A/N: I decided to take a break yesterday. I wasn't feeling well and I was out almost all day lol Even now i don't feel well, but i couldn't go another day without an update :) Though I admit its never taken be an entire day to write anything... :/ So here ya go! Chapter 13 :3
Days pass, and because of Gothi's orders, I'm not allowed to get out of bed until my shoulder pain is gone, and the wound almost one hundred percent healed. According to her, it could take weeks. I'm upset, and angry. I just want to get up and go outside, i don't care about anything else! If anything, I wish that I could just walk to the beach, take in the ocean breeze and look at the sunset. True there was a small window where I could look out and observe, but it wasn't the same as feeling the world around me.
"So how are you feeling?" Astrid asks one afternoon as I lay in my bed, bored of the ceiling.
"Like a trapped dragon," I am sarcastic of course, "I'm sick of this room. I've been in here a week. I want to get out!"
"I bet it sucks," She folds her arms over her chest, "you're in here day and night, with no one to talk to..."
"Thanks for the reminder..." I groan, "Snotlout hasn't been here in days."
"I heard he's have issues with his dad. Guess word got out you two started dating again."
"His dads probably chewing him out again," I sigh, "no wonder he broke up with me."
"Give him time. I'm sure he'll come."
"I know."
Astrid smiles, "By the way, you never told me what happened between the two of you."
That's true, I never did mention it. So I tell her everything, starting from when I bumped into him outside the forest, to the incident after my "surgery". What I DON'T mention is the details, like the words I heard him speak as I fell asleep. Those things I want to keep to myself.
For a moment Astrid stares at me, not bothering to say a word. I see in her eyes a curiosity, like there was something she wanted to ask. Probably something along the lines of 'What the...?'
"I didn't know Snotlout was like that..." She mutters loud enough for me to hear.
I laugh, "You and me both."
"I never pictured Snotlout to be the..." Astrid places her hand over her mouth, "I think I just threw up in my mouth."
"Hey!"
"Its disgusting."
"I don't think so."
"That's because you have really bad taste."
"I do not," I exclaim, "just different preferences. He's nice to me."
"Because he likes you. To the rest of us he's still obnoxious."
I laugh again, "I find him funny. The obnoxious side, that is. Its like a huge comedy act."
"I don't understand you..."
"I don't understand me either..." Truth be told, I was missing him a lot. Obnoxious, yeah, but i guess finding it funny made a difference in how I saw him. Being stuck in bed was no fun either, though I do wish I could help him with his dad. But my involvement would make it worse if I was the core of the problem. I slam my head against the pillow, "Stupid...helpless..."
"Your not helpless,"
"But I can't do anything," I exclaim, "everyone's having some sort of an issue and i'm stuck in bed, with no way to help. And my stupid arm is gone, so now i'm more worthless than before..."
"You got the twins to talk out their problem. Hiccups flying Toothless now," Astrid says, "minimal but that's besides the point. You've done so much to help the academy, I don't even know where to begin."
Of course I want to laugh, "I asked a question and got grounded. That's not exactly helping. That's just existing.."
"And yet the twins are inseparable again and Hiccup attempting to ride Toothless," She responds, "you don't have to do something amazing to be a hero."
I shake my head, "I'm not a hero. I'm a person. Ordinary."
"That doesn't mean anything," She says, "ordinary people do ordinary things everyday, and some ordinary things are heroic."
Still I don't believe her. The world around me saw a lost limb as something amazing, as a badge of a warrior. I saw it as nothing more than a missing limb. No badge, unless of course its earned. I did nothing but get in the way, do nothing about a situation, and I paid the price. I wasn't a warrior, much less a hero. I was a coward.
"You're not a coward."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking it."
This girl is a mind reader, "So what?"
"You're so stubborn,"
I laugh, "That's what Snotlout use to say."
"He's one to talk,"
"I know right," I agree, "once he got mad at me for disagreeing with him. Then he ranted about how I stubborn I was."
"I remember that," Astrid recalls, "then he went on a twenty minute rant about the obnoxious personalities of vikings."
"Funny. He is a viking. The most stubborn, obnoxious one around."
"And yet you find him funny."
"He is!" I recall the first incident in the forest, "when we got lost in the forest, he said wild dragons would carry me off. It was funny."
"I don't see how that' funny."
I sigh, "Whatever. I find it funny." For a moment I wish he was there, talking to me like he did on that first day in this room. I wanted to see him so bad, my heart was like a aching pit.
Astrid smiles, "He'll come. Don't worry. Like you said, he's stubborn."
"As stubborn as any viking," I knew it to be true, "I wish he were here. Sorry, i'm whining..."
"Nah," She answers.
I want to ignore this stab in my heart, "Lets change the subject."
For the next hour we talk about a variety of things, and I try to ignore the constant pain in my shoulder where the surgery was. It was difficult, the pain reminds me of what just happened...of everything I suffered with before it was removed. But at the same time while I feel sad because of everything that has happened, I'm happy. If it hadn't happened, Snotlout and I would have never gotten together.
It's unclear how many hours pass before the door opens. Hiccup and Valka walk in, walking towards the side of my bed, "Do you feel better?" I hear something slam into the door, despite it being open, "what's that!?"
The purple Naddler appears, knocking half the stuff off Gothi's shelves as it slams into the wall. It cocks its head, then runs over to my bed hitting my arm, "Don't ruin Gothi's house," I pat the dragon.
"He was outside again," Hiccup notes.
Valka smiles, "A dedicated dragon is a good dragon."
"Its true."
She approaches him, calm and collected, and with a wave of her hand Raefor is sitting, watching her as she observes him, "He's very friendly," She starts checking everywhere, looking for something I guess, "and he's four. See, you can tell here..." She points to a specific spot, but I really don't understand. I get a few more fun facts, his over protective instincts, a reminder of his ability to sense disease.
"What are you going to name him?"
I think for a moment, "I don't know. I'll have to think." The dragon looks at me, and bumps my head softly, "Raefor." I finally say, and the dragon tilts his his head.
"That's a interesting name." Hiccup comments.
I nod, "He's like this little ray of sunshine. I guess finding him when he was four is significant, put it together and you have Raefor."
Finally, my dragon had a name.
The day passes slowly, and once again I'm alone in my room. The sun has fallen over the horizon, and Raefor lays on the floor, his eyes closed; his chest rising and falling. I felt lonely, and I was waiting for someone to come in and make things a little more interesting. Which each hour that passes, I want to see Snotlout more and more. I want to be out of this pathetic room. It had been so long and I longed to see the water, and the stars, and the sky. Feel the wind in my hair, breath in fresh air.
And then the door opens, and a familiar figure stumbles through the door, "Really Hookfang!?"
Raefor stirs, glancing at the door, but places his head back on the floor and resumes sleeping when he see's Snotlout.
I can hear Hookfang snort before Snotlout shuts the door behind him.
"Look who finally showed up," I'm sarcastic of course, "what happened to you!?" Snotlout adjusts his helmet, coming over to my bed and taking a seat on the stool beside it.
"At least I'm here now."
"I heard your dad was giving you problems."
Snotlout looks at me, "Duh. Who else could it be?"
Time to tease him, "I don't know, an angry mob, wild dragons, an ex-girlfriend."
"I don't have any ex-girlfriends," Snotlout says, "besides, all those things would cower at the sight of Snotlout."
"Big ego, wouldn't you say?"
"I'm only being honest."
Yeah he was, were his words actually true? No. But I smile and look back up at the ceiling, it was becoming a bit of a habit recently, "So how have you been? What have you been up to?"
Snotlout puts his hands on an empty space on the bed, overlapping the right with the left, "The usual warrior stuff. Lifting heavy stuff, and all that."
I look at him.
"Fine. I was at my house. My dad wouldn't let me leave."
"So you snuck out?"
"Duh. I couldn't go another day without seeing you."
My heart stops, and then it begins to accelerate. I'm pretty sure my face is turning tomato red. If I had my right arm I'd be trying to hide my face until it was no longer red, how embarrassing. But I'm touched, "It was kinda lonely..."
"You'd better feel lonely when Snotlout isn't around!" He declares.
I laugh, "Gothi says I can't leave this bed until the pain is gone and the wound is closed," Might as well mention it now, "but that could take weeks. Its suffocating in here."
"I'll take you for a ride."
"Snotlout, I can't leave."
"I'm not going to let my princess sit here and suffocate," He gets up, "we'll be back before no one notices. Don't be a baby!"
"But-" I look at him, he's being genuine right now, "what if something happens to my arm."
"Nothing will happen. Snolouts protecting you." He smiles.
For a moment I think, it is what I really wanted...and no one else was going to know right? Gothi was already sleeping and NOTHING woke up that woman. I nod finally, "Sure. Why not?" I try to adjust myself so I can get the blanket off me, but its proving to be difficult. I struggle doing it with one arm, Snotlout ends up helping, "Thanks." I muttur, slightly embarrassed. I go to get up, "I can do this myself," I saw him try to help.
He stands there watching as I sit up, mentally preparing myself to stand for the first time in a while. Sure once and a while I got up to walk around a little bit, but not for extensive periods of time. My feet hit the floor, and I stare at my right shoulder. It was discouraging. I was a coward.
As soon as I leave the bed, and my feet are firmly placed on the floor, holding all my body weight, I stumble a little. It was weird walking with one arm. Snotlout grabs my good arm before I fall.
"Careful. Don't die."
I smile, "I'm not going to die."
"I really hope not," He secures his hand on my shoulder, avoiding the bandage.
"I can do it myself."
"I'm not letting you kill yourself," Snotlout snaps.
"I'll be back Raefor," I say to the dragon. It gets up, snarling, "its fine. He's not hurting me." The dragon continues for a couple more seconds, then starts to follow me, "Stay here." Raefor hesitates, but settles back down and watches us as we leave.
We walk to the door, and as soon as the door opens I know I'm in for one crazy ride. The snow is already beginning to fall, Snoggletog was three or four weeks away, but an early snow was always a bad sign, "Great. Snow, just what we need."
Hookfang is on top of Gothi's roof, Snotlout glares, "Get down here you over-sized lizard." He roars, attempting to hit Snotlout with his tail, but when he misses he doesn't budge.
I laugh, "You're dragon's just like you."
"He is not!"
"Disrespects authority, obnoxious."
"I'm not obnoxious."
The dragon stays on the roof for a few minutes, but looks at me, then jumps and flies. He's now hovering over Berk, at the same level as the houses platform, allowing us to carefully and safely get on him. Snotlout mutters some sort of insult at the dragon, but helps me on to his wing. I keep my balance as Snotlout adjusts his seat, "Wait, it adjusts?"
"Of course it does. I'm the best rider in Berk, so I get the best seat."
He pulls the back of his seat down so it lays on his dragon,"Voila. Two seats. Kinda impressive isn't it? It was my idea."
"It was?"
"Of course it was Penny. A genius like me is the only one able enough to come up with such an amazing idea," Snotlout sits down in his set, "come, enjoy the finer things in life."
I try to balance myself as my feet make their way across Hookfangs body, Snotlout glares, "What are you doing!? You can't that do that by yourself. You'll fall off and die or something..." Snotlout complains, getting up, reaching over and grabbing my arm, "...here..." He helps me until I'm sitting down.
"Thanks..." I'm blushing, I know I am.
He glares, "Yeah, yeah. Just don't fall off..." I can't see his face, but i'm only guessing that he's blushing, "Hookfang, go!"
The dragon roars, zooming away from the house into the sky. I stop myself from falling off, by placing my hand against Hookfangs back. But then as we ascend to the clouds, we dive and my face plants into Snotlouts back, grasping his waist. When Hookfang finally levels I start freaking out inside, "Sorry..." I say.
Snotlout's head tilts towards me, "...I never said I didn't like it..."
"Oh...so its okay if I...?"
"Don't ask stupid questions. Didn't you hear what I just said!? Do i really need to repeat myself!?" Snotlout exclaims.
At first I hesitate, trying to figure out how to do it since I have only one arm, and want to be careful not to pull the bandages off. Eventually i wrap my left arm around his waist to keep myself from falling, "You're sure you don't mind?"
"Really!? Didn't I just say that!? You'll fall off if you let go!" He exclaims, "no one's looking."
I felt him tense up a little, but he relaxes suddenly.
We fly around for a while, the cold air is chilly against my skin. But I don't feel too cold because for once I'm not staring at a wall, or breathing in the stuffy air in Gothi's home. The sky is above me, the stars are saying hello a the twinkle...and I am where belong.
Hookfang lands on a sea stack outside of Berk, Snotlout jumps off first. I try to get off, but its hard with one arm and a huge open wound. So I lower myself gently, trying to avoid rubbing the bandage against Hookfang. Before Snotlout can do anything, or my shoulder touches the dragon, Hookfang picks me up by my shirt and lowers me on to the sea stack, "Thank you Hookfang." I pat his head and he looks at me.
"Stupid dragon," Snotlout murmurs, "I should do that!" The dragon roars jumping off the stack and flying away, "Hey! Get back here!" Snotlout runs to the edge of the sea stack.
I watch as Hookfang disappears into a cloud. Thankfully there weren't many out today, but I turn and look away. At this point I do wish I had a coat, going back wasn't an option until Hookfang returned, but would he even do that?
The wind is picking up a little, but my eyes concentrate on the moon as it sits in the sky. It wasn't full just yet, and there were some clouds in the sky hiding its beauty, but I could still see bits and parts. It is amazing. A week and I hadn't seen the moon, but now I could!
Thoughts of Oleander creep into my mind, the nights we would spend together before she would dive into the ocean...or before I would sneak out later to see Snotlout.
"Haven't seen that in a while," I finally say.
"What? Its just the moon!"
"But its so beautiful," I sit on the edge of the sea stacks dangling my legs over the edge. What a great moon, so large, so white, so perfect. The stars are amazing too as they twinkle and contrast to the black sky.
A couple seconds later Snotlout is standing over me gazing up at the sky as well, "It's been a while," I note staring up at him, "but it hasn't changed."
"Of course not," He mutters, taking a seat beside me, "besides, it was no fun with Ruffnut."
"Really? I thought you wouldn't mind all those pranks."
"She didn't pull any pranks. The sheep, that happened a few times. Other than that, Ruffnut didn't pull pranks."
I sigh, "Its kinda hard to pull pranks when your partner in crime is mad at you."
"I don't get it."
"Well," There's no point in describing it, "nevermind." I look back at the moon, "I feel sorry for Berk. The twins are back to their pranking crimes."
"Tell me about it! They've pranked me so many times. This morning, somehow they got a bucket of yaknog above my room door. It spilled all over me when I opened it."
"Ew!" I shudder, "that's disgusting. You showered right?"
"Do you think I'm an animal!? Of course I showered."
"How did they get that? Only Astrid knows how to make yaknog. Thankfully."
Snotlout looks at me, "Astrid's probably started making the yaknog already."
"Great. Disgusting drinks for the holidays. I'm excited." Sarcasm. The snow is still falling, flakes hit the ground.
Suddenly its cold, I place my arm in between my legs and chest and squeeze, trying to stay warm.
"Why didn't you bring a coat!?" Snotlout exclaims, "its cold."
"I couldn't go home for one. Remember, i'm not suppose to be out here?"
He snorts, rubbing his face with his hand, then scoots over, "Seriously...making me do this stuff." Snotlout's face turns red, then with some hesitation he puts his arm around my shoulder, "if you tell anyone I do this kind of stuff, I'll never talk to you again!" Of course I'm going to tell Astrid. Hopefully she won't make fun of him too much.
I laugh, resting my head on his shoulder, "You're really warm."
"Of course I am! I'm dressed warmly! You seriously need some warm clothes." He growls, frowning.
We sit there for a while, I'm feeling warmer now. My heart is accelerating, "Snotlout..." He looks out to the water, "...what's going to happen? With your dad I mean."
"Let me handle it. Snotlout can do anything," He looks at me, "besides, why shouldn't he accept you? You're a warrior. Like me."
"You're funny," I smile. This was the best, sitting with Snotlout and looking out at the most beautiful sight ever.
I hope nothing changes
Days pass, and because of Gothi's orders, I'm not allowed to get out of bed until my shoulder pain is gone, and the wound almost one hundred percent healed. According to her, it could take weeks. I'm upset, and angry. I just want to get up and go outside, i don't care about anything else! If anything, I wish that I could just walk to the beach, take in the ocean breeze and look at the sunset. True there was a small window where I could look out and observe, but it wasn't the same as feeling the world around me.
"So how are you feeling?" Astrid asks one afternoon as I lay in my bed, bored of the ceiling.
"Like a trapped dragon," I am sarcastic of course, "I'm sick of this room. I've been in here a week. I want to get out!"
"I bet it sucks," She folds her arms over her chest, "you're in here day and night, with no one to talk to..."
"Thanks for the reminder..." I groan, "Snotlout hasn't been here in days."
"I heard he's have issues with his dad. Guess word got out you two started dating again."
"His dads probably chewing him out again," I sigh, "no wonder he broke up with me."
"Give him time. I'm sure he'll come."
"I know."
Astrid smiles, "By the way, you never told me what happened between the two of you."
That's true, I never did mention it. So I tell her everything, starting from when I bumped into him outside the forest, to the incident after my "surgery". What I DON'T mention is the details, like the words I heard him speak as I fell asleep. Those things I want to keep to myself.
For a moment Astrid stares at me, not bothering to say a word. I see in her eyes a curiosity, like there was something she wanted to ask. Probably something along the lines of 'What the...?'
"I didn't know Snotlout was like that..." She mutters loud enough for me to hear.
I laugh, "You and me both."
"I never pictured Snotlout to be the..." Astrid places her hand over her mouth, "I think I just threw up in my mouth."
"Hey!"
"Its disgusting."
"I don't think so."
"That's because you have really bad taste."
"I do not," I exclaim, "just different preferences. He's nice to me."
"Because he likes you. To the rest of us he's still obnoxious."
I laugh again, "I find him funny. The obnoxious side, that is. Its like a huge comedy act."
"I don't understand you..."
"I don't understand me either..." Truth be told, I was missing him a lot. Obnoxious, yeah, but i guess finding it funny made a difference in how I saw him. Being stuck in bed was no fun either, though I do wish I could help him with his dad. But my involvement would make it worse if I was the core of the problem. I slam my head against the pillow, "Stupid...helpless..."
"Your not helpless,"
"But I can't do anything," I exclaim, "everyone's having some sort of an issue and i'm stuck in bed, with no way to help. And my stupid arm is gone, so now i'm more worthless than before..."
"You got the twins to talk out their problem. Hiccups flying Toothless now," Astrid says, "minimal but that's besides the point. You've done so much to help the academy, I don't even know where to begin."
Of course I want to laugh, "I asked a question and got grounded. That's not exactly helping. That's just existing.."
"And yet the twins are inseparable again and Hiccup attempting to ride Toothless," She responds, "you don't have to do something amazing to be a hero."
I shake my head, "I'm not a hero. I'm a person. Ordinary."
"That doesn't mean anything," She says, "ordinary people do ordinary things everyday, and some ordinary things are heroic."
Still I don't believe her. The world around me saw a lost limb as something amazing, as a badge of a warrior. I saw it as nothing more than a missing limb. No badge, unless of course its earned. I did nothing but get in the way, do nothing about a situation, and I paid the price. I wasn't a warrior, much less a hero. I was a coward.
"You're not a coward."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking it."
This girl is a mind reader, "So what?"
"You're so stubborn,"
I laugh, "That's what Snotlout use to say."
"He's one to talk,"
"I know right," I agree, "once he got mad at me for disagreeing with him. Then he ranted about how I stubborn I was."
"I remember that," Astrid recalls, "then he went on a twenty minute rant about the obnoxious personalities of vikings."
"Funny. He is a viking. The most stubborn, obnoxious one around."
"And yet you find him funny."
"He is!" I recall the first incident in the forest, "when we got lost in the forest, he said wild dragons would carry me off. It was funny."
"I don't see how that' funny."
I sigh, "Whatever. I find it funny." For a moment I wish he was there, talking to me like he did on that first day in this room. I wanted to see him so bad, my heart was like a aching pit.
Astrid smiles, "He'll come. Don't worry. Like you said, he's stubborn."
"As stubborn as any viking," I knew it to be true, "I wish he were here. Sorry, i'm whining..."
"Nah," She answers.
I want to ignore this stab in my heart, "Lets change the subject."
For the next hour we talk about a variety of things, and I try to ignore the constant pain in my shoulder where the surgery was. It was difficult, the pain reminds me of what just happened...of everything I suffered with before it was removed. But at the same time while I feel sad because of everything that has happened, I'm happy. If it hadn't happened, Snotlout and I would have never gotten together.
It's unclear how many hours pass before the door opens. Hiccup and Valka walk in, walking towards the side of my bed, "Do you feel better?" I hear something slam into the door, despite it being open, "what's that!?"
The purple Naddler appears, knocking half the stuff off Gothi's shelves as it slams into the wall. It cocks its head, then runs over to my bed hitting my arm, "Don't ruin Gothi's house," I pat the dragon.
"He was outside again," Hiccup notes.
Valka smiles, "A dedicated dragon is a good dragon."
"Its true."
She approaches him, calm and collected, and with a wave of her hand Raefor is sitting, watching her as she observes him, "He's very friendly," She starts checking everywhere, looking for something I guess, "and he's four. See, you can tell here..." She points to a specific spot, but I really don't understand. I get a few more fun facts, his over protective instincts, a reminder of his ability to sense disease.
"What are you going to name him?"
I think for a moment, "I don't know. I'll have to think." The dragon looks at me, and bumps my head softly, "Raefor." I finally say, and the dragon tilts his his head.
"That's a interesting name." Hiccup comments.
I nod, "He's like this little ray of sunshine. I guess finding him when he was four is significant, put it together and you have Raefor."
Finally, my dragon had a name.
The day passes slowly, and once again I'm alone in my room. The sun has fallen over the horizon, and Raefor lays on the floor, his eyes closed; his chest rising and falling. I felt lonely, and I was waiting for someone to come in and make things a little more interesting. Which each hour that passes, I want to see Snotlout more and more. I want to be out of this pathetic room. It had been so long and I longed to see the water, and the stars, and the sky. Feel the wind in my hair, breath in fresh air.
And then the door opens, and a familiar figure stumbles through the door, "Really Hookfang!?"
Raefor stirs, glancing at the door, but places his head back on the floor and resumes sleeping when he see's Snotlout.
I can hear Hookfang snort before Snotlout shuts the door behind him.
"Look who finally showed up," I'm sarcastic of course, "what happened to you!?" Snotlout adjusts his helmet, coming over to my bed and taking a seat on the stool beside it.
"At least I'm here now."
"I heard your dad was giving you problems."
Snotlout looks at me, "Duh. Who else could it be?"
Time to tease him, "I don't know, an angry mob, wild dragons, an ex-girlfriend."
"I don't have any ex-girlfriends," Snotlout says, "besides, all those things would cower at the sight of Snotlout."
"Big ego, wouldn't you say?"
"I'm only being honest."
Yeah he was, were his words actually true? No. But I smile and look back up at the ceiling, it was becoming a bit of a habit recently, "So how have you been? What have you been up to?"
Snotlout puts his hands on an empty space on the bed, overlapping the right with the left, "The usual warrior stuff. Lifting heavy stuff, and all that."
I look at him.
"Fine. I was at my house. My dad wouldn't let me leave."
"So you snuck out?"
"Duh. I couldn't go another day without seeing you."
My heart stops, and then it begins to accelerate. I'm pretty sure my face is turning tomato red. If I had my right arm I'd be trying to hide my face until it was no longer red, how embarrassing. But I'm touched, "It was kinda lonely..."
"You'd better feel lonely when Snotlout isn't around!" He declares.
I laugh, "Gothi says I can't leave this bed until the pain is gone and the wound is closed," Might as well mention it now, "but that could take weeks. Its suffocating in here."
"I'll take you for a ride."
"Snotlout, I can't leave."
"I'm not going to let my princess sit here and suffocate," He gets up, "we'll be back before no one notices. Don't be a baby!"
"But-" I look at him, he's being genuine right now, "what if something happens to my arm."
"Nothing will happen. Snolouts protecting you." He smiles.
For a moment I think, it is what I really wanted...and no one else was going to know right? Gothi was already sleeping and NOTHING woke up that woman. I nod finally, "Sure. Why not?" I try to adjust myself so I can get the blanket off me, but its proving to be difficult. I struggle doing it with one arm, Snotlout ends up helping, "Thanks." I muttur, slightly embarrassed. I go to get up, "I can do this myself," I saw him try to help.
He stands there watching as I sit up, mentally preparing myself to stand for the first time in a while. Sure once and a while I got up to walk around a little bit, but not for extensive periods of time. My feet hit the floor, and I stare at my right shoulder. It was discouraging. I was a coward.
As soon as I leave the bed, and my feet are firmly placed on the floor, holding all my body weight, I stumble a little. It was weird walking with one arm. Snotlout grabs my good arm before I fall.
"Careful. Don't die."
I smile, "I'm not going to die."
"I really hope not," He secures his hand on my shoulder, avoiding the bandage.
"I can do it myself."
"I'm not letting you kill yourself," Snotlout snaps.
"I'll be back Raefor," I say to the dragon. It gets up, snarling, "its fine. He's not hurting me." The dragon continues for a couple more seconds, then starts to follow me, "Stay here." Raefor hesitates, but settles back down and watches us as we leave.
We walk to the door, and as soon as the door opens I know I'm in for one crazy ride. The snow is already beginning to fall, Snoggletog was three or four weeks away, but an early snow was always a bad sign, "Great. Snow, just what we need."
Hookfang is on top of Gothi's roof, Snotlout glares, "Get down here you over-sized lizard." He roars, attempting to hit Snotlout with his tail, but when he misses he doesn't budge.
I laugh, "You're dragon's just like you."
"He is not!"
"Disrespects authority, obnoxious."
"I'm not obnoxious."
The dragon stays on the roof for a few minutes, but looks at me, then jumps and flies. He's now hovering over Berk, at the same level as the houses platform, allowing us to carefully and safely get on him. Snotlout mutters some sort of insult at the dragon, but helps me on to his wing. I keep my balance as Snotlout adjusts his seat, "Wait, it adjusts?"
"Of course it does. I'm the best rider in Berk, so I get the best seat."
He pulls the back of his seat down so it lays on his dragon,"Voila. Two seats. Kinda impressive isn't it? It was my idea."
"It was?"
"Of course it was Penny. A genius like me is the only one able enough to come up with such an amazing idea," Snotlout sits down in his set, "come, enjoy the finer things in life."
I try to balance myself as my feet make their way across Hookfangs body, Snotlout glares, "What are you doing!? You can't that do that by yourself. You'll fall off and die or something..." Snotlout complains, getting up, reaching over and grabbing my arm, "...here..." He helps me until I'm sitting down.
"Thanks..." I'm blushing, I know I am.
He glares, "Yeah, yeah. Just don't fall off..." I can't see his face, but i'm only guessing that he's blushing, "Hookfang, go!"
The dragon roars, zooming away from the house into the sky. I stop myself from falling off, by placing my hand against Hookfangs back. But then as we ascend to the clouds, we dive and my face plants into Snotlouts back, grasping his waist. When Hookfang finally levels I start freaking out inside, "Sorry..." I say.
Snotlout's head tilts towards me, "...I never said I didn't like it..."
"Oh...so its okay if I...?"
"Don't ask stupid questions. Didn't you hear what I just said!? Do i really need to repeat myself!?" Snotlout exclaims.
At first I hesitate, trying to figure out how to do it since I have only one arm, and want to be careful not to pull the bandages off. Eventually i wrap my left arm around his waist to keep myself from falling, "You're sure you don't mind?"
"Really!? Didn't I just say that!? You'll fall off if you let go!" He exclaims, "no one's looking."
I felt him tense up a little, but he relaxes suddenly.
We fly around for a while, the cold air is chilly against my skin. But I don't feel too cold because for once I'm not staring at a wall, or breathing in the stuffy air in Gothi's home. The sky is above me, the stars are saying hello a the twinkle...and I am where belong.
Hookfang lands on a sea stack outside of Berk, Snotlout jumps off first. I try to get off, but its hard with one arm and a huge open wound. So I lower myself gently, trying to avoid rubbing the bandage against Hookfang. Before Snotlout can do anything, or my shoulder touches the dragon, Hookfang picks me up by my shirt and lowers me on to the sea stack, "Thank you Hookfang." I pat his head and he looks at me.
"Stupid dragon," Snotlout murmurs, "I should do that!" The dragon roars jumping off the stack and flying away, "Hey! Get back here!" Snotlout runs to the edge of the sea stack.
I watch as Hookfang disappears into a cloud. Thankfully there weren't many out today, but I turn and look away. At this point I do wish I had a coat, going back wasn't an option until Hookfang returned, but would he even do that?
The wind is picking up a little, but my eyes concentrate on the moon as it sits in the sky. It wasn't full just yet, and there were some clouds in the sky hiding its beauty, but I could still see bits and parts. It is amazing. A week and I hadn't seen the moon, but now I could!
Thoughts of Oleander creep into my mind, the nights we would spend together before she would dive into the ocean...or before I would sneak out later to see Snotlout.
"Haven't seen that in a while," I finally say.
"What? Its just the moon!"
"But its so beautiful," I sit on the edge of the sea stacks dangling my legs over the edge. What a great moon, so large, so white, so perfect. The stars are amazing too as they twinkle and contrast to the black sky.
A couple seconds later Snotlout is standing over me gazing up at the sky as well, "It's been a while," I note staring up at him, "but it hasn't changed."
"Of course not," He mutters, taking a seat beside me, "besides, it was no fun with Ruffnut."
"Really? I thought you wouldn't mind all those pranks."
"She didn't pull any pranks. The sheep, that happened a few times. Other than that, Ruffnut didn't pull pranks."
I sigh, "Its kinda hard to pull pranks when your partner in crime is mad at you."
"I don't get it."
"Well," There's no point in describing it, "nevermind." I look back at the moon, "I feel sorry for Berk. The twins are back to their pranking crimes."
"Tell me about it! They've pranked me so many times. This morning, somehow they got a bucket of yaknog above my room door. It spilled all over me when I opened it."
"Ew!" I shudder, "that's disgusting. You showered right?"
"Do you think I'm an animal!? Of course I showered."
"How did they get that? Only Astrid knows how to make yaknog. Thankfully."
Snotlout looks at me, "Astrid's probably started making the yaknog already."
"Great. Disgusting drinks for the holidays. I'm excited." Sarcasm. The snow is still falling, flakes hit the ground.
Suddenly its cold, I place my arm in between my legs and chest and squeeze, trying to stay warm.
"Why didn't you bring a coat!?" Snotlout exclaims, "its cold."
"I couldn't go home for one. Remember, i'm not suppose to be out here?"
He snorts, rubbing his face with his hand, then scoots over, "Seriously...making me do this stuff." Snotlout's face turns red, then with some hesitation he puts his arm around my shoulder, "if you tell anyone I do this kind of stuff, I'll never talk to you again!" Of course I'm going to tell Astrid. Hopefully she won't make fun of him too much.
I laugh, resting my head on his shoulder, "You're really warm."
"Of course I am! I'm dressed warmly! You seriously need some warm clothes." He growls, frowning.
We sit there for a while, I'm feeling warmer now. My heart is accelerating, "Snotlout..." He looks out to the water, "...what's going to happen? With your dad I mean."
"Let me handle it. Snotlout can do anything," He looks at me, "besides, why shouldn't he accept you? You're a warrior. Like me."
"You're funny," I smile. This was the best, sitting with Snotlout and looking out at the most beautiful sight ever.
I hope nothing changes