𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter nine; yrsa
❝ the devilish dervish! ❞
LATER that day, Yrsa sought out Hiccup in the forge. She could see smoke wafting up into the air and it let her know that either he or Gobber were there, even at this hour as the sun slowly fell behind the cliffs. She wanted to go see Toothless before she returned for supper, perhaps bring him some nice fish or leftover stew and practice her axe swinging. But she wanted to see Hiccup first.
She saw the chief's son and the blacksmith chatting by the anvil as she walked up, fiddling with the grip of her axe. They didn't see her coming, so she called out a, "Hey━"
Hiccup and Gobber's gaze snapped to her, and the former went red amongst the freckles across his cheeks. Her breath hitched━did he just blush? At her? Not at Astrid (yes, she could tell, he was an obvious fool sometimes).
"Yrsa!" Hiccup exclaimed, trying to wipe off the ash from his cheeks with his gloves. "Hi, Yrsa━hello, there! Welcome! What can I━uh━do for you━?"
"I just wanted to say hello," Yrsa smirked softly at his flustered state, feeling her own flutters come to life. She walked into the shop, glancing up at all of the weapons. At Hiccup's quick glance to Gobber, she realised. "Oh! And━uh━came to get my axe sharpened. Can you?" she held out the blade to Hiccup. He stepped forward and took it in his arms with a slight oof from the weight.
Gobber looked between the two of them, eyes darting back and forth before he decided to say, "Uh━" he gave Hiccup a nudge forward with the wooden mallet on his interchangeable stump, and the boy shot him a glare over his shoulder. "My manly apprentice here will service all of your needs." Yrsa frowned a little; Gobber always acted strange, but this was through the roof. "Good job in the ring today, Yrsa! I have to━" he gathered up some nails with his remaining hand, awkwardly shuffling past them and to the back door, "━go get some━uh━I'm just gonna go outside."
He left chuckling like he knew something they didn't and left the two teens alone. Hiccup gave Yrsa a stiff smile, she arched a brow, waiting for an answer.
He gestured back to his mentor, scoffing, "Gobber, am I right...?"
Yrsa bounced her brows in agreement. She casually walked back towards the wall, gazing at all of the weapons. She wanted to see how the new tail was going, but also ask what he had done in the ring. As she thought about it, she wondered whether she was annoyed or impressed. They had promised each other they wouldn't get to the last round, but if Hiccup kept acting like he had today, well━that would be going against that promise.
"Do you still want your axe sharpened anyway?" he asked her, and Yrsa shrugged.
"There's no harm in it, I suppose," she reached up a finger to feel the metal of a longsword. She brushed her fingers then along the grips curiously. She found one she liked and hoisted it from the hook, testing out the weight against her wrist, as she did, Hiccup was mumbling about a few things.
"So━uh━great run in the arena, today, am I right?" he hoisted up her axe towards the sharpening stone.
Yrsa glanced back at him, "Yeah, about that," she tossed the blade back and forth between her hands, eyebrows raised in surprise. "What did you do to that Zippleback? How did you manage to get it to react that way?"
"Eel," said Hiccup proudly. "Dragons hate them."
"Since when?"
"Since I offered one to Toothless by accident," he grinned. She watched him grab the handle of the wet stone and tugged it back with a grunt of a heave. He got the contraption spinning after a few tries. Yrsa had to hide her amusement.
She set the sword back up on its hook and continued on. "It was good. But ... you're not trying to win, are you?"
Hiccup set her axe blade against the moving stone. "What? No━why? We made a deal."
Yrsa nodded, a little relieved. "I just ..." she pursed her lips and sat up on the bench. She saw a journal beside her and her curious fingers flew to it instantly. "I just don't want to be alone in this, you know?" the words flew out of her before she could stop them. "Not being alone makes me feel less guilty."
Hiccup stopped sharpening her axe at those words, turning around to give her his full attention. "What do you mean?"
Yrsa's mouth clamped shut. She didn't realise she had said what she had, and now, she didn't know how to go back. She glanced at the door, and wondered whether she could make a break for it. That was how terrified she was. Don't be stupid, she told herself. But she couldn't help it. For so long, she's only ever relied on herself. Astrid's helped her, a lot, but even now Yrsa was so used to being cut off, and being alone, that she never had anyone ask her what do you mean? About something she said. Wanted to know something about her.
"I ..." she managed to get out. She fiddled with the straps around her arms, untieing them and back again. "I guess I just originally wanted to kill Toothless because I wanted my family to be seen as something different. I wanted it to hold glory again. And now that I chose not to, I'm ... I'm scared that I've failed not just my mother, but also my Dad, too."
The mention of her father brought a cool chill to the air. Yrsa hung her head. "He wasn't crazy, you know," she mumbled. She didn't want to meet Hiccup's gaze as she said this ... it made it easier. "He was ... he was the best man in the world. He made me my axe, he taught me how to throw it, how to sharpen a pencil, how to sew and dance. He knew everything. And he had the best stories, too ..." a ghost of a smile appeared on her face as she remembered her father. "He had stories of pirates, and dragons, and treasure. He wasn't big, he wasn't strong, he was ... he was just him, and that made him amazing."
Hiccup risked asking, "What happened to him?"
Yrsa shrugged. "I don't know ... Mum never told me how he really died. I just remember seeing his body buried." She blushed. "He never wanted a Viking burial. He didn't believe in our gods. Everyone called him crazy for it, crazy for his traditions, his different ways. He wasn't a Viking, and everyone hated him for it. But I guess what really made everyone call him crazy was what he said about the dragons."
"He didn't want to hurt them."
"Yeah," Yrsa frowned. "I guess ... I guess maybe that's really why I didn't hurt Toothless that day. Because I was so determined to kill him for my father until I realised, that if my father was here, he would have let him free."
There was silence. But for once in Yrsa's life, it wasn't uncomfortable, like it usually was whenever her father mentioned. It made her look up, wondering what Hiccup's reaction would be. There was sympathy, of course there was, but it didn't make her angry. Hiccup smiled softly, "I think he'd be proud of you."
"Really?" Yrsa's voice was vulnerable, but she didn't mind it━which was new.
"Definitely," Hiccup passed her back her axe. Yrsa took it with a fluttery stomach and smiled to herself, feeling the markings her father made on the hilt with her fingers. Watching her, a thought came to his mind. He soon grinned. "I'm heading to the Cove to test flight this new tail, want to come?"
Yrsa met his gaze, and she couldn't help but match his grin. "Only to watch you fall. Let's go."
𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
NEXT day, came the likes of the Devilish Dervish. A large, sharp class dragon with a razor-sharp tail used to cut down trees or anyone in its way. The teens were left to their own devices yet again. Up above, a small crowd was starting to gather; the likes of Gothi, the elder who was around to decide on the teen who would take down the Monstrous Nightmare, as well as some farmers, fishermen and wives who hadn't gone for the trip to the Dragon Nest.
With her shield and her axe, Yrsa tried to avoid the dragon as much as possible. Unlike Astrid, who ran at it with full speed, her axe raised. But she always had to end up ducking to avoid the long tail that raked around.
A Devilish Dervish can come in few colours: grey, black or a mixture of blue and black, or purple and black. Yrsa has read their page a few times in the Dragon Manuel━the pictures used to give her nightmares as a young girl. Seeing one in person was a little different. Bork the Bold sure took some measurement to make the Dervish much more frightening on paper. But it still had that fearsome charm. Much like every other sharp class dragon, a Devilish Dervish held itself with pride; long deck, upturned snout and would look its prey in the corner of its eyes as if to always remind it: I am better than you.
They were unruly dragons with a mischevious temper, an energetic, but a very thought-out, cunning personality and called quite crazy by Vikings.
You and me both, Yrsa thought to herself as she ducked a strike from the large dragon.
But it was stunning. The scales of this Dervish was sleek and a mixture of deep midnight purple and black. It was a superb, shining creature. At the tip of its snout, extended two twisted horns and down its back, decorated glinting razor sharp spines. They were bold and very dangerous, mainly because of how fast and unpredictable they could be. A Devilish Dervish could gain so much speed, that when they flew in a circle around and around, could conjure up enough wind to create a miniature tornado. It was where it got its Dervish part of its name.
And right now, this Devilish Dervish was sure living up to it.
The Twins were the first to be taken out, barely managing to save their heads with their shields from being swiped away by the dragon's sharp tail. Fishlegs went next, screaming at the top of his lungs as he ran from its fire.
Yrsa kept a distance, watching the dragon with a breath of awe. It was smaller than other Dervish's she's seen, and so it made her wonder whether it was a female━and a very aggressive one at that. She roared at Snotlout as he tried to make an advance, ready to show off to Yrsa who was watching.
(Ugh).
"Hey, Yrsa!" he called out proudly. "Watch this━!" he tried to throw his mace at the dragon, but she deflected it off the spikes runing down along her neck and spine. It hit the ground, and Snotlout caught Yrsa's (once again) unimpressed face. "Oh, come on, Yrsa!" he argued as he ran away, ducking under his shield with a yelp. "What do you expect me to do? It has spikes all along its body━AHH!" the dragon's flame caught his shield. He threw it off, and Snotlout was out.
Yrsa ducked in behind a barricade, peeking over the top with a deep breath. She saw Astrid's blue eyes across the arena, trying to pick a good moment to charge again with her axe. Now that there was a growth of an audience, she was growing more and more determined to prove her abilities (and she looked a little stunned that Yrsa wasn't trying to do the same).
Across the arena, Hiccup cowered behind his sheild and the barrier, trying to keep as much distance as he could, too. There was a moment of silence as the dragon searched for her next opponent, when she spotted Yrsa behind the barricade. Her breath hitched, watching the dragon growl at her and start forward. She didn't reach for her axe like she usually would. Instead, she waited until last minute and heard people shouting before she set her shield down and rolled out of the way.
The Devilish Dervish was surprised by the movement, and skidded to a stop on her back legs. A Dervish ran on its back legs much like a Deadly Nadder, for its front two legs were but small little arms with claws. Yrsa rolled back up to her feet, meeting the dragon's striking gaze. Her dark hues bore into its own, and maybe she was stupid for not moving, but Yrsa was transfixed.
She remembered when she looked into Toothless's eyes for the first time. There, lying on the ground, vulnerbale, tied up and defenceless; he had been so scared. This time, Yrsa saw something else. She saw a desperation. This dragon wanted to escape. She wanted to get out of here and run. She didn't want to hurt them, she just wanted to get out, and if she had to hurt them to do it, she will.
But in this moment, the Devilish Dervish was curious. She huffed through her nostrils, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes at Yrsa's stance. She could see she had a weapon on her back, but was making no move to use it. But there was also a similarity between them. It struck Yrsa━like a blow to her chest as she saw a glint of determination and playfullness in the dark hues. A cunning, but energetic spark that Yrsa saw in her own━especially when she was around Astrid, Toothless or Hiccup these days.
It was gone, however, as soon as it came, for Astrid yelled defiantly and charged to rescue her best friend who was being absolutely stupid and not moving! Her axe spun in the air with extreme accuracy, but even then, the Devilish Dervish brushed it off with her spikes and Yrsa gasped back to reality. She rolled out of there as quick as she could, taking Astrid with her before she could be doused in fire.
Astrid pulled away, turning around to find her axe. She grasped the hilt and rose it to attack again, only for it to fall down behind her shoulder.
Yrsa frowned and glanced over.
Hiccup had done it; yet again.
He stood over a collapsed Devilish Dervish, sighing in content at his feet. Realising people were cheering after brief astonishment, he awkwardly gestured to the dragon in triumph. Yrsa's frown turned into a scowl, unable to ignore the feeling of bitterness in her gut. They had a deal, and this wasn't it.
Don't worry about it, she told herself as the other teens composed themselves, staring at Hiccup in shock and amazement. He must've just done it to keep himself safe.
So, Yrsa turned back to Astrid and they rejoined the group. Passing the sleeping dragon, Yrsa thought back to what she had seen, and her gaze lingered on the brilliant scales of the Devilish Dervish before she forced herself to look away.
𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
a/n: here i am again, updating this book. lol