Chapter 2 - Finding the Cove

The farmer at the yak farm wished he could find something to do, anything that didn't involve shoveling manure or milking yaks. It didn't help that the dreary clouds and fog from this morning still lingered, preventing what could have been a bright and sunny day.

Just as the farmer was about to lean back in his chair and fall asleep from sheer boredom, he did a double take when he saw someone walking uphill to the farm. Not only did he not expect any visitors, but he was certainly surprised to see the son of the chief of Berk approaching. He wondered what Hiccup could possibly want from him.

"Good day, Hiccup," the farmer politely greeted.

"Hello there," Hiccup nonchalantly spoke back.

"What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could borrow a couple of yak."

"Really? What for?"

"Oh, I just need to made a delivery for Gobber. There's way too much metal for me to move on my own, so I thought I'd recruit some yak to pull the load for me. Make sense?"

"Um…I suppose."

"Great. What do I owe you for the yak?"

The farmer was lost in thought for a short moment from trying to wonder why Gobber would make Hiccup tend to any heavy lifting. But he eventually shook his head, and regained his train of thought.

"Oh, uh, don't worry about it! Anything for the future chief of Berk is on the house," the farmer insisted with a nervous chuckle.

"Really? Well, that's greatly appreciated," Hiccup began, almost in disbelief, but smiled nonetheless, "I'll take two yaks, please."

The foul stench of death and decay wafted through the forest, and Hiccup nearly gagged when he found the fly-infested Night Fury carcass still. It was still lying lifelessly in the dirt, but the yaks that Hiccup pulled along grunted and stomped their hooves in fear.

Hiccup's plan was to move the evidence of his kill to a more remote spot, so that he could prevent anyone else from stumbling upon it and ruining the surprise; he figured the perfect time to reveal the Night Fury would be after he kills the Monstrous Nightmare while the entire village watched. Hiccup could practically hear their shocked gasps, followed by cheers of ecstasy.

Luckily, the fog was still so bad that little to no other Vikings dared to venture far outside the village, let alone all the way out to Raven Point. The huge chains that were attached to the yaks' harness clinked and clanked, as they were dragged behind them until Hiccup made them stop right next to the dead beast.

Hiccup then went to work on hooking the chains under the dragon's arms and around its neck. It wasn't easy when he had to lift or roll the large creature just to get the chains underneath it, but he slowly managed to get the chains locked in place. Once he was sure everything was secure, Hiccup led the yaks deeper into the forest in search of a farther and more secluded area.

If I were the rotting corpse of a legendary creature, where would I want to hide? Hiccup pondered as he walked on, and felt a sudden pull from behind that nearly ripped his arm out of his socket.

He whipped around in anger and glared daggers at the yaks, only to find that one of them was missing. The remaining yak was standing on the edge of a sink hole in the ground, as it tried to hold itself up against the weight of the other yak that had fallen into it. Hiccup stared down at the yak, as it lay on its side while wailing from the pain of a broken leg.

Two yaks were more ideal for pulling this kind of weight, but Hiccup figured one could still do the job. So, he cut the ropes attaching the fallen yak to the harness, allowing the other one some relief, and continued to look around for a hiding spot.

Hiccup then noticed that the sinkhole actually stretched out into a tunnel, and there was a light at the end of it; it was dim, but it was clearly natural lighting. He curiously jumped down into the sinkhole and ventured through the tunnel, which wasn't much of a walk. It wasn't a moment later that Hiccup got to the end, and came across a rather beautiful sight; it was a very deep and spacious cove, with a still lake at the center and large tree roots decorating its stone walls.

This place was perfect. It's secluded, out of sight, and anyone who was stupid enough to fall in would definitely have a hard time escaping to tell anyone what they found. With this cove, Hiccup could not only wait to reveal his kill to the village at the right moment, but he could also continue his research in peace.

A thunderstorm had accompanied the night when it fell, making Hiccup's trip to the Meade Hall for the recap of today's lesson rather wet and annoying. When he closed the massive doors to the hall behind him, Gobber and the other teens were already seated at a table with their dinner long finished. As Hiccup approached, he picked up on their conversation.

"Alright, where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber questioned while walking around the table.

"I missed time for my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble," Astrid admitted flatly.

"Yeah, we noticed," Ruffnut commented sarcastically.

"No, you were great! That was so 'Astrid'!" Snotlout tried to reassure, but his obvious infatuation made everyone cringe.

"She's right! You have ta be tough on yourselves!" Gobber strictly informed.

As soon as he finished his sentence, silence befell the table when Hiccup finally walked up to the table to grab his plate of food. The plate was next to Snotlout's on the table, so Snotlout quickly scooted over the far edge of the bench while wearing a forced smile and batting his eyes, all to ensure that Hiccup wouldn't sit next to him. Everyone mentally agreed that they didn't want Hiccup sitting at their table, either; it didn't matter to them if he suddenly learned to take down a Gronckle earlier that day. If anything, they all figured he might have come down with some sort of disease that affected his better judgment.

Easily sensing that he wasn't welcome at the table, Hiccup silently grabbed his plate and drink and sat at a different table nearby. Gobber wanted to yell at the other teens for not being nicer to his apprentice, but he knew the only way for Hiccup to grow a backbone is if he learns to stand up for himself—against both dragons and humans.

So, he continued the lesson, "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

"Uh, he showed up?" Ruffnut guessed.

"He didn't get eaten!" Tuffnut quickly added.

"He's never where he should be," Astrid growled.

Seems like someone sat on an axe today, Hiccup wanted to growl back, but kept it in his head and avoided eye contact. He could sense Astrid's gaze burning through him, though, and started to wonder why he had developed a crush on her in the first place.

"Thank you, Astrid!" Gobber exclaimed in an obvious tone, and then slammed a thick book on the table, "You need to live and breathe this stuff! The dragon manual! Everything we know about every dragon we know of!"

Hiccup perked his head up at that.

A roll of thunder in the distance caught Gobber's attention, "No attacks tonight. Study up."

"Wait! You mean read?!" Tuffnut gasped in disgust.

"While we're still alive?!" Ruffnut groaned.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout asked while slamming a fist on the table in aggravation.

"Oh, I've read it, like, seven times!" Fishlegs began with pure joy, to which the others stared at him disappointed bewilderment, but he continued, "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face! And-and there's this other one that buries itself for, like, a week and-!"

Tuffnut suddenly spoke up to end everyone's misery, "Yeah, sounds great! Uh, there was a chance I was gonna read that…"

"But now?" Ruffnut pouted.

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff," Snotlout declared before standing up and leaving. One by one, the other teens followed while bickering about studying; except for Fishlegs, who kept going on about other dragon facts.

Astrid was the only one left at the table, but she quickly regretted considering studying when Hiccup came over.

"So, I guess we'll share?" Hiccup politely suggested.

"Read it," Astrid hissed while shoving the book towards him, and promptly leaving.

"All mine, then," Hiccup muttered to himself with a smile.

As Astrid headed towards the exit, she couldn't help but eavesdrop on a random conversation at a table right next to the door. She recognized the person who was talking as the yak farmer, as he conversed with a couple of his friends.

"I just don't get it. What in Thor's name would Hiccup actually want with a couple of yaks?" the farmer whispered in disbelief to the others, keeping his voice lowered when he remembered Hiccup was on the other side of the room.

Astrid curiously leaned against a pillar as to not raise suspicion, but made sure to stay out of the farmer's sight.

"I mean, think about it. Gobber never trusted Hiccup with any heavy lifting before, so why would he start now?" the farmer went on.

"That is pretty weird," one of the farmer's friends admitted.

"Weird or not, I'm stayin' out of it. Thor only knows what goes on through that boy's head, and whatever it is can't be good," the other friend added, to which the others nodded in agreement.

But what the farmer said stuck with Astrid. Why would Hiccup require yaks? Was he actually lifting something big and heavy? And if he was, what could it possibly be?

Maybe what happened in the ring earlier really was the start of a drastic change, and that thought rubbed Astrid in all ways but right.

I'll admit, this chapter is mostly filler and could've been a bit longer. But, oh well.

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD! Bye-bye!