I'm so so sorry you guys. But school is over now and I'll have the summer to write. I tried to make this chapter a bit longer to make up for my little break. I hope you enjoy it!
"Is this dragon yours? He looks a lot different from the others! So round!" Hange shouting running up to Fishlegs and scaring him half to death, "How many teeth does it have? How does it fly with smaller wings compared to the rest? Why is it brown?"
"Um," Fishlegs squeaked, not entirely sure how to respond to Hange's excitable personality. Frankly, he was terrified of everyone on this island. Okay, Fishlegs, he thought to himself, you can do this.
"A-actually, it's a she and her name is Meatlug, and she is my dragon."
"Ooo, you named them? And they have different genders! Fascinating!"
"Y-yeah and they also have different classes, Meatlug is a boulder class dragon."
"What makes her a boulder class dragon?"
"Well Meatlug is a Gronckle and they're naturally found in volcanic environments so it causes them to look like boulders. They're one of the slower dragons but also one of the toughest."
"Volcanic environments are rocky right? What would be there for them to eat?"
"Gronckles actually eat rocks. It's what contributes to their firepower. Gronckles don't breathe fire like the other dragons, instead, she spews magma."
"How much magma can she spew? Is it correlated to how much rocks she eats?"
"Not really, she has a shot limit of about 6 shots per day. But the kinds of rocks she eats affect the type of magma she spews and what it hardens into."
"Your dragon is so cool! Can I pet her?"
"Sure!" Fishlegs moved away from Meatlugs side and let an awestruck Hange through, "You want to scratch behind her ears."
Hange did as they were instructed placing their hand behind Meatlugs ear. Meatlug began to lean into them as they started scratching.
"Woah!" Hange said, their eyes lighting up much more than any of the Scouts thought possible.
Meatlug began to gurgle and she let her tongue hang from her mouth, "Her skin is so tough and it feels like a rough rock! I guess that's why it's a boulder class dragon! Isn't she just adorable!"
"Woah, someone just called Meatlug adorable. Never thought I'd hear that," Snotlout snorted.
"You also don't hear anyone calling Hookfang adorable," Astrid said.
"Nobody calls Stormfly cute either," Snotlout retorted.
"Actually lots of people call Stormfly cute," Fishlegs said.
"Nobody asked you!"
"Okay, knock it off Snotlout," Hiccup said.
"Nobody calls Toothless cute either!"
"Everybody calls Toothless cute," Tuffnut said.
"Yeah, and we're supposed to be the dumb ones," Ruffnut finished.
Snotlout was red in the face, he looked just about ready to murder the pair. The Scouts found this amusing, it was nice to get someone else to pick on, they had just about cracked all of the possible jokes for Horseface.
"Anyway, we're ready to go," Hiccup said, coming up behind Hange.
"Right, let's head out."
Hange took the lead with Fishlegs still asking him millions of questions about the dragon's biology and Fishleges was just happy that someone else had the same enthusiasm about the dragons that he did.
Eren smiled at Armin who ran to catch up with Hange and throw his own questions into the mix.
"Fishlegs must be having the time of his life," Astrid said, coming up alongside Hiccup.
"Yeah, no one is that inquisitive on Berk."
Jean snorted, "No one else is that inquisitive on Paradis. Hange is really one of a kind."
"Yeah, Fishlegs is one of a kind too," Snotlout added, "D-don't tell him I said that!"
"What, you some softie tough guy?"
"W-what! NO! Are you some softie?"
"N-no."
"Good."
"Good, I don't hang out with softies."
"Yeah, neither do I."
"Good."
"Good."
Levi rolled his eyes, he made sure to take the rear but that meant he had to see all of the brat's interactions, and he had had enough of watching over them. These Vikings were odd, they are very trusting, way to trusting for Levi's liking. From all of his experiences in the underground, trusting the wrong people can get you killed very, very, easily. He's seen it too many times to count.
Another thing he didn't understand about the Vikings was how they functioned, they just seemed to make fun of each other and they held no respect for their leader, the dragons hold more respect for each other than the humans do. His brats always listened to him and even the people older than him gave him the utmost respect, but the few of them that were here seemed like they were trying to usurp the power. Hiccup should just abandon them and find someone else. How would someone like Hiccup befriend someone like Snotlout? There has to be something else at play. Perhaps there was some sort of monetary or political gain of their six way alliance? It's not my place to speculate that's what Hange and Armin are for, I only give them my observations.
Levi was drawn from his thoughts as a small explosion went off and a tree went down.
"Really you two?" Hiccup shouted at the twins
"What, they wanted to see how Barf and Belch worked?"
"And besides Tuff, was telling a really good story."
"Yeah, come on! Did you manage to save Macey?" Sasha asked.
"Okay, just no more sudden explosions."
"Yeah, yeah. On with it Tuff."
Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose; "Gods help me," he muttered.
That's another thing Levi couldn't understand, how could they be so childish and playful in unfamiliar territory? That's how people get killed, you're never safe outside the walls and your safety isn't guaranteed within them either.
"Tell me," Astrid said walking up to Mikasa, "Why do you use two swords to fight?"
"It's what we were trained with."
"But two swords makes it difficult to use a shield."
"Why would I need a shield?"
"To defend yourself?"
"I only need the two swords, I'm fast enough. Doesn't the axe slow you down?"
"Not really, I've been training with it all my life. Besides, it's more effective than a hammer or mace."
"The axe seems just as impractical as the hammer and mace."
"It's helpful when you need to cut through something very thick, you could jab with a sword but that would have to be precise. Besides, I don't think your swords are meant for jabbing."
"No, they're meant for long, clean slashes."
"Hey, ladies, what's shaking?" Snotlout asked as he swaggered over.
"We thought the two of you could use some company," Jean said with a grin spreading over his face.
Astrid rolled her eyes in disgust and Mikasa death glared straight ahead. They were both sighing internally.
"We can't just leave two pretty ladies on their own."
"What were you two talking about?"
"Let me guess. You were talking about boys."
"More specifically, us."
Mikasa and Astrid glanced at each other then turned around staring down the two boys.
"Did Snotlout tell you to say that?" Astrid asked with a very angry finger pointed at Jean.
Jean's playful smile disappeared; "Well, uh…" He couldn't even come up with a decent answer before Astrid turned Snotlout and punched him in the face.
"OW!"
"Now quit trying to 'teach' people how to do anything!" Astrid shouted, then turned around and walked away. Mikasa gave the two boys her best, almost Levi level, death glare then turned to follow Astrid.
"Now that was hot," Snotlout said, rubbing his cheek.
"How was that hot?"
"I love myself a strong woman."
"Do you have any other tactics that don't wind up getting you punched in the face?"
"Yeah, but none of them work on Astrid."
"Then how are they useful?"
"But they work on other Lady Vikings."
"Doubt that."
"Pfft, have you met other Vikings?"
"Have you met other ladies? Your pickup lines suck."
"Oh yeah, I'd like to hear some of yours then."
"Snotlout, could you find something else to talk about?" Hiccup called.
"Why?! It's not like I've done anything wrong!"
"Really?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow. Snotlout just rolled his eyes and turned away. Hiccup glanced towards Toothless who just rolled his eyes.
"You-" Hiccup jumped at the voice that snuck up on him, "-reprimand him for a conversation but not the girl who punched him in the face?"
"I.. Um," Hiccup turned to face the short captain and saw a glare that he was all too familiar with, "The only way to get through to Snotlout is through, well, violence. And any conversation that Snotlout starts about girls ends in violence if it's not stopped soon enough," Levi furrowed his brow, "I'm surprised that Mikasa didn't punch Jean in the face."
"She is one of our strongest and she has self control, unlike your men."
"My-my men? No, they're just my friends. We're not an army."
"Really? Then why are you trained to fight?"
"Isn't everyone just trained to fight?"
"No, but they should be."
"Then why not just teach them?"
Levi stopped to stare at Hiccup, "Do you know how many people we would have to train?"
"No, but there can't be too many more people than on our island."
"We have 1 million people living inside the walls."
"Woah. We-we're barely at 300."
"That's like the size of the ranking officers"
"One-million people on one island, that's a lot. How does it even work?"
"You're asking the wrong person."
"Sorry."
The two continued on in silence both mulling over the facts that the other had spilled. Levi was mentally kicking himself for mentioning the walls, good thing he stopped there and Hiccup looked like he was more flabbergasted by the sheer amount of people in the walls rather than the walls themselves. But Hiccup dropped some useful information as well, and Levi wasn't going to forget to tell Hange.
The dragons were getting restless, there was not a lot of room to move within the thick foliage and a few of them had almost set fire to the forest. But all the dragons, except for Toothless, had warmed up to the Scouts, Armin and Hange had been petting Meatlug and Connie and Sasha had taken a liking to Barf and Belch. Jean still got a little freaked out when Hookfang huffed steam but he was getting over it, at least he was trying to, unsuccessfully. The sudden moves from the dragons did put the Scouts on edge but they did their best not to show it. They all breathed a sigh of relief as the edge of the forest came into view and the sounds of horses echoed through to them. The Scouts unknowingly quickened their pace and the dragons could barely hold back from running out of the forest.
"Go on," Astrid said to Stormfly. Stormfly chirped a reply and sped off towards the grass. Barf and Belch looked at each other then sped off after Stormfly but in their haste, the two headed dragon almost plowed over Jean and Snotlout.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!"
"You know once they have their minds set there is no stopping them," Ruffnut said as the rest of their little group broke out laughing.
Meatlug, who was already at the front of the group, barreled on ahead as fast as her stubby legs could carry her. Even Hookfang found a way to worm around everyone and made it to the clearing.
"You're not going, bud?"
Toothless groaned a response and shook his head.
Hiccup sighed, He still doesn't trust them. I wonder why?
"Woah!" Hange squealed, "They're super excited! I take it they want to stretch their wings!"
"Yeah, they don't like tight spaces. Their wings can cramp if they're not stretched enough."
"Though I'm impressed with how well they have navigated the forest. Our horses aren't that adaptable."
"I've read a bit about horses but I've never seen one in person before!'
"They're not that special compared to the dragons," Armin cut in.
"I'm sure there is something interesting about them."
"There's something interesting about everything! But the horses aren't as excited as the ti-"
"-Dragons!" Armin cut Hange off, "No way are the horses more interesting than the dragons."
The group broke through the last line of trees into the grassy field, but the group just stood there observing their mounts. The dragons were running through the grass with their wings outstretched while the horses were doing their best to hide behind the trees they were tied to.
"Looks like the dragons spooked the horses, eh Fishlegs," Hiccup said putting his hand on Fishlegs shoulder.
"Isn't it cool seeing how other animals react to dragons?" Hange asked, "I thought our horses were fearless!"
"I thought our soldiers were fearless, four eyes. Evidently, they are not."
"Levi, are you a man of science now?!"
"Tsk," Levi muttered with a death glare.
"Guys, can you try and calm your dragons down?" Hiccup called.
"Pfft. Hookfang is always calm," Snotlout said. While his statement wasn't wrong, the better description would be that Hookfang was more dead inside than anything else.
The Vikings each went to their dragons and gently patted and rubbed them until they were less hyperactive. The Horses quieted down but still did their best to stay away.
"I thought they were supposed to be adaptable creatures," Jean said walking towards his horse.
"You can talk, Horse-face."
"Hey! I am adaptable. You're one to talk, Baldie."
"That's enough," Levi said, glaring.
"So," Hange said in a hushed tone, "Did you learn anything about our potential friends?"
"Snotlout only cares for himself," Jean said, "He only talks about himself."
"The twins shared some crazy stories," Sasha said, "Nothing about food."
"Astrid is strong," Mikasa said, "Probably their strongest."
"The most dangerous dragon is probably the red one, Hookfang," Armin said, "But Fishlegs never really talked about the black one, Toothless."
"They're not an army. They come from an island of 300 people, and probably grew up together."
"That's not a lot of people," Connie said.
"But that's why they seem to know each other inside out," Armin said, "And they probably trust each other with their lives. They do seem honest and they don't seem to be hiding anything."
"They could just be good at hiding things," Jean said.
"They're not very good at hiding things," Astrid said sitting down next to Hiccup.
"No, they're not. But they're probably discussing whether or not to trust us."
"Doesn't it feel like they're hiding something else?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing. Captain Levi mentioned something about living behind walls."
"Why would you need walls on an island?"
"That was my question too, but I never asked."
"Why not?"
"Captain Levi is not the most talkative person but he also said that about 1 million people live inside the walls."
"1 million people in one place?"
"Keep it down Fishlegs."
"Sorry."
"Did you notice anything odd about Commander Hange and Armin?"
"Well, Hange was very enthusiastic about learning about the dragons. But Armin did awkwardly cut them off at one point."
"What do you mean?"
"Hange was about to mention something then Armin said 'Dragons' instead."
"So they definitely are hiding something."
"Hiccup, I meant to ask, is Toothless okay? He's been acting a bit weirdly."
The group turned to look at Toothless who was pacing, creating sort of a barrier between the riders and scouts. He was still very much on high alert.
"I'm not sure, something about Armin's scent made him uneasy."
"That's weird, he seems completely normal."
"I know. Fishlegs, have you mentioned anything about Toothless to Hange?"
"No, why?"
"Try and keep it that way, we just might need a secret weapon."
"Okay. But if I can't talk about dragons then what am I supposed to talk about?"
"Try to get Hange to talk about something."
"Hiccup," Astrid said, "Do you really think we'll need a secret weapon?"
"I don't know but I've got a bad feeling."
Did you enjoy it? any other character interactions you want to see? Comment below!