Somewhere Only We Know

Chapter 9: The Young Girl's Questions

Even though Hiccup couldn't seem to get Rapunzel out of his mind, he was at least able to concentrate and finish the Dragon Training exam in the kill ring, where he had tamed a Gronckle by rubbing some garlic grass against its' nose into submission. Once the exam was over, Hiccup found a basket and once again, filled it with Toothless' favourite fish, and put on the riding vest and grabbed the tools and supplies he left in his room at his house before making his way through the forest until he was at the entrance for the cove. The hours that he spent with Toothless were the happiest of the day. Besides, Hiccup always liked running, and finally there was someone that he could run with and he didn't have to worry about someone shouting the name "Coward" after him or yell at him to get back inside during a dragon raid.

Hiccup could already see Toothless, who was gliding around, and even though he couldn't clear the canyon walls, the prosthetic tail fin had opened up enough so he could glide around a little without crashing headfirst to the ground. Hiccup was quite cautious in going down the stone ledges to the floor of the canyon, and he carefully went under the shield that was still stuck between two of the rocks, before walking over to Toothless, because his feet were rather exhausted and needed a break from running all the way to the cove. When Toothless had caught sight of Hiccup and the basket he was carrying, the dragon immediately stopped his gliding activity, and rushed over to Hiccup, but was careful not to accidentally crash into him and get him hurt.

"Hey, bud, it's great to see you too. I got here as fast as I could, because I'm sure that you're practically starving, so I made sure to bring your favourite food, but you have to wait just a little longer, because I'd like to see if there's anything new inside that mailbox over there." Hiccup reminded.

Hiccup walked to the the mailbox, while carrying the basket of fish, and carefully set it down before taking a close look at the mailbox, in which the red flag attached to it was standing up, so Hiccup immediately knew that a new letter from Rapunzel was waiting for him. He opened up the small door, put one of his hands inside to feel just a single sheet of paper, instantly took it out, and closed the small door of the mailbox before reading the letter.

Dear Hiccup,

I'd like to thank you very much for not only telling me about who you are, but also everything that has happened in your life so far before you started writing to me. You mentioned at the end of your letter that if I had any questions to ask about any of the things that you wrote down, I should write them in my next letter, and that's why I went through your long letter for a second time to look back on what caught my interest the most.

1. How many types of dragons are there, and what are their names?

2. Who or what is this "Astrid", and do they happen to be a dragon too?

3. Do you and your father have a great relationship with each other?

4. You didn't mention your mother at least once, so what's she like?

5. How did your parents manage to give you the name "Hiccup"?

6. Are you the only person in Dragon Training, or are there other people?

7. Could you be willing to send me one of your drawings sometime?

8. Is there anything good that you're able to cook or bake at home?

9. Can you promise not to tell anyone else in Berk about us writing letters?

10. Besides Toothless, do you have any other friends to hang out with?

11. Even though it sounds quite silly to ask at this point, can we be friends?

I believe that's all of the questions I could come up with, and believe it or not, I actually would have thought of more to ask you, but I'm sure that it might probably take a lot of your time. I would appreciate it very much if you could have an answer for each and every question of mine.

Sincerely, Rapunzel

While only about two questions had caused Hiccup to laugh for just a few short seconds, like the one that asked if Astrid was a dragon, and another asking if he could cook or bake, the rest of the questions left Hiccup with a sad feeling, and he almost felt like he was going to cry, but he knew that it wasn't such a good time. Hiccup closed the door of the mailbox, lowered the red flag, and put Rapunzel's letter in a pocket of his fur vest before taking it off and laying it on the ground, so that he could put on his riding vest to take few more practice runs to test Toothless' saddle up in the sky.

"Toothless, I'm sorry to keep you waiting again, but you don't have to worry anymore, because starting now, I'll be having my focus on you, and so before we begin on another crash course, I should have you eat your breakfast first..." Hiccup said.

He brought the basket down on the ground, and kicked it over, causing the contents of the basket to spill out, allowing the stench of dead fish to fill the air. Hiccup quickly covered his nose to avoid the smell, and while Toothless had started on eating the amount of one hundred salmon and Icelandic cod by bringing his head deeper into the basket, Hiccup assembled the last few parts of the saddle to his tail and the prosthetic tail fin.

Basically, a cord would run from the prosthetic tail fin to the left stirrup, and depending on how Hiccup pressed on it with his foot, it would alter the angle of the prosthetic tailfin and then Toothless would be able to fly the way he normally did before Hiccup knocked him out of the sky, and he still had guilty feelings about doing that. Just as Toothless finished his breakfast of fish, Hiccup hopped onto his back, and attached the metal loops of his leather belt to the metal hooks on Toothless' saddle.

"Alright Toothless! Let's go!" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless threw the basket away with his teeth before he thrust his wings downward and in a matter of only a few seconds, they were off the ground.