𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐙𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 ( 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 )

Chapter Four

"Little bird!" Greeted her the moment she entered her home, her uncle already at the table, picking at the grime between his toes. She'd grimace in disgust, but it wasn't anything new. "How was drag━━━what's wrong?"
"Nothing-"
"Hey," he was on his feet so quick that she didn't even realise she had started crying until he had his arms around her. "Little bird, it's okay. What happened?"
She hid her face in his chest, glad he wasn't wearing his armour, crying as she did. After a few moments, she tried to pull away, but he only tightened his hold and led her to the seating area not far from the table. "I'm fine, Uncle Tryggr." She tried to insist.
"Say that without the tears and I'll believe you."
With a sniffle, Sage wiped at her eyes, hating herself more than she did before. "It's stupid."
"Most reasons to cry are." Tryggr leaned closer and brushed some hair from her forehead, revealing the nasty stitching done by Gothi. "Looks like you've gotten yourself a cool scar the first day!"
She smiled wobbly. "Yeah, but for acting stupid."
"Vikings are just stupid, little bird." He insisted, winking. "So tell me, what made you upset? I'm assuming it's not this cut."
"No. Gobber says I'll get better." She leaned on his side, sighing as she did, even if the urge to cry again was still very much there. "It's Hiccup."
He raised an eyebrow. "Did you tell him about the crush you have on him?"
"I don't have a crush on him!" She exclaimed, her cheeks flushing. "He's my best friend! Or-or he was."
"Ohhh." He was still sure of her apparent feelings for their heir, but didn't mention it again. "What caused this change then, niece?"
"He basically said he never asked to be my friend," she folded her arms across her chest. "He's been keeping secrets, but I didn't even care about that. I just wanted him to talk to me. I didn't even care what about! I just...I guess I was stupid for thinking we were ever friends to begin with."
"Well, your dad has always said vikings don't need friends."
"Uncle-"
"I say bollocks to that." He turned her face by using his finger against her chin, making her look at him. "Friends make you strong, little one. He says we don't need them, but Stoick and Gobber prove otherwise. Spitelout is probably the closest thing to a best friend your dad has ever had, even if he'd deny it and they argue like dogs. Berk wouldn't survive without its people working together, as friends should. I can't say what's going through Hiccup's mind, but he doesn't make you weak, my niece. If he's a good friend to you, then it's worth holding onto."
Tears filled her eyes again. "But he doesn't want to be my friend."
"Then he's a fool and that boy is many things━━━clumsy and disobedient come to mind━━━but foolish is not one of them. He might just need a bit to catch up, but he'll realise how important you are to him before long."
Sage thought about the look on Hiccup's face when he realised what he said, the regret, but how he didn't come after her despite knowing he must have hurt her. "No." She felt a wave of anger. "No, he doesn't get to take me for granted or come when he wants. Friends might be the foundation of Berk, or whatever, but he's not mine. He can go be a muttonhead to someone else."
"Stubborn Sage," Tryggr chuckled, leaning forward to ruffle her hair, careful of her fresh wound. "Well, now that you've made that decision, how about you tell me everything about what happened today?"
Sage did feel better, but it wasn't a surprise that her uncle knew how to do that so quickly. "If you tell me why you let me do it in the first place." She wondered. "You must know how he'll react when he finds out."
"I know, but you're not always going to have us, little bird." He explained simply. "You can be strong. He doesn't get to use our tragedies as a way to keep you down. It isn't fair."
Her eyes widened, realisation dawning on her. "You heard us?" She asked, referring to the conversation she'd had with her father the night before he left.
"You were both loud."
"So this is...this is preparing me for a life without you?" She didn't know how she felt about that.
"That's what dragon training is about, little bird. It's not about losing us, it's about protecting yourself, about protecting your own. Next time you face a dragon, you shouldn't freeze like you did. You might have started off weak, maybe you were weaker than others, but you can be stronger, if given the chance. Your dad won't do it, so I'm doing it for him. He'll thank me eventually."
She grinned, throwing her arms around his neck, never more thankful for her uncle. Screw Hiccup; she had a best friend and it was Tryggr. "Thank you, uncle."
"You're welcome." He patted her back before pulling away, mischief in his blue eyes. "Now tell me about your training session."
"Well, you're not getting your spear back..."
Sage wished she could say she did better the next day.
"Move!" She may be angry with Hiccup, but she also didn't want any harm to him, so really when she was shoving him out of the way while racing through the maze that Gobber had created inside the arena. This training session was even more terrifying than the one before. If she thought she was terrified of the Gronkle, then the Deadly Nadder was something else entirely.
Hiccup was throwing questions at Gobber, as if he wasn't seconds away from being burned alive.
Her boots echoed throughout the stone ground, despite her desperate attempts to be quiet, and her shield felt even heavier today than it did yesterday. Tryggr said it was because she just wasn't used to the weight, that after a few days the muscles wouldn't find it as exhausting, which she was looking forward to. The Nadder squeaked like a bird to her left and she threw herself behind a wall for cover, trying to use her hearing to figure out how far away it was. The Nadder, despite being quicker on its feet than the Gronkle, made noise, and chirped frequently. It should make it easier to figure out its location, if only her heart would slow down enough to stop the sound of her blood thumping in her ears.
Hiccup hadn't gotten the message and continued standing where she'd left him, his focus on Gobber outside the arena. "You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet? Whoa!"
The Nadder found him, firing in his direction and he cried out as the axe burned, having to release it and leaving him with his shield instead. He raced for cover.
"Focus, Hiccup! You're not even trying!"
Taking a deep breath, Sage reminded herself of what freezing or panicking would do for her and tried to think about the advice Tryggr gave her. He told her to follow her instincts and remember that waiting around for someone else to save her would ultimately get her killed, something her dad had obviously tried to not think about. She forced herself out from behind where she'd been hiding, just as she caught sight of the Nadder as it leapt up onto the top of the walls of the maze, moving swiftly and lightly, using the advantages it had to try and track down the inexperienced teenagers. She tightened her hold on her mallet; she just wished it wasn't even heavier than the shield, making it difficult for her to even hold, let alone use. She was thankful she'd been practising with her strength or she'd have been completely useless.
"Today is all about attack!" Gobber told them from where he was just outside the arena, looking down at them. "Nadders are quick and light on their feet! Your job is to be quicker and lighter!"
Sage gasped when the Nadder seemed to have spotted her, squawked, and started in her direction, prompting her to turn around and race back the way she came. She turned a sharp corner and almost collided with Astrid, but the girl didn't even stop, only slowing enough to grab Sage by the arm and yank her up to prevent her from falling and they kept running. The Nadder caught sight of easier prey and went after Fishlegs instead, which was more of a relief than Sage thought possible. Just as Astrid released her, Sage looked over her shoulder and caught sight of the dragon using its tail to whip out sharp shards and sent them flying through the air, two managing to slice through Fishlegs's shield as he raced off screaming. She'd known the Nadder could do that, but it still made the already tight knot in her gut to get worse. How the hell were they supposed to do this without dying? She honestly was doubting it was possible, even if she knew by the adults of Berk that it was.
"Ahhhh!" Fishlegs screamed as he ran. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!"
"Look for its blind spot." Gobber told them while he picked his teeth, not at all bothered by their fear and the dragon loose in the arena with them. "Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike!"
"Quick!" Astrid once again grabbed Sage by the arm and pulled her down, startling the other girl, before she shoved Snotlout back as he went to race past. "Get down!"
Sage was grateful for the blonde, ignoring Snotlout's attempt to flirt, as she looked around the corner behind Astrid, just in time to see Nadder facing the twins. They were in the dragon's blind spot, and it seemed to have been working...until obviously one of them had to speak. She should have known.
"Ugh!" Ruffnut cried out to her brother, who was in front of her, before shoving him forward with her shield. "Do you ever bathe?"
Tuffnut scoffed, pushing her back. "If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot!"
The two of them started fighting, which pushed them out of the blind spot of the Nadder, and Gobber reminded them that the dragon could still hear as well, watching as it started to chase the twins. Then they were moving, Sage glad she was able to keep up with Snotlout and Astrid, but when she looked over her shoulder after two turns, she was unsurprised to see that Hiccup hadn't even bothered to follow. He was asking Gobber about Night Furies once more, and was almost burnt to a crisp again because of it. Astrid tried to tell him to get down, and he almost tripped over himself in an attempt to hide from the dragon. Sage could feel the burning in her legs from the running, but as she remained behind Snotlout, she realised that the fear wasn't as overpowering as before. I like this. She liked the adrenaline, she liked getting her heart going, and despite the aches forming in her already exhausted body, she liked knowing it was all for a reason. When she was young, she would get pain without cause or reason, she would just have it because her body seemed to hate her. Now she had a reason. Besides, she had worked better with Astrid in particular today than yesterday and she saw that as progress.
A growl was heard nearby and Sage saw Astrid steal a glimpse over the corner of the wall before turning to the three of them waiting on her signal, giving a nod and led the way through the intersection. As quietly as possible, she used her shield as a rolling stone to get past the Nadder, getting on her feet on the other side so fast that Sage felt like she blinked and Astrid was on the other side. Impressed, Sage prepared herself for her turn and copied Astrid; she did exactly as she had witnessed and to her complete shock, she did it! She was stunned by her own success that she wasn't even aware of Snotlout doing the same until he was elbowing her out of the way so he could stand beside Astrid, smirking when she bit her tongue to stop herself from making any noise. She was too chuffed with herself to even care. Unfortunately, her own pride of what she had done was short-lived, as Hiccup failed where the other three succeeded. He couldn't take the weight of the shield and ended up falling back into it, with the Nadder quickly having its attention captured and it went hurrying after the boy.
Yelping, Hiccup managed to just get out of the way to avoid the dragon's teeth, and then he was back with Sage and the others, resulting in them being chased right alongside him. The Nadder leapt up onto the wall of the maze in front of them and cut them off, and Astrid let out an audible as she prepared herself, but then Snotlout did something completely Snotlout-like and pushed her out of the way in a desperate attempt to impress her. Sage had to give it to the irritating boy━━━he was confident and relentless. That was typically a good trait with a viking, but she got the impression Astrid didn't appreciate it. She didn't blame her; she wouldn't like to be treated like that anyway, not that she had that worry. No boy had ever shown interest in her and she doubted they ever would. If she ever married, she'd be their last resort. No man would want a weak woman for a wife.
"Watch out, babe. I'll take care of this!" Snotlout boosted before throwing his hammer at the Nadder. He missed completely, hitting the wall a few feet from the dragon. The Nadder made some sort of noise after staring at the fallen weapon, as if it was as amused by the young viking's attempt as them. Sage was more annoyed than anything, a common feeling she had around Snotlout.
"You idiot!" Sage hissed. "Astrid would've had that!"
"Shut up, Ghost!"
"She's right!" Astrid spat as they started running again.
"The sun was in my eyes! What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I could do that, but I don't have the time right now!"
Sage gaped as she found herself being all but pushed to the side as the Nadder got a little too close, which meant she ended up separating from the others and she didn't even have to look behind her to know that the dragon was right on her tail. She wanted to turn around and send her mallet into the dragon's face, but that felt like it'd be an impulsive mistake and Tryggr did say to follow her instincts. She turned a sharp corner and managed to just avoid skidding, spotting Hiccup at the far end of the maze trying to talk to Gobber again.
"Hiccup!" She cried out as she went to turn another corner, but the Nadder now had its eyes on the boy and had gone after him again instead. "Hiccup, run!"
The walls were toppling now, with the Nadder banging against them in its attempt to catch up and Sage gasped as she just avoided being knocked down, throwing herself to the side and she felt the back of her head collide with the ground as she did. That would leave a bump. She forced herself to focus and stumbled to her feet, moving just quick enough to avoid the collapsed wood and ending up shoulder to shoulder with Fishlegs, who seemed to be panting heavily. Astrid had been on top of the walls to avoid being crushed, the Nadder right behind her, but then she was falling, landing right on top of the screaming Hiccup. It took Sage only a few seconds after the smoke cleared to see that Astrid was struggling with her axe, which was stuck in Hiccup's shield, and that the dragon was heading straight for them. The twins were making jokes, which was a surprise to no one.
"Astrid!"
Sage was as worried for Hiccup, but the girl was basically on top of him trying to get her axe free and Sage jumped over a fallen wall as she did the only thing she could of to give the duo a bit more time. She threw her shield at the dragon's face. The mallet would've been better, it would've done actual damage, but she knew for a fact that she wouldn't have managed to throw it further than two feet in front of her and she had hit her mark with the shield. It smacked the dragon in the side by the wing and it spun around, screeching as it took one step in her direction. Sage had lost her cover and she was prepared to make a run for it, but then Astrid threw all her weight behind the axe (with half of Hiccup's shield still attached to the end) and swung it at the Nadder, hitting it in the face. It whimpered and fell back, not going back again.
"Well done, Astrid!" Gobber praised. "And good going, Sage! Looking out for your peers is important!"
Sage felt like she was going to faint, dropping the mallet, with her hands falling to her knees. Where that moment of bravery came from she had no idea. Nearby, Astrid was scolding Hiccup.
"Is this some kind of a joke to you?! Our parents' war is about to become ours! Figure out which side you're on!"
Sage waited for the blonde to turn away from him before she faced the embarrassed Hiccup. "Are you okay?" She asked as she picked up her mallet.
He swallowed. "Yeah. Um, Sage-"
"Good." She turned her back on him and went in the same direction of the others, not bothering to hear what he had to say.
That evening, Gobber took the recruits to the watch tower to have their supper, insisting that they should communicate and learn from him. Sage was all for it, but to her surprise, Gobber wasn't the only one willing to share.
"Oh, please tell me more!" Tuffnut had forced himself to sit on Tryggr's other side despite his twin's attempt to do so, trying to coax the older man into some crazy story that made Tryggr chuckle.
"Ruff, move! I can't see!" Ruffnut complained, trying to shove the boy off the bench.
"Who cares? You don't pay attention anyway!"
"I do, too!"
"Do not!"
"Oh, I'll show you who doesn't pay attention-!"
"Kids, stop!" Tryggr laughed, checking to see if his chicken was cooked and took a generous bite out of it. "I don't have half as many interesting stories as Gobber does, believe me."
"Well, he does have, what, forty years on you?" Snotlout snorted and received an elbow to the ribs by Astrid as a result.
"More like twenty, you idiot." Gobber was still smiling though. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Hiccup chuckling, even if he'd been silent throughout the evening. "But if you'd rather hear Tryggr Happy's stories-"
"No! I've heard all his." Sage leaned forward, biting down on her bottom lip as she did. "You said you might tell us how you lost your hand!"
"Oh yeah!" Fishlegs piped up happily. "I want to know!"
"But we know what happened." Tuffnut said in disappointment. He and Ruffnut may have 'outgrown' Tryggr, but they were never quite willing to forget the excitement they got from following after him. "Dragons, right? Am I right?"
"Aye, but do you know how?" Gobber raised an eyebrow, smirking as he did.
Sage did know, but only through the village, never told by Gobber's perspective. She found herself having a genuinely good time, and whether it was because nobody was paying her any more attention than they were the others, or because of her uncle being present, she didn't know. She managed to eat some of her chicken, handing the rest to Tryggr without a word and he happily started chomping down, letting both Sage and Tuffnut lean into him as they listened to Gobber. The night was calm, the fire was hot, the company seemed good (so far) and she had managed to go through a few hours without worrying about her dad, the chief and the others. They should be back any day and she needed to have a good reason to keep up the dragon training; she was determined to believe that he was coming back alive.
"...and with one twist, he took my hand, and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face: I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg." He lifted his peg leg.
Fishlegs gaped. "Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon? Like if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed the dragon from the inside by...crushing his heart, or something."
"That would be pretty awesome." Tryggr grinned as if what the boy had said was genius. "Imagine having that power!"
"It'll be like being a real hero!" Tuffnut agreed.
"A super real hero!" His sister piped up from beside him before both gasped.
"A superhero!"
"Super viking," Tryggr corrected, swinging his arm over Sage's shoulders. "But Gobber's just got war wounds instead."
"Shows I survived, innit?" Gobber beamed.
"And now you've got some cool stories to go with them." Sage contributed and he gave her a nod.
Snotlout groaned angrily, glaring at his food. "I swear, I'm so angry right now! I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight. With my face!"
"Told you vikings were stupid." Tryggr whispered in his niece's ear and she giggled.
Gobber shook his head at Snotlout. "Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon. Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be, too. Tomorrow we get to the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?"
Sage barely paid attention to the twins as they began to argue, instead noticing that Hiccup had gone rushing off. She frowned, hating that she still cared and simply stood, stretching her back as she did. Tryggr was pulled aside for a moment by Gobber and while the others went hurrying down the steps of the watch tower, it took her a moment too long to realise that she had someone standing in front of her. "Oh! Shit, Astrid, you scared me!" She laughed nervously as she looked away from Gobber and Tryggr to face the blonde.
"You should pay more attention to your surroundings then." She folded her arms across her chest.
She rolled her eyes. "Is that all you wanted?"
"No...I wanted to say, thanks." She seemed as awkward as Sage felt. "For the arena. I could've gotten killed if you hadn't distracted that Nadder. I mean, I know you were saving Hiccup-"
"No, I wasn't. I mean, I was, but you were the one that needed the direct help. You were in front of him." She shook her head. "But Gobber said we had to work together, right? Or at least, my uncle said we will have to."
"Smart guy." She said, no doubt referring to Tryggr. "Anyway, I appreciate it."
"Despite me being me?" She added and saw Astrid's eye twitched. "I'm not as weak as everyone thinks, y'know."
"Maybe you're not. You're at least trying, that's better than I can say about your boyfriend." She scowled.
Sage's cheeks flushed and she clenched her jaw. "Hiccup is not my boyfriend."
"But do you know what he does when he goes running off the way he does? Because he does that a lot."
"I know and no, I don't." She huffed. "He isn't even my friend right now either. I need to take this seriously, and I don't think Hiccup is capable of understanding why. Not anymore. He used to want this as badly as I did, but something's changed."
"Yeah, because he's Hiccup." Astrid shook her head. "How can you think he can take this seriously?"
"Because he knows what it's like to be seen as less than." She felt that instinctive defensive mode come up and Astrid frowned. "C'mon, Astrid. You're easily the best fighter out of us and even you feel like you have something to prove. How do you think it's like for us? But it's worse for him, right? He's the Chief's son. He has to be better. I might be mad at him, but I get it. Maybe you should try showing a bit of understanding."
She seemed in thought for a moment, but it was only a moment, because her face cleared and she scoffed. "I'll show some understanding when he doesn't act like an idiot and make it seem like he's going to get us killed. It's like you said: we have to work together. But this is also a competition. Hiccup just gets in the way. So I don't care that he wants to prove himself, because he clearly doesn't want it enough. If he did, he'd do better."
The next training session involved the Hideous Zippleback, and it was seemed to be as terrifying if not more than the Deadly Nadder, which Sage had not thought possible. The Nadder was quick, worked swiftly on its feet, but made noise, and she had deducted how to use that to her advantage, but the Zippleback was different. The green gas released by the dragon cut off her sight, her back almost pressed between Astrid's and Ruffnut's as the only trio of the teens tried to keep their eyes on their invaded surroundings. Her mallet was attached to her back, prepared for use, but she didn't have her shield in her arms this time, but a bucket of water. Gobber made sure to tell them beforehand (I know, shocker, considering he keeps them in headfirst with these training sessions) that the Zippleback was a two headed dragon, and each had a different ability. As if that wasn't scary enough, knowing what each one did could mean life or death.
"Today is about teamwork." He told them. "Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."
Fishlegs, who was back to back with Hiccup, was talking. Sage would've blanked him out, but Fishlegs seemed to know more about dragons than nearly everyone, just not how to fight them. "Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, by crushing its victims-"
"Will you please stop that?!" Hiccup snapped, as on edge as everyone else.
She will admit, Fishlegs wasn't saying anything useful, just stuff that made the dragon more terrifying.
The trio of girls tried to stay close together, but one moment they were keeping their eyes pealed for the dragons, the next Sage found herself drenched. She gasped, startled by the water that was now dripping from her, taking her a moment longer than Astrid and Ruffnut to realise that it was Snotlout and Tuffnut that had thrown their water at the three of them. In her shock, Sage had dropped her own bucket, the water also covering her boots and she clenched her jaw in irritation, already beginning to shiver. The boys didn't seem to care that they had acted so impulsively and stupidly.
"Hey! It's us, idiots!" Ruffnut complained.
Her twin snickered in amusement. "Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon."
"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque figure━━━Ow!" Snotlout had begun, before Astrid threw a punch at him before dunking his head with her bucket, managing to drench him like he had them.
"You're both idiots!" Sage tried kicking her bucket at them, but missed when Tuffnut ducked, yet his victory was short-lived as his sister tossed her own at him, hitting straight in the face. He cried out in surprise, before he was grabbed by the leg and dragged into the wall of smoke.
"Wait!" Astrid tried to tell them but a tail had come out of the smoke, knocking them all off their feet. Tuffnut came running out of the mist screaming.
"I'm hurt! Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"
The girls and Snotlout all jumped to their feet and started running. Sage had no idea where her mallet had gone, as it had escaped the stealth of her back. Great, she didn't have a weapon nor did she have any water. She might as well just ask this dragon to eat her!
Fishlegs audibly whimpered. "Chances of survival are dwindling into single-digits now."
There was a scream from behind her and Sage whipped around to see Fishlegs taking off, the dragon revealing its head and judging by the green smoke coming from the mouth, it was not the one that needed to be covered in water. It seemed to move like a snake, the long necks giving it space between the heads and the unprotected body. Once Fishlegs had taken off, the Zippleback then turned its attention to the second boy, which made Hiccup look particularly small.
"Hiccup!"
"Now, Hiccup!" Gobber tried yelling.
Doing as he was told, Hiccup tried throwing his bucket at the second head, but the water didn't even come close to reaching it. The boy deflated, his shoulders dropping in defeat. "Oh, come on!" He fell back as the dragon roared in his face and he scrambled back once he hit the ground, the toxic gas again being released from one of the heads. It snarled loudly before pouncing.
Sage screamed his name the same time as Gobber, but before either of them could get more than a step closer to him, somehow something completely unexpected happened. To be fair, whenever Hiccup came close to getting killed, which was frankly more often than not, he somehow got out of it unscathed a majority of the time, or with a cut or some scratch, something that would heal. But the fact was: he got out of it. This was different: this was purposely going into danger knowing you might not survive it. Only Hiccup wasn't now escaping death by the skin of his teeth like he typically did. To the shock of everyone, Sage included, he was pushing his hands forward and the dragon was whimpering out as it backed away from the boy, straight back into the cage. Everyone froze in disbelief.
"Back! Back!" The boy was yelling, herding the Zippleback, paying no mind to his mentor and the teens unable to tear their eyes away. "Now, don't you make me tell you again! Yes, that's right! Back into your cage!" He seemed to throw something, but Sage couldn't see what it was. "Now think about what you've done." He slammed the door of the enclosure and stood back, locking it and turning around.
Sage's jaw was dropped. Fishlegs drops his empty bucket. What in Thor's name was that?!
"Okay!" Hiccup awkwardly grinned. "So, are we done? Because I've got some things I need to...Yep, I'll see you tomorrow!"
With that, he scurried away, leaving them standing there like a bunch of statues.