Dragons: Secrets of Berk

(Frustrations Galore) Part 2

Heather put a block of ice down on the table that evening, then tapped Hiccup's shoulder.  He looked up from his hands.  "Thanks, Heather," he said, then pressed the ice to the side of his head.  "What is it with those two?!"  She shrugged.
"Looks like I wasn't the only one chiefing today!" said Stoic with a laugh as he came into the house.  "You alright, son?"  Heather smiled running up to him, and he caught her in a hug.  "Hello, my beauty."  He kissed her forehead, and they went back over to the table together.
"We're...  trying to make this hollowed-out mountain into a stable for the dragons," said Hiccup.
"But...?" said Stoic bracing himself.
Hiccup groaned.  "Snotlout and Astrid are acting like they're trying to drag it out absolutely as long as possible!" he said.  "Every other minute, they find something to get at each other about!  Either Hookfang's in Astrid's way, or Stormfly's in Snotlout's way, or Astrid's a weirdo for liking Heather, or Snotlout's too annoying, or..."
"Okay, okay, calm down, so.  I get the point," said Stoic.
"He is pretty annoying," Heather wrote on a piece of paper in front of her.
"Well...  yeah, but that's not the point," said Hiccup reading it.  "I thought it might take a few weeks to get the cave ready, but if they keep going at each other like this, it could take...  Who knows, maybe months!"
"Aye, son, I can see the problem," said Stoic.
"Well...  any ideas of how to deal with it?" asked Hiccup.
Stoic thought for a moment.  "Hm...  Well," he said, "you could..."
"That won't be fatal to anyone!" Hiccup said quickly.
"Oh," said Stoic.  He rubbed his chin.  "In that case, there's only one option I can think of."
"What?" said Hiccup.  "What is it?  I'll try anything!"  His father gave a bit of a chuckle, then told him.  "Y-you can't be serious!"
Heather looked up at her father skeptically, and Stoic nodded assuredly as he stroked her hair.  "It's a bit of a gamble," he said, "but it's worth a try."
The next day, Hiccup took a deep breath as he arrived at the cave with Heather and Toothless.  "Okay, listen up, guys," he said.  "We're switching up the teams a little today."
"Uh...  why?" asked Ruff.
"Just...  because," said Hiccup.  "Okay.  Heather, you're with me.  Tuff, you're with Ruff.  Try not to kill each other."
"No guarantee of that, Hiccup," said Ruff.
"Just...  try, okay?" said Hiccup.
Astrid glared over at Snotlout.  "Bet you're gonna be the one working alone today," she said.
"Ah, I can take it," said Snotlout, looking down fondly at his arms.
"Snotlout, you're with Astrid," said Hiccup.
"WHAT?!" Snotlout and Astrid yelled at the same time.
"No way!" said Snotlout.
"Not happening, Hiccup!" said Astrid.
"I will take your other leg!" said Snotlout.
"Look," said Hiccup, "you two need to learn how to get along, and work together, so...  you're officially inseparable from now on."
"You have got to be kidding me!" said Astrid.
"Nope," said Hiccup.  "Have fun!"  And he flew Toothless into the cave.
Having fun was about the last thing that happened for the rest of that day.  Every few minutes, it seemed, Hiccup was having to break up a fight between the two, even over the most trivial things!  It was purely an act of the gods that any work managed to get done at all!  "Are you sure this was a good idea?" Heather wrote on a piece of paper for her brother.
"Uhm...  Not really," said Hiccup as he read it.  "Do me a favor, Heather.  If we're still trying to get these rocks cleared in a few months, remind Dad it was his idea."
"Why me?!" Heather wrote.
"Because he'll take it better from his little princess," said Hiccup.  "And also...  I've already lost one leg."  Heather shot him a small glare, then both heard the start of yet another argument between Astrid and Snotlout!  Hiccup sighed.  "Oh, for the love of Thor!"  He got up, and went over to defuse it.
The next few days told the exact same story.  Every morning, the riders would meet at the mountain, and attempt to get to work, only to be disrupted by Astrid and Snotlout fighting within minutes.  Hiccup would constantly have to be running interference, which would successfully halt any progress he and Heather threatened to make.  Sometimes, they even managed to rile up the twins, slowing things down even more!
After four days of this, Hiccup had officially had enough.  "Okay!" he said loudly as they flew back to the village after a long, frustrating day.  "Look!  I'm officially calling this a failed experiment!  Astrid, tomorrow, I'm putting you with Heather again.  Snotlout, you're with me.  Everyone okay with that?!"
"Thank you!" said Astrid.
"Finally!" said Snotlout.
Hiccup shook his head.  "Just...  try not to mind each other," he said.  "We have a lot of ground to make up."
"Fine by me!" said Snotlout, and he broke off from the group as they passed by his house.
Astrid rolled her eyes, then flew up beside Took, and kissed Heather on the cheek.  "See you tomorrow," she said.  Heather smiled, and Astrid broke off to go home.
"Four days of being stuck with that muttonhead," Astrid said to Stormfly as she sat cleaning her saddle.  Stormfly looked up from her dinner briefly to stick her tongue out.  Astrid laughed.  "Yeah, exactly.  Well, tomorrow should be better, right?  We're gonna be back working with Heather."  She looked down and smiled shyly to herself.  Stormfly looked up at her, and gave a long, rolling coo.  "Oh...  Quiet, you."
As she finished cleaning and hung up the saddle, Astrid thought she heard something move in the bushes in the distance.  She looked up, and was just able to catch sight of someone sneaking off into the woods.  "Stay here, Stormfly," she said, then quietly followed.
Ducking from tree to tree, she could soon identify the figure as Snotlout.  What in the name of Thor was he doing out here?  Why did she even care?  He walked out to a stream, sat down, took off his helmet, and splashed his face with the water.  "Who's there?!" he said looking around hearing a noise.  Astrid held her breath, not sure if it had been her.
A moment later, a monstrous nightmare appeared in the moonlight.  Snotlout smiled relieved.  "Ah, hey, Hooky.  It's just you," he said.  Hookfang grunted and walked up to him, and Snotlout rubbed his snout.  "I'm okay.  Just need some time to breathe."  Hookfang gave a soft moan.
This was just weird.  Snotlout was loud, and obnoxious, and thought he was way more manly than he really was.  What exactly was Astrid looking at then?  She watched as he picked up a stick and leaned against Hookfang, drawing something in the dirt.  "Well...  looks okay, I guess," he said when he was done.  "What do you think?"  Hookfang looked at the drawing, then nodded approvingly.  Snotlout smiled, then sighed.  "Too bad he'll never get to see it."
"Oi!  Boyo!" a voice broke in.  Astrid turned her head to see Spitelout walking up to his son.
"Hi, Dad..." Snotlout droned out looking down.
"What ya doin' out here?!" said Spitelout.  "You should be gettin' to..."  He looked down and paused.
"Nothing," said Snotlout.  "I just..."
"Oh...  Sorry to interrupt your quiet time," Spitelout said in a mocking tone.  "Shall I make ya some tea and let ya go pick some pretty flowers?"
""No!" Snotlout said definitely.  "I'm not a girl!"
Spitelout grabbed his arm.  "Then, start actin' like a man, and get yar backside in bed!" he said.  Snotlout nodded, then gulped as his father released him and stomped off.
For several seconds, Snotlout just stood there, motionless, silent, stunned.  Then, Hookfang nudged his rider's hand and cooed.  He looked down, and gave a small smile, rubbing his snout.  "I'm fine, Hooky," he said in a voice that didn't sound at all fine.  "Come on.  Time for bed."  Hookfang let out a concerned moan, then followed him out of the woods.
By now, Astrid was well beyond confused!  What the Thor had she just watched?!  She waited until the sound of footsteps had long died off, then slowly made her way to where Snotlout had been sitting.
As she saw the drawing, everything suddenly clicked in Astrid's head!  Staring at her was a pretty convincing picture of Fishlegs carved into the dirt.  Snotlout...  liked Fishlegs...  the same way she liked Heather.  But his dad...  Oh, Thor!  She gulped, then quietly walked home, memories of all the times she'd hit, or slapped, or thrown him running through her head, and not seeming quite so funny now.
"So...  let me get this straight," Hiccup said the next day.  "You want to be on a team with Snotlout one more day?"
"Yeah," said Astrid.  "Yeah, that's right."
"Why...?" said Hiccup, sounding suspicious.
"I just...  have a feeling...  it won't be so bad," said Astrid.
Hiccup eyed her questioningly.  "Fine," he said after a minute.  "But if there's any trouble, I'm separating you two immediately.  We're far enough behind already."
"Yeah...  that's fair," agreed Astrid.
The atmosphere in the cave that day certainly was different, though not at all in the way Astrid was expecting or hoping.  She didn't look to pick fights with Snotlout anymore, and tried several times to start up a conversation with him, but these were all rebuffed by as neutral a response from him as possible, sometimes no response at all.  The result was the day feeling extremely dragged-out and chilling, though it was the most productive day they'd had by far.  Needless to say, by the time everyone was ready to go home, Hiccup was pleased, but she couldn't help feeling disappointed.
As the others got on their dragons to go home, Astrid was surprised to hear Snotlout say he was staying just a bit longer, but volunteered to do the same.  Maybe he would be more comfortable talking if it was just the two of them.  "Aw!  See, this is what I wanted to see from you two!" said Hiccup getting on Toothless.  "Teamwork!  Let's try and keep it up!"  He smiled, then flew out with Heather, the twins, and Fishlegs.
After they left, Snotlout threw Astrid one weird look, then went back to work.  Astrid looked at Stormfly, then took a deep breath.  "So, um...  need any help with that?" she asked as he started trying to move one big rock.
"No!  Of course not!" said Snotlout.  "I've got it!"  He grunted and groaned, but it didn't move an inch.  "Hookfang!  Lift!  Now!  Come on!"  The nightmare just looked from him to Astrid, and back again.
"You know, I bet he'd respond better if you were a little nicer about it," said Astrid.
"Hey!  Do I tell you how to talk to Stormfly?" said Snotlout.  "I've got this.  Hookfang!"  His dragon responded by blowing smoke into his face.
"Snotlout.  You can't lift that rock yourself," said Astrid rolling her eyes.  "Look, I can help yo..."
"I've got it!" Snotlout insisted.  "Gees!  What does it matter to you anyway?!  You hate me!"
Astrid looked up to see the ceiling starting to shake.  "Uh...  Snotlout, you might wanna keep your voice down," she said nervously.
"Stop telling me what to do, okay?!" Snotlout yelled ignoring her.  "I don't need help, especially from some weird girl, who has a crush on another girl!  So, why don't you just do us both a favor, and leave me alone?!"
At that moment, Astrid jumped to the side as a large rock from the ceiling fell towards her!  "Great!" she said.  "Happy now?!"  Snotlout gulped looking up as more rocks started to fall around them.  The dragons blasted a fee that threatened to hit them, and Astrid'x eyes darted around, looking for the way out!
Suddenly, a huge bolder fell, threatening to crush both of them!  "MOVE!" yelled Astrid.  She quickly ran and pushed Snotlout into the room behind them!  A second later, all either could see was darkness, and Snotlout, heard a loud snap and shriek!