tushanshu | 1st Flight [video]

Oh for Thor's sake, they said this would be easy...

[There's a curious green eye studying the communicator before it zooms out to reveal a young boy of about fourteen or fifteen, his face covered in scratches and scars that look both fresh and old, the oldest one a nick on the right side of his chin. He grins a bit tiredly, sitting back and snapping his fingers.]

I knew I could get it to work! Man, if we had things like this back home it'd make communicating with other tribes easier...

[He fiddles a bit, the screen flicking off as he discovers the other functions, a bit of text gibber jabber appearing before it switches back to full video, then he remembers the people he spoke to said that others could be watching.]

Uh, hi. I'm Hiccup. Great name, I know, but I guess it's kept me from being snatched up by gnomes and trolls all these years so it's worth something at least. If you couldn't guess, I'm kinda new...just arrived really. I don't think I was awake for a lot of the talk though, getting knocked out by a giant dragon tail would do that to you. I think I'm awake. At least I hope so anyway. This place doesn't look like any Valhalla I ever dreamed of.

[He reaches down to scratch at his leg.]

There's...a lot of things here that we don't have at home. I hope I don't blow anything up. And, uh, this is gonna sound kinda strange but I don't suppose anyone has anything I can, er, walk with? [Pause.] One of my legs kind of...doesn't work. They helped me here but I don't know how I'm going to get around...

I guess that's...it? Yeah.

[He goes to get up but lets out a yelp as he puts pressure on his injured leg and he falls backwards, crashing to the floor.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Uh, yeah. It's...kind of a hobby.

I like to paint! I didn't really paint in any books though.

Would you really let me see yours?

Sure, I mean there's no harm in it, right?

[There's a beat.]

Would you mind if I switched to, uh, video?

[Sounding that word out. It's so weird.]

Oh! Those moving picture things, right?

[She's not to sure about it either.]

Sure. I think I can do that.

Yeah, I...sorry, it's weird for me. Hang on a sec.

[There's a bit of fiddling before he manages to bring up the video screen again, grinning.]

I got it right this time! Can you see me?

I can!

[And her first thought is aw, he's adorable. oops!]

Let me see if I can figure this out again....

[After some fiddling of her own, Rapunzel appears on the screen, her draped mostly behind her for now.]

Is it working?

[When he sees her appear on screen, his first thought is 'wow, that's a lot of hair'. His second thought is that she's a different kind of cuter than Astrid or Ruffnut...must be what happens as the ages get further from his.]

Yeah, it is. Hey, uh...

[Rapunzel raises a hesitant hand and waves.]

Oh good! Hello, then.

[There's a small bit of awkwardness for a moment before Hiccup snaps himself out of it and feels around in his vest.]

Right, right. My...my sketchbook.

[He pats himself down and feels around in his vest. He usually keeps it on him, he can't remember taking it out. Soon, though, he pulls out a leather-bound book and he flips it open to his first drawing of Toothless, pausing to turn it around to show her.]

It's a little sketchy because I was rushing, but...

[She leans in close to get a better look at the sketch. She's sure that it would look clearer in person, but she's still able to admire his work from the screen.]

No, it's wonderful. I love how you drew his wings.

[He'd actually felt a bit nervous. He'd never shared his sketchbook with anyone before, considering drawing wasn't a very viking thing to do (the fact that half of the adults in the tribe were illiterate withstanding, they could mostly understand the old drawings and runes around the island), so the compliment makes a small, pink flush colour his cheeks.]

Ah, thanks. I have a couple more... [He turns the pages, turning the book towards him so he can see before he stops on a couple of images of Toothless curled up on the grass or hanging from a tree.] Nobody's ever seen one of his kind up close before so I wanted to get as much visual as I could.

[She looks on, enthralled by each and every drawing. The only pictures of dragons she'd seen before had been from story books where the dragons were always mean and terrible beasts. Here in Hiccup's drawing the dragon certainly seemed impressive and possibly dangerous, but there was also beauty playfulness to them.]

These are really great.

[She glances at him.] And you've really seen this dragon? You're close?

[He nods and gives a small incline of his head.]

He's...he's kinda my best friend.

I've really never, ever heard of a good dragon before. But if he's your best friend then he must be good.

What is he like?

Well you wouldn't be alone there. Until a few hours ago back in my world, my tribe was prepared to charge into the nest against something they wouldn't have been able to handle.

[Not that he did a better job but, details. He smiles.]

For starters he's a lot more intelligent than we originally took dragons for, more aware. They're not mindless beasts like we thought for three hundred years. He can actually be playful. You should've seen him run away from me when I tried to saddle him up the first time.

Saddle him? Why would you do that?"

[Oh jeez, what to tell.]

He couldn't fly on his own. I made him a prosthetic but he needed my help to use it.

[That seems better than 'I shot down a Night Fury to get the attention of my tribe'.]

So you mean...you fly with him?

Yep. On his back.

Oh wow.

[She's just lost for a minute, imaging what it must be like.]

Is it scary? Or fun? Oh, it must be amazing!

Well, the first test drive was a little scary. I kinda...ended up falling off him.

[He gives a sheepish smile.]

We stopped a little too high in mid air and my connecting line to the saddle got loose.

[She winces.]

But you kept going, right?

Yeah. I had to forgo the cheat sheet I drew up but we made it.

But something happened to your leg?

[He makes a small humming noise in the back of his throat.]

I was knocked unconscious...hang on.

[Flipping to a clean page, Hiccup takes his charcoal pencil and starts to draw, leaning in close to the page as he sketches from memory. In a couple of minutes, he turns the sketchbook around again, showing her a rough image of the monster dragon, including a speck that looked like it had wings. He indicated towards the speck.]

That's how big we were compared to it.

[video]

watcheslanterns - 2013-09-08 18:33 (UTC) - Expand

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1st Flight [video]

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