Over the course of the few weeks they had, Hiccup and Brooklyn both dedicated their free times from dragon training into making their saddles.
Hiccup made his rather streamlined since that was how Toothless was built while Brooklyn got some leather and rubber, sewing them both together with Hiccup's help to create a really nice and sturdy lightning proof saddle.
Brooklyn even had the idea of making pants out of soft rubber/leather too for the extra protection and gloves, rather glad though he didn't need all that extra equipment like Hiccup did to make Toothless' prosthetic saddle.
The former red gargoyle next tried on his new pants which thankfully fit rather nicely, Hiccup being the fashion judge. "Hmm, looks pretty good on you Brook. let's just hope you're right about the whole rubber against lightning thing."
Brooklyn grins back. "I'm sure Hiccup. My… tribe did some special research that rubber conducts electricity. This will give me an advantage with riding lightning with Voltwing."
After finishing up their projects Hiccup and Brooklyn went back to the cove with some more fish for their dragons, climbing down the cliff where Toothless and Voltwing went to greet them.
Voltwing purred when nuzzling Brooklyn who chuckled, stroking the Skrill's head. "Hey boy. Got something for you to help us ride better." He said, holding up the leather/rubber saddle, Voltwing tilting his head in curiosity, going to sniff the saddle carefully and Brooklyn's new pants which smelled pretty much the same, crooning. "I'm gonna get this on you now, ok?" Brooklyn asked gently.
Giving off a low huff, Voltwing reluctantly agreed, lowering his head, Brooklyn managing to strap the saddle nice and snug but not too tight onto the Skrill's back where there wasn't any spines. Once it was on, Voltwing grunted, shifting his body a little since he never wore a saddle before until Brooklyn showed him a fish, smiling. "Hey, it's alright. I know it'll take some getting used too but it is better than allowing me to fall off or get electrocuted." He said in a joking way. Voltwing rolled his eyes, swatting Brooklyn's head slightly with his tail, making Brooklyn fall down to the dirt.
Grumbling a little, rubbing his head, Brooklyn shrugged it off when seeing Toothless racing around, teasing Hiccup while the boy tried and failed to get the saddle on until Brooklyn helped him with the fish trick. After all that was taken care of; it was time for the first flight test. Brooklyn though got his fair share of teasing from Voltwing when trying to get on his back. "Hey, get back here you sparky lizard!" Shouted Brooklyn playfully, Voltwing cooing in a laughing way, Hiccup grinning. "Looks like he's learning from his new friend."
Brooklyn ignored Hiccup until finally catching up to Voltwing, Hiccup allowing him to test his saddle first. Straddling himself onto it, Brooklyn grinned, feeling more like a dragon rider now than he did ages ago, gripping the handle of his saddle. "Ok boy. Let's do this!" Brooklyn encouraged, petting Voltwing gently, Voltwing screeching, raising his wings, lightning sparking off of them which didn't affect Brooklyn at all, taking to the skies rather fast.
Shutting his eyes, Brooklyn held on tight which wasn't as clumsy without one, then peeking them open, hearing Hiccup cheering below. Looking around, Brooklyn stared in awe as he and Voltwing soared around above the cove, Voltwing growling in pleasure from being able to fly more which was his favorite thing. After a few more minutes, the friends soon landed so Hiccup could have his shot. Brooklyn held his saddle handle tight but not too rough as Voltwing gracefully came to a landing, shaking his head in happiness.
Sliding off, legs not so weird anymore, Brooklyn leaned against Voltwing slightly out of breath but happy. "Whoa… that was… so cool. You go now Hiccup."
Hiccup first tied a rope around where controlling the tail was, then gripped it hard with his hand while the other one held the saddle grip, coaxing Toothless to take to the air. They managed at least 5 minutes of flying until Hiccup tried to steer, sending the two falling to the water again.
One other attempt that Hiccup tried was tying the rope around his leg to control the tail, Brooklyn flying beside him again but winces when the two of them fell right onto the grass, having been unsuccessful again. He landed Voltwing, pushing his way through the tall grass, and to his surprise, saw Toothless moaning while rolling around in it, looking quite relaxed and happy, Hiccup looking over to Brooklyn and showing his own shock.
"Well, we can add this to the Book of Dragons: Dragons love grass." Brooklyn said with a grin, suddenly seeing his own Skrill joining Toothless with his own purring, rubbing his body along the grass. Hiccup gives Brooklyn a look that has an idea in it. "Dragon Nip. That's what it can be called." He said, pocketing a few blades of grass for later.
The former gargoyle and his human friend both went to get their dragons out of there, both of them moaning and protesting at not wanting to leave, Brooklyn petting Voltwing in one of his soft spots. "Hey, I can give you some more later, alright boy? We gotta keep doing our training." Voltwing soon groans in response, Brooklyn getting on his back as they flew back to the cove.
….
Eventually Brooklyn and the rest of the teens were once again facing the Gronckle. Brooklyn took care to avoid being hit by him but wound up having been bludgeoned by its tail, which left him winded on the ground and head butted Snotlout.
The Gronckle eyed Hiccup, moving in to attack, but from Brooklyn's view; wound up seeing the brown beast falling on its side, and saw the grass in Hiccup's hand which made him grin a little. He used the Dragon Nip.
After the training was over, Brooklyn was limping out with Hiccup, still a little sore but the others minus Astrid were crowding around them both, talking to Hiccup all at once. "I've never seen a Gronckle do that!" Snotlout complimented until Hiccup backed up, Brooklyn following. "Uh, I left my ax back in the ring. You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up with you." He said nervously, Brooklyn grinning nervously back at them.
"Yeah and… I gotta help him find it." He added in with an awkward chuckle, Astrid raising her brow at the two males, wondering what they could even be up to.
Back in the cove Brooklyn and Hiccup's dragon friends rushed over to greet them, sniffing them all over. Brooklyn laughs, scratching the lightning dragon's scales. "Sorry, we have no fish for you guys, but it is your pet time, right?" He chuckled, being reminded of Bronx while petting Voltwing, missing the gar dog a lot. Hiccup also began to scratch Toothless' scales until hitting a sweet spot under his chin, making the Night Fury's eyes widen, collapsing to the ground, purring in happiness.
The friends stared a little, amazed that something as tough as the Night Fury could have a sweet spot like that, smiling at each other for having found another way of getting out of Dragon Training lessons without needing to hurt them.
Upon being in the arena again with the Deadly Nadder, Astrid had thrown her ax at it which hardly hurt the dragon at all, letting out its loud screech, making her dodge its attack. Brooklyn tensed up, seeing it having gone over to Hiccup, hoping this new plan would work since Astrid was now yelling loudly, raising her ax, about to finish off the Nadder.
Hiccup, thinking fast, raised up his hand to scratch the Nadder until hitting its own sweet spot, making it drop to the ground instantly. Brooklyn sighed in relief that the Nadder wasn't hurt, Astrid staring dumfoundedly at Hiccup from being bested again.
When having dinner in the Great Hall later on; Brooklyn and Hiccup were going to eat together again at a separate table like they usually did away from everybody else, but to their surprise; Snotlout and the others all quickly scrambled over to sit near them both, asking a lot of questions in their excitement at Hiccup winning every training session.
One other trick Hiccup had learned about dragons too when seeing Voltwing and Toothless again was when he was adjusting the saddle the connecting rod was reflecting a light on the ground, making Toothless go after it like a cat, even having Voltwing join in on the fun, Brooklyn laughing at the sight.
They wound up using it in the next arena against a new dragon. Gobber lifted it's cage. "Meet the Terrible Terror!" He declared, Brooklyn tensing at what the dragon would look like. But to his surprise; it was nothing more than a little green dragon, licking its own eyeball and giving a little chirrup. "Kinda small, huh?" Brooklyn asked.
Tuffnut snorted. "Hah! It's like the size of my—." He didn't even finish his sentence when the Terror shrieked, pouncing right onto the male twin, beginning to bite his nose, Brooklyn flinching from the site. "Oh! I'm hurt!" Tuffnut screamed, Hiccup coming to the rescue and shining a light on the floor with his shield, the Terror squawking and going after it.
Brooklyn saw Tuffnut get up, rubbing his nose. "Wow, he's better than you ever were…" He muttered, making Astrid glower sharply at him, having begun to hate Hiccup and the newcomer Brooklyn even more for all the attention they were getting over her. In the forest once training was over she was throwing axes out of sheer frustration, imagining the tree being Hiccup.
From the corner of her eyes she actually saw both Hiccup and Brooklyn both holding different gear, Brooklyn grinning nervously at the blonde before they quickly ran off away from her, hiding underneath the big rock. Astrid had climbed up, trying to find them but they were gone, grunting in anger and disappointment.
Hiccup chuckled softly after Astrid left, gesturing to Brooklyn to quickly follow him back to the cove. He had made a new device to help him fly without needing to hold a rope which was a special foot saddle stirrup to help him control the tail. Brooklyn kept both Toothless and Voltwing busy with fish while Hiccup set up Toothless' tail stirrup.
"Well? Shall we test it out?" Brooklyn asked in excitement, wanting so badly to fly side by side with Hiccup without having to see the two falling down again. Hiccup nods, taking Toothless out to a rope halter he made where it was windy on a cliffside, climbing on his back, and hovering in the air for a bit. Brooklyn gave Voltwing a bit more fish while watching, seeing Hiccup press down on the stirrup control, making them land flawlessly, Hiccup writing the moves down on a cheat sheet for later.
Feeling pleased with himself, Hiccup tried some more tests but a bigger wind gust broke the rope, blowing the two backwards, making them both yell out, Brooklyn racing over to make sure they weren't hurt, seeing his friends all tangled up, Hiccup unable to unstrap himself from the saddle. "You guys ok?" Brook asked.
Hiccup nods, though he looks over to the saddle strap, seeing it stuck. "Yeah, but look at that. This means…"
Brooklyn's face fell, knowing now they had to bring both Hiccup and the Night Fury into the village. This wasn't going to be very fun. When going into the cove, Brooklyn petted Voltwing who was cooing in an anxious way. "We'll be back boy. Gotta take care of this." He said gently, Voltwing sitting there, waiting patiently.
Under the cover of night, Hiccup and Brooklyn guided Toothless nervously to the blacksmith, knowing this was the most insane and traitorous thing they could ever do, but they had to fix the saddle. Toothless looked about curiously, poking his head into a bucket then tossing it aside when it was empty. Inside, Hiccup began to work on freeing himself from it, managing to just in time to hear Astrid's voice.
"Hiccup? Brooklyn? You guys in there?" Brooklyn groaned, rolling his eyes. Just perfect for the blonde to come. He kept Toothless quiet while Hiccup tried distracting Astrid but was doing horribly.
Toothless growled, trying to get out to see the girl, Brooklyn pushing him back. "No bud, please no!" He whispered, seeing a sheep had noticed them. Astrid stepped closer to Hiccup. "I don't care what people do but you both were acting weird."
Hiccup stumbled back, laughing nervously, Astrid raising her brow. "Well, weirder."
Thinking fast, Brooklyn grabbed Hiccup's shirt, yanking him through the blacksmith door, Astrid jumping in surprise, opening it to find the smithy empty. Hiccup and Brooklyn were both now safe on Toothless' back, soaring into the night sky back to the cove. That was close. But… it would have to come to a time where they had to tell Astrid. Not yet though.