A New World, Complicated

Chapter 9: Dragon Flower (Reign)

Berk is a small island in the middle of nowhere. So when we get a taste of something new, we tend to go a little overboard. Unfortunately, new isn't always better.

A smile made its way onto my face as I set my hands on the back of Hiccup's chair, gazing down at his sketch of Toothless he was doing with ink and a quill. Despite having limited resources, the drawing was pretty spectacular, and shockingly detailed. Hiccup looked up at me and smiled before reaching over to dip his quill into the ink well. However, when he brought the feather back out, all that was on the tip was the crusty remains of the previous dip into the well.

"Huh..." He picked it up and shook it, only to find nothing came out. His Night Fury looked at us with curious, playful eyes, purring as though to ask why Hiccup had stopped.

"Well..." I gently grabbed the drawing from him. "It's pretty phenomenal so far, Hiccup."

"It's too bad I'll have to wait to finish it," he sighed, leaning his chin against one of his hands.

"That's why I use charcoal." I handed the drawing back to him before crossing the room and setting myself next to Toothless. He purred and nuzzled into my hand, causing me to chuckle as I scratched under his chin. "There's a pretty large supply of it here on Berk."

"Details are hard with charcoal, though." Hiccup set his supplies down and sat next to me on the floor.

"Not if you whittle it down to the right size. That's why you do the big picture first, and then work your way down." I looked at the wall above Hiccup's desk to see the drawing I had done of him and I pinned to the wall, right in the center of everything. "That's how I did that picture." I looked back at Hiccup to see him both smiling and staring at me in awe.

"That's still my favorite picture." I blushed and tucked some of my red hair behind my ear.

"I thought it was pretty important to capture the moment I met Toothless." I scratched the Night Fury again and giggled as he nearly collapsed in happiness. "And the first time I discovered I wanted to be a Dragon Rider, rather than pretend to be a hunter." Without even thinking about it, I gently set my hand on Hiccup's. "All thanks to you." As I stared at the flecks in his eyes, I could feel our faces leaning closer together.

"Hiccup! Reign! Trader Johann is here!" Quickly. the two of us pulled away and stood up.

"That, uh-"

"Maybe you can get more ink," I suggested quickly, desperate to break up the awkward tension in the air. The smile on his face shifted.

"Oh, right! Yeah, let's go look."

He grabbed one of his cloth bags and sung it over his shoulder, then I followed him down the stairs and through the crowd of people, down to the docks where a new boat had anchored itself. A wooden plank was set down so that everyone could get on the boat and find what they wanted.

"Ah, Berk! My favorite of all the islands I travel to!" the trader declared in a loud, extravagant voice.

"Where have you been to this time, Trader Johann?" Bucket asked eagerly, sounding like a child on Snoggletog.

"Ah, Bucket. The things I've seen, the people I've met. I'd need a week to regale you, but alas, we have limited time to conduct our business together." He climbed up onto a crate so that he could address everyone. "Whatever it is you're looking for, I can assure you, you'll find it here!"

That was the people's cue to make their way onto Johann's boat and start trading for what they desired. I usually only traded with Johann whenever I needed something- seeing as how he typically wanted something seemingly impossible in return- but the others on Berk seemed to go absolutely nuts for Johann's goods.