chapter four
004. the gronckle!

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    THEY ALL screamed.

    Freya scrambled away, running for her life as the Gronckle rammed a pathway just where she had been moments before. She gasped, stumbling and tripping over her own feet in her desperation to get away. She glanced over her shoulder, eyes wide and her heart pounding with terror to gaze upon the fierce dragon. She has seen Gronckles many times in her life, but never has she been locked in a cage with on▬and suddenly, all she could see was its vicious overbite: a jaw with shattering strength. Freya watched the way it hit the side of the arena, and its clubbed tail left a dent in the rigid stone. It made a low, guttural growl▬like hundreds of small rocks were rolling and trembling together.

    "Today," Gobber watched them flee in terror from the open dungeon door, "is about survival." He picked away some ash from his beard, leaning against the iron lever. "If you get blasted, you're dead!"

    Freya sprinted across the arena floor, skidding to a stop beside Toke. She grasped his arm. They watched, pale, as the Gronckle grasped rubble up from the ground with its thick, sabre teeth. Her breath was quick▬trying to keep up with the pace of her heart. The grip of her axe handle had turned clammy and she soon had to hold it with both hands.

    "Quick!" her gaze snapped back over to their mentor. "What's the first thing you'll need?"

    "A funeral?!" cried out Freya with incredulous horror.

    "A doctor?!" Hiccup's sarcasm echoed from somewhere to her right.

    "Plus five speed?" whimpered Fishlegs near the barricades.

    "A shield!" Astrid shouted, the only one who wasn't trembling in their fur boots.

    "Shields! Go!"

    Freya and Toke shared a brief, wide-eyed look before splitting up. Every teen raced to the pile of old shields scattered near the weapons rack. It was a battle to try and grab one▬each and every one of them were wrestling for the best. The Gronckle did not matter when it came down to either having the shield with the red skull, or the shield with the grinning Viking.

    While her friends all fought▬pushing and shoving; shouting and screaming, Freya ducked around. She was small and she was quick▬and she was not going to get blasted to pieces by a Gronckle on her first day of Dragon Training! None of the others saw her until she was in front of them all. She grabbed the smallest shield she could find, heaving it up with effort into her left hand. She swayed, pushing her feet apart to keep her balance with both hands full. Freya took a deep breath, and she glowered towards the growling beast with a brave grit of her teeth.

    "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must choose between a sword or a shield, take the shield!"

    Hiccup fumbled with his own shield. So much that Gobber had to rush over and shove it into his grip. He pushed the boy back into the centre of the arena. Astrid kicked up her shield into the air, taking ahold of it with a precise snatch▬she wielded it onto her arm with perfection. Snotlout managed to get the red skull shield and he laughed, holding it up over Fishlegs's face in victory. The Twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were still battling. They grappled for a shield between them.

    "Let go of my shield▬!"

    "▬There's like a million shields▬!"

    "▬Take that one, it has a flower. Girls like flowers▬agh▬!"

    Ruffnut held the shield away from her brother's head, smirking, "Oops," she gasped as if she had done so accidentally. She watched her brother wail without any sympathy. She held the shield back out to him, smug, "Now this one has blood on it▬"

    They were knocked off their feet. The Gronckle aimed and hit its mark, shattering the shield right in their hands. The Twins yelled, rolling across the stone. Snotlout and Fishlegs both screamed, running away.

    "Tuffnut, Ruffnut!" shouted Gobber. "You're out!"

    Freya ducked behind her own shield, eyes wide as they peered back over the top to stare at the flyaway embers that had settled on the iron centre. Her eyes darted upwards and she rushed back into a run as the Gronckle folded its small wings and barrelled straight towards her. She nearly fell over as she swivelled on her feet, doubling over and stumbling out of the way. Her braid flung around at hit her in the face. She spat it out.

    "Shields are good for another thing: Noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!"

    The remaining teens grouped together, breaths hitched at the dragon that flew overhead. As it neared, they brought their weapons and their shields together. Clang! The noise pierced Freya's ears, but it seemed to hurt the Gronckle's more. Each time she slammed the side of her axe against the rim of her shield, its head shook; its eyes went crosseyed and its flight wavered. It stopped right in its path, blinking furiously▬

    "Move!" Astrid pushed Toke forwards, and at her command, they all started to run in a circle, not ceasing their sound. They surrounded the beast, and it grew disorientated▬it didn't know which way to turn.

    "All dragons have a limited number of shots," continued Gobber. He was now picking at his teeth. He flicked away the remainder of his breakfast. "How many does a Gronckle have?"

    Snotlout stopped to think, "Uh▬five?"

    "No!" Fishlegs flung up his shield. He grinned▬he bounced on his toes in excitement. "Six!"

    "Correct, six! That's nearly one for each of you!"

     "I really like▬AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

    There was a bright explosion behind Freya. A shield shattered with a molten blast against the wall.

    "Fishlegs, out▬Hiccup! GET IN THERE!"

    The chief's son poked his head out from behind the barriers. When the Gronckle swooped past him he yelped and disappeared again. "HICCUP!" shouted Gobber in his frustrated dismay.

    "Move!" Astrid was still shouting at Toke. The two Vikings stood close, directly within the dragon's gaze. Despite her desperation to win, Astrid Hofferson had not left her friend's side▬she was bewildered; even concerned. She pushed and she shocked and she even kicked Toke's long legs, but the fifteen year old had frozen right on the spot, staring at the charging dragon with a gaping mouth and a petrified breath.

    "Toke!" The Hofferson shoved him extra hard with her shield. He still wouldn't budge. He did not even seem to hear her or realise she was there. Her heart raced, glancing back at the Gronckle that was so close now, its maw started to glow with deadly fire. Astrid's heart dropped into her stomach. "Toke▬!" she screamed and full on dived. She latched her arms around his waist and the two of them hit the ground in a shower of embers and broken shield splinters.

    "Astrid! Toke! You're both out!"

    Only then did one of the most promising of their generation of Vikings snap back to reality. He gasped and struggled away from Astrid's grip. She stared at him, shocked to see him shaking▬he grasped at his chest, as if needing to double check whether he was still alive.

    Freya was so focused on the Gronckle, she did not notice. She hunched up, holding both her axe and her shield with a vice-like grip. She watched it slowly turn onto her, not even realising Snotlout was behind her until he spoke:

    "So, guess what Freya▬!" he gestured to her with his mace. She was too busy holding her breath, waiting for the right moment to run away. Freya had quickly learnt that a Gronckles' small wings made no room for sharp turns. It picked a target, and it rammed that target until it reached the end▬like a charging yak with his head down and his horns out. She was the opposite; she was quick and light on her feet. She was great at outrunning a charging yak last minute▬and Freya was sure it would be the same with a bulldozing dragon. "I moved into my parents' basement. It's basically my own place now. You should come by some time to work out!" He watched her run away. "I can teach you how to work out▬AGH▬!"

    He flipped backwards onto his backside with a high-pitched scream. The Gronckle moved on, leaving him to stare at his burnt shield, looking very dumbfounded. "Snotlout! You're done!"

    Freya was running so fast she ran into Hiccup as he emerged from his hiding place. He gasped and held up his shield to protect himself▬she squealed when her nose hit the iron rim of it. He gaped, horrified, "Oh gods. I▬ah▬" he winced. He made no move to help her as she stood back up. Freya blinked past teary eyes. Her nose stung, "▬ouch. Sorry... I ..."

    She noticed the Gronckle coming towards them and shoved past him with a gasp. He staggered backwards, "Uh▬okay." He glanced back over and his entire face dropped. He flung up his shield just in time. It exploded right off his arm and Hiccup stumbled, scrambling away from the Gronckle as it followed him.

    He realised and pushed his legs to go faster▬but it was too late. Hiccup reached the side of the arena and pressed his back against the stone. He had nowhere to run as the Gronckle closed in.

    Gobber stopped picking at his ears. "Hiccup▬!" he cried out.

    The chief's son fell backwards. He gasped, pushing himself back up against the wall as far as he could. The Gronckle swooped down low until lit was right in his face. Freya held her breath▬she stood still, not sure what to do as the dragon reared its head back; its throat glowed with its final shot▬

    Hiccup hid his head in his hands, hitting the ground as embers flew over his head. The stone just above his shoulder pulsed a pure white-hot sunburst that dripped melted cobble down near his boots.

    Gobber struggled with the beast. It chewed and fought his iron claw hand, but he just gritted his teeth and tugged it far away from Hiccup cowering in its shadow. "And that's six," he dragged the Gronckle back towards its cage. It growled, vicious▬it mauled his prosthetic, furious that he could not eat through it. Gobber grew annoyed. "Argh▬!" he grasped his wrist and started to spin the dragon in the air, "▬Go back to bed, you overgrown sausage!"

    He chucked the beast straight back into its cage and slammed the door closed. The iron cladded log landed, hard, in front of the locks▬it clanged into place and even when the Gronckle rammed against the door, it did not budge.

    Gobber dusted his hand off on his pants, "You'll get another chance, don't you worry."

    Freya heaved forward, realising that it was over. She let out a long, relieved breath▬she dropped her axe and her shield to reach up to her nose that throbbed with pain. As she heard her friends huff and puff, slowly coming to stand around her, did she finally notice what she had done.

    She had been the last one remaining.

    Freya made it through her first day of Dragon Training, and she had won the first challenge. Her chest swelled with pride▬and for the first time, Freya Balderofferson felt a surge of confidence. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, hoping the others realised, too. She had made it to the end when they could not. She beat them all. Freya wanted them to know that▬she wanted them to see.

    But they did not see her▬they did not look at her at all. All of her friends slumped and leaned against each other, smacking the ringing out of their ears to frown down at Hiccup who finally glanced away from his arms.

    Gobber marched up to them, "Remember," he said loudly, "a dragon with always▬" he turned and leaned down in Hiccup's face, "▬always go for the kill."

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    THAT NIGHT, Freya still found herself feeling as if she was sitting alone in her small crowd of friends. She kept reaching a hand up to fiddle with the little bandage on the bridge of her nose▬only to wince when her fingers brushed where she had hit the edge of Hiccup's shield, or whenever her nose twitched involuntarily. Her breath hitched through her teeth and she clenched her jaw, not wanting the others to see the pain that easily strained on her brows.

    Instead of fiddling with her nose, Freya absentmindedly started to set out her stewed meat into a smiley-face amongst the broth. What the others were saying was in the back of her mind▬every time she glanced up over the tip of her spoon, she saw them chuckling and laughing about all that had happened in the ring. But none of them focused on Freya. She was so small and so little, she must have blended into the environment▬maybe they couldn't even see her over the edge of the table. Even if she had been the last one standing today, even then, all they could do is just look straight over her head.

    Usually, Toke would be the one that smiled at her. He might joke and try to get her to laugh▬bring her into the conversation. But her friend was stewing in his own thoughts. He looked distant and shameful▬something in his eye that Freya couldn't understand. But in the way that Astrid glanced at him sideways in the middle of her curt and sharp discussions▬as if not sure whether to be angry at him, or concerned▬made Freya think something else had happened ... something else she was not privy to.

    She pursed her lips and went back to her stew, tossing the meat and the vegetables around. Freya missed her father.

    Her fingers lifted up to her nose again. She winced and blinked back tears. She scowled, annoyed with Hiccup. But it came off very weak and lifted almost immediately as it had settled.

    Freya wanted her friends to see her. She wanted everyone to see her, deep down. See her as something more than what she was supposed to be. But her friends didn't give her a second glance after her victory. Her mother hummed and didn't speak further on it when Freya told her what had happened. Gobber didn't congratulate her▬grumbling to her about everything that had gone wrong with the others. She supposed to have achieved something▬and yet even when she felt as if she had, Freya was still not good enough.

    "Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber was saying. Freya spun her spoon at its handle, watching it ripple in the cloudy contents of her soup.

    She missed how the blonde briefly eyed Toke once more. She swallowed back harshly what she had wanted to originally say and chose to mutter: "I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble."

    Toke glanced up at this. They locked a stare▬an exchange no one else noticed. He was grateful, she rolled her eyes and bit away the bitter taste on her tongue.

    Ruffnut scoffed, eyes fixed on the way her brother's knife dangled under his finger▬pressed at the tip against the table. "Yeah," she grumbled sarcastically, "we noticed."

    Freya glanced over when the door to the Great Hall opened. The final member of their group arrived at last. Hiccup slipped inside, trying to go unnoticed. He was drenched head to toe from the late night storm outside▬his hair was flat against his forehead, dripping into his eyes. She frowned, wondering where he had been in this weather. He looked as if he had walked all the way across the island▬he picked twigs and leaves out of his wet fur vest. She pursed her lips. He had disappeared straight after their first training session this morning, and none of them have seen him since.

    "No! No!" Snotlout waved his hands, eagerly shaking his head in order to deny Astrid's claims. Ruffnut huffed even more at this, setting her chin on her palm and catching Freya's stare across the table▬her brows bounced at her, as if to say, Astrid, right? She was so surprised she didn't have thought to agree. "You were great! That was so 'Astrid'."

    Collectively, each of them rolled their eyes at Snotlout's very voice. At their grumbles and their scoffs under their breaths, Gobber gestured to the teens wildly, "She's right!" he told them. "You have to be tough on yourselves. Freya, what about you? Where did you go wrong?"

    She glanced up from her soup as Hiccup got closer to the table. There was a short, awkward scuffle where he tried to sit at the edge of the table, but his cousin shuffled up to the seats very end. Hiccup stared at Snotlout, not amused. He reached to grab the final leg of chicken, a horned cup and shoved past his cousin who jumped, a little startled at the action. Snotlout rushed along to make sure there would be no chance Hiccup could have in sitting between him and Fishlegs.

    "Freya?" she blinked, taken aback▬her gaze snapped away from the chief's son and back onto Gobber who waited, impatient for her answer.

    "Oh, um," she shrugged, trying to act cool. "I don't know. I didn't?"

    The others stared at her. Ruffnut scoffed once again. Tuffnut's knife dropped to the wood. Freya pursed her lips, not expecting the reaction▬or how deadening the silence was; dry and annoyed. "I▬I mean," Freya quickly back-tracked. "I▬" her fingers lifted up to her nose. "I was the last remaining," she held out her hand to the other teens and Gobber. "I▬I won today's training, right? So, I▬I must have been doing something correct instead of doing something wrong...?"

    Astrid rubbed at her kransen under her low-hanging blonde bangs, as if she was disappointed more than she was annoyed.

    Fishlegs leaned close to Freya to whisper to her helpfully, "Say that you ran into Hiccup's shield."

    She scowled at him, not appreciating it as she burned bright red at the cheeks. Freya went back to scowling at her soup and trying very hard not to twitch her nose.

    "All right..." muttered Gobber slowly, as if not sure how to take Freya's forced statements▬or how to reply to them. "How about▬?" he finally noticed his apprentice sitting alone at the table beside them, "Hiccup! Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

    The chief's son sighed and slumped forward, hiding his face in his wet mop of hair. "Really?" Freya heard him grumble to himself.

    Their table immediately sparked with response. The opportunity to make jeering jabs at the boy picking at his chicken was too good to miss. In perfect motion▬a scatter of insults piped up down the rows of seats.

    They bounced off Ruffnut: "Uh, he showed up?"

    "He didn't get eaten?"

    "He was born?" snickered Snotlout and Tuffnut pointed his dagger over the table, sniggering in agreement.

    All the way to Astrid, who finished in between bites with a snarky: "He's never where he should be."

    "Thank you, Astrid!" praised Gobber and Freya's head fell into her hands, wondering what she had ever done to have the gods curse her with such frustration. He smacked the Twins' helmets in together as he passed and flicked Snotlout's ears▬a quick serve of punishment for their mean chuckles.

    "You need to live and breathe this stuff!" went on the blacksmith. He made his way to the head of the table and threw an old, leather-bound book in font of them. It was so thick, it stood taller than their cups of water; filled to the brim with pages and pages of uneven yellowed parchment tied together with a messy hand at its spine. On its cover, was stitched a flaming, interlocking Monstrous Nightmare. "The Dragon Manual: everything we know about every dragon we know of."

    Most Hooligans prided themselves on not actually knowing how to read (which▬Freya has noticed▬might be the cause of quite a few of their problems). But despite this well-known fact, the Vikings of Berk worshipped the Dragon Manual and all that it said. The hand of Bork the Bold had written them the perfect manuscript on how to identify a dragon, and most importantly: how to kill it on sight.

    Freya has read it cover to cover so many times she felt as if she had memorised every word under every title. And yet, still, it had not given her the instruction on how to solve her dragon problem. Or just her problem in general.

     A great clap of thunder wrecked through the sky. She glanced out▬peaking through the ajar door into the storm. She often wondered whether this was Thor's protection for them against the dragons. There would be no raid when the skies were grey and lightning struck the earth. It seemed as if the dragons feared and respected Thor as much as the Vikings did.

    Gobber pursed his lips, frowning at the sound. He sniffed the air , eyes narrowing until he decided, "No attacks tonight." He left the table. "Study up."

    It took the teens a moment to react. Tuffnut dropped his knife again. It clattered with his chicken bones. "Wait▬what? You mean read?"

    Ruffnut gaped. Soon, she had slumped forward in utter dismay, "While we're still alive?"

    Not even Freya missed the slight breath of relief Toke seemed to make at this decision. He hid it well, pulling his meal closer to finish it off. Though Astrid eyed him▬sharp▬out of the corner of her gaze once more, if not a little suspicious as Snotlout threw his fist down onto the table in his fury.

    "Seriously?!" he exclaimed angrily. "Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?"

    "Oh▬! I've read it like seven times!" erupted Fishlegs with an ecstatic grin. Achingly slow, eyes turned onto him with such horrified, disgusted stares it made Freya shrink in her seat with secondhand embarrassment. "There's▬there's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face! A▬and there is this other one that buries itself▬"

    "Yeah▬" Tuffnut stoppet him with a snap of his fingers underneath Fishlegs's round nose. "That sounds great. There was a chance I'd read that..."

    "But now..."

    Fishlegs's smile dropped, finding the Twins' comments not at all funny. Meanwhile, Snotlout threw his chicken bones into the fire, "You guys read." He announced as he stood up. "I'll go kill stuff..."

    The others scrambled to follow him out the Great Hall doors. The Twins wrestled and Fishlegs stumbled over his own little feet, not once stopping to take a breath in his wild retellings of the pages within the Dragon Manual. In the end, the only ones left were Freya and Hiccup. They shared an awkward stare.

    She did her best to focus on her food▬though now it had turned cold; nothing but sludge. When she heard Hiccup stand up, she glanced up out of the corner of her eye. Freya watch him shuffle over towards her and the book sitting on the table.

    He stopped right at the table's edge. He huffed and swung out his arms, bouncing his brows and trying to muster a smile▬but it was stained and unsure. "So!" he gestured to the book between them. "I▬I guess we'll share, then?"

    "I've read it," Freya muttered. She fiddled with her fingers.

    Hiccup's eyes widened. "Oh!" he waved his hand, "That's▬" she watched him rock backwards and forwards on his toes, "▬that's okay. A▬all mine, then. Wow! That's▬so▬okay ..." he dragged it towards him by his fingertips, but his sentence fell dry.

    They shared another tense stare.

    Freya quickly looked away. She pursed her lips in a ridiculous way, until her nose stung and she stopped. She rubbed at the bandage. Hiccup noticed. He flushed.

    "Uh ..." he tapped his fingers continuously on the front cover of the Dragon Manual. "I▬I'm sorry. For the▬" Hiccup pointed to her nose, "▬your uh▬the▬the shield and the▬" his finger went sideways, as if that was supposed to be her running into him.

    She didn't know what else to say other than, "It's okay... I guess..."

    "I▬okay."

    Another silence fell. Hiccup puffed air out of his cheeks. Freya's knee bounced under the table. Each time their gazes locked, they both sprung it away, flustered and rosy-cheeked.

    Then, Hiccup sat down opposite her. He dragged the book with him. "That was a▬uh▬good run in the arena, right?" he chuckled nervously, as if he didn't believe his own voice that came out of his mouth. "Gronckles▬" he punched the air. His enthusiasm slipped away just as quickly. "So cool..."

    Freya shrugged, not in the mood. "Yeah," she mumbled under her breath. She pushed her bowl of food away, feeling herself glum all over again. "I s'pose."

    Hiccup frowned. "Why?" he asked her before he could stop himself. "What's wrong?"

    She glanced up, taken aback by the question. He managed to keep her stare▬and Freya's chest fluttered to see curiosity; genuine, concerned curiosity. Her brows knitted together. "Oh, um," she tried to shrug it off. "It's nothing. It's just ..." Freya chuckled bitterly and shook her head. "It▬it doesn't matter."

    "What is it?"

    "It's stupid."

    "It can't be that stupid."

    Freya set her elbows on the table and sighed; she set her chin on her arms and stared at the brim of her drink. She shyly glanced Hiccup's way to find him already watching her. She'd rather not tell him▬telling him things had the off-chance that they'd might come to some understanding, or even worse: hold something similar. She had spent years avoiding Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. She wasn't prepared to break all of that hard work after he merely sharpened her axe and showed up to Dragon Training. Even if she promised she would spend time with him at least once a day to her mother, Freya never prepared herself to talk during that.

    But despite her better judgement, there was something about Hiccup Haddock that just made her feel as if someone might actually listen to her. Understand her, and that sent her off guard for a moment.

    Enough for his gentle gaze to win. Freya sighed again and murmured, "I thought today was going to end up better."

    Hiccup was still fiddling with the fraying leather book cover. He kept glancing between it and her, as if not sure whether he should be wary of having a conversation with her▬where it would lead. Should he be prepared to be punched in the shoulder? Should he look for exits? Or was Freya hanging her stare with a real breath of exhausted sadness? "What▬what do you mean?"

    "I mean that today I won, and no one is talking about it!" She closed her eyes after a moment. "I mean▬that makes me sound like▬I just▬what I mean is ..." she pursed her lips against her arms. Freya flushed at the cheeks, slightly ashamed. Then, she mumbled: "I was the last one standing. I'm never the last one standing. And the one time I am ... still, no one cares about it. Enough to mention it, at least. To▬to look proud, or surprised, or ..." she sighed. "Like I said. It's stupid."

    A look washed over Hiccup's face. One of understanding. Little did Freya realise just how much he understood. The chief's son shrugged; his shoulders bounced as he spoke: "Well, I▬I▬I thought that it was cool! What you▬I mean▬I definitely cared enough to think that you did really good."

    Her brows lifted. Gentle, surprised▬a look he has never seen on her face before. Freya lifted her chin from her arms to whisper, "Really?" in such a way it was as if she was too scared to believe a word he said.

    Hiccup shrugged. He made a face, as if he had to think on it. Then he nodded; the little scar on his lip stretched when he smiled. His freckles were like dotted cherries. Freya realised he meant it. She flushed once again and smiled into her arms, growing suddenly very shy.

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    a/n:

    freya be like: I am NEVER going to feel anything for hiccup.

    hiccup: *breathes*

    freya: fuk▬

    I need to get a design out for toke but now can we all just appreciate how CUTE THE TWO OF THEM ARE?!?!

    also lets ignore the mistakes in this drawing like-

    get used to it, I'm never gonna compliment one of my drawings in my books. 

    no but also I need to state despite the fact that they've been betrothed since kids the growth of their relationship and the decisions within it end up being COMPLETELY of their own development, of their own choice and within their own pace. 

    freya tryna impress the others was young me fr. it's still me ...

   deep down she's an entj and that's fact. she's so soft entj coded-

    the 'I wanna be great or nothing' syndrome girl I understand u-