The Great Beyond

Chapter 18: Snotlout Gets the Axe (Reign)

                The calm breezes of the morning gently whistled against my ears and skin, providing the only disturbance in the environment to be found. For whatever reason, we'd been blessed this morning with nice weather, perfect for just standing around and staring at the sky, getting completely lost in whatever thoughts came to me. The arms held firm around my waist, and the head resting against my shoulder reminded me that, in that moment, I was safe.

...and the Snotlout and Hookfang that flew over our heads and chucked an axe at a target brought me back to the grim reality that, technically, we were at war with fierce and intelligent Dragon Hunters.

"Coming in hot," he cheered as another strike landed on the worn and splintering targets. Though his technique was still sloppy, Snotlout's aim was at least getting better. "Ha-ha. That's right. Get some, Dragon Hunters. Get some. Snotlout, Snotlout! Oy, oy, oy!"

In all his cockiness and grandeur, Snotlout didn't notice when a target he struck fell over. Normally, that wouldn't be much of a concern, but Hookfang was too large to clear in time, meaning the wooden object fell straight onto his tail, startling him and halting their flight. The sudden force of the stop sent Snotlout flying from his dragon's back, sliding along the stone ground of the arena until he halted right by the twins' feet.

That was more on brand for Snotlout.

With faces unchanging, the twins each held up eight fingers, ranking his performance surprisingly high.

"The judge from Berserker Island gave you a six," Tuff shrugged. My brows furrowed, unclear as to whether he was referring to me or not.

"Um, nice effort, Snotlout," Hiccup encouraged, attempting to find something positive in that display. "We all need to stay sharp, especially with Dragon Hunters on the loose." Snotlout offered the two of us a weak thumbs-up.

"Astrid, you're up," I announced. Donning a smirk, Astrid slung her axe over her shoulder, ready for her and Stormfly to nail this exercise. If there was anything the pair excelled at, it was efficient attacks.

"You should really loosen your grip a little, boy-o. It maximizes bone shattering potential."

Approaching from behind Snotlout was none other than his father. None of us had seen him fly in, nor had we heard dragon wings flapping, and he wasn't exactly the subtlest man; how had he managed to sneak past every one of us and the Night Terrors?

"Dad?" Snotlout immediately jumped to his feet and straightened up.

"Spitelout!" Hiccup and I pushed away from each other, both out of courtesy and to focus on the bigger issue at hand here. "Uh... what a... what a pleasant surprise."

Completely ignoring all of us, Spitelout immediately went for some of the spears we had stuck into the ground, running his fingers over the points.

"Dull," he scoffed, causing Snotlout to chuckle awkwardly.

"Yeah, I was just telling them that, Dad." He started to approach the tall, intimidating man, who stared him down like he was just a tiny fly. "Hey, did you see that— "

"I come with news from Berk," Spitelout announced, pushing his son back by his face. "There's to be a union between two proud houses, our family, House Jorgenson, and..."

"What kind of muttonhead would marry into the Jorgensons?" Astrid muttered, causing both of us to laugh.

"...Astrid's family, House Hofferson."