trot off towards their homes to crash for the night.
Astrid was the first to jet off. "Goodnight, Astrid!" Hiccup called after her, but much to his disappointment, the girl didn't turn around. All she wanted was to escape the awkwardness that would be another interaction with Arkyn. Astrid had made things weird enough for one day and the faster she got away from the group, the better.
Arkyn had enough of a brain to keep his own mouth shut as well, wearing a blank expression as he watched her go, trying not to draw any attention to himself. He silently wondered to himself just how long she would avoid him. Hopefully not too long.
After everyone else had gone, Hiccup led Arkyn back up the hill to his house one last time. Toothless was already asleep in Hiccup's room when they entered, taking up the entirety of his rider's bed. Sharing a laugh, Arkyn helped move the creature and soon, both boys were overtaken with drowsiness, visions of what might happen the next morning filling their dreams.
—
Both of the teens in the Haddock household woke up early the next morning, the anticipation of their visit with the Triplestryke feeling extremely palpable. Arkyn could not put into words how bad he wanted this. It would be the final step in his induction into the dragon riders if they came to fully trust him with the care of such a creature. His new life would be as complete has he could possibly make it. This notion was usually enough to silence the poor memories that regularly tried to invade Arkyn's mind, an effect he gratefully accepted.
The group had agreed to meet in the arena at sunrise the previous evening, so just as the colors of the sky began to light up orange over the forest behind Hiccup's house, he and Arkyn set off, bringing Toothless in tow.
Toothless huffed and grumbled on the whole walk down towards the stables. He had been doing far too much walking lately, with Hiccup regularly skipping their morning flights as of late to hang out with the new human. Toothless still got saddled every morning, but whether or not the saddle was actually used varied day to day.
"What are you so noisy about?" Hiccup asked his friend as they passed the forge. "I bet you're mad that we haven't been flying as often as we used to." He gave the Night Fury several scratches behind its ears and that seemed to calm the dragon down, if only slightly.
"I hope that hasn't been because of me." Arkyn questioned from in front of Hiccup. "You know you can go on flights whenever you want. I'm fine by myself."
"Oh…no, I know that, I just didn't want you to feel like you were being ignored here." Hiccup responded.
Arkyn turned around and met Hiccup's gaze. "You've known that dragon a lot longer than you've known me. I promise I don't need you to compromise the routine you have with your best friend simply because of my presence." Arkyn reassured him.
Hiccup smiled, but before he could say anything, Fishlegs came walking up behind where Toothless stood, looking chipper in the morning dew. "Hi guys!" He called cheerily.
"Morning!" Both Arkyn and Hiccup said in unison.
"So Arkyn, I went home and did a lot of reading on the Triplestryke last night, and I have to say, if you help us add that dragon to our team, we will have gained a seriously powerful member. They're so versatile!" The large boy spewed excitedly. "I can't wait to go see it."
"Neither can I." Arkyn agreed. "Do we have a plan for how we're going to approach it though?" He asked.
Hiccup answered. "It obviously seems to be the least cautious of you, so I think it would be best if you stood in front of the doors as one of us pulled the lever to open them, and the rest of us should be well behind you and out of the way to appear non threatening."
"Sounds ok to me." Arkyn acknowledged. Hiccup was proving himself not only to be a strategic thinker, but also a natural leader. Arkyn had already assumed this was his role among the group after hearing the stories, but now he was noticing the role was earned, not given. It reassured him in his friendship with the Viking, and being the Chief's son, Hiccup would surely come to rise to his father's position one day.
A short while later the 3 boys + Toothless arrived at the arena to find Astrid already there with Stormfly, and of course, the twins and Snotlout nowhere in sight. "Late again." Hiccup muttered under his breath. "Typical…"
Arkyn shot him a knowing glance, completely understanding Hiccup's frustration even after knowing the group members for just a few days. Some of them could definitely pull just a bit more weight.
Astrid glanced at the approaching group while tending to her dragon, gave a quick nod, but said nothing more.
Shit, thought Arkyn.
Hiccup however, not knowing the events of the previous evening, was not satisfied with Astrid's curt behavior, and offered a more formal introduction to the day. "Hey Astrid!" He waved. "You left in such a hurry last night I barely had a chance to say goodbye."
The girl looked up again, flashing Hiccup a quick smile that Arkyn could tell was fake. She hesitated as she tried to spit out an excuse. "Uh- yeah…sorry about that. I had to go home and check on Stormfly. She's still new to the whole 'living away from the stables' thing."
To Arkyn's surprise, Hiccup accepted her explanation with no further promoting, probably not wanting to try and argue with Astrid. That was a road Arkyn felt he wanted to avoid for as long as possible for fear he would lose spectacularly.
"No problem, just making sure you're ok." Hiccup told her.
"I'm ok." Astrid answered flatly, this time not bothering to divert her attention away from the cobalt dragon in front of her.
Giving up, Hiccup turned to Arkyn instead. "Well…do you even want to wait for the others or do you just want to get it over with?" He asked dryly.
Arkyn smirked. "I say you snooze, you lose. Let's do this." The Triplestryke had been inside long enough. Arkyn didn't want it to get annoyed and fly off, so the time was now. Delaying was pointless.
Fishlegs filled Astrid in on the plan and the 4 Vikings took their positions, with Hiccup's job being opening the door. Arkyn waited at the stable's entrance a distance of roughly 20 feet back, and Fishlegs, Astrid, Toothless, and Stormfly all remained 50 feet behind him.
With little fanfare and a few deep breath's from Arkyn himself, he nodded to Hiccup and the door creaked open, slowly. The large creature could be heard shifting inside as light flooded the previously dark stall. The Triplestryke swiveled it's head to face Arkyn, and the boy found himself locking eyes with the dragon's 2 red orbs, staring relentlessly from inside the stable. Standing up, the creature slowly advanced into the arena with heavy steps, placing its full staggering weight on each talon as it walked. The sight was so intimidating that Arkyn actually took several paces backwards, making sure the dragon had ample space to itself.
Once completely free from the stall, the dragon lifted its head up and stretched its tails. They fanned out in different directions as they became fully extended. Finally, the Triplestryke eyed Arkyn once more and stretched its wings, displaying the full extent of its impressive wingspan. Arkyn held his breath as he expected this to be the move that would lead the dragon to fly away, but after a quick yet tense moment, the creature bowed its head and presented its snout to the waiting Viking, who reached up and held it gently. As he made contact the Triplestryke answered with a small warble, showing the solidarity of the situation.
Arkyn exhaled as the weight of the situation was lifted off his shoulders. The dragon had stayed. The bond had been made. Smiling to himself, Arkyn nodded at Hiccup once more and the stable doors came to a close.
"Impressive." Hiccup remarked, walking over to the pair. Fishlegs and Astrid also closed the distance between themselves and the Triplestryke. "Looks like we got one more."
Fishlegs tapped Arkyn on the shoulder. "So…about that name?"
Arkyn turned around to address everyone at once, gesturing to the creature now behind him with a sense of pride he had never felt before. "Friends? Meet Stinger."
The 3 Berkians wore smiles of appreciation, almost as if a new baby had just been born. It was a moment they would all remember forever. Arkyn had been right. The Triplestryke really was magnificent. Scales of an extremely deep purple clashed with bright yellows and oranges on the rest of the abdomen. The beak and snout were strong and menacing, and the tails, each darker than the last, held immense power of their own. The dragon itself carried its figure with a silent confidence and respect, as if it knew it could kill all of them in a heartbeat, yet simply wouldn't. Not anymore.
After several more minutes of admiration, Hiccup clapped a hand on Arkyn's shoulder and broke the silence. "Welp. A deal's a deal. It's a great time to start that training of yours."
Arkyn looked on with an expression of pure elation. Stinger was perfect. Arkyn was ready, and he was going to work his ass off until he was as good as the rest of them.