A/N Hi guys! Sorry for not updating for the past few weeks. I've been on vacation and I've been busy. But here is an update, I'm not letting this fic go. For the rest of the summer I'm not sure if I can keep to a schedule but I'll update when I can. I hope you enjoy!
"So what kind of training have you guys gone through?" Hiccup asked.
"Well, when we joined the training regiment we learned how to use the ODM gear," Armin said.
"Is that the thing at your hips that you used to soar through the trees?"
"Yeah. There are grappling hooks that shoot into a tree or other hard surface to pull you forward and then there is the gas to propel you."
"You make it sound simple, but it doesn't look that simple."
"It's not," Eren said, "I face planted the first time I tried to balance." Eren expected Hiccup to laugh, but he didn't.
"I get it," He said, "Believe me, learning to walk with a peg leg wasn't easy. I had my fair share of face plants."
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you lose your leg?" Armin asked.
Hiccup paused for a moment, scratching the back of his neck, "uh… long story short it was a dragon."
"Dang," Eren said, "That must not have been fun."
"Our old commander lost his arm in battle, but he powered through it, still giving us orders and fighting."
"That sounds like Gobber, minus the orders part. He's lost an arm and a leg."
"It must be pretty dangerous where you live then."
"It sounds pretty dangerous here."
"Well it was, for a long time. But things have gotten better."
Eren looked away from Armin, had things really gotten better? Short term, yes. Long term, not so much.
"Yeah, same for us on Berk."
Toothless walked up beside Hiccup, placing his head under Hiccup's arm.
"He is so adorable," Armin said, "I wish I had one."
"Yeah but they're a lot of work. And they're prone to big messes."
Levi's ears perked up at 'Big messes'. He will NOT be having any big messes under his watch.
"You mean to tell me that you got to live safely behind a set of walls!" Snotlout shouted.
"I never said it was safe! The titans broke through!" Jean shouted back.
That 'Big messes' thing is going to have to wait. Levi thought.
"Yeah, Once! You didn't have dragon attacks every other night! They burned my house down multiple times!"
All the other conversations died out to listen in on this shouting match.
"But they don't eat you alive! Do you know how many people that I've seen get eaten alive?"
"Do you know how many people I've seen die? Or lose a limb? Or get burned alive? Dragons don't just kill people, they destroy!"
"The titans destroyed too! They-"
"Destroyed your precious walls, I've heard. You could build convenient walls to keep out your problem! Dragons can just fly over them! What can we do to keep the dragons out then?!"
"You fight them off with yours! It's easy."
"You think it's that easy?!"
"Yeah, I do! I have three years of cadet training and I'm a member of the scouts. The regiment that has been going outside the walls for 100 years to fight off the titans and we finally did it. I think I have more experience than you."
"Oh really? I'm from the Jorgenson Tribe, a tribe that for six generations has been fighting the dragons. From the moment I could hold an axe I was defending our village! We all were. I think I have more experience than all of your friends combined."
"Then there is only one way to settle this," Jean said, rolling up his sleeves.
"Jean," Levi warned. But Jean ignored him.
"If that's the way you want to do it, fine," Snotlout said, adjusting his helmet.
"Snotlout," Hiccup warned, he knew it would be useless, but he had to try.
"Bring it," Snotlout said, waving Jean over.
But before either of the boys could make contact Astrid grabbed onto Snotlout pinning his arm behind him.
"Astrid! Let. Me. Go!"
And Captain Levi twisted Jean's arm so much he thought it was going to pop out of its socket.
"What the hell are you thinking, Cadet?" Levi asked.
"I'm not," said Jean after a defeated pause.
"Quit squirming, Snotlout," Astrid said.
"But I 've got a point to prove!"
Astrid then, with one fluid motion, threw SSnotlout to the ground.
"Fine! I'll prove it later," He said, rather defeated.
Astrid let him go and he got up off the ground rubbing his shoulder. Hiccup would have been helping Astrid reprimand Snotlout but he was too focused on what Jean had just said. What in Odin's name were titans? More importantly, where were they? How did Snotlout of all people get that much information? Also, how did he come up with such logical arguments? The titans did sound more destructive than the dragonsMore importantly, where were they? How did Snotlout of all people get that much information? Also, how did he come up with such logical arguments? The titans did sound more destructive than the dragons, in the human Killing aspect that is. What are titans? Are they related to the frost giants of legend?
But Hiccup's mind wasn't the only one whirring, Hange and Armin were processing the new information as well. The dragons used to attack them? Do they still attack? How are these dragons not attacking? Better yet, why? Hange's mind was still buzzing with excitement when Armin mumbled out loud;
"How are these dragons tame?"
At first none of the dragon riders were inclined to answer, having lost the little trust that they had between each other.
"We trained these dragons," Hiccup said.
Jean scoffed, "You talk as if training wild beasts are easy,"
"Jean's right," Hange said, "You can't train something when its primary goal is to eat you."
"But the dragon's primary goal wasn't to eat us," fishlegs said, "They only attacked us to get our livestock, if we just let them we would have been left alone."
"Vikings are too stubborn to let their things go without a fight," Ruffnut chimed in.
"Yeah, even I'm dumb enough to know that," Tuffnut said. Ruff just patted his back, he almost got it right.
"Your dragons are dangerous," Levi stated, it wasn't a question.
"Isn't everything dangerous," Tuffnut spouted before he could stop himself, earning one of Levi's most deadly death glares.
"Our dragons aren't dangerous," Hiccup said. Levi just stared at him, well everyone just stared at him, "Our dragons haven't done anything to you, and they probably won't do anything to you."
"Probably?"
"What Hiccup is trying to say is that our dragons won't attack unless you attack us," Astrid cut in, "They don't fight when they're not provoked."
"So your little group of dragon riders showed up on an island that hasn't had much contact with the outside world with dragons and you neglected to tell us that they are known for destroying villages." Hange said.
"You didn't tell us about the titans. They sound like a bigger problem than the dragons."
"That's because they're not a threat anymore, we got rid of them all," But at those words Eren and Armin glanced downwards, almost like they were trying to hide their existence. Toothless narrowed his eyes at the two of them and Hiccup noticed, there was definitely something off with these two; "And according to our sources everybody off of this island knows and fears us and the titans. You telling us that you came here without knowledge of the titans is hard to believe."
"All we heard were rumors from the trade ships. And they varied from trader to trader."
Hange narrowed their eye, unconvinced.
"Traders tell tales all the time of big beasts or dragons guarding certain islands but 8 times out of 10 it's just a lie that one trader spreads to keep others away from their treasure stash or something else of value. The stories aren't real, they just get blown out of proportion or are straight up lies."
"That does add up with what we overheard you saying before we first met," Hange said, "But one thing is still suspicious. Fishlegs has told me everything about every dragon here except for yours, Hiccup. What is it about your dragon that you don't want us to know?"
"Uh, well," Hiccup muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced towards Toothless who seemingly had lost interest in this conversation and was focused on something else in the distance. He looked at Astrid who looked ready to kill for him but looking at the rest of the scouts they looked ready to take them all on. The rest of the dragons were hanging out with each other, they were just short of playing horseshoes or something.
"W-we didn't tell you anything about Toothless because we aren't 100% certain about his skills."
"Oh?" Hange said, the crazy scientist had left their voice and they were not dead serious, "What can you tell us?"
"Well, um, he is one of the more intelligent dragon species that we have encountered. A-and he is very fast, one of the fastest dragons we know of."
"Did you hear something?" Sasha muttered, but only Connie and Jean paid her any mind. Hiccup looked to Fishlegs for some ideas, rambling about dragons was not his strong suit, but Fishlegs was more concerned with Toothless or rather Fishlegs was concerned about what Toothless was sensing. But Hiccup didn't connect those dots.
"I thought he was your dragon," Hange continued, "Or are you hiding something else as well?"
"N-no, we're not hiding anything else-"
"Uh, Hiccup," Fishlegs cut in, he tried his best to keep his voice level, "We've got a problem."
Hiccup looked towards him and saw Fishlegs shaking, lowering his telescope.
"What's wrong?"
"T-take a look," Fishlegs squeaked, tossing Hiccup the telescope.
Levi narrowed his eyes, What the hell is this kid thinking? He has a big enough problem in front of him.
"Oh, no. This is bad."
"What is it?" Astrid asked.
"It's the Rockfin."
"Why do you HAVE to be right, Hiccup," Snotlout said, "Why can't our problems ever just disappear?"
"We have to stop it-"
"Why are you like this?"
"There are a million people on this island and if it gets past here, who knows which island it could hit next. It's just a matter of time before it gets to Berk."
The Scouts looked at each other, then they heard a roar, it was faint but it was there.
"Can I see it?" Hange asked. Hiccup tossed them his telescope and Hange couldn't believe what they saw.
A/N What did you think? I love reading your thoughts, comments mean the world to me. Have a great summer!