Hiccup and I decided to run to the Great Hall--not a good idea. Why did we do this?
Well, I said that would be the fastest way to get to the hall so we wouldn’t miss any valuable information, like how to avoid Gronckles in written form. The only problem with my amazing suggestion was that it wasn't so amazing; we were completely out of breath.
And worse, the two of us breathed so hard we sounded like a herd of disgruntled sheep, and Hiccup was still drenched to the bone! You’d think all the cold air and swirling wind would dry his clothes, but this was Berk. It was too cold for such optimistic ideologies. Hiccup barely even shivered!
Another thing to note was how tired Hiccup looked. The gradual shift from his child-like wonder was unfortunate. It could have been because of how far we’d sprinted, but his eyes have always been my loyal opening to what was really going on. Speaking of, Hiccup’s eyes remained peeled to the ground, holding a certain dullness, and his frown added to my concern.
“Hiccup, are you okay?”
Hiccup sighed but gave no response. He pulled open the hall’s huge doors and slowly walked in. See, we rushed here to avoid missing any useful information, but this reasoning vanished as I trailed silently after my friend.
Gobber and the other teens were all by one table in the middle of the hall. A few more Vikings were scattered here and there, but most of them looked like they’d had one too many drinks. Fishlegs was first to spot us. He excitedly waved at me and caught the others’ attention. I waved back enthusiastically, but Snotlout thought my friendly gesture was aimed at him and waved too.
“Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?” Gobber asked.
I hadn’t realised we were going to focus on where we failed. I thought this would be extra tips and tricks since blindly throwing us into the ring left all but one of us blasted (and slightly injured). Astrid cast a dark look at everyone, warning them not to give any suggestions. Instead, she scowled.
“I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy and threw off my reverse tumble.”
“Yeah, we noticed,” Ruffnut scoffed.
Astrid's words were pure gibberish to me. What in the world was a reverse tumble? Whatever it was, Astrid was far from pleased at Ruff’s little quip about it. She glared at the girl with such venom, I was surprised Ruff didn’t drop dead right then and there--not that Ruff seemed that bothered.
“I think you were great,” Snotlout piped up. He stared at Astrid with a dreamy smile (she deadpanned him), adding, “It was so Astrid!”
“No, she’s right. You must be tough on yourselves, or you can’t improve,” Gobber wisely said.
There were two plates with a chicken leg each at the end of their table. Hiccup and I took them and tried to sit beside the others, but Snotlout immediately spread his legs to cover all the space, and like the questionably loyal friend he was, Tuffnut mimicked him. The two boys sneered at Hiccup, so we walked past them to the empty table.
“Wait, not you, Elspeth! You can sit with us,” Snotlout exclaimed as I was about to sit beside Hiccup.
“I thought you didn’t want us to sit there?” I reminded him, frowning.
“I thought that too! Or were we secretly plotting to sit there instead…Or, did you set a trap? I hope there’s a mace involved. That would be sick!” Tuffnut wondered.
“Whatever,” Snotlout grumbled.
He glared at Tuff and clenched his fists tightly, his scowl very malicious. Tuffnut suddenly jolted and yelled, “OW!” So I could only assume Snotlout had kicked him.
YOU ARE READING
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍'𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 - httyd
Fanfiction❝Who knew a song could be so dangerous?❞ Elspeth Rydenmere, daughter of the village's songstress, was moved to Berk when she was three and has been living there since. With her own musical capabilities and knack for sneaking away from her mum, she g...
