Bond Between

Chapter 14

"You're no less of a Viking, Nina. Everyone gets upset. No one's strong forever," Hiccup heard himself saying. "Everything will work out in the end, you'll see."

"This war is stupid," she warbled quietly. "I wish it were over."

"It'll be over, don't worry. It's gonna end," he said soothingly. "We'll find the nest and chase them off. They won't bother us anymore, Nina, I promise."

"Why can't we get along with them?" she asked.

"That sounds like something my mother always told my father. According to Dad she was always spouting off that peace was possible..." He trailed off. Nina lifted her head and looked at him. "I don't know what happened to her, I just know that Dad said she was carried off and killed. No one's been able to find her."

"She sounds like she was nice. A shame she was carried away," she remarked.

"Dad doesn't like to talk about it. I think it hurts to talk about her," he said. He looked down at her. "Feel better?"

"Yeah," she said with a sniff. She scrubbed the rest of her tears away. Then she gave him a hug. "Thanks for everything. And I really am sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn't have done it."

"I deserved it," he said. Nina began to protest and he silenced her with a finger to her lips. "I pushed you when I knew I shouldn't have. People can have differing opinions and still be friends, right?"

"Yeah, they can," she agreed. A fragrant sea breeze floated through the trees. "Man, I wish I had a boat, not too big, not too small. This would be great weather for sailing."

"We could take one of the small boats," he suggested. They separated and she brushed some stray hair back from her face. 

"Nah," she said. "There aren't any. I've checked. I think we'll need to build one. Think we can do it?"

"Hm...Maybe," he said. "But where will we get the woo-" He looked at the forest around them. "Nevermind. But what about tools?"

"I've thought about that. I think my Dad had some tools left over from where he was repairing some ships. There should be some nails too. If not, I've got some left over from building the bunker," she replied. "Think your dad would mind?"

"I don't think so. I think he'll be thankful there's something productive I can do that'll keep me out of trouble, being the little spawn of Loki that I am," he said jokingly.

"We're just getting out of our kid-years. We're getting ready to go into our awkward teen years," she replied. "We're bound to get into all sorts of trouble. This might scare them. But then again, that's what we do best, isn't it?" They snickered. When they weren't in the forest, they were pulling small pranks. It started one day when Nina found some sour milk. They'd come up with a story to tell people about how every time milk went sour, the person who was about to drink it would die within a week. There had been mass panic when they had swapped out entire buckets. The best reaction had been when Stoick had taken a mouthful of the vile stuff. His face had first gone green then white. It had been at a feast and was a heck of a challenge. She had finally managed to get Hiccup to distract his father long enough to swap the mugs out. The village had lost its mind for a bit, complete and utter chaos. 

"That was a great prank. But we got into a lot of trouble," Hiccup said as they laughed at the memory. They'd been caught out when they had doubled over with gales of laughter. Stoick had demanded what was so funny and, between fits of giggles, the whole prank had been laid bare. Man, was the Chief mad. They had to basically avoid the village after that, but only for a brief period.

"Yeah...So," she said, "Let's get a list of stuff we're gonna need from the village to build this boat." Hiccup took out a journal he had with him. She began listing off items. "Okay, so we're gonna need an ax, which I have, a hammer, which I have, a rope, some small, like miniature, wheels, because we're not strong enough to carry the ship to the beach. We're gonna have to use ropes and pulleys to get it anywhere."

"Alright, moving on," Hiccup said. He didn't like thinking about how weak he was. It made him feel insecure.

"Nails, as many as possible. We'll also need something from my house. Dad showed me how to use it. It flattens wood by shaving it into sawdust," Nina said, pulling a face at Hiccup. He stuck out his tongue and squinted at her. "We're also going to need fabric, but that'll be for the sail, so it can wait. If need be, I know methods for making a sail that involves boiling and mixing shredded wool. Mom taught it to me. Basically boil wool in a flat pan, as big as you need it, agitate it by pushing some sharp stuff into it...Okay so maybe she didn't teach me perse, but she was making something and I was watching her quietly. I made her scream that day and it scared me."

"Nina?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a rambler sometimes, you know that?" She blushed crimson.

"I know. It's something I do when I get carried away with stuff. Sorry," she said. "Anyways, we'll need a sail, something to turn with that's not a rudder that sticks out into the middle of the ship. I- No, I won't go there. I don't want to ramble again. Maybe we could line the inside of the boat with metal to make it extra strong? If Gobber can spare a lot, we'll be able to make it super thin. I can even add a room to my bunker to make a forge. Actually, I might do that anyway. It'll be a neat project at the very least."

"Alright, anything else?" Hiccup asked looking at his list.

She leaned over and looked. "I can't think of anything else, can you?"

"Crossbraces to support the ship maybe?"

"We can make those, can't we? It'll be fun to try, at least."

"I suppose." A loud, short growl resounded through the clearing. They jumped and looked down when no immediate threat presented itself. Hiccup's stomach had announced its lack of breakfast for too long.

"I guess that's our cue," Nina giggled. "You'd best head home and grab some food. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay. And I mean it this time." They stood up and gave each other a tight hug. Then Hiccup walked back to town while she made her way to her bunker.