Without Saying

Chapter 15 - The Trader's Here!

Grey clouds drifted across the sky as I walked through the forest to the cove. The distant sound of thunder in the background guaranteed the appearances of a storm in a few minutes to an hour, so I hurried my pace. As my luck would have it, the raindrops started to fall moments before I reached the edge of the cove itself, and I had to scramble down the side and race across the way to make it to the tunnels entrance and avoid the frigid downpour that followed.

"*You're a little late.*"

Toothless warbled, while I closed the secret hatch behind me. I shot a slight glare his way but made no excuse. I had arrived a little later than I was hoping, but it wasn't like we had agreed upon a scheduled time or anything.

"*Just get over here, and let me get the measurements I came for.*"

Toothless huffed but did as I asked, flopping on the ground in front of me with a loud plop. I rolled my eyes at his childish attitude but began measuring just the same. Things started to calm down a little bit after the conversation with Dad went so wrong. I guess seeing an angry Hiccup disappearing into the woods for hours was enough of a scare to keep everyone's questions at bay, for now at least. Regardless of how short that free time was, however, I tried my best to get used to life on Berk again, slipping back into some of the old habits and routines I used to follow as a kid, or at least that was what I tried to make it look like. I had reclaimed my position at the forge, despite Gobber's insistence that I could wait a little longer, but I wanted the opportunity to have better access to the forge so I could work on Toothless' tail more easily. Gobber couldn't resist after that. A few days after my talk with Dad, Toothless and I found a Gronkle hovering just off the Northeastern coast, and after a long hard afternoon of explaining and gathering the right materials, we were able to create the Gronkle Iron that we needed. We then waited for nightfall to then smuggle the Gronkle Iron into the back room of the forge, and when Gobber was away or would head out for the night I used that time to work under the excuse of 'finishing another project' so I could stay late and no one would suspect anything. After all, before I left Berk, it was always quite normal for me to stay for hours into the night working in the forge. Of course, I still tried to keep up the illusion of working late by finishing an axe or two every time I stayed though. I could not have them figuring out what I was doing, not even a little bit, or I could risk Toothless being discovered, so I kept up the act. Kept up frequent appearances to assure everyone of my investment into the community, although it wasn't all an act. I really was interested in Berk's welfare but couldn't seem to afford the luxury of making much of an effort due to a sudden rise of concerning reports from Eret. Drago was picking up his activity everywhere across the North with a much more aggressive manner than he'd done in the past. It had me worried, giving me the sinking feeling that it was only a matter of time before something big happened.

"*Are you done yet?!!*"

Toothless whined, taking that moment to turn onto his back, simultaneously pushing me back onto my butt in the process.

"*I am now, you over-sized cat.*"

I grinned with a slight chuckle as I picked myself back up and brushed myself off. CAAAWW!!! Suddenly a blur of blue and purple slammed into my back, causing me to lose my balance once again, only this time I was sent flying forward. Luckily, I was able to react in time and dove into a quick roll to put me back on my feet. That was when I saw my attacker was none other than Minx, the messenger terror between Eret and myself.

Dear Sun,

The letter started,

I hope this report finds you safe and sound in your new location. I would like to start this report by speaking for the whole team and saying that we hope you will stay away as long as you need to in order to regain some peace and hopefully come up with a brilliantbattle plan for when you return...