User blog:Invisiblewing/HTTYD Fanfiction/Retelling Part 5

Once again, thanks to anyone who took the time to read my previous blog posts. Here's part 5 of my retelling of HTTYD. Comments and suggestions for improvement are always welcome.

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I bolted up early the next morning, excited as usual. Nothing could stop me. I ate a mushy, stale breakfast and ran over to the armory, where Gobber was working away at the saddle for Hoark.

                 “G’morning,” I said to Gobber, heading straight for my little area.

                 “Hiccup, I need to talk with you, lad,” Gobber said.

                 I froze with one leg in my workroom, thinking that Gobber had seen something I didn’t want him to see, like Toothless’s saddle or tail fin. My lungs froze and I could feel my lips blanch. “Uh, w-what did you need?” If I told him I was in a hurry, I’d be in huge trouble and so would Toothless.

                 “I just wanted to tell you that we won’t be doing dragon training today.”

                 I slumped in relief. Toothless’s saddle and tail fin were a mere ten feet away from Gobber, and he didn’t know one bit about them. “Oh. Okay,” I said. “Thanks.” I snuck into my workroom and pulled the saddle and tailfin out. Gobber had turned back to the saddle as I was walking out. As I got around the corner, I said to him, “See you later.” He motioned and mumbled something back. Safe.

                 I got to the cove and slid everything underneath the shield that was still stuck there. One of these days, I was gonna remember to bring a sledgehammer and splinter that thing. But I had more pressing issues at the moment.

                 I strode down to the bottom of the cove with the saddle and tail fin underneath my right arm. Toothless came cautiously loping up to me, sniffing the air expectantly, like I was about to bring him breakfast.

                 “Sorry, Toothless,” I told him. “I couldn’t carry any fish today.” He sat down on his haunches, looking at me. But he didn’t snarl or growl. He just sat there looking a little sad. I felt sorry for him, because I might have been the only reason he was getting food at all. Note for future: bring fish every day.

                 I pulled Toothless’s tailfin out from under my arm and his eyes widened. His pupils were round, showing he was excited. A chance to fly again must have been amazing for Toothless.

                 “Yeah, I knew you’d like to see this again,” I mused to him. He let me walk around and attach the tail fin without any fuss. No problems. But he took an interest in his saddle. He kept sniffing at it, trying to figure out what it was. I held it in front of him, letting the loops and leather straps hang down.

                 I watched Toothless go from excited and happy to defensive within a second. His eyes narrowed and his ear flaps collapsed to the back of his head. “Uh-oh,” I mumbled. Not good.

                 He crouched down on all fours with a grunt, ready to run off at a moment’s notice. I crept toward Toothless slowly, hoping I could somehow sneak his saddle on. I took two steps and he bolted, me running to catch him. So, the first thing that I learned today was that Night Furies are extremely quick on the ground, too. Not just the air.

                 Toothless wheeled around and took off in the opposite direction, leaving me in the dust. As he passed me, he turned his head and stuck out his tongue at me, making a sound that seemed like a combination between a grunt and a moan. I just stopped. Did a dragon just insult me? After all I had done for him? I had no idea what to do.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Toothless stopped about fifteen feet away from me and looked at me. He sat back on his haunches again and made a movement like the day I had that fish for him. He smacked his lips together a couple of times, telling me that he was hungry.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I sighed. “Really?” I asked him. He didn’t respond, simply continuing to stare at me, pleading for more fish. I stepped toward him, and he growled at me. “Okay, fine,” I said, defeated. “Don’t go anywhere,” I told him sarcastically. “I’ll be back after a while.” I carried the saddle back up the slope and through the entrance. I left it hidden under a rock while I went to Berk to fetch a basketful of fish.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Gobber was nowhere to be seen at the armory, so I quickly grabbed the basket and walked out. At the back of the great hall was a large collection of fish and a few eels. Briefly, I thought about hiding a couple of eels at the bottom of the basket because I was frustrated with Toothless. But then I remembered that my goal was to get him flying again with me on his back. I had to earn his trust for that, and continually hiding a food he didn’t like would never do any favors in winning Toothless over for me. I filled the basket about three quarters of the way with fish and lugged it back to the cove. Before I got there, I grabbed the saddle from underneath the rock and entered, once again ducking underneath the shield.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I carried the basket back down to the bottom of the cove, having spent the better part of an hour just walking back and forth. For Toothless. Just like earlier today, Toothless came cautiously loping up to me, sniffing at the basket. Probably making sure there were no eels in there today.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “No, I don’t have any eels for you today,” I said. I tipped the basket over and Toothless went to work gobbling down the fish.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I cautiously walked over to his side and put the saddle on his back. He stopped eating and shook, like a dog trying to get rid of water from its coat. The saddle flew off his back and landed about five feet away from him. On his other side. Toothless glared at me and growled softly. I wasn’t sure if he was telling me to stop, telling me to be careful because I didn’t want to do something wrong, or telling me to wait until he was finished. I backed away from him a couple of steps as he resumed eating. And sighed. This was going to be a loooooong day if I couldn’t get the saddle on him. I crept around to Toothless’s other side and picked up the saddle, still in decent shape. The impact with the ground didn’t hurt anything.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 By the time I had turned around to face Toothless again, he was still on all fours, but the fish were gone. I was five feet away from him, holding a saddle, looking at him to see what he would do. He just stared at me, hopefully in understanding that I wanted to get this saddle onto his back. Having me cling onto his tail for dear life was not a good way to fly. If I could just convince Toothless of that…

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Slowly, I walked toward him, each step expecting a growl from Toothless. He just stared. I placed the saddle on his back with the loops on the outsides of his front legs. And looked at him again. Toothless’s eyes were a little rounder, a little more accepting of me. I smiled a little in relief and stroked his neck softly, saying, “Thanks, Toothless.” He just blinked and murred softly. I knelt down next to his front right leg and reached around gingerly, still unsure if Toothless was okay with me fitting him with a saddle. He just watched me. I could hear him exhale every few seconds, sounding like the bellows in the armory. I found the two sides to the belt and buckled it around Toothless’s front leg. Slowly, I walked around his front and did the same with his left, making sure both loops weren’t too tight on his legs.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Finally, I walked to his tail and tied the piece of twine around the main crossing beam so that I could control Toothless’s prosthetic tail fin while in flight. The entire time, he just watched me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 This was gonna be awkward. How in the world was I going to tell Toothless that I wanted to get onto his back? Time for some trial and error. I looked him in the eyes. He just stared back. I glanced to the saddle on his back. He craned his neck and looked at it for a little bit, then turned to look at me again. Okay, that didn’t work. We were back at square one.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Can I get on your back, Toothless?” I asked him. He continued staring at me. Strike two. No good. His legs were still at standing height. I needed him to crouch on his front legs so I could climb onto his back.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Slowly, I shuffled over to his side, about an arm’s length away. I still wasn’t sure if he’d attack me. Besides that magical moment two evenings ago and an accidental flight yesterday, we had never been closer to each other than maybe three feet. But if I was gonna build a friendship with Toothless, that barrier would have to be broken sometime soon. Before my father got back.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I stood facing the saddle and slowly placed both arms onto Toothless’s side. He grunted in curiosity, wondering what I was doing. I glanced at his eyes again and then back to the saddle. He blinked.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Slowly, Toothless crouched down, unsure if I was shamming him or not. I took a deep breath. Grabbed the twine and made my way to the saddle. I sat down, straddling Toothless’s back just behind his head and neck.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Okay, Toothless, let’s try this,” I said softly to him, stroking his side about where his front leg and shoulder met. Toothless made a noise that sounded like a combination between a grunt and a groan. He seemed to understand what I was thinking, because he spread his wings out slowly and hunched down, tensing.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Without warning, he took off. I barely had enough time to grab the front of the saddle with my right hand before we were airborne. “WHOA!” I shouted in surprise. Somehow, I had kept a hold of the twine in my left hand as I held onto the saddle for dear life. Toothless didn’t seem to care that I was on his back, simply trying to move as quickly as he could in the air.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 His first few wingbeats were pretty good, then I felt him canter to his right. With enough presence of mind to keep my right hand on the saddle, I pulled my left hand toward Toothless’s head, opening the tail fin. Immediately, Toothless straightened his flight out and angled upward, toward the sky. He turned toward the lake. I pulled upward with the twine, but the angle between my arm and the fin was too shallow. I wrenched upwards, yanking the tailfin too steeply, which made Toothless panic, dropping me off the saddle and into the water. I didn’t skip this time around, thankfully. That last time was painful.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Toothless skidded harmlessly into the water. He clambered out, shook himself off and glared at me for ruining his flight. Again.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I climbed out of the lake and slowly made my way over to Toothless. He was still glaring at me, growling softly. To me, it sounded like he was more irritated than angry, but I wasn’t going to question the irritation or anger of a dragon that could blow me to bits in less than a second.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “Heh…sorry, Toothless,” I said cautiously. I shuffled up in front of Toothless and slowly put my hand out in front of his face, like I did that first time with him. Slowly, his growling subsided, and he muzzled into my hand for a few seconds, eyes closed. Toothless pulled back, opened his eyes and looked at me. Motioned with his head toward the saddle that he had reluctantly accepted. He wanted to try it again.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Okay, this was going to be lots of trial and error for the next few attempts. I knew I was going to hurt my shoulder if I kept working Toothless’s tail fin with my arm. Even if I made the length as short as I possibly could, his tail was still too long to get a good angle on it. It would be even more problematic if he was turning, which would shorten the distance between his tail and my arm, but would also give the line some slack. If I could just make the length even shorter.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Aha! Tie the twine around my left ankle. That was it. I cautiously walked over to Toothless’s side and bent down, tying the rope around my ankle. He bent down, waiting for me to get back on the saddle.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 This time was even worse. I had said trial and error, but it felt like error and error. My leg had even worse range of motion than my arm, and I could barely open Toothless’s tail fin. We dropped over the lake again, me falling in and him skidding across the water as usual. Both of us clambered out. Toothless looked angry or irritated again, while I just looked dejected. How was I going to control Toothless in flight? I didn’t just make a saddle for him for nothing. With no way to control him, the saddle was a complete waste!

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I walked over to Toothless again, where his growling stopped a little quicker this time. He looked pleadingly at me, seeming to implore me to get him airborne for more than ten seconds.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 “I’m sorry,” I said to him, rubbing the top of his head as he purred. “I’m out of ideas right now.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Toothless pulled away from me suddenly, and began trying to scratch an itch underneath his saddle with his back leg, like a cat or dog would do. I walked up to him and realized that I’d have to disconnect the leather straps underneath his front legs, which might anger him. Or he could just have that itch for life, which would definitely make him angry. That wouldn’t make us friends very quickly.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Haltingly, I bent down and began working the leather straps open, finding that they had ridden up on Toothless from the water. They’d have to be treated for water before long. I figured I’d do that when I got an idea of how to control his flight. Toothless seemed to realize what I was doing, because he stopped and waited for me. I got the straps open and slid the saddle off of his back, where he went to work, twisting his back and trying to reach what was probably an unreachable spot. Just like when I try to scratch in between my shoulder blades. It just doesn’t work.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I put my hand on the side of Toothless’s neck and walked over to his front leg, telling him by touching him where I was. He stopped scratching and made a short grunt, asking me to get that area, probably irritated by the saddle.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Fingernails armed, I dug in, scratching deep into his skin. I hadn’t noticed until now that Toothless wasn’t truly scaly, like most reptiles. His skin was more like hard leather, so no chance of me cutting myself, thankfully.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I must have gotten just the right spot on him, because he shut his eyes and pushed up into my fingers, murring happily as my fingernails did their work. I smiled, knowing that if I couldn’t get Toothless airborne today, I could at least stop a wicked itch.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Toothless was making me feel better with his purring sound, because I felt like he accepted me a little more as I worked over his back, just below his neck. I felt like he seemed to enjoy my company a little more today than yesterday. I was so glad that I met him a few days ago. Even if he roared at me in revenge that very first day. My goal was to be his best friend by the time my father got back. I’d figure out what to do about revealing him later.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I kept working with my fingernails, my left arm moving underneath his chin. I didn’t realize I had started scratching Toothless under his chin until he seized up, grunted and collapsed on the ground in satisfaction. I just looked at my hands, thinking I had done something horrible to him. He was just laying there on his frontside, purring. Smiling. In content. For something that I had done for him. “Whoa,” I whispered.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I crouched down next to him and put a hand on the side of his head. He opened his eyes, which were massively round, signaling content. I made Toothless happy, even though we couldn’t fly today. How cool. I stroked the side of his head, making him rumble again. I thought he was adorable like that. A Night Fury, perfect as a pet. I laughed a little on the inside.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Sitting down next to Toothless, I continually stroked his head and the back of his neck gently, waiting for him to decide that he had enough contact time with me today. But he never moved, other than shifting his position a little every now and then. So that I could stroke a different part of his neck. Or his upper back. Simply put, Toothless was perfectly content to stay next to me for a while.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I looked at the sky. The sun was on a downward track, telling me it was sometime in the afternoon. Past lunchtime, but I didn’t care. Toothless was still just lying there, soaking up the sun and being happy in general with my attention. I could hear him exhaling every few seconds, sounding like the bellows in the armory. The combination of bright sunshine and a happy Night Fury made me drowsy, so I relaxed against Toothless’s side and was asleep before I knew it. We didn’t fly, but we were happy anyway.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">__________________

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 Toothless woke me up. He was rumbling gently and licking me on the side of the face. Telling me to get up. “Hmgr?” I mumbled. Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw streaks of red and orange painting the sky. Sunset. In other words, time to get back to Berk. Toothless must have figured out that I wouldn’t be around him at night and was probably telling me that I had better get back home before anyone got suspicious. He continued licking my face until I was totally awake. I looked at him, noticing his eyes were round and his ear flaps were raised. A content dragon.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing">                 I stroked his head and the back of his neck again, saying, “Thanks, Toothless.” He blinked.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I slowly got to my feet, stretched and started toward the entrance to the cove, which also doubled as an exit. See, calling it an entrance only told half the story.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I heard a short, raspy bark from behind me. Turned around. Toothless was sitting there, staring at me with those big, round eyes. He was sitting next to his saddle, switching his gaze between me and the saddle. Telling me that I needed to fix it so he could fly. For real.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“You got it, Toothless,” I told him with a wry smile. “I’ll get your saddle fixed for tomorrow. And I’ll bring breakfast.” I scratched the side of his head gently and picked up the saddle and basket, which had been void of fish all day. Luckily, we had several of these baskets, so one missing wasn’t going to make anyone wonder. Before I headed to the exit, I looked at Toothless again. He was looking back at me. I had just fallen asleep next to a dragon, and he never did anything to hurt me. Man, all this mumbo-jumbo we were being taught was so wrong it was ridiculous. I wondered for a little bit how I was going to show the rest of Berk that dragons might not be so bad, but thought better of it. They’d never believe me. I was Hiccup after all.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I started walking toward the exit, Toothless loping along beside me, just happy to be around me. I had that warm, fuzzy feeling again, thinking that I had really hit it off with a dragon. And I wasn’t going to turn back. Ever. Before I climbed the rocks to leave the cove, I turned back to Toothless and rubbed the side of his head again. “See you tomorrow, Toothless.” He gave a short whuff and went on his way. I left without another word.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I couldn’t wait for dragon training to be over with, so that I could visit Toothless again. With an improved saddle.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in; text-align: center;">__________________

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I snuck back into the armory just as night was falling. Nobody saw me with a bizarre-looking saddle that would never fit any horse. I crept into the armory, noticing that Gobber had already left for the night. I wasn’t going to eat supper tonight. My goal was to get the saddle done.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I walked back into my drawing room and sat down in front of a blank sheet of parchment. I had a pencil ready, but I wasn’t going to draw anything yet. In the upper left-hand corner, I wrote the word “SIMPLE” in all caps. Underneath it, I began listing ideas that would work on the saddle. I knew that a range of motion, like what I had tried with my arm and leg, was never going to work. The first idea I listed was “discrete positions.” This described that I wanted Toothless’s tail fin to work, but I could limit it to moving to a few preset positions. I also wrote the question, “How to control?” It would have to be some kind of notched setup, some kind of ratchet that would catch in certain positions. Kinda like the locks on the doors to the dragon pens. You could have them partially open because of the ratchets that would catch if you accidentally dropped the cable.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Controlling Toothless’s tail fin would require some kind of leading cable from the fin to the saddle. Next to my question, I wrote, “HAND, FOOT.” I was trying to imagine different ways of controlling the tail fin. I put the pencil down and held my arms in front of me, like I was on Toothless’s back again. I mimed adjusting the ratchet with my left hand, tweaking my wrist in several different directions. I had five different movements: neutral, up, down, left and right. That should have been enough.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">But if we were flying and I had to think quickly and hold on at the same time, a hand-cranked ratchet was never going to work. I couldn’t hold on with my right hand for dear life and keep a light grip with my left. I crossed out the word “HAND.” That left “FOOT.” I looked down and mimed working my left foot in several different directions. I had neutral, toe-down, toe-up, right tilt and left tilt. I didn’t want any degrees of tilt in my foot. I just wanted one position of my foot to adjust the tail fin to exactly one position.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I thought about Toothless in flight. About what his tail fin needed to do. Lay flat, tilt up, tilt down, fold in, spread out. Pretty simple. Five foot positions, five fin positions. Ready for business. I circled the word “FOOT.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Before improving the saddle for functionality, I added two little features. The first was two hooks. I could attach my belt or design a flying vest that wasn’t fur-coated. If I could attach the vest to his saddle, that would help in keeping me on Toothless’s back while he flew around. And since he was designed for speed, I’d need some help in hanging on. We had several hooks and loops floating around, so that was a quick little five-minute fixer-upper. In five more minutes, I had the second feature: two metal handles to hold at the front of the saddle. No more trying to wedge my fingers between the saddle and Toothless’s hide.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Surprisingly, designing the ratchet wasn’t so bad. I just had four slots that I could work the latch into and a neutral slot. Filing down the metal was time-consuming, because I had to start with a chunk of scrap iron and work it into shape while it was still hot. Took me five cycles, and by the time I was finished, I just wanted to sleep. But I made a promise to a Night Fury. And I was going to keep it.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I made a double loop combination to keep the stirrup locked to the control line for the fin. I couldn’t afford a hook-loop combination here. If it came out while flying, we were gonna be dead. I made several thirty-foot long control lines that were essentially long, thin wires. Using a handheld winch I had designed last year, I wound them together to make a cable about an inch in diameter. Nobody, including Gobber, had figured out that cables were way better than just a single thick piece of wire. I grinned, thinking that I was a genius to finally apply a cable for something practical. I grabbed another loop to fit the tail fin when I got back to Toothless. I had intentionally made the control line too long so that I could cut it down to size. It had to be perfect, or it wouldn’t work. I stowed everything in my drawing room so that I could get it later today. Looking out the armory vista, I noticed the full moon was well past the mountain on the other side of Berk. Directly over the mountain was midnight this time of year. I sighed, knowing it was going to be another low-on-sleep day until I could get to Toothless. Then we’d try flying again and I’d probably end up falling asleep next to him. Again. I shrugged, happily accepting that outcome.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I went home and got a little bit of sleep before morning found me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in; text-align: center;">__________________

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“HICCUP, GET UP!” someone shouted. It took me a few seconds to realize it was Astrid hollering at me from a couple of feet away. “We’ve got dragon training now!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I opened my eyes and saw a blurry Astrid standing over me. “Mm. Can I get back to sleep?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“NOW!” she yelled. To drive her point home, she shoved me out of my bed. I landed on the ground with a thud.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Rrrgh! I’m up! I’m up!” I slowly got to my feet and checked to make sure I had no broken bones. None, although a few bruises would show up soon.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Gobber’s been waiting for you. Hurry up.” I heard her footsteps clunk out of my house.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I sighed, knowing today would be difficult because of how late I had stayed up last night. A couple hours of sleep was never going to get the job done here. But I had no choice. After nearly tripping down the stairs, and hearing the fifth step explode underneath my foot, I was awake enough to make my way to the arena. No breakfast, because we were already late.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Gobber had set up the arena with several small wooden walls peppering the ground, like temporary bunkers to hide behind. I was last to trudge into the arena, trying my hardest not to drag my feet.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“What took you so long, Hiccup?” he asked.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Before I could say anything, Astrid said, “Hiccup doesn’t want to be here.” I didn’t say anything back. No need to, because she was actually correct.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Well, if you prefer receiving a fireball, then be my guest,” Gobber said. When nobody moved, he instructed, “Okay, everyone get behind a wall!” And waited for a little bit. And waited some more. I was about to stand up and ask him what was taking so long when he added, “You also need to find your own wall!” The twins were bickering again over who would claim ownership of the all-important wall. Eventually, Ruffnut got shoved out from behind the wall and grumbled all the way to her own wall, six feet away from her brother’s. She glared at him while Gobber started a brief lecture.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Last time, you had a maze to help you with the Nadder. In a real dragon raid, you don’t get that luxury. Let’s see if you have learned anything about attacking!” He shoved the lever down, releasing the bole that held the Nadder’s door shut. The door slammed open and the same Deadly Nadder that Astrid had clobbered a few days back came rushing out.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I was slumping against my wall, trying to fight sleep. After last night, I realized that living this double life was going to be taxing. But I had no choice. Toothless was a secret to everyone except me and him.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“HICCUP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?” Gobber shouted at me. I jumped, colliding with my wall and nearly making it topple. I grabbed the top of it and held it steady. Gobber screaming at me helped to clear my senses for at least a few minutes. I heard the Nadder blast fire at someone, but didn’t look. Snotlout yelled in fear as his shield caught fire. Before the dragon could blast him, Astrid yelled a battle cry and clonked the dragon in the head with a hammer she had picked up. The dragon snarled and took off after her. “Snotlout! You’re done!” Gobber shouted across the ring.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The dragon spewed fire at Astrid as I heard her grunt and duck behind a different wall than where she started. And she stayed there. The dragon warbled and cackled, looking for someone to maim.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“HICCUP! WAKE UP!!” Gobber shouted again.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">This time, I shot straight into the air, standing ramrod straight. The dragon saw me. “Crud,” I mumbled under my breath. “Let’s just get this over with.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I stood there, looking the Nadder in the eyes as it approached me at full tilt. But I didn’t back down, probably because I was too tired to react. It stopped and made a cackling noise. After observing Toothless, I thought that the dragon might have been more interested in checking me out, rather than blasting me with fire. But I wasn’t going to find out. Astrid wouldn’t let me.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">About thirty feet on the other side of the dragon, Astrid leapt up yelling, “HYEEEAH!” with her axe raised. She was going to kill this poor creature. I had to do something about it.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The only thing my mind could think of was what Toothless did after I took his saddle off yesterday. I had scratched him under his chin and he melted in content. I stole one look at the Deadly Nadder, who was still looking me over, and began scratching it on the side of its neck. I must have done something right, because I saw the dragon’s eyes lose focus. Astrid was still out for blood, so I had to move quickly. I snuck my left hand under the Nadder’s chin and scratched.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The dragon seized up, grunted and collapsed in a heap and sighed, warbling softly. I saw Astrid with her axe still raised, looking at the dragon in disbelief. Then her eyes found me standing on the other side of the happy Nadder, wide like the bowls we use for supper. She couldn’t believe it. A second ago, she was mere feet from lopping this dragon’s head off, and then it just collapsed?

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The dragon continued to mumble in contentment as Astrid slowly shuffled away, trying to figure out what happened to her. I smirked a little, trying to hide the fact that I was dead-tired. I just wanted to go visit Toothless again, so that I could get some sleep.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Uhh, right,” Gobber said after an awkward silence. “Looks like we’re done for today. Meet back in front of the armory tomorrow, same time, everyone.” I sighed in relief and made my way toward the exit trying my hardest not to drag my feet.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“All right, Hiccup, start talking,” Astrid said to me in full earshot of everyone else as we were leaving the arena. “What did you do?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I, uh, stopped the Nadder from attacking me. Why?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“But how?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“I dunno,” I said, trying to stifle a yawn. “Maybe it had enough sense to back down?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Yeah, sure, whatever,” she said. She and the other trainees left me to trudge my way back home. I slowed my pace down so that I could stop by the armory and get Toothless’s stuff. I watched as the other teens went their separate ways, not really bothering me. Good, I thought. I dashed into the armory and grabbed the saddle, cable and a few strings of leather along with a basket and wire shears. My next stop was the great hall, as I somehow remembered in my stupor to get some fish for Toothless.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Laden with gear, I tried to make my way to the cove quickly without attracting any attention. I got to the cove barely awake and tried to walk into the entrance. And promptly collided with that darn shield. The impact was enough to wake me up for just a little bit as I slithered underneath the shield with all of my gear and somehow found my way down to the bottom of the cove without tumbling.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless was already there, waiting for me. Ready to go flying. But I couldn’t do anything. “H-hey, Toothless,” I said quietly. “Here’s your fish.” I tipped the basket over, forgetting to remove the shears and leather. Toothless saw them fall out and looked at me inquisitively before I realized what was going on. “Mm. Sorry,” I said. I removed the gear that had mixed itself with the fish and sat down. I didn’t even watch Toothless eat. I was just too tired to do anything. Except sleep.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless must have picked up on me being tired, because after finishing his meal, he loped over to me and licked me in the face a few times before giving a short, raspy bark. Kinda like last night.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Mmm. Hey, Toothless,” I said stupidly. I had been trying to stay awake so hard that I had forgotten what Toothless wanted. He licked me again and rumbled, trying to wake me up for something, but I just couldn’t do it. What was that something? Oh, right. Flying. Too tired. I started to lean to my left without realizing it. By the time I would hit the ground, I knew I would be asleep.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless immediately crouched down under me, and I ended up with my back against the left side of his neck. I was too tired to say anything, so I just sighed in contentment. Toothless licked the side of my face again as I fell asleep. I only hoped we’d have at least some time to try flying before the day was through.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in; text-align: center;">__________________

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I woke up, feeling refreshed. Way better than what I had felt like when I had first gotten here today. I looked up and saw the sun was high overhead. Could this be tomorrow? I wondered. I stirred, realizing I was sitting on the ground, leaning against Toothless, who was sleeping lightly. I listened to him breathe, feeling his heart beat.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I heard Toothless snort and wake up. He shook his head, sending a small vibration through my back. He grunted and stood, forcing me to sit straight up. I stretched and stood, remembering that I had conveniently turned dragon training with Gobber into a very short class earlier today. In the cove I had a foggier sense of time, but I figured it was just past noon at the very latest. I had taken a short nap and I was now ready to fly.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Hey, Toothless. You ready?” I asked, turning to face him. His mouth pulled into a grin and he looked at me in anticipation. I took that as a yes.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I put his saddle on with a minimum of fuss and fastened the loops around his front legs. I had forgotten to treat the leather, so I knew it would ride up on Toothless if we crash landed into any water again.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">As I climbed onto his back, I had this faint sinking feeling that I had forgotten something important. I couldn’t tell what it was, but I knew it would come to me soon. Oh, well.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless hunkered down and took off as I held onto the saddle, ready this time. As his feet left the ground, everything moved in slow motion because I remembered what it was. I had forgotten to attach the tail fin to the saddle. Oops. As usual, the first few wingbeats were good and then it all went wrong. Toothless had a little more air this time, probably because the tail fin was somewhat open during his flight. He had gotten us out of the cove and was heading in a direction I didn’t want him to go.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toward Berk. I wasn’t sure if he knew Berk was this way, but I hoped that the tail fin would bring us down. And quickly.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">It did. Toothless made a noise between a squawk and a grunt as he plummeted down into a field of garlic grass. The landing was soft enough for me to stumble about five steps forward as Toothless hit the ground. I emerged just outside of the little field and turned back to see if Toothless was okay. And if he was up for flying again. Well, he didn’t have a choice because all my gear was inside our little cove.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">As I parted the chest-high grass, I heard Toothless grunting and snorting as he rolled around in the grass, apparently enthralled by its scent. I knew we had several meadows of garlic grass around Berk, but I had never seen a dragon near one during a raid. Maybe this was why. Toothless was pretty much overwhelmed in pleasure as he rubbed around in the grass, trying to inhale as much of its scent as he could. I had walked through garlic grass several times and had never thought anything of it. I actually tried to stay away from it because later in the day, I was always itchy from walking in it.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">But seeing Toothless happy like this was amazing, especially after another failed flight. Watching him frolic gave me another idea. A new “weapon” for dragon training. I already had scary things like eels and scratching under chins. Now I had one more. Garlic grass. I made a mental note to head here tomorrow right before dragon training.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I waited for Toothless to come down off his high before we made the return flight back to the cove. This was probably going to hurt, but I didn’t know how else to get him back down there. If I left him here to get my stuff, there was no telling what could happen to him. He could wander off in search of more grass or a Viking not named Hiccup could find him. That wouldn’t end well. The best solution I could think of was to crash-land in the cove to get the rest of my little contraption put together.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless stood and shook himself off before looking at me with those deep yellow-green eyes. I took one step toward him when his eyes lost focus. He squinted slightly and drew in a sharp breath through his nose. By the time I realized what he was doing, it was too late. Toothless sneezed through his nose, covering my front side in a fine spray of droplets. He looked at me again, as if nothing had happened. I stood there in shock, grateful that he didn't sneeze anything more dangerous, like a fireball. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, and said, “C’mon, Toothless, let’s get back to the cove,” I told him, trying to steer him back to where we came from. It was difficult trying to hide my impatience from him, as I could think of nothing except washing dragon snot off. I walked him to the edge of the cove, which was surrounded by trees and boulders. I thought it was a very convenient disguise, as no one else but me and Toothless knew about this place.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless waited for me to get on his back and then jumped to the top of the boulders without really flying. He was apparently smart enough to know that he couldn’t fly yet. He then jumped back into the cove, gliding to a rough landing, but otherwise unhurt.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I ran over to the stream and tried to wash off the spray from Toothless as best as I could. Not all of it would come off, but I figured it was better than doing nothing. And I knew doing nothing about it would probably draw the suspicion of just about any Viking nearby.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“All right, Toothless, let’s get this done,” I said as I stood up from washing my face and clothes. I ambled over to the shears, cable and leather. Toothless loped with me, giddy with excitement.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The first thing I did was attach the cable to my foothold. I had already designed the control mechanism, so all it needed was a connection to the tail fin. Toothless just watched me, making the occasional curious sound. I straightened his tail a little bit so that the cable would be at its maximum length, making it easier for Toothless to turn while in flight and on the ground. I had observed that his tail was extremely active, if only moving up and down while pumping his wings. The cable was about five feet too long, so I clipped the excess off with the shears and tried to attach the cable by hand. I got it on the loop, but when Toothless moved his tail experimentally, the cable buckled slightly. It was still too long. I grabbed the shears again and clipped off another small section. Reattached it. Still buckling. I cut off yet another segment and kept trying to figure out how to keep the cable in a line with Toothless’s side. I just couldn’t figure it out.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">By the time I had finished, I was out of breath, and my hands had a humongous gash running straight across from a mishap with the cable. I had tried to attach it for the umpteenth time when it slipped and dragged a jagged edge across my closed hands. I tried to flex my hands, but the pain was almost unbearable. I groaned weakly, trying to convince my audience of a Night Fury that I could stand an injury.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">But I had a larger problem. The cable was resting directly on Toothless’s front left leg. It would cut through his skin in no time if we tried flying. There was no way that I would be dumb enough to let Toothless take to the air with this flaw. He’d be in pain and he’d know that it would be my fault. Sounded like a recipe for a fireball in my direction. Not just a sneeze.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Oh, man,” I said under my breath. “Toothless, I’m sorry. I can’t let you fly like this.” Toothless just looked at me. He murmured softly and closed his eyes as he rubbed his head into my arm. I just stood there, cursing all these little problems that cropped up in trying to get Toothless airborne. I felt really bad for him, trying so hard to help him fly again, only to run into yet another snag. Dejected, I sat down and hung my head.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Toothless curled up beside me and found my right palm was still bleeding. He sniffed at it and licked it gently. I didn’t feel any pain, but I wasn’t sure if dragon saliva was going to help my hands heal any faster. I just let him go until he was satisfied, trying to keep my left hand hidden from him. But he found it anyway and swiped his tongue at my closed left hand. Oh well, what the heck, I thought. I opened my hand and let him lick my left hand until he was finished. I had noticed that the bleeding stopped much more quickly than normal after Toothless had found my hands.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Eventually Toothless stopped and looked at me with those big, round eyes. Without thinking, I wrapped his neck in a hug and said, “I’m sorry, Toothless. I’m trying so hard and I can’t get it right.” I could hear him breathe, sounding like the bellows in the armory. I felt his heart beating, yearning for more time in the air, but I couldn’t let him. He seemed to know it too. Toothless just let me hug him until I was ready to go. I was frustrated that I couldn’t figure out what I needed to do, but my goal was to get him back in the air for more than ten seconds.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I let go of Toothless, who just looked at me. I shuffled over to his tail. Unwinding the cable was surprisingly easy, as I remembered I didn’t have any kind of tool to tighten it. I disconnected the cable from the foothold and slowly removed the saddle from Toothless’s back. I set it down on the ground next to him and pulled out my notebook with the pencil inside. I found a blank page and wrote, “Design guide slot for cable. Bring winch to secure cable. Test flight while attached to stationary object.” I wanted to do all of this by the end of tomorrow.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I gathered all of the materials I needed and placed the saddle, shears and leather back in the basket. I’d have to carry the cable by hand.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Okay, Toothless,” I told him. “We’re flying tomorrow. I promise.” He just looked at me, wondering why he couldn’t be airborne today. Begging me to fly today. I wished that just this once, these problems could fix themselves and we’d be in the air.

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">I reached out to touch the side of his head, but Toothless backed away, grunted and loped off in irritation. My hand fell down by my side, and I shuffled back to the opening in the cove wall, looking down. I sighed as I ducked under the shield that was still lodged in the entrance. I was impatient, hoping the improvements to the saddle and tail fin would go more quickly. Maybe tonight I could get it all sorted out. And get Toothless in the air tomorrow.