𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐙𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 ( 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 )

Chapter Two

        Sage knew the moment her father came home what she was going to hear. "I wasn't trying to disobey you, Dad."

"Then why did you?" He didn't sound as angry as he did tired, the exhaustion seeping into his bones as he sat at the table opposite her, his dark blond hair coated in blood. "You were supposed to stay in the hut, I don't know how many times I am meant to tell you."

"She was chasing Hiccup again," Tryggr yawned loudly as he came into the house, stretching his arms above his head before he decided to drop his axe clumsily yet purposely on the ground.

"Snitches get stitches." She spat at her uncle as she leaned back against her chair.

Her dad only sighed. "That boy will get you killed, you know I've told you to stay away from him!"

"Hiccup is the only friend I have-!"

"Vikings do not need friends!"

"Oh, you're not going to believe this." Tryggr clearly did not care about the argument they'd had a thousand times before, forcing himself between them so he could claim the chair by the wall. Sage only glared over at her dad, who returned in kind. She'd never understand why she kept following Hiccup out into danger like that, as if she hadn't made that choice. He never forced her! If he had it his way, she'd never come out of her room. "Hiccup is insisting he shot down the Night Fury!"

That caught their attention.

"What?" Father and daughter echoed in confusion and disbelief.

"Yep, the lad said he saw it go down near Raven's Point."

"You mean-" Sage began, before being cut off by her father.

"You mean his eyes are going wrong, which means he'll be more of a hazard than usual." Ivar shook his head, imagining the chaos Stoick's boy could cause while blind. He knew the lad wouldn't stay inside, not while he still had the use of his legs. The thing was, he did like Hiccup. The lad was smart, and most of the time had a good head on his shoulders, if only he didn't seem to go out of his way to prove himself. Vikings were known for that, to want to make their mark, but Stoick's son was clumsy and small and got into trouble without having to look for it (which he did!) and his poor daughter didn't need that. She was too breakable to surround herself with such a destructive boy, and he wished she'd stay closer to home, rather than go out exploring like he knew she did with Berk's heir. Hiccup had what it took to be a good chief someday, but Ivar couldn't see that happening anytime soon. The lad would burn their village to the ground.

"His eyes are fine!" His daughter snapped.

"Ain't nobody shoot down a Night Fury, little bird." He could only say, trying to avoid sounding as frustrated as he was.

"You can't even see the thing in the sky," Tryggr reminded his niece, lifting his leg up onto the table, revealing the large rip down the side of the leather. "Look what those beasts did to my boot! I swear I just had this made!"

"Hiccup isn't a liar." Sage could only say, huffing as she folded her arms across her chest, not commenting on Tryggr's boot. He went through them quickly, mostly because he was careless.

"I never called him one!" Her dad scowled.

"You may as well have!"

"He didn't shoot down no Night Fury!"

"I say he did!"

Sage didn't believe he did, not by a long shot, but she would defend him to the ends of the archipelago before saying a word against him to her dad. She knew what Hiccup was like, he always got so excited about everything and she knew he must have been mistaken, but he wasn't a liar. She just didn't need anyone telling her about him when she knew they didn't know the boy half as well as she did. When they were young children, her father actually encouraged her friendship with Hiccup, mostly because while Stoick clearly wanted his son to do whatever it was the other kids were doing, they weren't interested in playing with him and so Hiccup was left to his reading and remaining close to the village. Ivar would never allow his only surviving child to do sword fighting or tag in the woods away from his watchful eye, so Sage stayed by Hiccup. Even then half the time she was left on her own as he repeatedly tried to chase after the others, and she couldn't keep up in a way even Hiccup could. Sometimes she did wonder if they would even be friends if they were more equal to the other teens their age, and if their friendship was built purely on the fact that they didn't really have another option when it came to friends. Probably. Still, she'd defend Hiccup from anyone.