The Battle of Blood - Ch. 3

THE NEXT MORNING

The next day in dragon training was anything but uneventful. The ten of us, all lined outside the Kill Ring, stood in front of Gobber, our weapons held stiffly in our hands as we waited patiently to go inside. Sniper and Birthmark stood on either side of me, but I felt a little too crowded since Birthmark wouldn't stop staring at me. I would catch her every so often looking at me, that same hungry look in her eyes. I think she was aware that I knew that she was watching me, but she wouldn't stop. I didn't want to be rude to her or anything - since I didn't exactly know her - but it was really bugging the crap out of me.
When Gobber finally allowed us inside, we were met with large, wooden walls. I looked on either side of the brown barrier and saw that the path split off into two directions. That's when I realized that Gobber had put us all in a maze. I heard the gate close behind us, but Gobber didn't follow us into the labyrinth. Instead, he stood above the ring, looking down over the ten of us and surveying the field easily.
He told us all to spread apart in different directions quickly or the Deadly Nadder would get us. Some of the others didn't have to be told twice, but for those who weren't quite ready - like me, for example - just stayed where they were. Birthmark, Sniper, and I still stood near the gate as we watched the other seven Viking teens go down either the left or the right passage of the makeshift maze. Eventually Sniper set off in the direction Bloodlust went, so Birthmark and I stood alone. We probably wouldn't have moved around at all if it hadn't been for the ear-piercing scream that could have only come from the Deadly Nadder.
Birthmark grabbed my arm, unaware of what she was doing. Fear was written all over her face, but she was also trying so hard to stay calm. She finally removed her hand from my upper arm when I spoke, nervous and confused. "Uh, Birthmark, could you let go of me?" She blushed and looked away from me.
Birthmark took off in the left passage while I ran in the right, only to be met face to face with the blonde-haired teacher himself, Gobber. He stood high above me, leaning lazily against the chains that hung over the Kill Ring. The chains were for protection when the dragons were set loose, so nobody would get hurt if the dragon suddenly flew away. Although, right now, it seemed, that Gobber didn't look like he needed very much protection since he was on the outside. After all, he trapped us in here.
I took this opportunity to ask Gobber some questions about Night Furies. I know it probably wasn't the best time to be asking about the worlds deadliest dragon - especially when I was being chased by another dangerous dragon - but all had been quiet since we entered the ring. I wasn't even sure if the Deadly Nadder was on this side of the ring or not, so I decided to take my chance then, despite how incredibly stupid it was.
"Hey, you know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies." I said to Gobber. I had read the Dragon Manuel twice - to some people that may have sounded really geeky, but Fishlegs beat me on the nerd scale - and found nothing on Night Furies before. At first I thought I had skipped a page or something, but when I read it the second time there was still nothing there. "Is there like another book, or a, a squeal, maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet-?" I was unable to finish my question for various reasons. For one, I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings, so I had no clue if I was in danger or not. Two, I was in danger since I didn't see the Deadly Nadder that was only several yards away from me. And three, I bounced back to reality when the Nadder fired a flaming ball of lighting at me. "Whoa!"
I also heard Gobber yelling at me from above, annoyance penetrating his calm exterior. He was clearly unimpressed by my lack of patience and bad timing. "Focus, Hiccup! You're not even trying!"
I took off running then, barely giving anything that I had just said a second thought. I was just trying to stay alive.

'-.-'

Okay, so here's how things went after my little conversation with Gobber.
One, I accidentally ran into Rabbitpaws, who looked petrified crouching near corner and hiding behind her shield, and I told her to leave before the Nadder found her. It took some coaxing to finally get to leave, but she finally wobbled away, tense and frightened. She murmured a quick thanks as she went searching for Sniper.
Two, I happened to come across Gobber again, since I had accidentally headed in a circle, and remembered our previous 'conversation'. I asked him more questions, like if anyone had ever seen a Night Fury, but Gobber just shrugged it off, yelling at me to get my head in the game. I had backed up into another part of the maze by then and found Astrid and Snotlout crouching next to a corner. They were trying to sneak across to the other side of the opening, staying quiet since the Nadder was only a few feet from where we stood. I bent down behind Snotlout, ignoring his glare, and followed them to the other side. However, since the shield that I was carrying weighed more than I did, when I somersaulted I was caught by the heavy weight, and, just my luck, the Nadder saw me. I didn't even hesitate to run.
And three, apparently the Nadder, being out in the maze for so long, had gotten smart and decided to attack us from atop the barrier walls. I ran as fast as I could, but was just able to hear a loud squabble between Snotlout and Astrid not too far from me. When I was sure that I was safe, I stopped, and, wouldn't you guess it, I was near Gobber - for the third time within ten minutes. And I, being the moron that I was, tried yet again to discuss the subject of the mysterious Night Fury. I couldn't help my curiosity even if it killed me! Okay, bad choice of words.
I had only paused for maybe a minute when the other Viking teens started running past me towards the arena entrance in a mad rush. I only realized that the Nadder was close by when Gobber warned me, but it was too late. I had turned around just to see Astrid falling from a broken wooden wall and - oh gods, she fell on me before I could get out of the way. Somehow her ax had gotten stuck in the center of my shield and she tried repeatedly to get it out, but it was in too deep. I blushed when I heard an inappropriate comment from Tuffnut and Ruffnut, but I was more focused on the Nadder that was headed in our general direction. By then Astrid had gotten fed up with trying to pull her ax from the shield and decided instead to yank the shield from my arm, standing on my face in the process. Wasn't that nice of her?
However, I should be grateful that she managed to smack the Deadly Nadder or we would've been barbequed on the spot. I looked up just in time to see the dragon slinking away towards its cage, a long scratch mark near its beak from where the wood penetrated its scales.
I then felt a pair of arms lifting me up from my curled position on the ground, dusting me off carefully and gently. I smiled at Bloodlust and thanked her, glancing at the others behind her. Rabbitpaws, Sniper, and Birthmark all stood near us, sweaty and breathing heavily from the race against the Deadly Nadder. I turned back around to be met with an angry Astrid waving her ax in my face. Bits of the shield still clung to the blades edges, making the weapon even more intimidating than the person who was holding it. And that person did not look happy in the least.
"Is this some kind of a joke to you?" Astrid asked angrily. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins gathered behind her, all smirking smugly at my humiliation. Even Gobber seemed smug about my embarrassing confrontation by Astrid. "Our parents war is about to become ours." She brought the ax closer to my face, just barely touching my nose. "Figure out which side you're on."
Okay, that was pretty much the only time Astrid has said more than two words to me. She was usually really quiet, never really interested in having a conversation with anybody, but during that moment I felt as if she had just broke something into my head. Astrid was right, I did need to figure out which side I was on. Sure, I had just set a Night Fury free, but I was also a Viking, the son of Stoick the Vast who expected me to kill many dragons and become a great chief one day. But could I really do that when I was being sensitive to dragons? Nevertheless, whenever Astrid says something, it sticks with you, that's for sure.
Astrid pulled her ax back over her shoulder and began to walk away. Suddenly, I heard a light squeak from behind me and turned around just in time to see Rabbitpaws sink to the cold, splinter-covered ground. We all gathered around closely to see what was wrong with her, but were shooed away by Gobber.
Sniper looked at me. "Hiccup, a little help?" I nodded and took one of Rabbitpaws arms. We slowly brought her up and steadied her into a standing position, but she continued to sway back and forth. With one hand she rubbed her forehead and regained her balance by gripping my shoulder with the other. She kept mumbling "I'm fine, don't worry about it".
"Okay, what's going on?" Gobber asked once he had pushed past the others, who were still trying to get a better look at the scene.
Sniper shook his head. "She's dizzy. I think she needs to eat something." He looked at her and said very slowly. "Are you hungry, Rabbitpaws?"
She shook her head quickly, her muddy curls bouncing this way and that. "No, no, please, no food. I don't need it. I'm fine. I'm completely fine." I didn't believe her, and neither did anyone else.
Sniper bit his lip. "Gobber, we'll take care of her. This sort of thing happens a lot. She didn't eat this morning, so she just needs to get some food in her. It's no big deal."
"I wasn't hungry this morning! And I don't need to eat anything!" Rabbitpaws whined. Her green eyes seemed dim and lifeless, her skin almost a sickly greyish colour. She looked nothing like she had yesterday, all full of pep and life.
Bloodlust released a deep, frustrated breath and looked at me. "Hiccup, would you be so kind as to help us take Rabbitpaws back home with us? She's gonna' put up quite a struggle and we need all the hands we can get." Sniper already had one of Rabbitpaws arms around his neck, trying to force to her leave the arena.
"Yeah, sure, but why me?" I asked as I took her other arm around my shoulders. Rabbitpaws struggled to get free and, wow, she was definitely stronger than she looked.
Bloodlust shrugged at my question. "I don't know. She's complicated."
"Hiccup!" Gobber said. "Make sure you return to the forge afterward. I need more help with the broken weaponry from today."
"Yeah, o-okay, Gobber." Was all I was able to get out before I was forced to drag Rabbitpaws out of the arena.
Before the gates closed, I heard Snotlout shout "Now you take good care of her, Haddock! You're such a ladies man!" I assumed he was picking on my lack of self-confidence, but either way I chose to ignore him. Sniper and I continued to drag the small Viking to the village carefully. Birthmark and Bloodlust stood in front of us, walking backwards while trying to sooth their dear friend.

'-.-'

"Oh gods, I can't believe she's doing this again." Birthmark said when we were just entering the village. By then Rabbitpaws had stopped struggling from our grip, but she still whined the entire way back to their house. People stared at us as the five us passed, no doubt wondering why two adolescents were dragging a pale girl through the village. When we finally reached their house, which was close to the hill where my house resided, Birthmark kicked the door open and held it open for us. Bloodlust said she'd go get some meat for Rabbitpaws to eat as we sat her down in a nearby chair.
I took this time to survey their house. It was pretty bland, just as all the houses in Berk were, but I couldn't help the feeling that the air in this house was somewhat . . .disturbing. Haunting, almost. But besides the scenery, everything seemed perfectly fine . . .until the faint smell of raw, bloody meat filled my nostrils. Personally, I didn't like the smell of uncooked meat - except for fish, because I was used to that kind of thing - but this was just toxic. Whatever Bloodlust had received for Rabbitpaws had an overpowering stench to it, a damp blanket of death that filled the atmosphere even though Bloodlust and whatever this food was hadn't even entered the room yet. I covered my mouth and nose, but the odor still danced in my throat. I had to get out of there.
"Uh, uh." I stuttered. "M-may, may I be e-excused?" Before they could let me out I rushed through the front door. I breathed in the clear air carefully, enjoying the sensation as my throat replaced the ungodly scent from inside the house. Finally all traces of the stench had gone, but I was not going back in there any time soon. Believe me, I wanted to make sure Rabbitpaws was okay - we were . . .friends? - but I just couldn't stand it.
I flinched when I saw the front door open next to me. Birthmark stepped outside, she herself looking somewhat horrified from something. But I noticed that her cheeks were, again, that gentle rose colour as they had been last night and, oh gods, she even stunk of that meaty smell. I covered my mouth again as came closer to me.
"I know, it stinks in there." She said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Trust me, despite how it smells, that stuff actually helps Rabbitpaws when she goes through her temper tantrums like this. She'll be right back on track after some of that gets in her system and an hours worth of rest."
I nodded. "Oh, man, how can you stand that stuff?" My hand dropped to my side as I leaned against a wall of the house. I breathed in another gulp of fresh air.
Birthmark smiled lightly, as if the subject embarrassed her. "We all eat it, actually. In our land we would eat it all the time to get rid of stomach and hunger pains. We've gotten so used to the horrible scent that we hardly notice it anymore."
I blinked and swallowed. "What is it?"
"It's a type of meat." Birthmark said quietly. "You can really only find it in the Peaceable Countries. It's expensive, but it's worth it."
I nodded. "So is she gonna' be okay now?"
Birthmark nodded. "Yeah, she'll be just fine."
"Well, then I'm actually going to head to the forge now. If I don't get there soon Gobber is just gonna' blow a fuse." She giggled. "I'm not even kidding. He's like a bomb with a short fuse, I swear." I couldn't help but chuckle myself, though.
"Okay, well, I'll tell Rabbitpaws your regards and we'll see you later." Birthmark frowned. I nodded, and had just walked halfway down the hill when she called back to me. I looked up to meet her hungry blue eyes again. A chill went down my spine as she said lastly. "The smell really isn't that bad compared to other things." With that, she turned and went back into her house.
I blinked in confused at her words. What others smells did she mean? I mean, yeah, everyone in Berk tended to smell like sweat from a long days work, and dead fish on the dock, or even rotting dragon hides that had been freshly cut from the last raid, but nothing really stunk horribly around here, unless you were to get a good whiff of Gobber sometime. So what exactly had she meant?
I shrugged my shoulders and continued on my way to the forge, trying to clear my mind from today's craziness.