A/N: Chapter 6 is here! I'm very excited! There has been a lot going on, so you guys probably have so many questions! I know I do. Stuff like, "How will Penny be cured?" or "Where is Tuffnut?" Heehee ;) I promise all this questions will be answered ^^ Thanks to anyone who voted; I picked a dragon I knew enough about and there were other reasons I picked it... :) Here's chapter 6!
I don't know how long it was before Astrid finally stood up, stretching her arms up towards the sky, "You know what we need to do?"
Of course, I am curious, "What?"
"Go sight seeing."
"Pardon?"
"You know," She pumps her hand in the fist as she speaks, "Dragons. Lets go look at dragons."
"Dragons?" I tilt my head, "sightseeing?"
"Yeah."
There was no reason to do this, sure dragons made me feel better. I frown, "there are only two reasons we watch dragons. To study them..." I get up, "or to find one. Astrid I'm not ready for a dragon.."
"C'mon Penny," She folds her arms over her chest, "its been over a year. Surely you want your own dragon."
Yes, it was true, "Yes. But i'm not ready yet."
"Lets at least look. It wouldn't hurt."
I really want to argue, my arm was sore and I was tired from all the events of today. Instead, I nod my head and follow her out of the racing arena towards Stormfly who was nestled underneath the shade of a rooftop. The dragons eyes are closed, but as Astid gets closer to her, the dragon awakens and makes an affectionate noise. We hop on to Stormfly, and start flying.
"Where shall we go?" I ask. There were many places we could be flying too, most of the dragons gotten after defeating Drago were in the icy cave. It had been damaged, but destroyed entirely. From what Hiccup use to tell me a year ago, the dragons were working together to repair the home so they could live in peace inside.
Astrid smiles, "Dragon Island. Where else would we go?" Several minutes later we are over a large island with a forest that extends as far as we can see on land. There are no signs of dragons, but from where we fly very high above the island, its impossible to see anything on the ground with the amount of tree's blocking our view. Astrid instructs her dragon and we dive to the cliffs of the land. When we land she's first to drop off, "This is going to be great!"
I don't share her excitement, only because I see her inner motivation. It wasn't the first time of course. Several times Astrid had attempted to get me out to dragon island, on a hunt for dragons because she wanted to "sight see." But I knew what she was up to... not because I know her mind, or pretend to be a mind reader, but because it was obvious. That she was trying to get me to get a new dragon. Maybe she wanted it, but I didn't want it myself. I couldn't have a new dragon, even if it had been a year since Oleander died. One day, but I wasn't ready. Of course. I've been wrong before. Astrid runs towards a hill, signaling for me to follow her, "Do we have to do this?"
"There's nothing wrong with sight seeing," Astrid smiles, "besides it will be good for you. New dragons. Daring adventures..."
"...lots of staring," I frown.
"It'll be fun! Besides. It beats sitting around the village waiting for...well...anything." We are climbing some small hills, I assume they lead to some cliffs. Astrid stops me by putting a hand on my stomach, "I hear something."
I listen, "I don't hear anything."
"Sh!"
We stand there for a moment before Astrid dashes to the top of the hill. I tilt my head, confused and slightly on edge, but I follow her and lay down on the grass beside her on my stomach. In between our hill, and a hill that is separated by a few feet ahead of us is a group of Gronckles. Several are scattered all around, lying down or eating rocks. But two are standing in the middle, butting heads and growling at each other. We watch, I am slightly confused. I don't understand why they're fighting, and though Astrid is smart, I don't think she will know. It was the rare time I wish Fishlegs was there, not that I hated his presence at all. I frown and ask anyway, "What do you think they're fighting about?"
"I don't know," Astrid replies. Just what I thought, "but I bet they are great companions."
"I bet they are," Here we go again.
"They have a big tail. And are fierce...and..."
"Astrid,"
"What? I'm just saying!"
"I don't want a dragon," I am firm, pushing myself up from my spot, "I thought we were sight seeing. Not advertising dragons."
"We are sightseeing," Astrid responds, following me, "but what's sight seeing without some fun facts?" For a moment I want to scream, I narrow my eyes at her and she gestures in another direction. I don't know how long we walk before I hear something coming. Astrid and I duck behind tree trunks and look in the direction of the noise. A couple feet away from us is a Zippleback, blue and silver, with teeth and it hasn't noticed us just yet. It looks away, both heads focusing on each other.
"Zippleback," I mutter.
"Two heads," Astrid comments, "harder to ride but with some practice it could be easy."
"I know that," I snap, watching the dragon. It glances around, and just when I think its going to get closer and see it us it walks off in the other direction, both heads look like they are arguing, "phew."
"Lets try Deadly Nadders next," Astrid jumps away from the tree trunk, "I know where we can find some."
She grabs my good arm and pulls me toward another set of large hills surrounded by tree's. I don't see the hill until we are a few feet away and sigh. Here we go again. We duck close to the ground when we get to the edge of the cliff. Ahead us is a scene. Several Nadders are standing around, most behind a yellow and black Deadly Nadder. The other Deadly Nadder is purple with white details and spikes. Its wings are in the air, as is its tail and it growls attempting to hit the other Nadder with spikes.
The yellow Nadder growls back, repeating the process.
"What's...it doing?" I ask Astrid, whose supposedly the Nadder expert.
She narrows her eyes, "I don't know..." Great, just great, "it looks like a fight."
I nod turning away and watching the dragons. This same scene continues for a while before the yellow Nadder attempts to attack the purple Nadder. Its opens its mouth and growls, spreading its wings above its head. The purple Nadder glares, avoiding the dragons attempt to bite it, and throws a bunch of spikes at it. They land on its neck and wing. For a moment the Nadder stumbles, but no sooner did they hit it, then it lays on the ground dead. The other Nadders grow restless, they attack the purple Nadder in fear. I watch as the dragon runs off, but as it lifts up and disappears into the clouds we make eye contact. Then its gone.
"That was weird," I say later on the ride back to Berk.
Astrid nods, "In a way it is. I've never seen dragons fight each other. Except when Toothless was protecting Hiccup," She trails off once the word Hiccup escapes her mouth.
"Dragons have protective instincts. I guess not just for us, but for themselves." I comment, "there was probably something we missed. Something that happened before." In a way I felt for the purple Nadder, despite killing another. Maybe the dragon was defending itself...maybe it was considered weak. I can't say for sure at all.
Once we get to Berk we land in the square; the sun was beginning to set. I always thought of Oleander at this time of day, but I would avoid it by staying inside my home on most days. Today was no different.
"I need to," I gesture towards my house.
"Oh, okay," Astrid agree's, "I guess I'll see you later."
"Maybe."
She takes off towards the sky, and I watch until I see the sun. Its hurts my eyes, drives a hole through my soul. It was time to go in.
I walk over to my house, my feet trailing behind me, and push the door open. My mother and father are there, discussing something, but they immediately stop when I walk in, "Penny we need to talk," My father is stern.
For a moment I'm worried, "Okay. What?"
"We were talking with Grease's mother earlier," My mother starts, "you made a impression on Grease. She told us he asked you to the races in a few days." Oh great, I feel like puking. Grease smells on a guy that likes me, sure I didn't want to be mean, but unfortunately it was the truth, "And we would like you to attend with him."
"But-"
"Just listen," My mother demands, "we know you race. But you can do that any day. Its just once."
I feel like the world is ending, even something so small could make me feel like this. But racing was important, just like dragons were important to Berk. It gave me something to focus on, a time to feel like nothing was wrong. And they thought it was nothing, "I can't just stop."
"Sure you can," Mother interjects before my father can say anything, "racing isn't in your blood."
"Not every talent is natural."
"Look, you shouldn't be racing anyway," Mother says again, "our history is of blood and sweat. You're willing to throw that away?"
"Yeah I am," I try not to glare, "things have changed. Berk is different now."
"But its people aren't," My mother shoots back, " we are the same. Not all like dragons, including your father and I." I see something in my father's eyes as I look at him, he looks sad, hesitant.
"You didn't ever face this though," I'm upset now, waiting to blow my top, "we need to change. Life-"
"is not about you," My mother loses her cool again. This was becoming a habit, whenever we spoke we fought, "this seems like the best time to have this conversation."
"We are having a-"
"Don't sas talk me," My is glaring, I don't understand how I was sas talking, "we want you to stop this dragon phase. Its not good for you. Giving you nonsense dreams. Inappropriate friends."
"Inappropriate?"
"Like those twins. They aren't good for influence."
"Mom, I don't talk to them much."
"It doesn't matter. If you care about your father and me at all, you will stop," Mother doesn't care about me, obviously she doesn't, "otherwise we may have to disown you."
They make no sense, don't they see that? Dragons are accepted. They have been for a little more than half a decade! "I don't see why you can hate them. Dad, mom, when Hiccup united the people with dragons it was the best thing for the village. Why can't you accept that?"
"It's not about accepting," My mother replies, "but about whats best. And its not dragons."
I don't believe this, I don't like this, "Then disown me. Because I will never turn my back on them..." I glare at both my parents, then turn and walk out of the house.
My mothers voice booming, "Get back here you! We're not done.
But I am.
"I can't believe them!" I yell, with nothing but the tree's and the rocks to listen, "mother demands I stop this "dragon phase" whatever that means. And then dad does nothing to stop her." The forest by Svens farm is where I ran to, not the tree on his property, but a private place where I could talk to myself without any problems. Without any issues, or anyone in my way, "its like a one sided battle. Great, now they are disowning me. I'll live in the village square, steal food, and probably freeze to death. Perfect, just perfect."
My parents weren't bad people. Time and time again they proved it. Mother vouching for me whenever I got in trouble at school, father making sure I wasn't being left out of anything when I joined the training academy. But there were days like those that had happened recently when I felt like I was the only one in this world, the only one who cared enough about the dragon cause to stand up to my parents. They weren't the bad guys, I knew it. But I wanted to shout and scream.
"Ugh..." I drop down on to the ground, recalling times when I would talk to Oleander...or days when I would find help with my friends.
Flashback - Two and a half years ago
A week after I started dating Snotlout, my mind was full of incredible amounts of pressure from my parents. My mother screaming at me to spend more time at home instead of out, yet encouraging me to spend more time with Snotlout. After all he was a Jorgenson. Marrying him meant her grand children would have happy lives, and not what we had in the poor house. Though rarely speaking, father admitted during our one on one times that he was worried, our status wasn't as high as the Jorgenson's, but if we were happy, he did wish our happiness would continue.
The lesson that day was on predicting a dragons next move, and as we sit on the barrels listening to Hiccup talk about the different signs of prediction, for once I wasn't listening. My mind tracing back to my mothers angry words of hatred towards the academy, the fight between my mom and dad, though short, when I went to my room that night. How much I did wish for everything to go my way instead.
I try as hard as I can to focus on the lesson, grasping the words as they flow out of Hiccups mouth, but its impossible.
"...Penny!"
"Yes?"
"List three signs of a Thunderdrums aerial strike."
All eyes are on me, every stare makes my chest feel like a battleground for a world war, I try to get out of it, "Ummm..."
"You don't know, do you?"
Silence.
"This is serious stuff," Hiccup adds, "if a dragon attacks, and we can predict its next move, we can protect Berk better than before. Lets try someone else, and please try to listen." He picks someone else, Fishlegs I think and I go back to to zoning out.
I feel something touch my arm, and to my left I see Snotlout. He's confused, I can tell by his facial expression. He must of bumped me or something. At first I consider speaking to him, despite Hiccups strict "No talking" rule. I feel bad, so I just ignore him and continue to focus the desk with my hand against my head. How much I did wish that this class would end.
Forever flew by, Snotlout tried for another ten minutes to get me to talk to him, but the "No talking" rule was binding my lips together. Finally, Hiccup closes the little journal he is holding in his hands, "Well class. We learned a lot today. Remember this information. We may need it in the future."
Class is over. I jump out of seat and rush to leave, even before Hiccup can bother calling me out for not paying attention. I love all this stuff as much as some did, but today it wasn't bringing joy to the dreary day. A figure appears beside me with broader shoulders and a larger face, "Hey!" Its Snotlout, "whats up with you today?" The tone is slightly rude, but it is Snotlout. Taking anything he says into offense was like blaming a bull for its temper problems. It was just part of his problem.
"Nothing," I force a small smile.
He eyebrow arches, "There's totally something wrong."
"No."
"Don't mess with my mind," He accuses, "besides I'm a Jorgenson. We can tell when other people are going through..." Snotlout glances at me from head to toe, "...issues."
I laugh, "Makes sense. It sounds silly though."
"I am not silly."
"Fine," I laugh again, but my smile fades instantly, "its really okay though. Just parent issues."
"Tell me about it," Snotlout replies, following me as I head towards my home, "my father is always on my case. About anything." I already knew that, often I heard "my father says..." or "_ is for the weak!' "Its a common family issue, children with problems with their parents. Hiccup was a loser in his fathers eyes-"
"Snotlout," I call, "that's mean."
"But its true."
Of course it is, but I'm not interested in a lecture about Hiccup, sometimes I wondered why Snotlout considered Hiccup his enemy, "True, but in the past. This is happening now."
"You know, you still haven't told me the issue," Snotlout crosses his arms over his chest.
And I almost got out of saying anything, but I know I should do it, else this guy will go on a rampage. I sigh, "Control. Mom wants me to follow the path she's lined up. Because I don't know where I'm going." It was summed up, not going into details. I didn't feel like spilling everything, we'd probably do that later. I stand there, shrugging my shoulders as I finish speaking, "Just parent issues...nothing I can't handle."
"Of course you can handle it," He boasts with confidence, "because you're dating Snotlout. Besides, parents don't always know best." It was like him to say that, I respected my parents decisions, but a line had to be drawn. But where was I going to draw it?
End
I didn't ever have a stereotypical heart to heart with Snotlout, sometimes we'd be talking and things would come up at random. He'd do a little bit of boasting, and his advice was sometimes...weird or harsh, but it helped. In its own way, I found an answer clearly.
Something rustles in the bushes and I jump, putting my hands out slowly before the thing appeared in front of me.
The purple Nadder.
I don't know how long it was before Astrid finally stood up, stretching her arms up towards the sky, "You know what we need to do?"
Of course, I am curious, "What?"
"Go sight seeing."
"Pardon?"
"You know," She pumps her hand in the fist as she speaks, "Dragons. Lets go look at dragons."
"Dragons?" I tilt my head, "sightseeing?"
"Yeah."
There was no reason to do this, sure dragons made me feel better. I frown, "there are only two reasons we watch dragons. To study them..." I get up, "or to find one. Astrid I'm not ready for a dragon.."
"C'mon Penny," She folds her arms over her chest, "its been over a year. Surely you want your own dragon."
Yes, it was true, "Yes. But i'm not ready yet."
"Lets at least look. It wouldn't hurt."
I really want to argue, my arm was sore and I was tired from all the events of today. Instead, I nod my head and follow her out of the racing arena towards Stormfly who was nestled underneath the shade of a rooftop. The dragons eyes are closed, but as Astid gets closer to her, the dragon awakens and makes an affectionate noise. We hop on to Stormfly, and start flying.
"Where shall we go?" I ask. There were many places we could be flying too, most of the dragons gotten after defeating Drago were in the icy cave. It had been damaged, but destroyed entirely. From what Hiccup use to tell me a year ago, the dragons were working together to repair the home so they could live in peace inside.
Astrid smiles, "Dragon Island. Where else would we go?" Several minutes later we are over a large island with a forest that extends as far as we can see on land. There are no signs of dragons, but from where we fly very high above the island, its impossible to see anything on the ground with the amount of tree's blocking our view. Astrid instructs her dragon and we dive to the cliffs of the land. When we land she's first to drop off, "This is going to be great!"
I don't share her excitement, only because I see her inner motivation. It wasn't the first time of course. Several times Astrid had attempted to get me out to dragon island, on a hunt for dragons because she wanted to "sight see." But I knew what she was up to... not because I know her mind, or pretend to be a mind reader, but because it was obvious. That she was trying to get me to get a new dragon. Maybe she wanted it, but I didn't want it myself. I couldn't have a new dragon, even if it had been a year since Oleander died. One day, but I wasn't ready. Of course. I've been wrong before. Astrid runs towards a hill, signaling for me to follow her, "Do we have to do this?"
"There's nothing wrong with sight seeing," Astrid smiles, "besides it will be good for you. New dragons. Daring adventures..."
"...lots of staring," I frown.
"It'll be fun! Besides. It beats sitting around the village waiting for...well...anything." We are climbing some small hills, I assume they lead to some cliffs. Astrid stops me by putting a hand on my stomach, "I hear something."
I listen, "I don't hear anything."
"Sh!"
We stand there for a moment before Astrid dashes to the top of the hill. I tilt my head, confused and slightly on edge, but I follow her and lay down on the grass beside her on my stomach. In between our hill, and a hill that is separated by a few feet ahead of us is a group of Gronckles. Several are scattered all around, lying down or eating rocks. But two are standing in the middle, butting heads and growling at each other. We watch, I am slightly confused. I don't understand why they're fighting, and though Astrid is smart, I don't think she will know. It was the rare time I wish Fishlegs was there, not that I hated his presence at all. I frown and ask anyway, "What do you think they're fighting about?"
"I don't know," Astrid replies. Just what I thought, "but I bet they are great companions."
"I bet they are," Here we go again.
"They have a big tail. And are fierce...and..."
"Astrid,"
"What? I'm just saying!"
"I don't want a dragon," I am firm, pushing myself up from my spot, "I thought we were sight seeing. Not advertising dragons."
"We are sightseeing," Astrid responds, following me, "but what's sight seeing without some fun facts?" For a moment I want to scream, I narrow my eyes at her and she gestures in another direction. I don't know how long we walk before I hear something coming. Astrid and I duck behind tree trunks and look in the direction of the noise. A couple feet away from us is a Zippleback, blue and silver, with teeth and it hasn't noticed us just yet. It looks away, both heads focusing on each other.
"Zippleback," I mutter.
"Two heads," Astrid comments, "harder to ride but with some practice it could be easy."
"I know that," I snap, watching the dragon. It glances around, and just when I think its going to get closer and see it us it walks off in the other direction, both heads look like they are arguing, "phew."
"Lets try Deadly Nadders next," Astrid jumps away from the tree trunk, "I know where we can find some."
She grabs my good arm and pulls me toward another set of large hills surrounded by tree's. I don't see the hill until we are a few feet away and sigh. Here we go again. We duck close to the ground when we get to the edge of the cliff. Ahead us is a scene. Several Nadders are standing around, most behind a yellow and black Deadly Nadder. The other Deadly Nadder is purple with white details and spikes. Its wings are in the air, as is its tail and it growls attempting to hit the other Nadder with spikes.
The yellow Nadder growls back, repeating the process.
"What's...it doing?" I ask Astrid, whose supposedly the Nadder expert.
She narrows her eyes, "I don't know..." Great, just great, "it looks like a fight."
I nod turning away and watching the dragons. This same scene continues for a while before the yellow Nadder attempts to attack the purple Nadder. Its opens its mouth and growls, spreading its wings above its head. The purple Nadder glares, avoiding the dragons attempt to bite it, and throws a bunch of spikes at it. They land on its neck and wing. For a moment the Nadder stumbles, but no sooner did they hit it, then it lays on the ground dead. The other Nadders grow restless, they attack the purple Nadder in fear. I watch as the dragon runs off, but as it lifts up and disappears into the clouds we make eye contact. Then its gone.
"That was weird," I say later on the ride back to Berk.
Astrid nods, "In a way it is. I've never seen dragons fight each other. Except when Toothless was protecting Hiccup," She trails off once the word Hiccup escapes her mouth.
"Dragons have protective instincts. I guess not just for us, but for themselves." I comment, "there was probably something we missed. Something that happened before." In a way I felt for the purple Nadder, despite killing another. Maybe the dragon was defending itself...maybe it was considered weak. I can't say for sure at all.
Once we get to Berk we land in the square; the sun was beginning to set. I always thought of Oleander at this time of day, but I would avoid it by staying inside my home on most days. Today was no different.
"I need to," I gesture towards my house.
"Oh, okay," Astrid agree's, "I guess I'll see you later."
"Maybe."
She takes off towards the sky, and I watch until I see the sun. Its hurts my eyes, drives a hole through my soul. It was time to go in.
I walk over to my house, my feet trailing behind me, and push the door open. My mother and father are there, discussing something, but they immediately stop when I walk in, "Penny we need to talk," My father is stern.
For a moment I'm worried, "Okay. What?"
"We were talking with Grease's mother earlier," My mother starts, "you made a impression on Grease. She told us he asked you to the races in a few days." Oh great, I feel like puking. Grease smells on a guy that likes me, sure I didn't want to be mean, but unfortunately it was the truth, "And we would like you to attend with him."
"But-"
"Just listen," My mother demands, "we know you race. But you can do that any day. Its just once."
I feel like the world is ending, even something so small could make me feel like this. But racing was important, just like dragons were important to Berk. It gave me something to focus on, a time to feel like nothing was wrong. And they thought it was nothing, "I can't just stop."
"Sure you can," Mother interjects before my father can say anything, "racing isn't in your blood."
"Not every talent is natural."
"Look, you shouldn't be racing anyway," Mother says again, "our history is of blood and sweat. You're willing to throw that away?"
"Yeah I am," I try not to glare, "things have changed. Berk is different now."
"But its people aren't," My mother shoots back, " we are the same. Not all like dragons, including your father and I." I see something in my father's eyes as I look at him, he looks sad, hesitant.
"You didn't ever face this though," I'm upset now, waiting to blow my top, "we need to change. Life-"
"is not about you," My mother loses her cool again. This was becoming a habit, whenever we spoke we fought, "this seems like the best time to have this conversation."
"We are having a-"
"Don't sas talk me," My is glaring, I don't understand how I was sas talking, "we want you to stop this dragon phase. Its not good for you. Giving you nonsense dreams. Inappropriate friends."
"Inappropriate?"
"Like those twins. They aren't good for influence."
"Mom, I don't talk to them much."
"It doesn't matter. If you care about your father and me at all, you will stop," Mother doesn't care about me, obviously she doesn't, "otherwise we may have to disown you."
They make no sense, don't they see that? Dragons are accepted. They have been for a little more than half a decade! "I don't see why you can hate them. Dad, mom, when Hiccup united the people with dragons it was the best thing for the village. Why can't you accept that?"
"It's not about accepting," My mother replies, "but about whats best. And its not dragons."
I don't believe this, I don't like this, "Then disown me. Because I will never turn my back on them..." I glare at both my parents, then turn and walk out of the house.
My mothers voice booming, "Get back here you! We're not done.
But I am.
"I can't believe them!" I yell, with nothing but the tree's and the rocks to listen, "mother demands I stop this "dragon phase" whatever that means. And then dad does nothing to stop her." The forest by Svens farm is where I ran to, not the tree on his property, but a private place where I could talk to myself without any problems. Without any issues, or anyone in my way, "its like a one sided battle. Great, now they are disowning me. I'll live in the village square, steal food, and probably freeze to death. Perfect, just perfect."
My parents weren't bad people. Time and time again they proved it. Mother vouching for me whenever I got in trouble at school, father making sure I wasn't being left out of anything when I joined the training academy. But there were days like those that had happened recently when I felt like I was the only one in this world, the only one who cared enough about the dragon cause to stand up to my parents. They weren't the bad guys, I knew it. But I wanted to shout and scream.
"Ugh..." I drop down on to the ground, recalling times when I would talk to Oleander...or days when I would find help with my friends.
Flashback - Two and a half years ago
A week after I started dating Snotlout, my mind was full of incredible amounts of pressure from my parents. My mother screaming at me to spend more time at home instead of out, yet encouraging me to spend more time with Snotlout. After all he was a Jorgenson. Marrying him meant her grand children would have happy lives, and not what we had in the poor house. Though rarely speaking, father admitted during our one on one times that he was worried, our status wasn't as high as the Jorgenson's, but if we were happy, he did wish our happiness would continue.
The lesson that day was on predicting a dragons next move, and as we sit on the barrels listening to Hiccup talk about the different signs of prediction, for once I wasn't listening. My mind tracing back to my mothers angry words of hatred towards the academy, the fight between my mom and dad, though short, when I went to my room that night. How much I did wish for everything to go my way instead.
I try as hard as I can to focus on the lesson, grasping the words as they flow out of Hiccups mouth, but its impossible.
"...Penny!"
"Yes?"
"List three signs of a Thunderdrums aerial strike."
All eyes are on me, every stare makes my chest feel like a battleground for a world war, I try to get out of it, "Ummm..."
"You don't know, do you?"
Silence.
"This is serious stuff," Hiccup adds, "if a dragon attacks, and we can predict its next move, we can protect Berk better than before. Lets try someone else, and please try to listen." He picks someone else, Fishlegs I think and I go back to to zoning out.
I feel something touch my arm, and to my left I see Snotlout. He's confused, I can tell by his facial expression. He must of bumped me or something. At first I consider speaking to him, despite Hiccups strict "No talking" rule. I feel bad, so I just ignore him and continue to focus the desk with my hand against my head. How much I did wish that this class would end.
Forever flew by, Snotlout tried for another ten minutes to get me to talk to him, but the "No talking" rule was binding my lips together. Finally, Hiccup closes the little journal he is holding in his hands, "Well class. We learned a lot today. Remember this information. We may need it in the future."
Class is over. I jump out of seat and rush to leave, even before Hiccup can bother calling me out for not paying attention. I love all this stuff as much as some did, but today it wasn't bringing joy to the dreary day. A figure appears beside me with broader shoulders and a larger face, "Hey!" Its Snotlout, "whats up with you today?" The tone is slightly rude, but it is Snotlout. Taking anything he says into offense was like blaming a bull for its temper problems. It was just part of his problem.
"Nothing," I force a small smile.
He eyebrow arches, "There's totally something wrong."
"No."
"Don't mess with my mind," He accuses, "besides I'm a Jorgenson. We can tell when other people are going through..." Snotlout glances at me from head to toe, "...issues."
I laugh, "Makes sense. It sounds silly though."
"I am not silly."
"Fine," I laugh again, but my smile fades instantly, "its really okay though. Just parent issues."
"Tell me about it," Snotlout replies, following me as I head towards my home, "my father is always on my case. About anything." I already knew that, often I heard "my father says..." or "_ is for the weak!' "Its a common family issue, children with problems with their parents. Hiccup was a loser in his fathers eyes-"
"Snotlout," I call, "that's mean."
"But its true."
Of course it is, but I'm not interested in a lecture about Hiccup, sometimes I wondered why Snotlout considered Hiccup his enemy, "True, but in the past. This is happening now."
"You know, you still haven't told me the issue," Snotlout crosses his arms over his chest.
And I almost got out of saying anything, but I know I should do it, else this guy will go on a rampage. I sigh, "Control. Mom wants me to follow the path she's lined up. Because I don't know where I'm going." It was summed up, not going into details. I didn't feel like spilling everything, we'd probably do that later. I stand there, shrugging my shoulders as I finish speaking, "Just parent issues...nothing I can't handle."
"Of course you can handle it," He boasts with confidence, "because you're dating Snotlout. Besides, parents don't always know best." It was like him to say that, I respected my parents decisions, but a line had to be drawn. But where was I going to draw it?
End
I didn't ever have a stereotypical heart to heart with Snotlout, sometimes we'd be talking and things would come up at random. He'd do a little bit of boasting, and his advice was sometimes...weird or harsh, but it helped. In its own way, I found an answer clearly.
Something rustles in the bushes and I jump, putting my hands out slowly before the thing appeared in front of me.
The purple Nadder.