HTTYD: Reykjavik ch.2A

Chapter 2A: A Trip to Oslo (cont.)


"That's for anything you might be thinking that'll cost us this trip!  I know that you're thinking of giving up; you're stressed again aren't you?  Well, it's annoying me and lucky you I'm here to change that."
--Astrid Hofferson, as she punches Hiccup on his shoulder.


Shetland Islands, Scotland… February 15, 1349

The following morning, Hiccup and Astrid wake up to see the team all getting ready for their flight to Oslo; their bags all packed, breakfast is ready, and the dragons are fully awake.  Kaia and her dragon, Frostbite, were out at sea fishing for some extra fish they could bring.  Fishlegs is cooking some additional food he might want to eat right before they fly off.

"Hey you two, better wake up.  Food's ready."  Ruffnut taps both Hiccup and Astrid on their shoulders, trying to wake them up.

From then on, they got ready for what they know as their longest flight yet; about 400 miles non stop all the way to Oslo, and that not all; they have to go around the city of Bergen if they wish to prevent panic from the city folk.  That would give them additional miles to cover.  But they have to do the task at hand, whether or not they wish do it is not what in their mind right now, what matters is how long can they sustain flight until their dragons weaken and had to land.  If they did, then they'd have to land in some field far away from any village or city.

"Then why don't we land in Bergen?"  Asked Snotlout as he rides his dragon.

"If we land in Bergen, they'll kill us." Hiccup said, "If we land in Oslo they'll—"

"Kill us as well…"  Snotlout interrupted.

"Maybe, Snotlout… maybe.  But we need to land exactly in front of the council to get their attention.  They know that they will be expecting dragons, so we mustn't land anywhere except the council."

"But what if we have to land somewhere during the trip.  I mean, this is a long flight after all, won't our dragons get tired?"

"Then we'll have to land on a field or somewhere far from any village or city.  Just try to avoid the public that's all I'm saying."

They fly off to the skies after having their breakfast and their things all packed up.  None of the riders know when their dragons will start to show fatigue, except for two dragons: Toothless and Frostbite.  Hiccup and Kaia understand that their dragons can manage a long flight like this, but they are worried about their friends' dragons; when will they weaken?  When will they start to falter and land so sudden on someplace?  They will only get the answer once they reach Norway, and that's far away from where they are now.


West coast of Norway, near Bergen… February 16, 1349

They flew to the skies from their starting point in Shetland for almost a day already.  While the riders got some sleep during their night-time flight, the dragons however didn't have that luck.  As soon as the morning sun shines to their faces, Astrid wakes up to feel something's wrong with her dragon.

"Hic, something's wrong with Blue."  She shouts to Hiccup who was a few feet from her, "HIC!!!  WAKE UP!"

With the loud scream, Hiccup wakes up to see a bright morning sun and behind him are his friends still sleeping on their dragons except for Astrid.

"Morning Astrid, what kept you awake?  I thought you slept to—"

"I slept, but that's not the point why I woke you up.  My dragon's showing signs of fatigue; i gotta bad feeling about this."

As she explains everything to Hiccup, Fishlegs awakens from their noise to find that in front of his eyes is land; and not just any land, but the Norwegian coast.  His eyes were still half-open but his excitement to see Norway sprung him up to action.

"NORWAY!!!  I SEE NORWAY!!!  We're here guys!!!"  He shouts with glee.  His voice was so loud it woke up the rest, and caused Hiccup to jolt so sudden while he was still discussing Astrid's problems.  They took a peek and their eyes widened.  Fishlegs wasn't lying; there it is in all its beauty: Norway, famous for its breathtaking scenery and deep fjords, not to mention that this is the birthplace of the Viking people.  They were so happy to finally reach land, but all their joy is about to be ripped from their feelings.  Never did they notice that they somehow flew in a straight path, not following their planned course of going around Bergen.  Fishlegs checked the map as the team is still enjoying their bliss.  They were just on top of Norway when Hiccup and Astrid saw a small city just below them.

"Uh, Fishlegs, are we going at the right direction?"  Hiccup asked.

"Uh, yeah we are.  Why?"

"Well, I never pictured Oslo to be this close to the nation's west coast, right?"

"No, Oslo is somewhere east.  It sits at the northernmost point of Oslofjord.  Why'd you ask?"

Hiccup gave a worrying look to Fishlegs, and he started to point down to the ground.  Fishlegs looked down and saw the city below them.  From there, Fishlegs knew exactly where they are.

"Oh, that's the city of Berg— oh… wait a minute; that ain't right…"

"EVERYBODY FLY UP HIGH!!!"  Hiccup shouted to everyone, soon they started to climb up through the altitude, unknown to him his friends' dragons are already weak to climb up even higher.  But it wasn't something he had to worry about, what scares him now is that the people below might shoot and kill the dragons or worse…

Meanwhile, the folks on the city find the dragons and had stirred panic around the city.  Many men reach for their crossbows and lar-row launchers hoping to shoot down the dragons even before they could land and terrorize the city; but that's what they thought the dragons might do.  Hiccup was right about landing only on he council: People in the mainland aren't accustomed to seeing dragons being as pets, they still consider them as enemies and even after Hiccup's successful attempts to unite dragons and men, Vikings in the mainland still bicker against the reptiles even if they have heard of the ongoing peace in Faeroe.

The team reach up as high as they can, but they were too late.  As they have predicted, the citizens in Bergen started firing at them; bolts flying about their area and lar-rows exploding near them, causing their dragons to jolt a bit.

"Why did we even sleep during the flight?" Tuffnut shouted, "Someone should've been awake and led the flight AROUND the city as planned.  Gee, why Fishlegs?"

"Hey, don't blame it on me, I was sleepy!"

"But you were in charge of using that damn compass and that damn map to—"

"Hey enough bickering, you two!"  Astrid interrupted, "We got more things to worry about."

They fly on, but fortunately none of them seems to get hit.  But luck wasn't something they would like to count on, they were still evading every shots fired at them, praying to the gods that not even one of them might get hit, or even get killed.  And none of them are even planning to die on a different Viking kingdom.

As they leave the city's skies, the noise of explosion and arrows zooming on them were suddenly silenced.  They look to their backs and saw that they were indeed leaving the city, safe from any attacks… for now.  The team went into cheers as they fly safely out, but all the bliss was cut off when Snotlout felt something was happening to his dragon.

"Hey guys, I think Red's feeling sick…"

"Hic, Blue's also feeling quite nauseous.  I think we should land."  Astrid added.  Then, all the riders started complaining about their dragons starting to show fatigue.  Hiccup's worst case scenario just became even worse; an emergency landing had to take place or else their dragons would faint from flying too long.  He tries to find a place for them to land; he wouldn't want them to stay near a village or a small town, but any place should work.

Then, Hiccup spots a great place for them to rest; on top of a mountain near a fjord.  He points the spot to his friends and, after some debate, they finally agreed to land there for the meantime until their dragons had enough rest to bring them to their final stretch to Oslo.  They land on the mountain; since winter was still in there is snow all over the place, but they never mind the cold weather that as long as they're on the ground and resting after a long flight they're just OK with it.  Hiccup, however, was concerned more for their welfare and safety from the public.  He chose a great spot, yes, but just below them is a small town.  And he senses trouble waiting if even one of their dragons will go down there and try to hunt for fish.  He just prays to the gods that their dragons won't get tempted and try to fish on the fjord.   Fishlegs, meanwhile, was quite worried about Hiccup after his mistake of falling asleep on his duty to guide the dragons around Bergen as they've planned.  So, he went near him to see if Hiccup had anything to say to him and his recent accident.


Hordaland County, Southwest Norway… February 16, 1349

"Hey Fishlegs," Hiccup said, "What's that town over there?  Down there on the fjord?"

Fishlegs sighed; he thought Hiccup would say something disappointing for his earlier actions, but instead he asked him about the name of the nearby town just below them, sitting on a patch of land between the valleys.

"Oh well, that's… that's the town of Odda." Fishlegs answered as he checked his map, "If we don't go down there, at least we'll be safe."

"We need to head back to the skies as soon as possible." Hiccup added with a face palm, " *sigh* We can't stay here for long.  Besides, the council is expecting us later afternoon.  I don't want to be a tad late, especially in front of the most powerful Vikings in our nation."

"What do have in mind, Hic?"

With a simple grin on his face, Hiccup whispered his plan to Fishlegs.  He said that they'd have to go down there and hunt for fish to feed their dragons if they want them to be fully rested and ready to leave.  Fishlegs at first didn't quite agree on the idea; but after much discussion, even having to drag Kaia and Astrid along the debate, they had no choice but to hunt down there to feed their weak dragons.  They left and head down to the fjord to hunt some fish, carrying empty baskets just waiting for some freshly caught fish.  Meanwhile, Tuff and Ruff were left to be with the dragons.  Odin knows how much trouble these two can make just by bickering at each other, but Astrid quickly told them not to do anything stupid while they're gone or else there's gonna be hell to pay.

Now ever since birth, these two had been quite the fascinating children the Thorstons had thought.  They were well behaved, polite, and just totally opposite from what they are now.  However, there was one event in their life as twins that made them what they are today.  It was when Tuffnut got his first ever spear from his dad when they were just 8 years old.  Tuffnut, though as a twin, was first to come out, and he was a boy, so he had the privilege of receiving the first spear, which Ruff envied him so much.  Every morning, Tuff would go out and practice with his new spear as his sister watched from their room window.  Her whole mind was filled with envy; it blew her up and brought her to her breaking point.  On one peaceful summer morning, as Tuff was doing his usual practice, Ruffnut can't take it anymore.  She went out and wanted to have the spear.  Tuffnut pulled back as fierce as her sister, but all the tugging caused the spear to break apart.  Tuffnut cried and yelled so much, the villagers present in the area were becoming aware of the scene.  Then, in a split second, he stopped crying and looked at his sister in a menacing manner and said,

"Why wou— That's it… you're gonna pay…"

He then left and went home; from then on, it was the beginning the Thorston twins' war, a war that everyone now knows as their countless bickering against each other.  Many have tried to just even separate the two or give them threats in case they do something stupid, but even so they just kept fighting and arguing finally to the point where people just can't stand it no more and let them do whatever they do.

As the rest of the team were already down on the fjord, Ruff and Tuff, sitting on their dragon, were actually quiet for a change.  They didn't fight or shout at each other, Tuff was busy adjusting his flight gear while Ruff was grooming her hair.  As if the only thing that might prevent them for fighting was that if they just do their daily chores or habits, or maybe it was Astrid's threat to them that made them quiet, who knows but today was a day of peace and tranquillity for the dragons; finally they get a moment with the twins without even screams or countless arguments between the two.

Nearly and hour and a half has passed, and just now they've finished hunting.  The baskets were full of fish and the dragons, smelling something good inside the basket, stood in excitement.  The Thorton twins were just lying on their dragon, apparently sleeping.  Astrid sighed in relief, now she won't have to cause hell since these two never even fought while they're away.

"You think they never had enough sleep during the flight?"  Hiccup said to Astrid as they start preparing the fish.

"Or maybe they had more than enough brawling for one day?"

Suddenly, the twins' dragon woke up to the smell of freshly caught fish inside the basket.  The dragon stood up, causing the twins to fall off, flat on the snow.  As they stood up, they started fighting against each other again.

"Did you just push me off, you dweeb?"

"No, but maybe you pushed me!!!"

"Someone had to push me; the rest aren't here so it's gotta be you!"

"Why you little—"

"Hey enough, it's just us!"  Astrid intervened, "Your dragon got caught with the smell of fish.  Anyway, we're back from our hiking."

"Wow!  That was fast, I was sure it could've taken you an hour or so—"

"That's because we slept, idiot!"  Ruffnut bonked her brother on the head.

"OW!!! I know that… it's just that—  say do I see some cod there?"

"Yup," Hiccup answered, "In fact, we caught a lot lately.  Kaia even got a big one."  From their back, Kaia's basket wasn't filled with many fish, but it was filled with one giant of a fish.  So huge in fact that Fishlegs, Kaia, and Snotlout had to carry it in the basket, it was that heavy.

"Well, get the fire ready and let's eat… I'm starving."  Snotlout said, soon everyone started cooking and eating the fish.  The dragons, too, were pretty satisfied with their meal, especially the big fish Kaia caught.

After eating, and a few hours of waiting and resting, Hiccup stood up and decided that they'd have enough rest and were ready to fly up again.  They all saddled up on their dragons and flew off; on their final flight to Oslo.


Oslo, Norway… February 16, 1349

It's late at night, somewhat 11 in the evening.  The riders and dragons are exhausted and were about to make yet another emergency landing, until Fishlegs finally see lights; lights he can tell that it's Oslo.
"Hey guys, it's Oslo."  He points down to the city.  There it is: Oslo, the main capital of the Nordic kingdoms.  The team was happy to finally reach their destination but Hiccup, however, wasn't that enjoying with the team.  It's already late at night, and by now the council is done for the day.  He knows he's late for his meeting, and he knows that his team is tired.  So, he decides to land the team on one of the small islands near the city's coast, on the island of Langøyene, and rest there for the evening.  He plans to try to talk the council about their delayed meeting tomorrow… if they're even willing to talk to him that is.
Once on the ground, Astrid quickly ran to Hiccup; she wanted to talk to him about the delayed meeting.  She has a feeling that Hiccup's stressed, and she always hates him like that; it annoys her.  She sees Hiccup walk to a nearby beach, with the moonlight reflection just below him; he sighs in discontent, feeling utter guilt inside.  He has failed his first promise to the council: get there on time, and he feels like giving up.  But Astrid, who's always there for him, always tries to calm him down.

"Hiccup!" She said, then she punches him on the shoulders as hard as she could hoping to get his attention.

"OW!!!  What was that for?!?!"  Hiccup fell to his knees, pain swirling all over his affected arm.

"That's for anything you might be thinking that'll cost us this trip!  I know that you're thinking of giving up; you're stressed again aren't you?  Well, it's annoying me and lucky you I'm here to change that."

She then kisses him on the lips; a kiss that was so passionate, it suddenly had Hiccup forgetting all his thoughts and just bathe himself on the awkward yet romantic moment with Astrid.  Fishlegs is busy saddling up the dragons for bed when he saw the two; he quickly brought the dragons to sleep somewhere else to give the couple time for their private moment.  

Meanwhile, Snotlout was asking a lot from Kaia, who was apparently trying to sleep, about the arrows and the lar-row launchers Hiccup kept shouting from their near-death experience back over Bergen.  Though as a Viking, Snotlout isn't the type of Viking that can be trusted when it comes to the knowledge of weaponry.  In fact, he doesn't even know how to use a shield very well except using it as a battering ram.

"Hey Kaia, what were those 'lar-row launchers' Hiccup kept saying when we were over Bergen?  What are those?"

" *sigh* You haven't been reading books from the Library haven't you?"

"Well, I'm not that much of a reader.  So anyway, the lar-row launchers?"

"Lar-row launchers are oversized crossbows that shoot large, explosive-tipped arrows hence the name Lar-row launcher: Large Arrow launcher.  These things are heavy and pack quite a kick; plus they aren't automatic unlike assault crossbows, so you'd have to reload every single arrow on it like a traditional crossbow or a longbow.  Plus, since these are explosive arrows, it'll take a very skilled and careful person to be able to use this."

"Then, why don't I see one in our village?"

"We live in a village; we don't have the luxury of updated weaponry unlike the cities.  It'll take months before the latest swords, shields, or crossbows are issued to us.  Sounds familiar to having a passport, huh?  Oh I just wish I could've lived in a city."  She said as she covered herself with her sheets. "Now, try to get some sleep Lout, I'm tired.  Look everyone's already sleeping and— wait, where's Hic and Astrid?"

Meanwhile, back at the beach, Astrid and Hiccup then parted their lips, blood rushing in their blood vessels and their hearts were beating fast.  Heat from their bodies radiate to each other, and the two shared one romantic hug in which they then sat on the beach.  Astrid and Hiccup did the same thing a few months back, when they had a moment alone together near the cliffs of Berk.  It was a beautiful sunset, as always since Berk is famous for its romantic sunsets, and the two just found time to be alone and watch the sun fall to the horizon, hugging each other.  But instead of a sunset, it was the moonlight, and instead of regular-everyday-stroll it was a discussion to change Hiccup's mind about giving up.

"And what was the kiss for?"  Hiccup whispered.

"That's so that you can relax,"  Astrid replied.  She then said something else; something that's related to the council.

"Hiccup, promise me you'll do your best when we go to the council tomorrow?"

"WHAT!?!?  Who said we'll be meeting the council?  We're late and—"

"Trust me, I'll find a way for us to meet with them.  I have a plan, so listen up."

" *sigh* I'm listening alright…"

Astrid then told Hiccup her plan to get the attention of the council.  They understand that the council is very busy, and that since they're late they might not be expected anymore.  But Astrid always gets things done, and not even an important meeting to the council will be left out unfinished.  After whispering to Hiccup the plan, she dragged him with her to their makeshift camp and brought him to her sheets.   As what she did before back in Shetland, she snuggled herself into Hiccup's arms and fell asleep.  Hiccup didn't sleep immediately, but after thinking about Astrid's plans, he was starting to have hopes that not all is lost; maybe there is still a chance he can meet up with the council despite their late arrival.  He finally fell asleep with high hopes that Astrid's plan would work, and that he can finally meet the council.

Tomorrow would be Hiccup's potentially biggest day yet; meeting the council is one of the highest honours any Viking could ask for.  If the plan works and if he got the council's attention, he needs to make a good impression on the kings and queens.  He'll need all the energy he can get in his sleep to do this right.

Next stop: The Nordic Council.