The Friendship

Chapter Fourteen | Suspicions

Vocabulary:

náttmál - night-meal

~LITTLE HICCUP~

Note: There is a tall grass in which presumably all known dragon breeds react positively to. I have grown to call this grass dragon nip.

I looked up from my leather-bound notebook and set down my writing utensil. Toothless was curled up, soaking in the rays a short distance away, his real tail fin shielding his eyes from the sun. The dragon's steady breathing told me he was sound asleep. Tufflout was shaking off the dragon saliva from his armour (courtesy of Blueflame). His Night Fury was making a noise, similar to a human laugh, which earned him a glare. Blueflame's gummy grin dissolved any annoyance directed towards him, and Tufflout chuckled, flicking the dragon's saliva back in his face.

Strange, I thought, that Tufflout and I managed to each have a Night Fury. I shook my head, pushing the ridiculous idea to the back of my mind. Still, there was something about the set of his jaw, and the spark in his eyes that seemed eerily familiar...

I felt something scaly press against the palm of my hand. Toothless was turning his head into my hand, after having woken from his deep slumber. I transferred my attention to him, using both hands to relieve his itch. Toothless purred, obviously enjoying the special treatment. As I shifted my touch to scratch his chin, the Night Fury collapsed, emitting a sigh of bliss. Tufflout and Blueflame sauntered towards us, most likely wondering as to why Toothless was momentarily paralyzed on the ground.

"What happened?" asked Tufflout as I stared down at Toothless.

"I-" I stopped abruptly, not sure what my answer was. "I found something to put in the Book of Dragons."

~~~

Astrid, her axe raised in the air, charged at the Deadly Nadder. I stared at me with a slitted, yellow eye, pondering as to why I made no move to attack. Glancing behind the dragon at an angry Astrid running from the far side of the ring, I gave the Nadder in front of me a scratch. It fell with a thud just as the other young viking was about to bring her axe down. I felt slightly awkward underneath her gaze, a hint of frusteration mixed in with the surprise.

"Well, uh, I'll see you tomorrow." I jogged out of the ring, and was greeted by Tufflout at the ring's entrance. The young man flashed a white smile and fell into step beside me.

~~~

Striding through the pines with the saddle I had created for Toothless some time ago, as well as his prosthetic tail fin, I headed towards the cove after making some adjustments to the fin's controls.

I froze. Astrid had her axe raised, almost maiming me with her accurate aim in the process. A split second glance and I saw deep gashes in the trees, no doubt from an infuriated Astrid. I left as quickly as I arrived, disappearing from her sight.

~HICCUP~

I was waiting for Little Hiccup outside our house. The sun hung high in the sky as he searched for the improved version of the Book of Dragons.

"Are you training him?"

I jumped in surprise, not having expected Astrid to be right behind me. "Oh, hey Astrid. Hi, Astrid. What are you doing here?" I sputtered. Her furious glare frightened me. No one wants to be on the end of that glare. "I want to know," repeated Astrid, "if you are training him. No one becomes that good that quickly. Especially Hiccup."

Nervously I rubbed the back of my neck. "I can assure you I haven't been training Hiccup, just accompanying him."

Astrid's eyes narrowed. "So you know how he knows all of this stuff. You know where he goes, what he does. Tell me." Somehow Astrid was able to become even angrier, an act I previously believed to be impossible.

She started towards me, and I instinctivley backed away. "Well, uh, you see- I'm not completely sure how-"

"Not going to tell the truth, hmm? Fine. I'll find out one way or another. With or without your help," she huffed, pivoting swiftly on her feet to leave. I sighed in relief. It was not good that Astrid was angry with-

Suddenly she was in back in front of me, her lips pressed up against mine. Her warm breath heated my face. She still felt the same. She still smelled the same. She still tasted the same. She was still Astrid.

And it felt wrong. So, so, so wrong. She wasn't the Astrid I knew. Sure, it was Astrid, but she was young and not yet the person she became. She was a different Astrid than the one I knew and nothing about it was right.

As soon as it had started, the kiss was over. I only stared at the girl in front of me. Her eyes avoided my shocked gaze. "I just wanted to know what it felt like." She punched me not lightly on the shoulder, but I barely felt the pain as Astrid ran off.

"I'm ready."

"Hmm?" I said, snapping out of my daze.

I turned to see Little Hiccup ambling down the stairs. "I said, I'm ready to go."

"Oh. Okay." I said absently.

Little Hiccup looked concerned. "Are you all right?"

I brushed the question off. "Yeah, yeah. Just... distracted."

We started to the back of the house, where the edge of the forest began. I glanced back over my shoulder just in time to see a single blonde braid disappear behind the door of Astrid's home.

~LITTLE HICCUP~

I sat down at an empty table with Tufflout in the Great Hall. We had decided to have náttmál there instead of at our house. Our house. I had grown so used to Tufflout living in my home he had become a permanent resident in my mind. If he came here on Blueflame, why couldn't he have left? Why was he here?

I was about to ask him so when Tuffnut plopped down beside me. Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs copied him, setting themselves down on either side of Tufflout.

"Nice job in the ring today, Hiccup," Tuffnut complimented, bringing a leg of chicken to his lips. "The way you just reflected the sun so the Terrible Terror went back into its cage was awesome."

"I think," responded Fishlegs, "that is the most intelligent sentence you've said today."

"Why thank you!" Tuffnut bowed in his seat.

Ruffnut murmured to herself, "It sure wasn't intelligent when you insulted the Terror though."

"I heard that!"

"You were supposed to."

"Nice one! Up top!" Snotlout raised his hand, which Ruffnut high-fived in turn.

I subtly peeked over to the table where the others came from, only to see Astrid eating alone. It was nit my best interest to go over. Astrid looked like she was fuming. If she was a dragon, I would be burnt to a crisp. Tufflout mimicked my actions, then returned to polishing off his plate.

My mind drifted to the plans I had for the next day. There was still much work to be done on Toothless' tail if he was ever going to return to the sky. Lots of work.

Hee hee hee! So I added some Hiccstrid to the chapter. It was really fun to write the part with the surprise kiss. Girl can't make up her mind whether she likes or hates older Hiccup or not! And Little Hiccup has his suspicions about "Tufflout" as well! Hmm, I wonder what will happen? I Finally reached 1K reads! Thanks for reading you beautiful souls! Remember to comment, vote, and share!

xoxo - @DragonMaster1908