úlfheðnar, httyd

ix. The Devilish Dervish

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter nine; yrsa
❝ the devilish dervish! ❞

    LATER that day, Yrsa sought out Hiccup in the forge. She could see smoke wafting up into the air and it let her know that either he or Gobber were there, even at this hour as the sun slowly fell behind the cliffs. She wanted to go see Toothless before she returned for supper, perhaps bring him some nice fish or leftover stew and practice her axe swinging. But she wanted to see Hiccup first.

    She saw the chief's son and the blacksmith chatting by the anvil as she walked up, fiddling with the grip of her axe. They didn't see her coming, so she called out a, "Hey━"

    Hiccup and Gobber's gaze snapped to her, and the former went red amongst the freckles across his cheeks. Her breath hitched━did he just blush? At her? Not at Astrid (yes, she could tell, he was an obvious fool sometimes).

    "Yrsa!" Hiccup exclaimed, trying to wipe off the ash from his cheeks with his gloves. "Hi, Yrsa━hello, there! Welcome! What can I━uh━do for you━?"

    "I just wanted to say hello," Yrsa smirked softly at his flustered state, feeling her own flutters come to life. She walked into the shop, glancing up at all of the weapons. At Hiccup's quick glance to Gobber, she realised. "Oh! And━uh━came to get my axe sharpened. Can you?" she held out the blade to Hiccup. He stepped forward and took it in his arms with a slight oof from the weight.

    Gobber looked between the two of them, eyes darting back and forth before he decided to say, "Uh━" he gave Hiccup a nudge forward with the wooden mallet on his interchangeable stump, and the boy shot him a glare over his shoulder. "My manly apprentice here will service all of your needs." Yrsa frowned a little; Gobber always acted strange, but this was through the roof. "Good job in the ring today, Yrsa! I have to━" he gathered up some nails with his remaining hand, awkwardly shuffling past them and to the back door, "━go get some━uh━I'm just gonna go outside."

    He left chuckling like he knew something they didn't and left the two teens alone. Hiccup gave Yrsa a stiff smile, she arched a brow, waiting for an answer.

    He gestured back to his mentor, scoffing, "Gobber, am I right...?"

   Yrsa bounced her brows in agreement. She casually walked back towards the wall, gazing at all of the weapons. She wanted to see how the new tail was going, but also ask what he had done in the ring. As she thought about it, she wondered whether she was annoyed or impressed. They had promised each other they wouldn't get to the last round, but if Hiccup kept acting like he had today, well━that would be going against that promise.

    "Do you still want your axe sharpened anyway?" he asked her, and Yrsa shrugged.

    "There's no harm in it, I suppose," she reached up a finger to feel the metal of a longsword. She brushed her fingers then along the grips curiously. She found one she liked and hoisted it from the hook, testing out the weight against her wrist, as she did, Hiccup was mumbling about a few things.

    "So━uh━great run in the arena, today, am I right?" he hoisted up her axe towards the sharpening stone.

    Yrsa glanced back at him, "Yeah, about that," she tossed the blade back and forth between her hands, eyebrows raised in surprise. "What did you do to that Zippleback? How did you manage to get it to react that way?"

    "Eel," said Hiccup proudly. "Dragons hate them."

    "Since when?"

    "Since I offered one to Toothless by accident," he grinned. She watched him grab the handle of the wet stone and tugged it back with a grunt of a heave. He got the contraption spinning after a few tries. Yrsa had to hide her amusement.