"Is he going to be okay?" Torny glanced over to the woman sitting next to Gothi who was cradling her snotty child in her arms. The kids eyes were glazed over, and as he coughed he blew slime everywhere. Torny's face scrunched in disgust as she turned back to the cold cure she was making. Gross! I am never having kids.
As she worked, her mind drifted back to her conversations with the twins. Do they really believe that I'm not allowed to be friends with Hiccup? What did he ever do to them!? He's so thoughtful and smart, and he always tries to stay out of their way when they show up. Why can't they just leave him alone?!
Something hooked the back of her shirt and abruptly yanked her out of her thoughts. She gripped the bowel she was holding tight and succeeded in stopping the contents from spilling all over herself, the woman, and her child. The kid snorted again and Torny had to suppress another scowl.
Gothi's staff rattled behind her, spurring Torny into action. "Here is the medicine," she mumbled, pushing the bowel into the mother's hands. "Give it to him twice a day with meals until it runs out. Come back if you still need more."
"Thank you so much!" the woman nodded, clutching the mixture close and grabbing her son by the hand. "Come on, Clueless." The kid sneezed again, snot flying everywhere. Torny's face crumpled in disgust as she flinched away.
"Nasty!" she grumbled, turning to clean the tools she had been using. Before she got too far she was hooked once again by Gothi's staff. "What?!" Torny snapped, wiggling around to try and break free from her mentor.
A stinging thwack was delivered to her head before the elder began scribbling on her dirt pile. Yeah, I deserved that one, Torny thought, gingerly touching her aching skull as she tried to read what Gothi was writing.
Her lips narrowed and she took a deep sigh as the final word of Gothi's sentence was written. "It's nothing."
The old woman glared, and Torny felt a chill run down her spine. "Well, maybe not nothing, but you don't need to worry about it."
Gothi shook her head and gestured toward the edge of her hut. Torny squinted, the dim light making it hard for her to see exactly what she was pointing at, but eventually she could make out two dark shapes lurking below Gothi's hut. Ah, Thor. "Me and the twins got into a bit of a fight. It's really not that bad though!"
Gothi shook her head at her again, scribbling around in the dirt again. Torny felt the emotions that she had been ignoring all day begin to well up to her throat as she read the old woman's words.
Taking a deep breath, Torny finally let it all out. "Both of them told me that it's not good for me and Hiccup to be friends, and I don't understand why! There's nothing wrong with Hiccup! He's just a little shy, that's all. And just because I'm friends with him doesn't mean that they won't always be my best friends! I'm not trying to replace them, but for some reason they think that's what I'm doing! They don't understand that Hiccup was there for me when they weren't! I can't just ignore Hiccup now just because they want me to! They don't understand that I didn't have anyone before… before he…"
Tears had begun to drip down her face, and Gothi hobbled forward to put her arms around her. The elder didn't have to say anything for Torny to understand what she was saying. A few quiet moments passed as Torny got her sniffles under control.
"I-I'm sorry," she sniffed again, pulling away from Gothi. "I shouldn't- I mean, I didn't mean to- to tell you all that. I'll be okay."
Gothi gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before motioning back to the edge of her hut where the twins were still lurking, waiting for her. Torny worried her lip in between her teeth for a few more moments before nodding. "Yeah. I'll go with them."
Gothi nodded along as well. With an encouraging smile, the elder turned back to her hut to finish cleaning. With a deep breath, Torny began to descend the stairs. It'll be fine. It's fine! They're the twins; you've known them for, like, your whole life!
It was just her luck; the twins were waiting for her at the bottom, looking around like a couple of lost sheep. "U-um, hey, guys."
"Hey, Torny," they mumbled back. A few seconds of awkward shoe shuffling filled the silence that followed and they all avoided eye contact.
Ruffnut broke the silence abruptly with a huff. "This is stupid!"
"But Ruff, I thought we were mad at her?" Tuffnut asked, looking confused.
"We weren't mad, idiot!" Ruffnut hissed, smacking him in the back of his head.
"You're not?" Torny asked, glancing between the two of them.
"Of course not!" Ruff exclaimed. "You're our best friend! So just as long as you spend more time with us then you do with him, it's fine!"
"Alright," Torny nodded. "Then you two have to promise not to spend so much time with Snotlout. I know you guys look up to him, but if I have to spend more time with you, you have to spend more time with me."
The twins glanced at each other and Torny felt her heart jump into her throat for a second. "That sounds fair to me!" Tuffnut grinned.
"Good! Good. Then, should we head to the watchtower?"
"Let's go!" Ruff skipped forward and latched onto Torny wrist, the two of them giggling away as they hurried to the tower with Tuff following behind.
It didn't take them long to join with the other teens - and Gobber - on top of the watchtower. Gobber had brought plenty of chicken for the teens to roast and Torny quickly snatched one before the twins could start fighting over the remaining pieces.
She sneaked over to Fishlegs, giving him a hesitant smile as she sat down. "Hey, have we missed anything?"
"Oh, nothing at all!" Gobber interrupted from where he was sitting. "I was just about to regale the others about how I lost my, well, my limbs."
"I don't know if that's a story I want to hear," Torny whispered to Fishlegs, but Gobber cut in before he could reply.
"Nonsense!" the older Viking exclaimed. "It's about Monstrous Nightmare, the very same dragon that has brought tragedy to so many others, including yourself! Well, this here is at least one Viking that it couldn't keep down!"
As Gobber launched into his story Torny turned away, trying desperately to ignore his words and focus on cooking her portion of chicken. Words can't hurt you. Just because he said the name doesn't mean one will appear out of thin air. Be happy he made it out alive, even if they didn't…
"Torny?"
Torny blinked back to reality and glanced over to Fishlegs, who was looking at her with his face full of concern. "Are you okay?"
She nodded and attempted a shaky smile before trying to listen to Gobber's story. "His jaw clamped down, and with one twist, he took my hand, and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face: I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg."
Torny shuddered. Pulling the chicken off the fire, she noticed that even with her best efforts the leg was still burnt on one side. Stupid dragon, she thought, frowning as she began to eat it anyways.
"...crushing his heart, or something," Fishlegs finished awkwardly from beside her. Torny felt some sympathy towards her cousin as she saw the blank stares he was receiving. He always tried so hard to fit in, but he was definitely more of the 'brains over brawn' type than the rest of their peers.
"I swear, I'm so angry right now!" Snotlout snarled into his chicken. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot! I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight! With my face!"
Point made. Torny rolled her eyes.
Gobber shook his head as he ripped a wing off of the whole chicken that he had roasted. "It's the wings and the tails you really want," he explained, shaking the wing. "If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." Everyone nodded along in agreement. Except for Hiccup, who had gotten a strange look on his face.
"Alright," Gobber yawned. "I'm off to bed. You should be, too! Tomorrow we get to the big boys! Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honour of killing it?"
As Gobber was speaking, Hiccup was glancing around at the others until he made eye contact with Torny. She frowned at him and wished he would say something but all he did was shake his head at her before setting down his cod and slinking away from the fire. She wanted to follow him, but before she could do anything Tuffnut was standing up and making ridiculous proclamations with his tunic pulled open.
"Your mom let you get a tattoo?" Fishlegs gasped.
"It's not a tattoo, it's a birthmark," Tuffnut replied, and Torny had to stifle a laugh. The poorly drawn bright red scribble of a Monstrous Nightmare was anything but a birthmark.
Ruffnut snorted. "Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there."
"Yes it was, you've just never seen me from the left side until now!" Tuff insisted.
"No way," Torny grinned. "I bet you just painted that on this afternoon. We've been swimming plenty of times and I've never seen that before."
"Well maybe you just weren't paying attention," Tuffnut sniffed. "It's not my fault that you can't see what's right in front of your face."
"Yeah right!" Snotlout declared, getting to his feet. "Let's see if it stays there after I chuck you in the harbour!"
Tuffnut scrambled back as Snotlout dove after him. Ruffnut jumped to her feet and cheered Snotlout on while Fishlegs sat nervously wringing his hands and Astrid blankly stared off after them. Torny laughed along, letting some of the tension ease from her shoulders. Whatever weirdness was going on with Hiccup could wait until tomorrow, she was sure of it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Torny startled away and leaped to her feet, frantically looking around her room for the dragon that had been chasing her.
Bangbangbangbangbang!
Seeing nothing, she willed her heartbeat to slow down as she tugged on her boots and stumbled to the door to yell at whoever was getting her up before the sun.
"For Thor's sake-" She cut herself off and looked down at Gothi. The old woman was glaring up at her with a packed bag sitting beside her, gesturing wildly in several directions.
"Gothi- I don't- calm down, Gothi!" Torny hissed angrily. Gothi stopped moving, but still glared up at her. "Thank you. Now, why did you have to wake me up at the crack of dawn?!"
The old woman flailed slower, gesturing up the hill towards the sheep pastures before practically throwing the bag at her. "Is- is this- do I really have to-"
"Torny?" Fishlegs yawned, appearing in the doorway. "Oh, Gothi. Is everything okay?"
The Elder scowled, pointed up the hill and at the bag in Torny's arms, then clamped onto Torny's arm and dragged her up the hill behind her. Torny, knowing it was no use, shrugged as best she could. "I guess I'll see you at Training!"
She watched as Fishlegs nodded and rubbed sleep out of his eyes before turning back inside the house. Torny tripped over a stone and nearly face planted, grumbling sleepily and trying to find her footing again in the half light. "Slow down! I could crack my head open."
Gothi didn't slow down and didn't respond. If anything, the old woman sped up. Where in Thor's name is she taking me?!
At the sound of footsteps Torny's head snapped forward. A man was standing higher up the path, wringing his hands anxiously. As soon as he saw Gothi his shoulders sagged and he rushed forward. "Gothi! Thank Odin. This way!" As they followed him, Gothi slowly began to loosen her iron-hard grip on Torny's wrist and hobbled ahead towards the increasing noise of a crying baby.
The man burst through the door and the pair quickly followed. Inside Torny quickly took note of the lit fire, the screaming baby, and the incredibly frazzled mother. Pushing her way toward the table, she began to empty the bag that Gothi had given her. As she did, she tried to pay attention to the conversation behind her.
"Sh-she won't stop crying," the mother whimpered. "I, I can't get her to stop!"
"Is she alright?" the father worried, crowding around the edge of the bed. "Is she going to be okay?"
Of course, there was no verbal answer from Gothi. Torny pulled out the cloths that had been packed and began to spread them out. The screaming grew louder as Gothi came close and handed over the poor red-faced baby into Torny's arms. Torny gingerly held the wailing child, carefully placing her in the middle of the cloths she had prepared and wrapped her up with practiced precision.
"W-what are you doing?" the mother asked.
"Swaddling her," Torny answered. "This should help comfort her and keep her still so she doesn't hurt herself." She scooped up the still screaming baby and held her close to her chest, rocking slowly back and forth.
Gothi turned her around and checked over her work, giving a nod of approval. She turned back to the anxious couple and began helping the mother back into bed.
"But my baby!" she protested, trying to shake off the stubborn Elder.
"We will be right here," Torny reassured, "but you need to get some sleep, too. I'm sure Gothi will tell you everything you need to know when you wake up, but for now, get some rest. The baby will be fine."
The mother didn't seem convinced, but with enough coaxing from her husband and Gothi she finally allowed them to get her into bed.
The baby, however, was still wailing. Torny grimaced at the piercing sound and closed her eyes. I'm gonna go deaf at this rate. Still rocking her, Torny began to hum lightly. It was an old tune her mother had taught her to soothe her fears at night, and she figured it couldn't hurt to try it now. The baby still cried, but by the time the sun was well above the sea it had faded into sniffling wimpers.
Gothi was long gone by this point, having other matters to look after. Before she had left she had given instructions to the couple, who were now both sleeping peacefully. Torny sighed, her arms sore and her throat aching.
The baby sighed after her and her eyes began to flutter shut. Not wanting to risk it, Torny kept up her humming and rocking, waiting for the deep sigh of sleep. Please, kid. Please, just go to SLEEP!
A few moments later, the baby sighed again, and Torny did too. Thank Thor! She glanced over to the parents and noticed that there was a baby basket near the bed. As slow as she dared, Torny crept over and laid the baby in her bed. The little girl slept on peacefully. Tiptoeing out of the house Torny felt all of her exhaustion wash over her. I can't wait to go back to sleep.
"Torny!" Stopping in place, Torny turned to see a panicking Villager rushing toward her. "You've got to help us! There was an accident; a roof caved in, the workers, they're stuck under the beams!"
Oh Odin. "I'm on my way. Can you go get Gothi? She should be back at her hut. Where did this happen?"
"At Nobber Nobrains' hut," the man called as he took off toward Gothi's.
"Oh Odin," Torny muttered as she began sprinting toward Nobber's hut.
When she finally crested the hill she felt her heart sinking at what she saw. Several Vikings were working together to remove broken beams and planks from the mess that must've been the remains of a hut. A shout rang out from the crew and a man was dragged from underneath the raised beam. Torny shook her head and with a heavy heart moved forward to help support the dazed Viking.
"Easy, easy," she said, guiding him over to where a few other scraped-up Vikings were laying, looking grim. "Does anything hurt?"
The man didn't respond. Torny leaned forward to check his eyes and sighed at the sight of his dilated pupils. There's not much I can do for him now. "Say here," she told him firmly before going to tend to the others that were out on the grass.
There were a few bumps and bruises, but overall there didn't seem to be anything incredibly major. However, Torny know the dangers of celebrating too soon.
"We got her out!" The last Viking had finally been removed from the rubble, her face dusty and her arm swinging out at an awkward angle. Torny grit her teeth and hoisted herself to her feet. This is bad. Where's Gothi when you need her?
Like she had been summoned, the short old woman came rushing up the hill and over to the poor dazed woman. Torny could do nothing but stare as Gothi coaxed her over to the grass to sit down and began to help her with her arm.
Flopping onto her back, Torny gazed up into the bright blue sky. What she wouldn't give to be back in her bed, blankets up to her chin, nothing to do for the rest of the day…
"Gothi!"
A tired sigh escaped her lips as she sat up to see yet another Viking rushing over to them, blabbering something about the harbour and some poor soul who had slipped and fell. As she got to her feet to go help him, she wondered what the rest of her day would be like.