How To Train Your Dragon 4 - Heirs Of Berk

09 - Vikingish

The night was quiet and silent for Nuffink, his dreams only filled with winged creatures and games he played with them the day before. He didn't regret to play like a six years old child, he didn't have so much fun in a very long time. Actually, he didn't remember have this much fun in his entire life.

His childhood games were only with his sister, chasing each other in the streets or the woods, playing fight as baby wolves, hunting trolls or picking mushrooms.

But as they grew up, Zephyr made friends, him not, and integrate his sister's gang proved to be difficult. So playing with the dragons was even more a miracle than playing with a friend. Friend... This simple word chased away the remaining dream and woke up insecurities. Nuffink realised he still hadn't ask Braan to be his friend.

He felt stupid to have forgotten, yet the boy was that carefree it seemed to rub off on the viking. He couldn't think straight when the chestnut boy was next to him, and Braan didn't help him do so with all his antics and carelessness.

As the chief proposed the previous evening, Nuffink brought Braan with him to Fishleg's class. Their teacher was really pleased to see Nuffink again – since the boy missed the last lesson as he was playing with Braan – and even more to welcome a new student.

Of course, anything new would catch everyone's attention, vikings were very curious. Nuffink tensed up seeing all these stares on Braan and him, him who was always transparent to all of them, if not invisible.

The two boys were separated when Fishlegs wanted to talk to Braan, Nuffink slowly walked to Zephyr's gang when his sister motioned him to come sit next to her. He thanked her mentally to keep on inviting him, but he doubted she was aiming to introduce braan to her friends, even if the brown-eyed boy had already met Igvid and Sneezelout.

Braan was intimidated by Fishlegs. Nuffink tried not to laugh seeing how he seemed so small and frightened. Fishlegs was not the scariest viking of the island, he was far from it actually. He may be tall and large-shouldered, everyone knew he was more stout than muscular, his chubby face was enough to say.

He had short blond hair, darker than Nuffink's, and a long braided mustache seemingly trying to compete with Gobber's, dragon tatooes on arms... But he smiled brightly. However, this was not enough to reassure Braan.

The teacher welcomed Braan to his lesson and to Berk. Since he was engrossed in his conversation, he totally forgot about the rest of the class, leaving the younglings talking. Nuffink caught some of the gossiping already starting to spread.

Even if the village was averagely big with a lot of inhabitants, the number of pre-teens and teens was few. Nobody was really talking to everyone, they were all split in differents groups. First there was Zephyr's group, composed by Gorth, Birdlegs, Igvid and Sneezelout, with occasional addition of Nuffink.

Second there were the Hisinger twins staying by themselves, sometimes joined by Igvid and Sneezelout. Troublemakers and bullies of smaller kids, Nuffink used to avoid them at any cost, but he couldn't escape from their mean pranks all the time.

Third, there were the Gunter sisters. Four girls from the same family, always hanging together. With fifteen years, Gerda was the eldest, followed by thirteen years old Gretta, twelve years old Olga and nine years old Guilda. The four of them looked strangely alike, people usually assumed they were quadruplets, but they weren't.

Same strawberry blond hair, same dark blue eyes, same rosy skin and button nose, same slim frame and high-pitch voices.

Nuffink happened to talk to them, but it was rare. It was always the same thing : Olga would come to talk to him with kindness, but would have to hurry and catch up with her sisters, who never noticed the chief's son.