001: March 6

[worstvikingever]

[HICCUP IS GOING TO FIGURE OUT THE COMMUNICATOR TODAY IF IT KILLS HIM.

So first you'll be getting a text post.]

wajrig oh so that's how that works

[Truly brilliant. Next he'll be fiddling with the video... aaaand there it goes. SUDDENLY IT IS VIDEO. Hiccup blinks and he flinches back away from the communicator before leaning in toward it, clearly fascinated.]

Oh. Wow. That's cool.

[He grins a little and leans back.]

Oh. Oh it's... oh gods...

[WHOOPS HE DIDN'T REALIZE HE WAS ACTUALLY BROADCASTING AND NOW HE IS FLUSTERED BUT TRYING TO RECOVER]

Sorry! Sorry, I just... um. I'm trying to figure the communicator... thing... out. Um. I kind of come from a time when we didn't have like. Anything you've got here so... yeah. Figuring stuff out! Super fun times. Woo.

Anyway. I'm Hiccup, hi. Yes, that is my name.

Um. So... uh. [HE WASN'T PLANNING ON BROADCASTING WHAT DO] So what do you guys do around here? I mean I know there's a war going on... or something... but how does that actually work? Do we get attacked a lot? And what do you do when that isn't happening? The city is waaaay different from Berk, so... I'm kind of lost here.

I know I'm kind of asking a lot of questions and I'm sorry but. Yeah. Confused. So. Any help would be awesome. Thanks.

[He's more than "kind of" lost but he won't admit it.]

Comments

[dissenter]

... Stuff. [okay he's probably not making fun of you, hiccup, but he's certainly trying not to laugh.] Well, I'm sure that can continue. What kind of stuff, exactly?

[worstvikingever]

[he comes from a place where the stuff he builds is generally regarded badly. So he's a liiiittle hesitant to talk about it.]

Well. I mean. I built a catapult. Haven't been able to actually use it yet, but it's gonna work.

[dissenter]

[wow. well, he'd be lying if he said that was the first on his list of things he expected to hear, but... nevertheless, that's impressive..]

What in the world did you need a catapult for?

[worstvikingever]

To shoot at dragons. I uh... it'll make it easier.

[haha not saying he can't lift most of the weapons nope]

[dissenter]

Easier than... Simply speaking with them?

[a frown.] I'd keep my catapults to myself if I were you, in this city. You can count several dragons among your allies here, and while I'm not well-acquainted with them, I can say rather confidently that they wouldn't appreciate being shot at.

[worstvikingever]

Why would we do that? I mean I know there's dragons here who can talk but the dragons back home can't talk at all. They're animals. Pests, really. Just. Smart pests who like burning down the entire village and stealing all our food.

And yeah, I've already gotten the pep talk about the dragons here. I actually met one the other day.

[hahahahahaha gods that was a weird moment when that happened]

[dissenter]

Not everyone speaks with words. And even when they can, actions are frequently louder-- as the saying goes.

But you know your world's dragons better than I do. [he shakes his head.] It's just such a strange thing to hear when every dragon I've ever known -- my siblings included -- would be insulted to learn that some of their kin on other planets could be described as mere animals.

[worstvikingever]

[wait hold on backtrack a bit]

Hang on.

Your siblings?

[dissenter]

Six out of eleven of them, yes. [ohhh he never gets tired of that reaction.

however critical his words may have sounded, his patient tone hasn't yet dipped into being anything close to accusatory.] Very long ago, my people lived in harmony among dragons. The bond between us was such that the first six of my kind -- myself among them -- were actually born of dragon eggs, bonded to dragon siblings of our own. In this way we were twelve all together, though our strongest ties were obviously with the sibling whose egg we shared. [a smile, not without a hint of pride.] In my case, a dragon sister.

[worstvikingever]

[Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat]

Oh.

[Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat]

[dissenter]

[a laugh.] Sorry, I know it's a little hard to believe. But there're people with stranger stories, here.

[worstvikingever]

I guess...