A Song of Scouring Eyes - Hiccup x Male Reader

Chapter 2

Warnings: Canon typical violence
Word count: 6107

You didn't have much time to waste. Nearly none if you had to guess, you were just lucky Bitra was willing to go off the honor system with you and take what little payment was left after getting all the medical supplies you'd needed. It turned out that on an island where resources were purely imported, medical supplies tended to vary wildly in prices. Your intimidation act did not work with the traders anymore, plus your bartering skills needed patching up, so you were left wildly overpaying for burn ointment and cream as well as more bandages and antibiotics. As much as you loved the Eye, it was expensive as all Hel to live on.

With a sigh, ointment applied, and a few hours spent at home, you and Brawler took to the skies for the second time that day. The two of you were tired, most of your bounties having at least a few days of rest time in-between to spend at home doing research or off searching for your own things, less excitement but far calmer. It wasn't always like that. Bounty hunting had originally been something you'd loved with your whole heart, with no ties to keep you down between each hunt and the whole world outside the island to explore. Now, you were rushing to get gold whenever you could, fewer breaks between hunts and higher price demands of almost anything. From food to medical, it costs too much. The large bounty you were to bring in probably wouldn't last a month like Helga had claimed, not accounting for price raising and gouging.

As you and Brawler soared above the clouds away from the island with the trap handle held to his nose and being waved off by the guardsmen on patrol as you went, you pulled your broken pauldron from your saddlebag. You'd have to find some way to fix it along the way, slight resentment bubbling in your stomach as you looked at your broken armor. On your island, your armors were of great pride. Each set was unique, built of the shed scales of the dragon you grew alongside, symbolizing just how long the two of you had flown together. Most people had incomplete sets, but yours was completely finished and well cared for.

Taking your helmet off to get a better look, you reached into the saddlebag for some sandpaper as an idea popped into your head. Setting the paper between your thighs, you held the two snapped pieces of your pauldron together and crawled forwards on Brawler's head, holding the piece just in front of his mouth,

"Bubba, can you give me the smallest amber shot you can?" You asked your dragon, being met with a slight head tilt before Brawler shot a tiny amount of amber onto your pauldron. Immediately, you smeared it over the crack before it could solidify and pulled your hand away. Your glove tips would be slightly caked in amber residue, but better that than a missing pauldron, "Thank you, bud! Such a good boy."

Brawler cooed happily at the praise, singing your song to himself as he flew. Laying back, you pulled the sand paper from between your thighs and began the grueling process of sanding the amber down to make the pauldron wearable again. Your right arm ached through the process, and you knew you'd have to favor your left side in battle until it got better as the burn was still angry and blistering. The pauldron would irritate it when put back on, but better irritated than in danger of powerful strikes or more explosions.

Just thinking of the explosion had you on edge. It wasn't like you had fully trusted the green-eyed man, you'd just met him, but you'd at least trusted him not to attack you. You'd had similar goals at the time, it would seem by the way he'd attacked the hunters, so for him and his crew of dragon riders to set the ship on fire with explosions around you while you were still inside felt like a betrayal.

If you never saw them again, it'd be too soon. But something told you that you weren't that lucky.

-

"Alright, explain."