𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter eight; yrsa
❝ secrets of the dragon! ❞

    "AND with one twist, he took my hand and swallowed it whole!"

    It was important to understand with Gobber's stories, was that most of them made either a) no sense, or b) are completely untrue. It's either got mentions of a hammer-head yak in them or is about how his goat, Phil, grew wings and flew off with his sock. There is no in-between. Yrsa has already heard the story of how he lost his limbs to a Monstrous Nightmare one night in the Great Hall, she didn't really want to hear it again. Instead, she stayed silent and kept to herself next to Astrid. 

    It wasn't that hard when her mind was elsewhere. 

    Yrsa turned her chicken over in the fire, watching the flames flicker up and tender the skin. She felt ashamed for not feeling ashamed. She was guilty for realising that indeed one dragon did change her mind entirely. She saw that dragon put trust in two Vikings who could have killed him, she saw him try and smile, she saw the art he had made for them ...

     Sitting next to Astrid, she wondered what her best friend would think? Her only friend. When no one wanted to be friends with her because of her father, Astrid had seen her fight and decided to fight with her━in more ways than one. Astrid fought with her to get her back on top, to get her out of her father's cold deathly shadow. She had been far better to her than Yrsa ever deserved. Even when she shyly kissed her on the cheek when they were twelve and told her she was very pretty, and Astrid didn't feel the same way, she didn't leave her, she didn't call her crazy, she was still her best friend. 

     Now, what were they? What would she think? Yrsa knew exactly what Astrid would think. Why was she asking? Maybe because she wanted there to be a different answer than the obvious. That maybe, deep down, Astrid felt the same way: that dragons shouldn't be killed. But that was stupid. Astrid wouldn't feel the same way, and this time, she probably would leave, she definitely would call her crazy, and she'd no longer be her best friend. 

     A few days ago, Yrsa would agree with her. 

    But now, it was different. 

     Everything has changed. 

    And if Astrid saw what Yrsa saw? Experienced what she experienced? Would she think differently too? Would she be sitting here, turning over her food in the fire and feel the shame of feeling no shame because of everything her best friend and helped her build up. Feel the guilt of not feeling the guilt over possibly never changing how the village viewed her father. 

    No, she wouldn't. Because Astrid would have killed the Night Fury when she had the chance. 

     "I saw the look on his face," went on Gobber to the eager listening teens that were on the edge of their seats, aside from Yrsa and Hiccup. She glanced at the boy, seeing a similar look on his face to the one she must've been wearing. "I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg." He gestured to his wooden peg leg, and there was a chorus of gasps from the group. Astrid rolled her eyes from Yrsa's side.

    "Is it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon?" spoke up Fishlegs, and the others turned to him. "Like if your mind was still in control of it━" he smacked his two chicken legs together and Astrid leaned away, shuffling closer to Yrsa to steer clear of the flying chicken, "━you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart, or something."

     Tuffnut rose a dubious brow. 

    "I swear, I'm so angry," grumbled Snotlout with a mouthful of chicken. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot━" he pointed with what was left of his dinner at Gobber, determined. "I'll chope off the legs of every dragon I fight━with my face."

     Gobber shook his head, licking the oil off his fingers, "It's the wings and the tail you really want," he yanked off a chicken wing. "If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

    Yrsa felt her heart twist. A downed dragon is a dead dragon. Her mind immediately flew to Toothless the Night fury and his missing tail fin. She glanced up and saw Hiccup already looking at her. It struck her to understand what he was thinking: he wanted to find a way to make Toothless fly again. 

    No, not wanted; was going to. 

    Gobber yawned, stretching his arms. "All right, I'm off to bed. You should be, too━" he pointed to each and every one of them. "Tomorrow we get to the big boys━" the trainees all sat up eagerly, aside from Yrsa and Hiccup, who weren't really listening, "━slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who will win the honour of killing it?"

    Yrsa looked over to Hiccup again, wanting to see his reaction, only to falter. He was gone. Nothing left but his uneaten fish against the brazier of the fire.

     "It's gonna be me," said Tuffnut as he leaned back. "It's my destiny. See?"

     Gasps echoed at the marking on his skin. Yrsa didn't pay attention, however, she set her food aside and stood up, searching for Hiccup in the night.

     "Your mum let you get a tattoo?" breathed Fishlegs in awe at Tuffnut. He smriked, shrugging.

     "It's not a tattoo, it's a birthmark."

     "Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before."

     "Yes, it was. You've just never seen me from the left side until now."

     Their words were muffled in the back of Yrsa's mind. She shuffled down the wood of the walk, watching Hiccup's sillouhette disappear. She glanced back at the others, and could see Astrid frowning, wondering where her friend went.

     Before she could see her, Yrsa took off running down the wooden walk to catch up with Hiccup. 

     To catch his attention, she punched him lightly in the shoulder.

     Hiccup jumped, letting out an, "Ow!" and holding his shoulder with his hand. He glared at Yrsa. "What was that for?"

     She just matched his pace, her chest fluttery and excited. "What's the plan?" she asked him. 

      Realising what she meant, Yrsa saw Hiccup's twitch up into a grin. "Something very stupid."

      She smirked back, and that was the start of the friendship between Hiccup Haddock and Yrsa Olofsdotter. Both of them were going to find away for their new friend to fly again, and neither━neither━of them planned to make it to the end of Dragon Training to kill the Monstrous Nightmare. Yrsa no longer felt that shame, for she was not alone in this. She was far from it. 

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟

     "TODAY," said Gobber, "is about teamwork."     

      The first attempt at helping Toothless fly didn't work out so well. Yrsa hadn't been there, for she had to help out gather some errands for her mother when she returned from the trip to the Dragon's Nest━oh, what would she think about all of this? But Hiccup had told her all about it in the forge when she came to visit (he was still massaging his backside afterwards) while he worked on a second model. Yrsa never actually thought she'd talk to Hiccup like this, let alone be friends with him. It made the youthful, teenage heart inside of her leap with joy, because now, she could talk to him and be around him without worries of Astrid and her friends finding out about how she felt. Now, she could get to know him, and start to feel comfortable around him in a special cove around a special Night Fury. 

     It was strange, because while Yrsa felt this, she never wanted to open up. But around Hiccup as days progressed in this fresh friendship, she started to wonder whether she should. 

    But right now, of course, she couldn't focus on that. 

    The cool prick of Astrid's metal pauldrons brought Yrsa's attention back to the point at hand. They stood back to back with Ruffnut in the midst of green, noxious smoke, hugging buckets of water to their chests. 

     "Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky." Gobber's voice could be heard to the left of the smoke, but Yrsa couldn't see him. She couldn't see past her own toes. "One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."

     Ruffnut held her bucket of water closer against her chest. "You don't happen to know which is which, do you?" she whispered to Yrsa and Astrid.

     The latter shushed her, glaring in through the smoke.

    To their left, Yrsa heard Fishlegs whimper, "Razor-sharp serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims━"

    Following it was a snap from Hiccup, "━Will you please stop that?!"

    They spun around on their toes, nothing but the gutteral growls of the Zippleback filled their ears now━it was from nowhere and everywhere and Yrsa couldn't pinpoint a location. She didn't want to hurt the dragon, but she also didn't want to be eaten. This Zippleback wouldn't know she wasn't a danger. She shuffled closer to Astrid. "You know," she murmured, "I wish I had reread the Fear Class part of the Manual right about now ..."

     "Me too ..." agreed Ruffnut. "Then I'd be able to tell the difference between a Zippleback head and Tuffnut's face."

     Astrid pursed her lips, eyeing the smoke that curled into the air. "Where were you the other night?" she wondered, glancing briefly at Yrsa.

     "Huh?" she asked, preoccupied.

     "You disappeared after dinner━" they all spun harshly to their left at the growl. "I tried to find you afterwards but you were nowhere."

     "Oh," Yrsa realised, and she was silently glad Astrid would never suspect her to be at the forge with Hiccup, helping make a tail despite knowing nothing of how to blacksmith. He taught her how to use the billow, though. "I was tired," she quickly lied. "Went to bed, like Gobber suggested."

     Astrid hummed, not completely believing her. 

    Through the smoke to the right, Snotlout muttered to Tuffnut, "If that dragon shows either of his faces, I'm gonna━" he spotted multiple heads in the green and smacked Tuff across the arm to point, "━There!"

    They threw their water, and the fog parted to show a very angry Yrsa, Astrid and Ruffnut. 

    "Hey, it's us, idiots!" said Ruff, flciking her wet hair away from her face. Astrid and Yrsa came up beside her, both fuming behind their bangs.

    "Your butts are getting bigger," said Tuffnut with a snigger. "We thought you were a dragon."

    Yrsa's glare sharpened, and Snotlout laughed nervously. "Uh━not that there's anything wrong with a dragonesque figure━Ow!" Yrsa sent her first right across his face and he fell at her feet. Astrid gave him a swift kick for good measure. Behind them Ruffnut just chucked her bucket at her brother, hitting him smack-bam in the nose. He stumbled back off his feet with a cry. He tried to get up, probably thinking of some nasty comeback when━

     Something grabbed Tuffnut by the backside, snatching him back into the fog before any of them could even blink. "AGHH!" Nothing was left except his helmet. 

    Ruffnut started towards her brother, but Astrid held out an arm to stop her, "Wait," she whispered, concentrating. She tried to hear where the dragon heads might be, but there was just a scramble of grows and Tuffnut yelling. She readied her bucket━

    "Whoa━!" a tail swept right under all three of the girls' feet, and they were knocked to the ground. Yrsa tried to get up, but was pushed back down by a scrambling Tuffnut who wailed to the heavens━

    "Oh━Oh, I am hurt!" he ran past Hiccup and Fishlegs who watched with wide, incredulous eyes. "I am very much hurt!"

    Yrsa finally got back to her feet and reached for her bucket. There was still a little bit of water that hadn't spilled. She joined up with Fishlegs and Hiccup, figuring it would be much safer in numbers. 

    Fishlegs shuffled his feet nervously, "Chances of surving are dwindling to single digits now ..." he said to Hiccup, who hoisted up his bucket awkwardly.

    Yrsa couldn't see the others anymore. The smoke grew around them. "I━uh━my mum's a great escape artist. Her mother was from the Bog-Burglar tribe. Maybe I could get us out?"

     Hiccup frowned at her, "What does that have to do with anything?"

    Yrsa was shocked he didn't know. "You can't keep a Bog-Burglar under lock and key."

    "Well, thanks for the enthusiasm, Yrsa, but I really don't think that's helpful at the moment."

     She narrowed her eyes at his sarcastic comment, and was going to reply with something just as smart when a gurgle made her mouth close. Out of the smoke came one of the long heads of the Zippleback. Slithering towards Hiccup, Yrsa and Fishlegs like a snake, it sniffed in a mirthful curiosity. 

     Fishlegs whimpered, rushing away with the water of his bucket overflowing on the floor. With a stamer, he threw his water at the head and it closed its eyes, looking very annoyed. Out of its mouth, it chortled a small wave of gas. Fishlegs' shoulders fell. "Oh ... heh ... wrong head."

     In response, the dragon head sprouted out a burst of toxic green smoke right at Fishlegs's face. He screamed, running away as Gobber shouted his name. The head turned to Hiccup and Yrsa who both shuffled back. Following its sibling, the second Zippleback head swooped up close to the chief's son, snarling with a spark of fire.

    Gobber rushed forward, "Now, Hiccup!"

    With a heave, Hiccup threw the water up to the second head. It fell short, landing at his feet with a pathetic splash. He sighed, taking the time━even now━to let out a sarcastic, "Oh, come on."

    Yrsa gasped and tried to help. She threw out her water, but there wasn't enough still left inside. Both heads snarled at them. Hiccup stumbled and knocked Yrsa down with him, the two teens scrambling back. Yrsa didn't want to hurt the dragon, but with it standing over them, she had no choice but to reach for her axe.

     But before she could, Hiccup was back on his feet. 

    Yrsa watched━gobsmacked━at the dragon suddenly shuffling back, rearing its heads in fear of the small, fishbone of a boy standing before it.

    "Back!" he told the creature, stepping towards it. It reared back towards its cage, screeching in alarm. "Back━back!"

     The rest of the trainees all stood in a line. Astrid helped Yrsa up and every single one of them shared a similar expression of━what in the name of Thor is happening right now?

    "Now, don't make me tell you again!" Hiccup pushed the dragon further and further into the cage, not even laying a finger. "Yes, that's right! Back into your cage. Now ... think about what you've done━"

    The Zippleback heads shrieked, darting back into the far wall of the pen to scramble away from Hicup as if he had become the scariest thing it has ever seen. Yrsa dropped her axe; it clattered to the ground.

     Hiccup pushed the doors closed, pulling the log over the top with a jump off the ground. He dusted off his hands, turning back to the others and just realising how shocked they were. He pursed his lips, stiff from all of their gazes. "Okay ... um, so are we done? 'Cause I've got some things I need to ... uh ... yep━I'll see you tomorrow!"

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟

    a/n: not me publishing this again because i've already prewritten up to the second httyd ii chapter. who wants me to do race to the edge after i finish everything? it'll probably be unlikely, since i'm already doing rtte for valkyrie, but like, who knows, i might have enough inspo do go a second round.