A New World, Complicated

Chapter 2: Viking for Hire (Hiccup)

Everybody needs a place in the world. Some people are born into theirs. Some people discover theirs. And some people make a place for themselves. But then the world around them changes, and the place they made is gone.

"Every dragon has his own unique abilities that give it its special place in the world," I informed my friends, who were standing on either side of me, divided into two teams. Reign mindlessly played with her necklace, clearly only half paying attention. "Which dragon makes the best welding torch?"

"Oh! Deadly Nadder." Astrid answered quickly, hoping to get the points before the other team.

"Its magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun," Fishlegs finished.

"Correct! Point to team Astrid." I scribbled down another tally mark. "The score is now one hundred to ten."

"And you started with ten," Astrid teased.

"Oh yeah? Well the game's not over." Tuffnut had to take a moment to think something over. "Wait, what team am I on?"

"Next question: what is the shot limit of a Hideous Zippleback? Team Snotlout."

"I don't think they can count that high," Astrid snickered.

"Oh really? Let's find out. Barf, Belch!" The Zippleback sat up and fired at the wall until it had reached its limit, startling Reign out of her transfixed state.

"Looks like it's about three."

"Told you we could count that high." I sighed. The twins really weren't helping.

"It's six," I corrected. "You're half right. Five points."

"Yes! We're up to thirty!"

"Oh, my Thor..." Reign mumbled, placing her head in her hands.

"All right, it's our turn. What happens when you shoot fire at the owner of a Deadly Nadder?" Astrid whistled, causing Stormfly to shoot out some of her spines. They thankfully didn't hurt any of the members of the other team, but ended up pinning them to the wall.

"No fair!" Tuffnut protested. "She didn't give us time to answer!" Snotlout hopped down and continued whatever this was that was going on.

"I've got a question: what happens when I sic Hookfang on you?"

"Okay, guys, that's enough training!" I interjected, trying to quickly diffuse the situation. "So, we did some really good work here today." Snotlout, of course, completely ignored me.

"Prepare to face my Monstrous Nightmare!" He tapped the side of Hookfang's face, but he ended up lighting himself on fire while Snotlout was sitting on him. The Viking cried out in pain, then sat in the water trough to put out the fire. "That's the third time this week!" Reign and I walked over to Snotlout to further look into the strange situation.

"Hookfang never flames up when you're riding him." I did a quick glance over the dragon, attempting to figure out if there was something on the outside. "Is he okay?"

"Maybe he just realized who his owner is," the redhead next to me teased.

"There's room in here for two." Disgusted, Reign grabbed Snotlout by his helmet and dunked his face underwater. She then sighed and went back to fiddling with the necklace.

"Hey, everything okay?" She looked up at me with wide eyes, having gone into that transfixed state.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm just still in the habit of messing with it, I guess." I looked at her quizzically for a moment, then let it go.