-Awakening-
The Barbaric Archipelago, a large area obscured from the rest of the world consisting of many islands and isles, is the home of many different types of creatures both large and small. The two main species that call this place home are vikings and dragons, with the two having been at war with one another for generations.
While most vikings of the greater world believed dragons were symbols of chaotic balance, it is hard to share that mentality when they are trying to balance you out of the equation. Out of all the tribes in the Barbaric Archipelago, the Hairy Hooligans and their neighboring tribes, both allied and not so, experience the worst of the raids as they are, presumably, the closest tribes to The Dragon Nest. No matter the size of the group nor the tribes involved, no voyage to find the nest have even helped to narrow down the location, much less find it.
Far away from the shores of Berk, so far that there is no sign of land in any direction, the hope and heir of the tribe, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock The Third is floating in the ocean, unconscious and only staying afloat due to a damaged, leather saddle.
xxx[{:::::::::::::::::::::::
The slow washing of waves was the first sound he heard. The second, the small rustle of tree branches and roughage swaying lightly in the breeze. Hiccup opened his eyes, and after the blurriness faded, he slowly sat up.
He was on a beach. Where this beach was, he did not know. What he did know was that things seemed to be hazy, as if his eyes couldn't focus on anything for more than a few moments. He attempted to scan around his surroundings more, but he was unable to focus on anything. It was as if everything had a slight sheen on it, where he could not see clearly what anything was.
Glancing around his blurred world, he could make out the tree line near the shore he was on. He couldn't tell exactly what, but it looked as if the shadows within the trees were moving. Not just the light dancing underneath the canopy, but shapes.
Hiccup tried to focus on what he was seeing and attempted to get up. As he started to stand, a sharp pain in his left leg and head caused him to stumble as his blurred vision became black.
He then collapsed again in the sand.
xxx[{:::::::::::::::::::::::
The feasting and drinking had become rambunctious, to an almost ludicrous degree.
Let it not be said that the Hairy Hooligans did not know how to celebrate, nor that they could not hold their alcohol. Let it be said, though, that they became more and more belligerent the more they feasted and drank, and they were quite belligerent.
Though, it was not every day that someone honoured themselves and the tribe within the kill ring.
Said honourer was in the midst of the crowd being praised for her lethalness and the precision of her strikes against the Monstrous Nightmare, and how she came out of the fight nearly unscathed. Astrid Hofferson was the most promising fighter of the newest generation, as most of the tribe knew, so her victory was not something many were surprised by.
On the opposite side of the hall, watching the Kill Ring victor and others enjoying themselves, Hiccup sat on a bench in the dimly lit portion of the hall, sipping on a small tankard of the mead the Hairy Hooligans kept reserved for occasions such as this, when someone approached him.
"Whatcha doing here by yourself?"
Hiccup looked up to see his cousin, Snotlout, slightly wobbling holding a horn in his hand, freshly filled with froth poking over the brim.
"Just enjoying a drink."
"Well… why are you doing that by yourself…" Snotlout trailed off, looking around the area Hiccup had sat down in. "...wow it's dim. Why'd you sit in a dimly lit… dim… area?" he asked, still slightly swaying and deciding to take a generous swig after his question.
"I… didn't want to bother anyone." answered Hiccup, looking around to see if anyone else was coming to talk to him. Currently, it was just his cousin. The rest were fixated on Astrid, and most likely would be for the rest of the night, but knowing his tribe, the evening would not end until most people passed out as the sun began to rise.
Even with how well he had performed in Dragon Training, Hiccup had always felt a bit uneasy with the newfound praise he received from his tribe. Not that he didn't enjoy it, but he felt like it would not last, and at any moment something would not go in his favour.
Especially since he had a… certain friend.
He was not exactly the "tribe's pariah", but his mistakes with his inventions had led to a few buildings suffering severe damages, or, like what happened during the second to last dragon raid, accidentally distracting his tribesmen from the dragons and causing some of the livestock to be taken.
The adults of the tribe would be upset or angry in the moment, but they never truly held anything against him, and not because he was the chief's son, but because they could see how much he tried to show he could be one of them. It's not like none of them had any missteps when they were younger, it's just that his were large missteps.
Hiccup's peers were a bit more unforgiving. Most were also upset only in the moment, but some would hear their parents, uncles, aunts, and whomever else say words of anger in the moment, and hold that against him maliciously for upwards of half a moon, as the only thing even more unpleasant than a rapid dragon is a viking teenager feeling like they have to one-up one another. People would eventually either forget about the misstep, or not hold it against Hiccup anymore just in time for another one of his inventions to go awry or for him to make some other larger mistake.
Snotlout was one of the latter, most of the time, but as of late he's followed suite with the rest of the tribe once Hiccup showed promise in Dragon Training. Hiccup could almost claim that Snotlout was trying to become friends with him, similarly to the others.
"'Bo- Bother anyone'?" Snotlout asked, burping and taking another gulp from his horn before squinting his eyes, as if he was thinking extremely hard about something. "...what does that mean?"
"It means that I…" Hiccup started, trying to think of how to word it so that Snotlout would understand, especially given his current state, "...don't want to take attention away from Astrid, nor her victory today!" Hiccup finished, raising his tankard as to salute to Astrid's victory.
Snotlout looked blankly at Hiccup for a moment, before raising his horn in kind.
"Good thought!" He said, taking yet another drink, and emptying the rest of his horn. "Wouldn't want to take attention off of her."
Snotlout attempting to take another drink, but at the lack of mead touching his lips, he looked into the horn, and upon seeing it was empty, shrugged, and tossed it over his shoulder.
"You know, I should let her know how much of my attention she has. After all, who can resist the Snot!" He exclaimed, flexing his admittedly well toned biceps before beginning to turn around.
"Hey Snotlout, wait!"
Snotlout turned around and looked at Hiccup, who had gotten up and left his tankard on the bench.
"Why not wait until tomorrow?" Hiccup asked. "You see her right now, right?"
Snotlout looked towards Astrid. "Yeah, and she sees vewy ni- very nice, now." he said, wobbling slightly as he looked towards her.
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Well, what do you see her doing currently?"
"Talking to other that aren't me?"
"I mean, yes, but what else?"
"...is this a trick question?"
"No, just, what do you see, fully?"
Snotlout squinted a bit as he looked at Astrid, and those around her who were talking with her and amongst themselves. One older person was animatedly telling a tale to Astrid and a few others listening, presumably about his fights with dragons in his younger days. The man made a gesture, which was obscured to Hiccup and Snotlout since he was facing the opposite direction of them, that must have been a punch line as all of the listeners began laughing heartily.
"She's laughing, with the others."
Hiccup nodded. "Yes, and while I'm sure she would greatly appreciate you showing her 'The Snot', maybe you could show her tomorrow?"
Snotlout looked to stare at Hiccup.
"I mean, Snot', when was the last time you saw her laugh like that?" Hiccup asked. "I wouldn't want to interrupt that – accidentally interrupt that – and possibly cause her to not laugh. Not saying you would do that of course, but – don't give me that look – but maybe, just maybe, tonight we could just let her enjoy her victory?"
Snotlout continued to look at Hiccup for a moment, then towards Astrid, then back towards Hiccup.
"You know cousin… I hate when you're talking sense sometimes." Snotlout said, giving Hiccup an awkward shoulder squeeze which Hiccup could only assume was some sort of affectionate gesture, before shambling away to find the horn he tossed to refill it and join a table of other rambunctious tribesmen.
Hiccup shook his head lightly, smiling to himself at how he somehow got Snotlout to listen to him, before he retrieved his tankard. Seeing that there was not much left, and that he was already standing, he decided that now might be a good time to retreat back home and get some sleep.
Hungover Vikings were a bit more angry at the smithy, and he'd rather be as well rested for that as possible.
He glanced back over towards Astrid's group, only to see her looking at him. Not in his direction, but directly at him. She didn't have anyone talking to her at the current moment, as a few were still recovering from their laughter. Hiccup stared back for a moment, before offering a small wave and an even smaller smile, before departing towards the exit as he finished the last few swigs of his drink and left The Great Hall.
He was not more than two steps down when he heard the hall doors open and footsteps approach. "Hiccup, wait."
Hiccup turned around to see Astrid standing at the top of the stairs. Hiccup had always been a bit taller than her, and with his growth spurt starting, he had almost half a head above currently. His being two stairs below her gave her the height advantage, and after taking half a second to consider it, he remained where he was to let her keep the height, lest it comes off that he was unintentionally challenging her.
"Yes Astrid?"
Astrid took a moment to steel herself. "Why did you do it?"
"Well.. I mean…", Hiccup started, "…Snotlout was very drunk and I'm sure you didn't want him to hit on you tonight soo…"
"What? No I don't mean that. I mean… I do appreciate that, but no not that."
"Then what did I do?"
"Let me come first in Dragon Training."
Hiccup took a moment to look at Astrid, seeing if she looked serious or if she looked curious. If it was the former, chances were she was, or was about to become, angry, but the latter meant that she was less likely to become angry.
She looked curious.
Hiccup let out a small sigh. "Well, why should I have not let you win?"
"What?" Astrid said, recoiling slightly and looking even more curious with the surprise mixed in from that question. "You were leading? Why would you not want to keep in the lead?"
"There wasn't a reason for me to 'win' Dragon Training, and you trained the hardest out of any of us!" Hiccup said. "Plus, you would probably come to beat out how I was able to improve had I won the honour." he finished, miming throwing a few jabs for emphasis.
"What? That's dumb! No I wouldn't have!"
"Really?" Hiccup stated, giving her a look of disbelief.
"Really! I wouldn't have attacked you just to find out how you won!"
"Astrid, you're known for having a temper that matches that of Mildew with the violent ability to back it up. You would have completely come after me."
"Also," Hiccup started, cutting Astrid's retort short, "I know it meant a lot to you to get the honour. I also – wait let me finish – I also had already gotten what I wanted. The tribe, more or less, believes that I am one of them now. Since we've started Dragon Training, I hadn't had the time to test anything, meaning no accidental house fires or other issues, and I've been 'proving myself' with my abilities with the dragons.
"It feels like I'm accepted as one of you all without any of the normal fanfare, so while it would have been great in the tribe's view for me to get the honour, it wouldn't have meant as much to me as it does to you, and you earned it far more than I did.
"I didn't 'let you win', Astrid. I just stepped out of the way so you could claim what was already yours."
Astrid stood there slightly in shock. She knew Hiccup was aware of her reasons for training so hard, but to hear that he didn't let her win out of pity, or some other contrived reason, surprised her.
"..th.k. y.."
"Sorry, what?" Hiccup asked, not sure if Astrid did say something.
"Thank you." Astrid said, crossing her arms and looking away. "For saying that and for letting me win."
"...but I just said that I didn't le-"
"I know I said 'stay out of my way' before." Astrid started. "I was just getting frustrated. I trained since… well, you know ...and you only started training recently. You have improved a lot Hiccup, and the tribe is better for you being a part of it, but I was – I'm serious, the tribe is – I was going crazy thinking that I must have been training wrong or doing something poorly with how quickly you were able to catch up to me with how you were able to deal with dragons."
Hiccup, having made a small face when Astrid said the tribe was better with him in it now, waiting for Astrid to finish speaking, as it looked like she wasn't quite finished but working up to say whatever she had left to say.
"Hiccup, I'm sorry for how I acted. Truly."
Now it was Hiccup's turn to look shocked. Astrid crossed her arms a bit tighter as she continued to look away. Hiccup had never heard her apologize to anyone about anything before, unless it was combat training related, but even then she only apologized for the slight maiming that Hiccup saw her give her training partner once or twice.
"Thank you, Astrid." Hiccup said, a small but honest smile on his face, which Astrid returned.
After a few moments, both of them cleared their respective throats.
"I should get back inside."
"I should get ready for tomorrow".
Both paused after speaking, having realized that they spoke over each other, and started to laugh lightly.
"Sleep well Hiccup."
"Enjoy the rest of your feast Astrid."
Astrid threw her hands up as she turned to walk back into the Great Hall, yelling over her shoulder, "It's not MY feast! It's the tribe's, and they're just using my day in training as an excuse to drink ALL the barrels!"
Hiccup chuckled more to himself as he also turned around and proceeded towards the smithy to ensure everything was in order before heading to his home, but not before making a small detour through the woods that involved a certain grove and a certain batch of fish from the Berkian Storehouse.
As he walked down the stairs, and along the path towards the smithy, he thought to himself how he got to where he was. The luckiest shot of his life led to the most terrifying and unique encounters of his life, and all of that led to this moment.
Hiccup stopped walking and looked up. The night sky was almost perfectly clear, with only a few darkened spots throughout where the clouds loomed. Peaking over one of these clouds was Mani, almost shining at her full power. He stared at the stars, tracing out each cluster, as he let out a sigh and smiled to himself.
He finally felt like he belongs in the tribe, a feeling he has not had since well before he began his hand at inventing. While he worried about the longevity of his belonging, he could not deny that it felt good in the here-and-now that his feats in training managed to sway the opinion of the tribe without him having to change anything about himself.
He was still himself, just better at handling dragons, and that is what the village not only wants, but needs to survive. He could probably still get away with the odd invention mess up since he showed that he, himself, can assist in raids instead of being in the way and forced to hide in his home or in the smithy.
With one more glance at the stars, thinking to himself how no matter what changes in life, they remain the same, he continues on with his night.
xxx[{:::::::::::::::::::::::
The sound of metal striking metal reverberated off the rocks on the hillside. Snotlout and Astrid continued to fight one another as Hiccup and Fishlegs watched from the side, with one actually paying rapt attention to the fight and the other nose deep in a book.
Faint. Strike. Parry. Dodge. Astrid and Snotlout continued their spar until Snotlout overreached on one of his strikes, allowing Astrid to quickly disarm him.
"I win."
Snotlout, just as stubborn as Astrid could be, put up his fists. "The Snot' can't lose!" he yelled as he charged, managing to dodge under Astrid's axe strike and getting within melee range, scoring a solid strike.
Astrid, retreated a couple of steps before smiling, giving Snotlout a nod of approval, before dropping her axe and putting up her fists. Let it not be said that she did not enjoy a challenge.
As the two charged each other, Fishlegs looked up from his book towards Hiccup. "I meant to ask, how was your latest invention? It was the water channels for farmland right?"
Hiccup saw Snotlout take a strike to the chin before countering with a hook before he turned towards Fishlegs. "Oh, yeah! It's going well! I haven't figured out how to evenly distribute the water yet, but I should be able to get there."
Fishlegs closed his book before leading back against the boulder he sat next to. "It was nice of Bucket to let you test in a section of his land."
"Agreed! I wouldn't have thought anyone would want me to do any testing not even a season ago."
"Well, you have improved upon your… destructive iterations?" Fishlegs said with a small shrug as Hiccup narrowed his eyes at him, before also shrugging.
"Well, I shifted away from weapon inventions. Much less likely for something to explode or go awry when there's very little flammable or sharp parts in it."
Fishlegs gave a small nod. "Do you miss trying to make weapons? I'm not sure re-purposing your 'Bola Launcher' counts as a weapon."
"If you count being able to launch a fishing net farther than a normal through a weapon, otherwise, no weapons here. If I'm being honest, I miss the challenge of getting aspects of the launchers to work, but actually making them…" he trailed off, giving it a bit of thought. Did he actually miss building weapons?
Originally he started to craft various launchers and other types of weapons as a way to try and cover his shortcomings as a Viking. His father had the village to run, and while he disliked the fact that his father was not able to spend large portions of the day with him when he was younger, he understood that he carried an incredible burden leading the village. Unfortunately though, unlike the other children his age, and younger, he never had someone that trained him.
He was put in an apprenticeship with Gobber as a way to help him develop skills since Stoick was unable to himself due to his priorities, but Gobber, having a missing arm and leg, was not good at combat anymore, much less teaching someone else how to fight. Smithing, however, he was very good at. He was able to teach most all of his metallurgy knowledge to Hiccup, and had he not been the chief's heir he would have had Hiccup begin to take over as the fully fledged blacksmith soon.
Bringing his thoughts back to the question, Hiccup pondered it for a few more moments before giving an answer. "No. I don't think I do."
Fishlegs had one of his eyebrows arch slightly, giving a wordless question, to which Hiccup replied. "I enjoy creating, and for a while I believed that I had to prove my worth as a Viking through them. As a result, I mainly made things that possibly could help me make my mark in the village, but in the opposite way that they actually tended to do.
"Now though, since I no longer NEED to prove that I'm a part of the tribe, I don't feel the need to continue to try to make weapons when there are so many other things that could use help. Most of the tribe could kill a dragon with an axe throw, but not every fisherman can cast their net out as far as they need, nor does every farmer have the ability to create farmland quickly with our pest issue."
Hiccup and Fishlegs both looked towards Astrid and Snotlout as their fist-fight continued, with grappling having been tossed into the mix as Astrid manage to use Snotlout's momentum from an overextended swing and her hip to launch him a few paces away, causing him to grunt before getting up, saying "nice throw", and going right back to throwing more jabs.
"I'll make weapons if I need to, but I don't need to now."
"So, you'd rather try to help areas that benefit us in a greater manner than just our combat abilities?"
"In a manner of speaking, yeah that sums it up nicely."
"So, are you only focusing on the farms currently?"
"More or less. Aside from turning the bola launcher into a fishing net launcher, our methods of farming could use some help."
"Would you also look at non-farm related concepts?"
"I mean, I could, but – why do you ask?"
"Well," Fishlegs said, putting his book in his knapsack and pulling out a small journal, before continuing, "I may have some ideas myself, but no way of going about them."
"Oh? I never thought you would try your hand at inventing 'Legs." Hiccup said, accepting the journal from Fishlegs before opening it up and skimming through it.
"Oh this is a nice idea… well that's one way you could do that… I'm not sure how this could work… is that a – no, I don't know what that is… well that looks cool!"
Hiccup finished skimming the journal before handing it back to Fishlegs. "I'm not sure if I can help with all of those, but I'll do my best with what I can. I'm assuming you have one you would like to start with?"
Fishlegs gave a small shrug. "One or two that I believe would be worth looking at first, but only if you think that you'd be fine with making a weapon again."
"Let me guess, that crossbow?"
Fishlegs gave a nod. "Well, it is a nice design 'Legs, but what is the need for that, not to be rude?"
"Well, traditionally crossbows haven't been used for fighting dragons, as the resources to constantly create more bolts would take too much wood, or metal, that is needed for the repairs and other things that Gobber would make for the village. That being said, dragons aren't the only things that we need to worry about. Did you hear about the bear that attacked Dogsbreath close to The Northern Woods?"
"I did," Hiccup answered, "...and you're right, something like that would be beneficial for our non-pest related issues."
Hiccup and Fishlegs looked up to see Astrid and Snotlout wrapping up their spar, where they both looked like they would wake up feeling sore and quite bruised the next day. Both would wince slightly while walking towards the seated pair, stretching out their arms and whatever else they could do alleviate the pain. Snotlout did look slightly worse for wear.
"I totally won that." Snotlout stated, wincing as he tried to pop his joints.
"If winning meant getting hit the most, sure!" Astrid replied, throwing a small, victorious smile at Snotlout before looking towards Fishlegs and Hiccup, and, still smiling, looked directly at Hiccup. "You're up next."
"W-what?" Hiccup stuttered out. "You want me to spar… you?"
Astrid started to nod, before pausing, then shook her head. "Not me, I nearly forgot I have some things that I promised to do with my father. Some small home repair stuff, but it will still take a while."
She looked at Snotlout who, still trying to nurse his sore muscles, attempted to strike a pose, only wincing slightly. "You think you can fight 'The Snot' Hiccup?"
"Well, no, not at all."
Snotlout paused his posing and looked at his cousin. "What do you mean? 'Not at all'? You were, sometimes, but not all the time, better than me in Dra- stop laughing Astrid! - better than me with the dragons. You should be able to spar with us?"
"I mean, I never learned how to spar."
Snotlout shared a look with Astrid, who both looked at Fishlegs, who only offered a small shrug and a side nod towards Hiccup. Hiccup, seeing that Snotlout and Astrid are surprised by this, elaborates.
"My father was always busy with his duties as chief, and the times we did spend together, he opted to go on "Bonding Trips", as he called them. I can fish and forage pretty well I think, and I know how to hunt, but I've never gotten anything larger than a rabbit. He never got around to trying to train me with combat, and I always thought he would use those trips as a break from the "normal viking" stuff we would deal with anyways."
Snotlout and Astrid shared another look, and after a moment Astrid gave a nod. "Alright Hiccup, Astrid and I will start to train you, with me going first. You're welcome!" He finished, flamboyantly pointing at himself.
"What?"
"Hiccup," Astrid started, "you are going to be chief at some point in the future, and you just admitted to not knowing how to fight. Gods, I thought you had some training and were just clumsy, I never knew you actually didn't know what you were doing."
She paused for a moment, thinking, and glanced over to see the book that Fishlegs showed Hiccup earlier laying on the ground open, showing a sketch of a type of launcher. "It makes a lot more sense why you always would try to make new things to do stuff most of us can do."
"Yeah, since you need to learn, we'll teach you." Snotlout said. "Like what Astrid said, I thought you were just, well…" he trailed off before looking around. "We don't have anything here for beginners. We'll have to go to The Kill Ring."
"Well, since we don't have to start immediately I'll just…" Hiccup said as he began to get up, grabbing his notebook and other belongs to make a hasty retreat, only to be grabbed on the back of his shirt by Snotlout.
"Oh no you don't. You need some training and we'll start now." Snotlout states, dragging Hiccup with him towards The Kill Ring. "Also, between you and me," he says, gesturing between himself and Hiccup, "Astrid is way more intense. You should know something before she starts to train you." Snotlout finished, giving Hiccup a small pat on the shoulder.
Hiccup gave a sigh, and relented to the training beginning.
xxx[{:::::::::::::::::::::::
Hiccup was once again sitting on the beach, his memories flowing across his eyes as the pain in his leg and head subsided. The shape he saw in the treeline was still there, somewhere, but whatever it was didn't approach.
For some reason, he was almost saddened by that.
Hiccup continued to sit there, trying to see whatever he could. Everything still had a blurriness and sheen about it, but he could almost see more clearly.
The thing that perplexed him the most was when he looked up, a massive tree branch going across the entire sky would flicker in and out of his view. He couldn't tell if it was just some weird reflection on the clouds, or if he was starting to really go crazy.
After what he did to stop the Hairly Hooligans from setting sail to The Nest, he might actually be. Hiccup wasn't sure how someone figured out that most of the Dragons that travel to Berk have a sense of how to return to The Nest and thought about tying one to a ship to direct them through Helheim's Gate.
Hiccup needed more time to figure out what to do, and in his desperation, he rode Toothless and crippled most of Berk's fleet. Granted, he only damaged the masts in what would be a day or so repair to each ship, but the fleet wouldn't go to sea for another half moon.
He found his father near the cliff overseeing the port, just near a portion of the woods near the village. His father hadn't said anything, just looking in shock at Hiccup, so Hiccup used that opportunity to tell him some of what he knew about dragons and about The Nest, and what creature dwelled there.
His father was shaken from his surprise, but what was shocking his that he listened to him, probably since Hiccup had proven himself to be very capable at intertribal and extratribal politics and have shown to always have a extraordinary amount of foresight into plans and actions.
His father seemed to be willing to stay the expedition and hear Hiccup tell him more about what he knew, but Stoick turned his head quickly, shocked at something flying out of the woods.
A double sided axe with a braided handle.
Hiccup didn't know what exactly happened, as all he could recall was falling down the cliff towards the water, a pain in his left leg and still holding onto a saddle with broken straps.
The washing of the waves shock Hiccup out of his memory. His vision was still blurry, but he glanced at the water as a portion of it looked to be going into a small tidepool, taking on a mixture of blueish green.
Smiling to himself, Hiccup laid back down in the sand, hoping that more rest would help his vision.
xxx[{:::::::::::::::::::::::
"Man, I thought we'd never be able to sneak out of that meeting!"
"Well, it didn't help that you kept on rising to any insult, no matter how small."
"Hey! A Bog Burglar never backs down from a challenge!"
Hiccup gave a light laugh, shaking his head lightly, which caused Camicazi, the hope and heir of the Bog Burglars, to shove him lightly on the shoulder, trying and failing to suppress her own smile and eventually joining in on the laugh.
"Still, wouldn't it have been more obvious we snuck out if I didn't make some noise first?"
"You have a point, but rising to the challenge of 'Small Burglar'? Really?" Hiccup retorted, bringing his hand up to his head at a level and then moving it over to Camicazi. "Wow you are short!"
"Hey!" she yelled through more laughing as she shoved him hard with both arms, causing him to trip and fall over in the sand. Hiccup could only laugh as he rolled over and sat up.
"You're lucky that you're one of the only people who can get away with short jokes on me!"
"Oh?" Hiccup started as he got back up and fell back in pace with Camicazi. "...and why's that?"
"'Cause I can't threaten you with a sword fight! Seriously, how'd you get so good?"
"Snotlout and Astrid found out that my dad never trained me, and took it upon themselves."
"Snotlout and Astrid? You train with Astrid more huh?" She asked, crossing her arms and looking out towards the ocean.
"Snotlout more actually."
"Really?"
"Yeah, shocking I know. Astrid is widely regarded as one of the best fighters of our generation, but Snotlout actually has a lot more knowledge on technique. His boasting aside, he is very good at combat forms and trains just as fiercely, but he doesn't have the speed nor the ability to adapt to a situation as quickly as Astrid."
"Huh." Camicazi says, having uncrossed her arms and looked back towards Hiccup. "I thought you were cheating in our fights, but that is sort of nice to know your cousin actually is trying now."
"Well, who's to say I'm not cheating in our fights?"
"Me. I'm the queen of cheating in fights, and you definitely don't cheat in fighting."
"Hey, weren't you just saying that you thought I was cheating?"
"Welllllll…. the only thing you cheat in is Dragon Training!" she said with a small chuckle. "Man I wish the clan meeting wasn't so crowded on the island. I would love to see Toothless again!"
Hiccup decided to not continue to tease Camicazi and let the topic shift occur. "I'm sure he'd love to see you too! It has been a while since we went on an airborne adventure though, but no 'Flying Night Thieves'!"
"Oh common you'd LOVE it!" Camicazi starting, dramatically throwing her arms up as if painting a large picture. "Both of us dressed in black on a flying black lizard – yes I know but he can't hear me call him that now can't he – a flying black lizard that goes faster than most people can see. We could swipe anything in a road market! In and out, no time at all!"
"You just really want to get that necklace you saw from the Peaceables Isle."
"That's not the only thing we can swipe… but yeah."
Hiccup shook his head and chucked at her antics. "Was it really that good of a necklace?"
"You saw it! You know how good of a necklace it was!"
"My memory's fuzzy, I don't recall."
"Nice chain. Blue gem. Very pretty. I really should have swiped it."
"Maybe next time."
"...maybe next time on a dragon?"
"No."
"Hmpph." Camicazi said as she fake pouted. While she was serious about wanting to swipe that necklace she saw on a former clan meeting when she and Hiccup wandered around together at the Peaceables market square, she wasn't serious about the dragon part. She knew how much Toothless meant to Hiccup, and even though it would be fun to be some sort of dragon riding bandit, it would be too much of a risk to bother her and Hiccup, as well as Toothless to do so.
"Well," Camicazi started, "we should go on an adventure again at some point. Have you managed to do that mainland flight you told me about before?"
"I actually did! I ended up having an… interesting encounter."
"Oh. Good or bad?"
"Good, but barely."
"Care to tell me about it?"
"Maybe later on, like when we have a bunch of time to kill while riding Toothless somewhere. How does Thor's Fist sound?"
"Awesome! I've always wanted to go there!"
"Likewise. Fishlegs mentioned that there used to be a Hairy Hooligan outpost there, or something like that."
"Huh. Any idea what it was called?"
"He said it was apart of some 'Wilder West'… thing. I don't really recall."
"Hmmm". Camicazi hummed to herself, thinking about if she heard that name before. She did spend a month hiding in the Meathead's library, living off of what she could steal from the guards before she was eventually discovered. Bog Burglar coming-of-age rituals were odd to say the least. She did a lot of reading during her excursion though.
"It doesn't sound familiar. I don't remember seeing that in any of the Meathead's books."
"Oh, right. I forgot you went there for that. Why there of all places?"
"No one has done that before! The goal was to stay hidden for a week. I could have gone longer than a month, but I may had gotten a bit too greedy for a duck roast one of the guards had." Camicazi said with a slight chuckle. The duck roast was definitely worth it.
"Oh do you see that?" She said as she pointed towards a portion of the beach further up.
A part of the ocean extended inland, where the start of a tidepool was. This tidepool though, extended even futher inland towards a cave. The island of Berk has many caves, a few of which serve as the temporary home for dragons, boars, and the occasional drunk viking that found him or herself way off course from going home, but none of the caves that Hiccup or Camicazi has seen on Berk looked quite like this one.
"Let's go check it out!" Camicazi said as she all but took off at a full sprint towards it.
Hiccup paused for a moment, before laughing at her antics and moving towards the tidepool cave. Mani was as bright as ever, which reflected off of the tidepool water, making the cave have a blueish reflective light.
"Woah, this looks sooo cool! Hiccup, do you have any of that spit-light-whatchamicallit?"
"You could just say torch. It's a torch with some flammable gel on it."
"Yeah, but that gel is Night Fury spit, so it should be a spit-light!"
"...remind me to never let you and the twins create any plans."
"We already did that. Remember, the sheep?"
"That was the twin's plans that you convinced them to drag me into."
"Yeah," Camicazi said, jumping from rock to rock in the tidepool and looking at everything under the water, "but you had a lot of fun even if you were coerced into helping them."
"...yeah it was fun." Hiccup relented, hoping across his own path of rocks to follow Camicazi as she bounced from cave side to cave side.
"Ohhhhhh, this looks cool!" Camicazi explained, crouching down and looking into a part of the tidepool. Hiccup came up beside her and looked as what she was looking at. It was a clump of beryl, but with a greenish colour to it. "Almost the same colour as your eyes Hiccup."
"Really?" Hiccup asked as he looked closer. They were the same colour, albeit just a slight be lighter, but Hiccup couldn't tell if that was because of Mani's light or not. Hiccup thought about something for a moment, before leaning down and collecting some of the beryl.
"What are you doing?" Camicazi asked, genuinely curious.
"Collecting some of this 'sea stone'."
"Why?"
"Well," Hiccup started, handing one to Camicazi, "you said it 'looked cool', so here you go, Cami. I have an idea I want to try with this."
"Oh, what idea?" She asked, smiling lightly at his nickname for her.
"Well, I'll let you know if it works out." Hiccup said as he looked back towards the cave entrance. "It's getting late. You think we should head back now?"
"I mean… we could." Camicazi said, admiring the stone Hiccup gave her.
"...you know, there's probably a lot of people that have gone a bit too far with celebrating. Could be an opportunity to teach me how to pick pocket?"
Camicazi looked up from the stone to stare and Hiccup for a moment, before letting out a whoop and all but dragging Hiccup out of the tidepool cave. "Oh I have been wanting to teach you this for a while now! The twins told me they tried to teach you before and it went horribly!"
"Yeah, they wanted me to try to pick-pocket Snotlout in the middle of the day with them yelling about it right next to him! Fishlegs and Astrid thought it was hilarious and Snotlout DARED me to try while sharpening his sword. I already train with him, I don't want him to have a reason to go harder on me than he already is!"
"Yeah so you wussed out is what I'm hearing. Bog Burglars are just betting than you boys and that's all there is to it!"
"Yeah, you do beat us in the vertically impaired contest." Hiccup said with a laugh before shoving Camicazi lightly. "First one back picks the first target." He said as he started running back.
Camicazi's retort at the short joke died as her competitive nature decided that she really wanted to pick the first target, and that she was going to make Hiccup pick-pocket Snotlout if it was the last thing she did.
Camicazi took off after Hiccup, determined to make up the advantage Hiccup had, with both of them wearing a smile all the way back.
xxx[{:::::::::::::::::::::::
Hiccup woke up. He looked around before realizing two things.
The first was he was not on a beach. He was in a hut of some sort.
The second was that his vision was clear again. He was still confused on why his vision was blurry before, but he shook that off as he glanced around the room and saw a small figure sleeping in a chair next to the cot he was laying in.
Hiccup smiled as he saw who it was, and then attempted to get out of the cot, only to fall on his face, letting out a pained and exasperated groan. He rolled over to see up and looked down, only to find one leg, and one stump.
He sat there for a moment, senses numb as he took in the fact that he was missing a limb, and trying to remember when that happened that he didn't notice the figure in the chair getting up and rushing over to him.
"Oh gods Hiccup, are you okay?"
He looked up slowly. "I… think so?"
"Here, let me help you up back onto the cot."
"Thank you, Cami."
Camicazi smiled, albeit with the distinct showing of anxious worry behind it, as she pulled Hiccup back up onto the cot, making sure he was able to sit before pulling the chair up closer.
"Cami... where are we?"
"I don't actually know," she replied, "but we are safe."
"Safe?" Hiccup asked. "How did we get here?"
"Hiccup, what was the last thing you remember?"
"I was on Berk… and I was talking to my dad about The Nest… and I was on Toothless…"
"Wait, your dad saw you ON Toothless?!"
"Yes, I think? I remember seeing an axe flying out from the woods… and then I was falling. That's the last thing I recall…" Hiccup trailed off, looking around. "Where is Toothless?"
"I… don't know Hiccup. I found you adrift at sea. You were barely hanging onto Toothless's saddle, which was damaged. One of the straps looked cut and the other looked ripped off." Camicazi said before pausing, wringing her hands together and a look of pure anxiety crossed her face. "I don't know how you're still alive Hiccup. You were floating for Odin knows how long still bleeding out of your leg when I found you."
Hiccup looked back down at his leg, then back at Camicazi, whose anxious expression was still there. He reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. "Thank you, for saving me."
"...I had to. You're all that's left." She mumbled out.
Hiccup, unsure how to respond to that, pulled Camicazi into a hug, which she immediately returned. They sat there, not saying anything as Camicazi's body shook with silent tears, processing something that happened.
"Well, it's good to see you're awake."
Hiccup and Camicazi looked towards the entrance, breaking apart, to see Viggo Grimborn standing at the threshold.
"Thank you for helping him." Camicazi said.
"It was the least I could do. I still owe him for saving me before." Viggo replied, walking towards them and looking towards Hiccup. "How are you feeling? You've been unconscious for a few days since we found you both adrift in a small rowboat."
"A rowboat?" Hiccup asked, looking at Camicazi, who simply shrugged and still looked a bit shaken.
"Indeed. A rowboat. We weren't sure that you would make it." Viggo stated, sitting down at the foot of the bed. "...but I am glad that you did make it."
"Have you seen Toothless?"
"No, we haven't. Is he alright?" Viggo asked, looking more concerned now.
"I.. don't know. I feel like something happened to him, but I can't remember."
"I… see…" Viggo said, standing up. "I will let the others know to keep an eye out in case he shows up, but you should get some more rest. I will also ask our smithy to get you a temporary fix for your leg. I know you'll want to make your own, but just something to start you off with."
"I appreciate that Viggo. Truly." Hiccup replied, nodding his head towards Viggo. "Is there anything that you want in return?"
"Only that you improve your health. Other than that, if you need someplace to stay, my offer still stands from before."
Hiccup thought of what he could remember, and he quickly realized that he may not be welcomed back on Berk. He glanced over towards Camicazi and remembered what she said about how he's 'all she has left'.
"I think I may take you up on your offer Viggo. We both may take you up on that offer." Hiccup said, reaching out his hand.
Viggo glanced at Camicazi and then back at Hiccup before reaching out his own hand to shake Hiccup's.
"Even if it is only temporary, welcome to The Dragon Trappers."
AN:
This is the first chapter in my last attempt at making this story. Almost 6 years ago I took a stab at making a story called The Tergiversator, and after writing aimlessly for a while, I ended up not liking it and removing it. A year or so after, I took another stab at writing it, but also ended up writing aimlessly with it and removed the story again.
I've had the idea for this world bouncing around in my head ever since then, and at some point last year I decided to get it written, even if I end up not 100% liking it later on I can say that I did make the story and got in some practice writing. So, I went through and actually planned out the timeline and story, and am slowly working on the chapters. I will finish this story at some point. I can't say when, but I am not scrapping it and restarting like I've done before.
Please leave any reviews, as I want to improve my writing as I work on this and any other project I decide to do.