Nothing to Fear

Chapter Ten: Obstacles

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Hiccup jerked awake and groaned loudly at the increasing pounds from the doorway on the other side of the door. Throwing the blanket over his head and covering his exposed ear with his hand didn't seem to help much, and when the pounding only seemed to grow louder, he threw the blankets off and strapped on his prosthetic with a pitiful whine. He opened the bedroom door and walked down the hall in time to see Brandyn trudge through the living room with his shirt untucked and hair askew. The teenager groggily muttered something under his breath as he opened the door to reveal Allie the Insincere.

The chief of the Outcasts huffed in annoyance. "About time. I'm-"

"Seriously?" Brandyn interrupted and Hiccup was once again surprised at the tone of voice he used with her. She, too, seemed surprised. "Dawn has barely broken, we have two exhausted guests in the house, and you can't even pretend to be courteous?"

Allie frowned in annoyance. "Brandyn-"

"Come back in three hours." The teenager promptly slammed the door in her face, muffling her cry of anger. Brandyn snickered under his breath and turned back toward his made-up bed on the couch, but froze when he saw Hiccup standing there in the middle of the hallways. "Heh... you saw all that didn't you?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell your mother."

"Thanks... I think." Brandyn shoved his messy bangs off his face. "You should go back to bed. Long day ahead of us."

"Yeah..." But Hiccup knew he wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep again. "I could say the same for you."

"Eh I can sleep anywhere, anytime. I just feel bad that she woke you up this early."

Hiccup shrugged. "I'll live."

"She's so annoying," Brandyn huffed, plopping back into his rumpled sheets on the couch. "I can't wait until I'm old enough to get out of here."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere but here. Not anywhere colder than this."

"What do you do?"

"Mostly training to be a soldier. You know, typical Outcast stuff."

Hiccup snorted. "Oh, you're not part of the landscaping system?"

"Oh, thanks for reminding me; I need to water my petunias. Have you lost your mind?" They laughed quietly, hoping not to wake up Brandyn's mother and Adrianna. "No, I think I'd go crazy if I just had to till the ground all day."

"Every person has his own work."

"This much is true."

"So... anything else? You have a Changewing. Do you train with him at all?" Hiccup inquired.

Brandyn nodded, "For sure, when I have time outside of weaponry and strategy and whatnot. I wish we had more time to train together since we're kinda supposed to be a team, but the chief's adamant that our soldiers' training is more important. As is the agriculture."

"Well, she's right on that last point. I honestly don't know how Alvin ever had people living here. You should've seen it before she got to it."

"Was it that bad? I mean... you can kinda tell that it's not perfect."

Hiccup laughed, "The first time I saw it I recall thinking 'talk about your fixer upper'."

"You didn't."

"No really, I probably snarked it to Alvin's face."

"Honestly, how have you made it this far in life?"