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Post by toothless11 on Mar 23, 2011 21:58:28 GMT -5
Your welcome!
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Avian
Caught Dragon
I think Hiccup stole my taco.
Posts: 108
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Post by Avian on Mar 24, 2011 0:06:56 GMT -5
What will happen next?!
Good job!
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mrjop2
Caught Dragon
Posts: 130
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Post by mrjop2 on Mar 29, 2011 3:42:03 GMT -5
Chapter 9: The Little White Lie
Bitwolf was now presented with a serious dilemma. Telling Ivar that the dragon was here could seriously jeopardize his father’s plan, but not telling him would raise suspicion with his ‘friends’. Besides, one of them was no doubt going to brag about surviving an encounter with the mythical beast, so keeping this quiet was not an option.
The problem, now, was what to tell Ivar. Bitwolf had no doubt that they had survived because of Hiccup’s ability to control or communicate with dragons, but there was no way Ivar would accept that, and all the blame would shift onto him. That would make Hiccup a bigger threat to discover what his father was up to.
What was needed was a way to make Hiccup look bad in all of this, even in the eyes of Astrid and the others. So on the journey back, he inquired about what happened while he was unconscious. Whatever lie she told him, would have to be the lie he agreed with. At the very least, if the lie turned out to be poorly conceived, then all the blame would come crashing down on Berk’s young Vikings.
After hearing the explanation, he could not see anything that would hinder his father’s plans any more than what has already been done. Of course, his father would have to be the ultimate judge of how damaged the situation, actually, was; he had a better understanding of the plan that he had set forth, and he would be the one to be able to make any adjustments necessary. Being able to tell his father before going public with this would help limit any damage that Bitwolf could not see. When they arrived back to the village, however, that opportunity never came.
One of the very first Vikings they saw were Ivar and Wolfbane together as they entered the village. Seeing all of them soaked, muddy, and bruised, Ivar could instantly tell that something had happened. He ordered all of them into the dining hall to get out of the rain and to inform him what had happened. On the way to the dining hall, Bitwolf only had the opportunity to use his eyes to tell his father to embrace himself for some devastating news.
Now, inside the dining hall, Bitwolf’s nerves were even more on edge as the young Vikings were sat around a table and given a mug full of warm goat’s milk. Standing at the end of the table were Ivar, Wolfbane, Stoick, and Gobber. “By the looks of it, you had quite an adventure this morning. Who wants to tell me what happened?” Ivar asked.
This was the moment he dreaded. If he did not tread carefully, his father would skin him alive. He looked over at the others, and he could see a smile of excitement on the faces of most of the gang. Astrid was the only one who remained solemn. She was always the one with the cool head. “We were attacked by a dragon, sir. I'm fairly sure that it was a Shadow Lord.”
All the adult Vikings were shocked. Bitwolf could see a fire ignite in Ivar’s eyes. “Are you certain of it, boy?”
“Fairly certain; the dragon could turn itself invisible, and it fits the description down to the littlest detail.”
“Wow, they do exist! Just like those pesky trolls that keep stealing my left socks!” Gobber exclaimed.
“And how did you all survive?”
Bitwolf grimaced in embarrassment. “I think it will be better for Astrid to answer that. The dragon fooled me, and knocked me out with his tail.”
All the eyes pointed towards Astrid. “We’re not quite sure what happened,” she replied. “It could've been the thunder,” She admitted. Bitwolf gazed towards her, hoping and praying that she did not change her story to that. He prayed that she would keep to her original story. “It also could've been Hiccup’s strange invention that scared it off. Either way, something spooked it, and it flew away.”
A wave of relief washed over Bitwolf, who looked over to see what his father’s reaction would be. He remained in character perfectly. He then looked over to Ivar to see him agitated by Astrid’s report. The Viking Chief then looked at him. “Is this report correct? Did Hiccup have a strange looking weapon with him when you left here?”
He could feel the pleading eyes staring in his direction from the gang. They were pleading with him not to disagree with them. He looked back to his father, who at last looked down at him with the corner of his eye and gave the slightest of nods. “He did have something with him, but I did not inquire about it.”
Ivar looked at all the young Vikings sitting at the table to see that the boy was nowhere to be seen. “Where is Hiccup?”
That lie was a little more difficult to come up with. Astrid had never lied before in her life. Her father was very strict, and had ingrained into her to always speak the truth. Having to lie made her extremely uncomfortable. “I believe his device broke so we parted ways. He’s probably at the blacksmith shop.” It suddenly dawned on her how bad of a lie that was. There was no way he would be back from tending to Toothless yet.
Ivar glowered at Stoick. “Come with me. I must speak with the boy.”
Stoick reluctantly followed Ivar out into the pouring rain towards the blacksmith shop. Wolfbane walked upto his son and gave him a friendly slap across the back. “You did well. All of you have done very well.” Wolfbane said to the gang. “Son, come speak with me for a minute.”
“Sure, Dad,” Bitwolf said, standing up from the table.
As he did, he felt Astrid grab him by the shoulder. “Thank you,” she said, totally grateful for covering their lies.
Bitwolf nodded and then followed his father to the far end of the dining hall, so they could be alone. The sound of thunder shook the ground as nature continued to pour out its rain upon Berk. As soon as the rumble of thunder subsided, his father began this much needed conversation. “You have done well in salvaging what could have been an utter disaster for both of us.”
“Thank you, Dad,” Bitwolf replied, feeling a great burden being lifted off his shoulder. He was afraid that he had messed everything up for his father.
“This untimely situation can still work in my favor. No doubt Ivar will go hunting for the Shadow Lord tomorrow. He will bring Hiccup with him to show him how his invention works.”
“But dad, Hiccup did not have any other weapon other than a knife and a shield.”
“I am fully aware of that. That girl that you like is a terrible liar. Someone will get word to the boy about the lie to cover his actions, forcing him to build a real device. What I need from you is to sabotage that weapon once it’s built. I will make sure that the expedition fails.”
“Understood, you can count on me.”
“I know I can,” Wolfbane smiled. “We have no more time to waste; we have to speed up my plan. You must sever Hiccups ties with his friends and pretty little girl friend. You must find a way to learn how he controls the dragons and gets them to obey him.”
“I have an idea about that.”
* * * *
Marching as a Viking on a mission, Ivar stormed towards the blacksmith shop. Stoick had no idea what was going through his head; Ivar always seemed angry. “My son has always had a wild imagination. You should see some of his inventions that he came up with. He even created a bola launcher.”
Ivar held up a hand to silence him. He was in no mood for small talk. He was a Viking with a deep focus, and he never allowed himself to be deviated from his path. Their boots sloshed through the saturated ground which was becoming more mud than solid ground. When they finally reached the blacksmith Ivar stormed into the shop to find it deserted. He snorted as he turned his focus onto Stoick. “Tomorrow, when this storm is over, we’re going hunting for that Shadow Lord. Your son will be joining us, and I want to see this invention of his that can scare such a dragon. I'd better be impressed.”
Ivar left Stoick alone in the shop as he made his way towards his hut. “Oy!” Stoick muttered, rubbing his forehead. This whole thing has gotten much more complicated than he had anticipated. How were they going to handle this mess?
“Sir,” Astrid said softly, peeking into the shop.
“What is it, Astrid?” Stoick said, glad to have had a chance to speak with her alone. He could now get behind what really happened out there.
She came out of the rain and into the shop. “I’m sorry if I caused any problems, I’m not a very good liar.”
“It’s fine. I just need to know what really happened out there.”
“Most everything that was said was the truth, except for the invention and Hiccup being here at the Shop. I didn’t know how to explain his not being in the village. I made up the invention because I thought it unwise to let Ivar know that it was Toothless who came to save the day.”
“Toothless? Did Bitwolf see Toothless?”
“No, he was knocked out before all that happened. He awakened just after Hiccup flew off with Toothless to tend to his wounds.”
Stoick sighed with relief. They had caught a big break there. “Thank you for letting me know.”
Astrid nodded and left the shop to head home. Now that Stoick knew the truth, he could decide what steps he and his son had to take next. As much as he hated the thought about making a journey through the rain, he needed to be the first one to speak with his son. To assure that happened, he would have to go to where the dragons were being hidden.
* * * *
The rain was relentless. Soaked to his bone, Hiccup was not ready to return to the village yet. After arriving back to the field with all the other dragons, he went off to find as many Aloe Vera leaves as he could get. Once he found enough, he started to gently wipe them across the wound on Toothless’ leg. The dragon yelp and then looked at Hiccup and growled.
“Sorry! I guess I should’ve warned you that this might sting a little.”
Toothless shook his head and huffed as he looked forward to allow Hiccup to apply the leaves onto his wound. Over the sound of the rain, Hiccup could hear the sloshing of the mud behind him. He glanced over to see his father walking towards him. “Is your dragon okay?”
“Uh, Yeah, Toothless will be fine,” Hiccup replied.
“That’s good,” Stoick replied. There was an awkward silence between the two. Despite the improvement in their relationship in recent months, neither of them were really good at striking up conversations. “Listen, we need to talk. When your friends came back, they covered for you and Toothless. They told Ivar that one of your contraptions scared off the dragon. I need you to create something small that you can use to scare away a large dragon by tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow! There’s no way I can come up with something that fast!” Hiccup jumped to his feet.
“That is why Gobber is going to help you. Ivar is taking you with us tomorrow to hunt for the Shadow Lord. He is expecting you to produce the same results in front of him.”
“Oh boy,” Hiccup shook his head. His mind was reeling with everything his father had just told him. “Wouldn’t it just be easier to tell Ivar the truth, now? This is getting waaaaay too complicated.”
“That is not an option, Hiccup. The damage is already done, and we have to see it through. He will not take it lightly if he discovers that we've been deceiving him.” Stoick replied firmly. After seeing Hiccup contemplate what to do, he finally broke the silence. “What about the Shadow Lord? From what I understand, that dragon is beyond reasoning with.”
“I don’t know yet, Dad,” Hiccup replied. “It definitely saw us as his next meal, but perhaps he was starving.”
“Did you make any attempt to calm it down? You are the dragon whisperer around here.”
Hiccup sighed and shrugged. “Yes, and it seemed to have no interest in peace, just his next meal.”
“Then that’s good, then!” Stoick said. “We do not have to go out of our way to protect it. We let Ivar kill the dragon, and then he will leave Berk.”
“I don’t know.”
“Hiccup, That dragon tried to kill all of you. It probably has already had the taste of human blood. If it comes down to its survival or ours, I still have no hesitation in killing a dragon. You have to be ready to do the same. The one thing you have taught me is that dragons are not all that dissimilar to us. Well, there are good Vikings and there are Evil Vikings in the world, so it only stands to reason that the same goes for the beasts. This Shadow Lord might be an evil dragon that has to be dealt with. Do you understand, son?”
“I think so, Dad.” Hiccup said dryly. He knew his father was right. Just like there are unreasonable Vikings, there is sure to be unreasonable dragons. Whether the Shadow Lord was one of them, was yet to be seen. He had to deal with the Red Death several months ago, and if he had to do the same to the Shadow Lord, then he had to be ready to do so again.
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Post by toothless11 on Mar 29, 2011 10:41:12 GMT -5
Ok just read it! I can't believe you finished a day early! I just wish I can know how this ends but it's not even half done. I found an error that you also made in the previous chapter:
“No, he was knocked out before all that happened. He awakened just after Hiccup flew off with Hiccup to tend to his wounds.”
Wow, Hiccup flew off with himself now huh? Lol.
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Post by nightfurymaster on Mar 29, 2011 11:47:01 GMT -5
The tension's building!!! It's getting harder and harder to wait for each chapter lol Great job!!
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mrjop2
Caught Dragon
Posts: 130
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Post by mrjop2 on Apr 4, 2011 3:46:32 GMT -5
SURPRISE! This week, there will be two updates! Here is the first update, and the next one will be at it's normal Wednesday deadline.
Chapter 10: Sabotage
Hiccup and Gobber stood there at Hiccup’s drawing board staring at a blank piece of paper. They have been there for at least an hour, as hiccup sought inspiration from his wild imagination. This device had to be something that was small enough for him to carry, but violent enough to ward off any predator, without actually killing them. That was one condition he had for this device. It had to look violent without actually being so. If something went awry with his father’s plan, he did not want any other Viking taking the device and using it to kill a dragon. If they were talking about the Shadow Lord, he did not have much to worry about in that aspect, but what if they encountered a smaller dragon? He could not take the chance of an innocent dragon ending up dead to cover up their lies.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m scared just looking it! Perhaps the Shadow Lord will be scared by looking at this, here, sheet of paper, as well,” Gobber said, using his dry humor to tell Hiccup that they need to get going on something.
Hiccup frowned. “This isn’t as easy it looks? I’ve never had to come up with an idea—and build it—all on one night, you know? I need something inspiring… something to get the creative juices flowing.”
“How’s this for inspiring—if you don’t get this blasted contraption started, then Ivar is going to skin you alive.”
“Not helping!” Hiccup glowered.
The rainstorm, outside, was finally calming down, and a gentle breeze was left behind. A small gust of wind entered the shop, which caused the sheet of paper to flap. If He had not had it pinned down with a few rocks, it would have flown away. “Ah, look, it moved.” Gobber said dryly as he pointed to the paper. “Perhaps that’s inspiration for you.”
Hiccup gave him a look of frustration.
* * * *
Hiccup finished drawing out plans onto the sheet of paper. An idea had come to him like a bolt of lightning. The woods were scorched where they encountered the Shadow Lord, so perhaps he could use that to his advantage. “Here it is,” Hiccup announced confidently.
“Wow, will you look at that! What is it?”
“It’s kind of like a miniature catapult, but it will launch burning ammunition and should scare the dragon away.” “I see,” Gobber replied. “How do you plan on setting the ammunition on fire if your little doohickey is made of wood?”
“Um—” Hiccup did not think about that.
“Otherwise, the concept seems flawless—if you don’t take into account that fire does not scare dragons. The beast breaths this stuff, for Odin’s sake.”
“Oh, yeah,” Hiccup mumbled. He took the plans that he drew out and crumbled it up. After throwing the crumpled paper onto the floor, he took out another blank piece of paper and re-commenced contemplating for ideas.
* * * *
Hiccup sketched out another idea that came to his mind. He drew out plans for a miniature version of his bola launcher. He estimated that it would end up being half the size of the original model. “How about this!”
Gobber scratched his bearded chin with his finger tips as he looked at the great details that the boy had put into the sketch. “Your full scale model is less than reliable; not to mention that you’re—all that!” He used his good hand to gesture to all of him. He was right, this was still going to be too heavy to carry along for long distance, and it invited his tendency to be clumsy to make another appearance at an inopportune time.
With that idea scratched, he drew out more plans for consideration. One by one, Gobber kept out pointing flaw after flaw with each of his ideas. The floor quickly began to be flooded with crumpled paper. With each plan that he scrapped, Hiccup became more and more frustrated. Most of the flaws usually had something to do with his lack of strength. "Oh, why did the gods curse me with such a pathetic body?"
"Cause they have a sense of humor," His dry humor once again reared its ugly head.
"Thank you, so very much for that!"
* * * *
Finally, an idea had come to Hiccup. He remembered that he and toothless had scratched the dragon during battle. So the weapon he made had to cause that kind of damage. It was a well known fact that he could not use an ax, and it was hardly believable to say that he could get close enough to use his knife to scratch the dragon. That was when he came up with an idea: an arrow.
A bow and arrow were hardly the Viking way of battle, but it would be something that Ivar would believe Hiccup would use. If he could make something to shoot the arrows for him, then he might be able to pull this off. The device had to be capable of shooting an arrow by itself in the same way his bola launcher did. What he needed to make was a crossbow.
He drew out the plans on paper and displayed it for Gobber to see. “Now this look’s interesting!” Gobber admitted. “That is, if your plan is to make a total fool of yourself in front of Ivar.”
“What choice do I have? Maybe I can convince him that I got a lucky shot off, injuring the dragon, and it flew away in search for an easier meal.”
“Well, I suppose it’s better than nothing at all. You could always pray to Thor that he will strike the beast down with a lightning bolt.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Hiccup replied dryly.
“Glad to be of some help.”
* * * *
Hiccup and Gobber had begun constructing the crossbow. This crossbow was going to be different from the ones that he read about. He figured that if he could launch about five arrows quickly, that it might just actually scare off a dragon. So in the designs, he made the body of the crossbow big enough to store five arrows. By turning the crank, he could launch the five arrows in rapid succession. It was going to be quick, portable, and effective.
Gobber started by forging some cast iron to serve as the prod, while Hiccup started carving up some wood. As he was sawing a piece of wood, he took a quick glance out the window to see Astrid and Bitwolf walking alone through the village. Seeing them walking together continued to make his blood boil. The angrier he became, the faster and harder he sawed the wood.
Gobber looked back at the boy and rolled his eyes. He stopped what he was doing and walked up to Hiccup. He placed his good hand on top of his scalp and turned his head back forward. “You need to pay closer attention to what you’re doing, Hiccup; unless you were intentionally were trying to give yourself one of these," He twisted his interchangeable prosthetic hand, which currently had a blacksmith hammer connected on to it. "If so, then you're doing a bang-up job."
Hiccup sighed and the two of them got back to work. Staying focus at the job at hand, the two of them worked until late at night. Finally, his fancy new crossbow was finished. It was skillfully designed to break down and be able to carry it inconspicuously. The stone heads of the arrows were extremely sharp, that it might convince Ivar that it was responsible for scratching the dragon, if the chief Viking ever got close enough to see it. “It’s done!” Hiccup said with a great sigh of relief; he could barely keep his eyes open.
“Excellent! Maybe the gods will bless you with good fortune tomorrow.”
“One can only hope," Hiccup said after letting out a huge yawn.
“Off to bed you go, now. Tomorrow is a big day.”
* * * *
Wolfbane brought, with him, two of his most trusted Vikings. They were his closest friends, who would gladly give their lives for him at any time necessary. They knew, full well, that he was planning on killing Ivar, and they gave him their undying loyalty.
They carried their torches through the forests. The two Vikings had no idea where they were being taken. Could it be that their friend had discovered the Shadow Lord’s nest? “There's something I need for you to do for me. We're going to sabotage tomorrow’s hunt for the Shadow Lord.”
“Alright, but why are we all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?”
They came upon a large field with flowing stream in the middle. The field was saturated with dragons of various breeds. Never had the two of them seen so many dragons together in one location. Fortunately, for them, most of them were fast asleep. They pulled out their axes, ready to take advantage of the surprise that was going to be on their side.
“Stay your weapons!” Wolfbane ordered. “These dragons belong to the Vikings of Berk.”
“They own dragons? Is that even possible?”
“They are more like pets, but none of that matters, right now; what does matter, is your job. I want you to hide out here overnight, and pick out one of the least intelligent dragons you find. Tomorrow morning, I want you to lure that dragon over to the other side of the village where we will be heading. This will make a perfect opportunity for Hiccup to test his weapon.”
“What if the dragon survives tomorrow? That boy couldn’t kill a rabbit if his life depended upon it.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. At the very worse, we’ll be offering the Shadow Lord a free lunch. I must warn you, however, there is a Night Fury hiding among these beasts.”
“A-a-a Night Fury?” Both Vikings quaked in their boots at the thought of encountering such a dragon. They were highly intelligent, and extremely dangerous.
“Yes, the dragon belongs to the boy. Stay clear from that beast, or it will, more than likely, try to protect the dragons with violence.”
The two Vikings looked at each other, starting to wonder if this was a good idea after all.
* * * *
With the lights out, Bitwolf knew that it was safe to enter the blacksmith shop. He entered the dark shop with only a single hand-held torch to light his way. He did not dare to bring any more light into the shop, in order to avoid any suspicion. He had to embrace the darkness, and allow it to guide him towards the completion of his mission.
He carefully used the light from his torch to look around the shop. He was cautious not to crash into any tables or weapons that might alert someone of his presence. It was not an easy task to do; the shop had so little walking space among all weapons that were lying around. How any large Vikings got around in there was beyond him.
He began to question if he would ever find the right weapon. There were many typical Viking weapons, but the shop also appeared to partially serve as a storage place for all of Hiccups crazy inventions. How would he know which one he was considering in using?
On a table, he noticed a large piece of paper weighed down by two small rocks. Upon closer inspection, the drawings on the paper were actually a blueprint. This had to be the weapon that he and Gobber had been working on, all this time. When he saw that Hiccup had decided to go with a strange looking crossbow, he shook his head in disgust. “A crossbow? That is the most cowardly weapon I have ever seen.”
Lying on the table next to the plans, was the actual weapon. There it was! He was more certain than ever that this was the weapon he was going to use tomorrow morning. This was going to work better than he or his father had planned.
Next Chapter will be posted 4/6/11
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Avian
Caught Dragon
I think Hiccup stole my taco.
Posts: 108
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Post by Avian on Apr 4, 2011 12:59:06 GMT -5
Very good. Keep up the good work.
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Post by nightfurymaster on Apr 4, 2011 19:05:57 GMT -5
EVEN MORE TENSION IS BUILDING!!! lol can't wait for next chapter! And 2 updates in one week! Great job!
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mrjop2
Caught Dragon
Posts: 130
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Post by mrjop2 on Apr 5, 2011 2:29:01 GMT -5
just to update: I am definitely hard at work researching for my next story which I am entitling: How to Train Your Dragon: The Outcast Lands. I am growing with excitement how the story is developing! The only teaser that I am going to give, is that in this story, you can expect Toothless to fall in love.
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Avian
Caught Dragon
I think Hiccup stole my taco.
Posts: 108
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Post by Avian on Apr 5, 2011 3:28:19 GMT -5
That last part is...surprising. Too surprising.
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mrjop2
Caught Dragon
Posts: 130
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Post by mrjop2 on Apr 6, 2011 18:43:15 GMT -5
Chapter 11: Dragon Hunt
The sun was starting to rise, which meant it was time for Wolfbane’s friends, Bonetoss and Snakewhisp, to start luring a dragon towards the other side of the Island. Bonetoss sneaked through the surrounding forest until he could reach a part of the stream without being seen by the dragons. Bringing only a spear with him, he waited at the bank until he could see a large trout swimming through his strike zone. Using his superb fishing skills, he jabbed his spear through the fish and pulled his catch out of the water.
Now that the bait had been caught, they were ready to look for a dragon. The dragons were just starting to wake up, and the first thing they were going to look for was food. They took a minute to watch the behaviors of all the dragons to determine which one was the least intelligent. They came to a decision to set the bait for a Gronckle.
The unsuspecting dragon snorted and grunted as it sniffed through the grass. His small wings flapped similarly to a hummingbird, which allowed his over-sized body to hover over the grass. The morning dew dampened his nose as he sniffed around, which occasionally resulted with a sneeze. The tantalizing smell of fish grabbed his attention, and he began to follow the smell to what he hoped would be his morning meal.
He found the fish right on the edge of the forest, just laying there, enticing the chubby dragon to eat it. Letting out an excited snarl, he flew awkwardly towards the fish. Just as he was about to gobble the fish up, it moved closer to the forest. Thinking nothing of it, he was willing to fly the few extra feet to his breakfast. The fish moved once again, and this time into the forest.
Bonetoss and Snakewhisp chuckled at the humorous sight. “Hehehe, stupid dragon!” Bonetoss whispered to his pal who was behind him.
When he looked back around, the fish was gone. The two dumbfounded Vikings looked up to see the Gronckle finish off his free meal and then look straight at the two of them. “Wh-wh-what are the dragon’s weaknesses? I forgot!”
“I don’t remember!” Snakewhisp snapped.
The two petrified Vikings stood still as the Gronckle sniffed them. After a few seconds of sniffing, the dragon let out a playful groan; and if the Vikings did not know better, the dragon was also smiling.
“Uh, come this way! We’ll take you to some more food!” The two Vikings cautiously stepped backwards, encouraging the dragon to follow.
The dragon was more than willing to follow. After having a nice sized fish digesting in his belly, he was all for some playing with these nice Vikings. He followed the Vikings into the forest. Most dragons would not be able to maneuver through the thickness of the forest, but luckily, the Gronckle was known for its maneuverability.
Further in the field, Toothless let out a giant yawn, waking up from a very restful sleep. His leg was a little tender, but it would not affect his walking. He looked around to make sure everything was at peace. Most of the dragons were just waking up as well, but over by the edge of the forest, he noticed a Gronckle playfully following after two Vikings into the forest. He let out a curious moan and tilted his head, wondering what was going on.
Stranding and stretching his legs and back, he decided to follow them to see what was going on. Perhaps, the time had come for them to return to the village. If that was where they were going, he decided that he would give Hiccup a big surprise. The only problem was that he could not follow directly behind them; the trees were too close together for him to fit through. He decided to take another path; one where he would be able to walk through and keep an eye out on the Vikings and the Gronckle without being seen himself.
* * * *
Hiccup’s heart was racing in his chest. Every nerve in his body was on edge as he dragged his feet towards the edge of the village, where he was to meet with Ivar and the hunting party. He began to question this whole plan, and doubt began to creep into his soul, whether or not this weapon was going to work. It felt like he was walking towards his execution.
As he neared the meeting location, he spotted a sea of large, bulky Vikings. Any sane person would have turned the other way and run from this terrifying sight, especially if they were Roman. Dozens of eyes were all pointing at him as he drew closer. His father stood beside Ivar as if he was the elder Viking’s apprentice. He never imagined anyone to be more frightening than his father.
Walking up in front of Ivar, Hiccup could not muster enough courage and strength to look up at the legendary chief in the eyes. Even with his eyes to the ground, he could feel his eyes piercing down on him like spears. “So, show me this weapon of yours.”
Hiccup raised his assembled crossbow that he and Gobber spent all yesterday afternoon and evening on. A few chuckles came from the group of Viking warriors, as Ivar raised his eyebrow. “A crossbow? Are you serious? This is a weapon of those Roman dogs.”
“Well, I did make some adjustments to it, making it a little deadlier."
“Ha, this weapon's a joke. If an ax or a spear cannot penetrate the Shadow Lord’s scales, what makes you think an arrow would do any better?”
“Uh, will it kill the Shadow Lord... no; but seeing the dragon first hand, I can assure you, that the dragon does have some unprotected areas. With the forest burning, the rain, the lightning, and a very lucky shot, I think it was enough to cause the dragon to retreat," Hiccup responded with a boldness that he had never shown before. He had no idea where it came from, but the smile and the nodding of his father’s head, gave him a warm feeling that he had done right.
Ivar seemed to be impressed that the boy was standing his ground against him, though he refused to show it through his demeanor. “Very well, let’s see what this crossbow of yours can do. Let’s go kill ourselves a Shadow Lord.”
* * * *
They were well on their way on their journey, retracing the steps that the group of young Vikings from the day before. Hiccup was forced to stay up front along with Ivar, Stoick, and Wolfbane, who dwarfed over him. He could not help but pray to the gods that the Shadow Lord had left the island.
They came to the part of the trail where the confrontation had taken place. The trees were scorched, and there was a distinct overwhelming smell of burnt lumber. “This is where the dragon attacked us.”
Ivar raised his hand to signal for the hunting party to stop. He stepped forward and inspected the area. The grass was muffled and torn with definite signs of a large dragon walking around. To his dismay, there were no scales to be found. After he was satisfied, he turned to face his fellow Vikings. “Let’s continue on, and see if we can find its nest.”
“Chief, look!” Wolfbane announced, pointing forward.
He turned back around to see a single Gronckle flying around, sniffing the unfamiliar territory. It was not the dragon Ivar was hoping to see, and that fact that it was here meant that there was a very small chance of encountering the Shadow Lord today. Ivar was not going to kill the dragon, to do so would almost be insulting to his fine reputation. It would not even stand a shadow of chance against him.
He looked over at Hiccup and the weapon in his hand. While this was not the test he had imagined giving the boy, it was better than nothing. “Hiccup, it appears that the gods have shown you some favor. You have an easy test subject for your invention. Show me what this weapon of yours is capable of.” Ivar walked up to the boy and shoved him forward.
“Y-y-you want me to kill the Gronckle?”
“This is your chance, boy, to prove to me everything that you and your father have been claiming. Kill that dragon.”
Never had he been so nervous in his life. If there was any time for the gods to stop playing practical jokes on him, now would be the time. If he killed the dragon, it would solve all of his problems, but his conscience would haunt him for years to come. If he refused to kill the dragon, who knows what he and his father would endure under Ivar’s wrath.
He prepped the crossbow; the shaking of his hands made it very difficult to hold the weapon, let alone prep it. He would have had no problems shooting this weapon at a Shadow Lord, knowing that it would not kill the dragon, but a Gronckle was an entirely different story. It would be easy to kill a Gronckle with the type of arrows that he and Gobber had created. He aimed the crossbow at the dragon, as his soul and mind were at war with his body.
* * * *
Toothless walked through the woods, having followed the two Vikings and the Gronckle. He noticed that the two Vikings were hiding behind trees, but where did the dragon go? He walked forwards a few steps and found a giant path up ahead. He could see the Gronckle flying around and exploring the area.
Letting out a confused moan, he was ready to join the dragon into the field when he looked to the left to see a crowd of Vikings. Up in front of them was Hiccup. He was pointing some kind of weapon at the unsuspecting dragon. His fury raged as he realized what had happened. The two Vikings had brought the Gronckle here to be hunted down. This could not be allowed to happen.
He was ready to pounce when he saw the two Vikings, who had brought the dragon here sneak away and made their way back towards the other dragons. Toothless growled angrily; he was not going to let them get to the other dragons.
* * * *
“Kill it!” Ivar screamed.
The Gronckle looked up towards the Viking, distracted him from his exploring. He was ready to fly over to greet them when he noticed that the smallest of them had something pointed towards him.
“Oh, man, what do I do?” Hiccup mumbled to himself; his hands barely able to hold onto the crossbow with all the shaking.
He looked down at the weapon in his hands, and through all the shaking, he noticed something about the looks of it that did not seem right. “I-I-I think there’s a problem with it. Let me make a few adjustments and—”
Ivar was furious; he was tired of the delay tactics. He stormed up to Hiccup and ripped the crossbow from the boy’s hands. He looked back to one of his own Vikings and called him forward. “You, kill that dragon with this weapon. I want to see this weapon in use.”
The Viking grunted with approval and he gladly accepted the crossbow and took a quick second to see how it worked. It did not take him very long, as he pointed the crossbow at the dragon. His hand found the crank and he began to rotate the crank. The string began to pull back, as it was supposed to, but then some unseen error occurred. The rope snapped forward without throwing out an arrow, and the violence of the malfunction caused great pain to strike his fingers. “Yow!” He yelped as he dropped the weapon to the ground.
“I told you, I think there is a problem with it!” Hiccup defended himself.
Ivar huffed, no longer caring what words came from the boy’s mouth. In his opinion, he had been tricked by a deceptive lie concocted by the boy and his father to embarrass him. “Wolfbane, kill the dragon, and let’s go back to the village.”
“My pleasure,” He replied with a grin, carrying a large battle ax in his hand as he stepped forward.
“No, wait! I think I can fix the crossbow!” Hiccup ran over to grab the weapon from the ground, hoping to buy the dragon enough time to escape.
He grabbed the crossbow and began to make some quick modifications. When he tried to reseat the string, it again snapped violently forward, causing him to stumble backwards. He tripped on a rock, and as he fell backwards, the crossbow went flying straight into WolfBane’s face. “Ah, you clumsy oaf!” He yelled, dropping his ax to the ground and covering his bloody nose with both of his hands.
“Uh, oops?” The familiar feeling of shame and embarrassment was quick to reintroduce themselves. He could feel all the angry scowls upon him, as he wished that he had the same powers of the Shadow Lord, and could turn himself invisible at that moment. This whole thing could not have gone any worse, but he did find some comfort as he noticed that the dragon had disappeared into the forest.
Ivar’s face was red with rage. “I have seen enough. We’re heading back.”
Chapter 12 coming 4/13/11
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Post by toothless11 on Apr 6, 2011 20:10:53 GMT -5
Just copying from the other forum.
Oh gosh! It get more intense! I hope the 2 Vikings don't hurt Toothless, and I kind of hope that the next chapter has something good.
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mrjop2
Caught Dragon
Posts: 130
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Post by mrjop2 on Apr 13, 2011 3:40:58 GMT -5
Chapter 12: Suspicion
Bonetoss and Snakewhisp made it back to the field of dragons. Without being seen by the beasts, they had arrived at the spot where they had slept overnight. With their job done, they could pack up and head back to the village. Confident that they were going to get praised for their work, they began to pack up their belongings and try to erase all evidence of their presence there.
“So, you think that boy embarrassed himself out there?” Snakewhisp grinned.
“That boy's a walking menace. There's no way he could've killed the Shadow Lord Dragon.”
“What do you think Wolfbane has planned with this mythical dragon?”
Bonetoss shrugged. “I’m sure he wants to get rid of Ivar so he can have the glory of killing it. We’ve all been living underneath Ivar’s shadow for too long.”
The two Vikings chuckled, but as they finished their laugh, they were greeted with the sound of growling. Both Vikings froze in place and cautiously looked up. Standing in front of them was a Night Fury. The dragon’s eyes were full of rage, as bared his teeth to confirm his anger.
“Th-th-that’s the night fury!”
“He looks pretty mad,” Bonetoss replied.
“Maybe if you carefully reach for the spear…” he pointed to the spear, laying up against a treeto their right, with his eyes.”
“Me? How about YOU get that spear! I’m closer to the dragon than you; he’ll rip my arm off!”
“And your arm’s more important than mine?” Snakewhisp responded.
Toothless roared, shaking his head as means to intimidate the Vikings. It worked; Bonetoss made a dash for the spear out of panic. The dragon leaped, and landed between the Viking and the weapon. He made it clear to the two Vikings that they had made a wrong decision going for that weapon. He swung his head violently like a wild, untamed beast ready for a fight.
“Forget this, I’m running!” Snakewhisp replied, running in the opposite direction of the dragon. Bonetoss was in full agreement, and join his friend, heading back to the village.
Toothless continued to romp around until he was certain the Vikings were not going to come back. Once he was convinced, Toothless snorted as he shook his head; his job of protecting the dragons was done for now.
* * * *
Ivar was too furious to talk with anyone. Even from the shop, he could still feel his rage radiating into Berk’s atmosphere. Hiccup was too scared to leave the shop to find out if the word of what had happened had spread through the village, yet. He took this time alone to look at his invention. If Ivar’s Vikings had not tried to fire the weapon, he would have had an easier time figuring out what exactly went wrong with it.
He backtracked in its original assembly order, to better keep track of what worked and what did not. Perhaps he could discover what he had missed. As he slowly disassembled the crossbow, he could not find any flaws with his logic. “I don’t get it, what went wrong?” He said out of frustration.
He began to look at the individual pieces and fidgeted with each moving piece. When it came to the hook that was supposed to grab and stretch the string, he noticed that there was no coil resistance.
“Hmm, that’s strange.”
He dissected that piece of the crossbow, and saw that the hook was deformed and installed completely wrong. The problem was so obvious; there was no way he could have made this kind of mistake. There could be no doubt that someone else had tampered with the crossbow overnight.
“So, I heard about the catastrophe this morning,” Bitwolf entered the shop at the most inopportune time.
“Well, you know how it is; stories always manage to get distorted the more times it gets told.” Hiccup replied.
“Sometimes, but this is YOU, we’re talking about. Is there really ever a need to exaggerate your stories?”
Hiccup frowned, trying to keep himself from getting angry. “What's your problem? Have I offended your family honor or something?”
“Not at all, I just should've known better than to trust your ability to make an invention that works.”
“My crossbow worked just fine,” he said defensively. He had to choose his next words very carefully, because someone messed around with his invention, and it had to be someone in Bitworlf’s tribe. “It just ran into some—problems.”
“Astrid defended you, and I decided to go along with this deception; now, you've just embarrassed us all. The least you could've done was put the weapon together properly.”
Hiccup paused, taking careful notice to what he had just said. How did Bitwolf know what the problem was? He never had a chance to see the crossbow before it was taken out on the hunt. The adult Vikings would not even care to know, what exactly went wrong; all they cared about was that it did go wrong.
“You can try to embarrass me all you want, I don’t care, but to embarrass your friends like that—to embarrass Astrid—is not an act of a good friend. A friend is supposed to be honorable and dependable.”
“I’m very dependable when it comes to my friends,” Hiccup protested.
“You may think so, but would your friends agree?” Bitwolf turned and made his way for the door. When he opened it, he found Gobber standing there, ready to come into the shop.
Gobber had heard the conversation, and he looked down at the boy with a frown on face. “Out of the shop with you, lad.”
“Yes, sir,” Bitwolf replied.
Gobber stepped aside to allow the young Viking to leave. Once he was gone, he stepped into the shop with a disheartened Hiccup. “Don’t let him get to you, Hiccup. He has no idea what he’s talking about. You're as loyal as they come.”
“That’s not what’s bothering me,” he replied turning to the table where his weapon was sprawled out in pieces. “I don’t think this was an accident. I think the crossbow was sabotaged, and I—I think it was…”
“Now, hold your horses, Hiccup. Your weapon was not sabotaged. We were up very late last night working on it, and we were both tired. We probably made some mistake in the end.”
“I’m telling you, I don’t think it was us, at all. I wouldn’t make this kind of mistake.”
“No one's perfect, Hiccup, and no one is certainly blaming you for what happened.” Hiccup’s raised his right eyebrow, challenging his last statement. “Okay, no one is blaming you besides Ivar... and Bitwolf… and Wolfbane… Okay, pretty much everyone from Ivar’s tribe. The point is, we’ll find a way to get through this mess.”
“Yeah, but will I have any friends left when it's over.” Hiccup said, walking out of the shop.
He had no idea what to do now. Despite Gobber’s assurance, he was certain that Bitwolf sabotaged his weapon, but the question was, why? Was this all about trying to steal Astrid's heart? If that was his intention, then Hiccup would have to make sure he disappoint him. He needed an alley to keep an eye out on him, and see if his suspicion was correct.
“Hey, Hiccup!” Fishlegs was walking by, and greeted him when he saw him leaving the shop.
“Fishlegs!” This was perfect. Of all of his friend, other than Astrid, he was the one he trusted the most. He was certain that he would hear him out.
“Rough day, I hear.”
“You have no idea,” Hiccup responded. “Listen, I need your help. I need you to keep a close eye on Bitwolf.”
“Why?”
“I think he messed with my crossbow. I don’t know why, but I need you to see if he does anything else strange.”
“You think he ruined your weapon?” His eyes revealed shock and surprise.
“I—am fairly certain of it, but I don’t want you to tell anyone else about this. There’s no point raising suspicion, not just yet.”
“I don’t think he would do something like that; he's like a hero class level eight or something. His knowledge of dragons is like—plus 10!”
“I understand that, but please believe me; my weapon did not malfunction on its own.” Hiccup pleaded. He really needed him to listen and to trust him.
Fishlegs was definitely thinking carefully about the request being made of him. He respected Hiccup, and probably even wanted to believe him, but he could not forget about the past. He could also not ignore the fact that Bitwolf seemed to be interested in Astrid. He did not want to get stuck in the middle of a war between two friends fighting over the same girl. “I’m sure it was just an accident. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Hiccup doubted that his other friends would spin the situation that way. That was why he could not trust the others with this task, and now apparently, Fishlegs was not willing to get involved with this. He could not mask the disappointment that he was feeling. “Okay, fine, but please don't tell anyone about this. I need to find out the truth for myself.”
“I won't tell anyone,” the chubby Viking smiled and headed off in the direction of the dining hall to find some food to eat. * * * *
Hiccup needed some time away from the village to think. Truthfully, he was not quite ready for the wave of criticism that he was going to get. He made his way into the dragon’s field. A few dragons were flying overhead, just for the sake of spreading out their wings a little. Other dragons were on the ground playing or hunting for fish.
He found toothless relaxing alone in the center of the field. The Night Fury raised his head when he saw him coming towards him. Hiccup expected the normal warm welcome; what he got was something totally different. Toothless charged at him with his teeth bared. The terrifying sight of the angry Night Fury was enough to cause Hiccup to stumble backwards. Toothless stopped short of pouncing on him, but he angrily romped around before him, snorting and growling.
“Toothless, what’s the matter with you? It’s me!”
Toothless did not seem to care. His anger did not subdue; he continued to shake his head and growl. He took a small lunge forward which succeeded in pushing Hiccup back further. The dragon was doing everything in his power to get him to leave. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you so angry?”
Toothless was becoming more aggressive towards him, the longer he stayed. He had no choice but to abide by the dragon’s wish and promptly depart the field. “Ok, ok, I’m leaving.”
Hiccup turned and walked quickly away from Toothless, who remained on edge until he was sure that he was not going to come back. As he headed back for the forest, his mind was reaching for an explanation for Toothless’ strange behavior. This made absolutely no sense, at all.
As he reentered the woods, he stopped for a minute to think. There was no doubt that the dragon recognized him; Hiccup could see it in his eyes. For some odd reason, Toothless was angry at him.
He started to search for a large rock, so he could sit down and think, but as he did, something caught his eye. Leaning up against a tree was a spear. “How did that get here?”
He walked to the weapon and closely inspected it. He did not recognize it. Looking around the area, he noticed that the grass was trampled upon. Among the trampled grass was a metal medallion. Bending down and picking it up, he used his fingers to inspect it. It was an emblem medallion. Every tribe of Vikings had their own emblem branded onto their armor, or painted onto flags, but this emblem was not Berks. The medallion belonged to someone from Ivar’s tribe.
Hiccup felt sick to his stomach; someone from Ivar’s tribe knew about the dragons. If he had to guess, he would say, that whoever it was, had a run-in with Toothless and had done something to show aggression towards him. Toothless’s reaction now made perfect sense.
He needed to tell this to his father about this new problem, but first, he had to convince Toothless that these Vikings were not his friends. With a deep breath, he made his way back into the field where it did not take long for Toothless to notice his return. The dragon once again stiffened his body and bore his teeth. He stomped on the ground with his two front teeth to try to intimidate him. Hiccup would not be scared off this time.
“Calm down, Toothless,” Hiccup urged, as he raised his hands to try to ease closer to the dragon.
He, then, showed him the medallion. Toothless almost went ballistic on him. Either he recognized the emblem or the scent of the Vikings on it; Hiccup could not tell, which was the case. “Whoever these men were, they're not from our village. They did not represent me.” He turned to the side and threw it as far as he could.
Toothless immediately became at-ease, retracting his teeth and looking at Hiccup with a curious look on his face. He had finally gotten through to the Night Fury. He slowly reached the palm of his right hand out towards Toothless. The dragon returned by bending downward and placing his nose into his hand.
“I don’t know what’s going on, Toothless; but I promise, that I’m going to find out, and set things right.”
Chapter 13 coming 4/20/11
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Post by toothless11 on Apr 13, 2011 5:10:23 GMT -5
Yes! New chapter! I'll read it latter.
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Post by nightfurymaster on Apr 13, 2011 18:14:03 GMT -5
That last part definitely had me on the edge of my seat!! Intense! And I love how you added Fishlegs "ranking" Bitwolf, that got me chuckling It just keeps getting better!! Good work!
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