NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Hiccup and Toothless were flying all day at a liesurely pace. They took a break for a couple of hours at noontime to fish, and eat. After a short nap, they continued their journey south, following the coastline. The flight was non-eventful, save for a slight detour when Hiccup spotted a mountain peak jutting up higher than all the others around it. The light was fading, but he could swear he'd caught a glimmer of light reflecting off… something on one of its sides. A quick turn around the peak revealed nothing, as clouds had started moving in from the sea, and were obscuring part of the mountain.
The sun had since set, and they were looking for a place to land. Again, not wanting to press too hard in the dark in unfamiliar territory. Hiccup could see a faint glow ahead, which meant there was a town ahead. Indeed, as they were flying, he noticed a few isolated cabins below. They were high enough up where they wouldn't attract attention, but it meant civilization was not far ahead. The boys continued towards the glow, and were soon met by the faint lights of a fair-sized town. But this one had a large castle taking up one side of it. There was no moon tonight, so Hiccup chanced a flight around the limits of the town. They dropped in altitude to get a closer look. There were homes and shops, and also docks on one side of town, with several tall ships tied in. They dipped a little lower, and circled the castle proper. There were a few people out, but with no moon, there was little chance they'd be seen. As the boys made their way around, Hiccup could barely see two figures on a balcony at the castle. He felt more then saw, one of them following their path, but that was impossible, it was too dark for anyone to spot the black Night Fury, and his rider, with his black armor. He shivered, probably from the cold, but that wasn't right, was it? He shook it off, and turned Toothless inland.
Toothless was able to detect a cave in the face of a cliff. After circling around Hiccup determined there were no houses close by, and it was far enough from the town to be safe. They would have to have another look around in the morning. They landed at the treeline, and made their way into the woods. They made it to the spot at the base of the cliff. For tonight, this would do. The cave was about seventy feet deep, and large enough for both of them to fit comfortably, and then some. Hiccup gathered some firewood, and with Toothless' help, had a small fire going in no time. He stripped everything from Toothless that he wasn't hatched with, and both the boys settled in for a meal and a good nights' sleep.
"Tomorrow, we'll have a look around, and then, I'll head into town to have a look around. OK bud?" Toothless crooned in agreement, then laid on his belly, with his head resting on his paws. Hiccup retrieved his journal, making some notes, and sketching the coastline they'd just flown over. They would need the reference for the trip home. After twenty minutes, his eyelids started to droop. He put away the journal, took a blanket from another saddlebag, and after banking the fire, curled up to sleep. He dreamt of swirling, blinding white snow, and in the distance, caught a quick glimpse of a glimmering castle…
Hiccup woke the next morning to sunlight filtering through the cave opening. Toothless was still asleep. He stretched, then threw a few more sticks on the fire, following up with a good sized log. Hiccup moved to the cave entrance, looking for movement. He had to be sure there weren't any suprises. The further south they traveled, the fewer dragons, and for that matter, dragon sign they found. He wasn't taking any chances. Toothless awoke yawning and stretching his muscles. "Well, good morning Mr. Sleepyhead!" Toothless started to complain, but was cut short by a couple of raw fish tossed his way. He immediately cheered up wiggling, his tail swishing back and forth. "Well seeing as you're in such a good mood, how about a short flight, yeah? Have a look around?" Toothless started hopping around at the prospect of flying. Hiccup was impressed, after the long flight over the ocean, he'd thought they'd need a couple of days to recover, at least. Hiccup saddled him, and attached the prosthetic, and the control cables. After checking the rig to make sure everything was operating correctly, they walked out of the cave to the edge of the trees. At the bottom of the valley, there was a road. More like a path through the grass and weeds. It didn't look like it was used much, but still, they waited inside the treeline, watching for movement.
After about fifteen minutes, the boys walked out, Hiccup leapt into the saddle, and they were off. Toothless performed a few barrel rolls while climbing out, to which Hiccup had NO objection. They leveled out in the cloud layer, and swooped out in ever widening circles. Hiccup confirmed that they were indeed well outside of the town, and then they were scouting the road. Everything seemed safe enough. They followed the road towards town. Hiccup saw that he could walk to town in just over an hour, which would be perfect. Far enough away to be relatively safe, but close enough for Toothless, should anything go wrong. He saw off in the distance, that single lone peak they'd come across a day earlier. Maybe if he had enough time, after town, they'd go out there to have a look around.
They flew back to the cave, and Toothless settled down again. Hiccup got out of his armor, and into his regular clothes, a plain green tunic, brown suede pants, with fur-lined boots. After slipping a dagger into his belt, he went and removed Toothless' tailfin to put on the other prosthetic he carried with him while traveling. Toothless grunted his dislike for this particular rig. "I know you don't like this Bud" Hiccup said, "but I feel better when you have it on while I'm away." If there was trouble, he could easily fly out of harms' way. Toothless snorted, but was agreeable. Hiccup headed down to the road, then turned towards town.
Hiccup was agape. He wandered the streets, which were paved with cobblestone. Looking all around at the quaint houses, all painted in greens, or blues. Signs hung from a few with weird shapes among them. He recognised the bakery, and the shoemaker, but for others, he was baffled. He wanted to find the blacksmiths' shop, but for now was content to just take the town in. The houses were not the sturdy kind you'd find in Berk. These people didn't have to endure the harsh winters. They seemed warm and cozy enough. There were also lamps on tall stands on every street corner. On these were hung banners of gold, blue, and purple, with a snowflake crest on them. Others had a design that could have been a flower, but he had never seen one like it.
He made his way to a square in the center of town. off to his right, there was a causeway which led to the castle gates. The edge of the square off to his left abutted the harbor. Leading off this, the street ran right along the waterfront. There were smaller docks, with rowboats and smaller vessels tied to them. He walked along the street, making his way towards the larger docks with the tall, three masted ships. He wanted to get a closer look at these. Much larger than their viking longboats, he watched as the sailors climbed the rigging and performed their duties. 'Simply amazing' he thought to himself. He would have to see if he could somehow get a tour of the ship. There were other matters at hand though. On the other side of the docks were shops and stands where most of the ships' goods were sold. Fish and other types of seafood. Back towards town, fruit and vegetable stands, then fabric shops. He would need to come back through here to get a basket of fish for Toothless.
He wandered back towards the center of town, taking a looping path. He finally came to a long low building. There was a large chimney sticking up from its center. He could hear the familiar clanging and ringing of metal striking metal. 'At last' he mused, and it seemed the shop was on the same street he entered town on. He walked through the door and was met by all manner of tools, along with some farm implements. there were shelves all along the walls, for displaying the smithys' wares. This front portion was were the items were sold, with the smithy in the rear of the building.
"Good afternoon lad! What might ye be interested in?"
Hiccup started, as the man seemed to come out of nowhere. "Ah, -er, the blacksmiths I presume?"
"That it is lad! My name's Valdor, Valdor Bregemann What can I do for you?"
Hiccup considered him. He was in his early forties, if he had to guess. With black hair, balding and greying slightly at the temples. He was round, but not entirely so. His arms were strong, with large calloused hands from long days at the forge.
"Actually sir, I was looking for work. I am traveling, and I need money to buy my way around my trip." Not entirely true. Hiccup had plenty of gold with him. He needed the forge to work some repairs to the flying gear. Not to mention, his own prosthetic would need some maintenance soon.
"You? You look like a twig boy." The smith looked him up and down, settling his gaze on Hiccups' left foot, he gasped, his eyes going wide with suprise. "What's this? That's a right fancy hunk o' metal ya got there lad. Where'd ye get that?"
"I made it. I was apprenticed to the village blacksmith when I was ten." Hiccup told him. "I lost my foot in a-, Ah, a battle, I've had to constantly work on it, to grow with me." Hiccup balanced himself on a nearby table and held it up for Valdors' inspection. " I've also added attachments for walking on ice, and for riding-"
"That IS something!" He was impressed. "Traveling eh? Well, it just so happens that I've been comissioned to produce shoes for the palace guards' horses. I'll be needin' some help." The smith grinned. "Not fancy work like that bob ya got there, But it'll be steady work for a few weeks. Plus, I'm a little behind on mah work for it."
Hiccup smiled, this was better than he'd hoped! He could make shoes in his sleep! Steady work for at least a couple of weeks. He could do some exploring on his time off. "Thank you, sir, could I possibly start tomorrow?"
"That ya can lad. What's yer name son?"
"Hiccup, sir, Hiccup Haddock."
"Hiccup?" He said curiously. "I think ye got a few tales to tell. The shop opens promptly at nine."
"Thank you Mr. Valdor sir! If I may, this foot will need a little work soon, along with another -project I'm working on. I promise to do it after your regular business hours." Hiccup hoped he wasn't intruding, but he seemed nice enough.
"Fair enough, Hiccup. Now if you'll excuse me, it's back ta work!"
Hiccup thanked him again, he walked out of the shop. This was working out better than he'd expected! It was now late afternoon, and he needed to get back to the cave to prepare for tomorrows' work. He went back to the docks, and bought a basket of fish to bring Toothless. he wound his way back to the main street with a spring in his step, then out of the town towards their cave.