Three weeks have passed since I first officially met Snotlout Jorgenson, and it would be a lie to say that I had been disappointed by the budding friendship I had been developing with him. Of course, he was still busy on Dragon's Edge most of the time, but he tended to stop by Berk quite a bit to supposedly restock on their medical supplies and food rations. Somehow we always managed to run into one another, mainly because it appeared that our dragons just couldn't stay away from each other. Hookfang and Nightwing had become quite close over the past few weeks, nearly inseparable, in fact, leading me to wonder about what that meant, not that Snotlout or I had a problem with it.
One afternoon I found myself in the forest outside of town, having been sent by Gothi to collect some honey, which was actually a key antibiotic we used in most of our medicine, so we needed to stock up on some before winter arrived. It wasn't going to be an easy job, but with Nightwing by my side, what could potentially get me stung by a swarm of bees would go by rather smoothly. I just had to find a beehive.
Nightwing and I strode through the woods, examining this tree and that in search of the usual collection of cone shapes that were generally found dangling from low hanging branches. Along the way, I collected some poppy seeds and mint growing on the forest floor and placed them in my traveling pouch, listening for the telltale buzzing that came with the yellow and black flying insects as I did so. Nightwing kept stopping every few paces though, warily swinging her head back and forth as if in search of something. "Crazy dragon." I chuckled, unsure of why she was acting that way. Even still, I knew better than to second guess my friend, and I withdrew my sword from the holster on my dragon's saddle. I stopped moving, taking heed of our surroundings. The sound of a faint grunt and a twig snapping directly behind me caught my attention, and instinctively I kicked back with my right leg, dropping my assailant to their knees. I whipped around, swinging my weapon to hover above the neck of my opponent.
Once the adrenaline wore off and I saw who I had pinned on the ground, I instantly back away, blushing like mad. "Snotlout! I'm so sorry!" I apologized, holding my hand out to help him up. His eyes were blown wide in bewilderment, mouth gaping open and panting as he tried to get oxygen back in his lungs, and hands in the air with his palms facing the sky. When he was finally able to catch his breath, he accepted my hand and stood up, leaning on a tree for support. "How...what...you...how did you do that?" He finally managed. I bit my lip. "I told you, I've learned some things through the years, by training with Nightwing." I answered, before crossing my arms over my chest as I gave him a question of my own. "I could've killed you Snotlout, why were you following me?" He scratched the back of his neck and looked down at his feet sheepishly. "I saw you walk into the woods. I wanted to make sure you were okay." He replied. My gaze softened and I placed a comforting hand on his arm. "I'm fine. But thank you anyway. I really am sorry for attacking you. A girl can never be too careful." I told him, hoping he could understand. "It's okay...it was actually kind of cool." He replied, looking back up at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. His features quickly shifted into his usual smirk, making me wonder if I had just imagined it instead. "Listen, Brenna, I was also wondering if you would like to come to Dragon's Edge today. Get a tour, hang out...maybe show us some of those moves of yours." He prodded hopefully.
I was taken aback by his question. I'd have to get permission to leave from Gothi, but I was itching to go explore, and I still hadn't been to Dragon's Edge yet. Even Gustav had been there before I had! How could I turn down an offer like this, especially since I would be leaving with Snotlout and I would get to see all the riders again. Berk had been almost too quiet without them. "I'd love to, Snotlout, but first I have to finish collecting honey for Gothi and then ask her if I can go. If you could wait a little while though, I would certainly love the company." I explained. "Sure!" He agreed, and I watched as a look of realization formed on his face. "Wait, did you say you were looking for honey?" "Yeah, why?" I answered, wondering why that was suddenly relevant to my friend. "Oh, well, I saw a beehive over there when I was following you." He told me, motioning to the right of the path, back in the direction of where I had come from. "Lead the way." I smirked, letting Snotlout show me what he was talking about. I followed him back the way I came, before we made a sharp right, coming face to face with a towering birch tree surrounded by some rather irritated looking bees.
Hanging from one of the lowest branches was a beehive, just as Snotlout had said, the holes practically dripping with honey. "Oh my Thor! Snotlout this is perfect! Thank you!" I told him, moving to grab my honey jar from my bag. "Of course! Here, I'll get it for you!" He started, walking over and hitting the top of the hive with blunt end of his axe. "Wait, Snotlout, let Nightwing-" I was quickly cut off by the sound of Snotlout screaming in pain and running toward me, red welts popping up on his skin from the bee stings he had suffered in return for disturbing the creatures. I could practically feel Nightwing roll her eyes as she stepped passed us and towards the tree. I turned my attention to Snotlout, examining the bee stings carefully. "Ow, ow, ow..." He mumbled, wincing as I gently moved his arms around. "I've got to get these out." I informed him, grabbing the base of one of the stingers left in his skin and plucking it out. He let out a hiss of discomfort. "Sorry." I whispered calmly, moving onto the next welt. I pulled out another stinger, then another, and another, until all eight of them came out, five from the left arm and three from the right.
I turned my attention to Nightwing then, stepping away from Snotlout for a brief moment. "Okay girl, I'm ready." I told her. My dragon snorted, before lifting her claw and slicing a few chunks of the honeycomb off of the bottom of the hive. The bees started to swarm her, but their stingers lacked the strength to penetrate her scales. However, Nightwing had a tendency to get rather annoyed by the insects every time we did this, so her natural reaction was to set herself on fire, incinerating the buzzing creatures on contact. While the bees were distracted with Nightwing, I stepped forward and swiped the honeycombs from the ground, placing the dripping cells into the jar in my hand. Perfect. I thought, placing the lid on top of the container and backing away from the hive. Nightwing followed closely, her flames repelling the straggling bugs. Snotlout was waiting a little ways away, closer to the path. "I'm done, so we can head back now if you'd like." I told him. He smirked, "Right this way, m'lady." He gestured to the dragon footprints Nightwing had left on the warm forest floor, pointing to the way back out of the woods.
When he went to put his arm down again, he grimaced in discomfort, reminding me of the bee stings on his arm. "Wait! Snotlout, let me fix that." I asked, taking the lid off the jar and scooping a small amount of the sticky substance onto my fingertips. "I'm fine, really, I'm a strong guy. A small bee sting can't do much harm to me." He waved me off. I rolled my eyes, putting the jar back in my bag and grabbing his arm anyway, keeping him from going anywhere. "One bee sting won't do much since you aren't allergic. But being stung by many at one time like this can throw you into a severe allergic reaction. Your tongue could swell and your throat could close, and your heart could even stop. Let me help you." I heard him swallow anxiously, taking in what I had been telling him. "O-okay." He relented, watching nervously as I dabbed the honey on each welt, and then moved on to examining his tongue. "Open up." I requested. Snotlout did as asked, gazing at me in confusion. I took a peek inside his mouth, tilting his head up with my hand, but thankfully it all appeared normal. "Well you aren't having an allergic reaction yet, but we better get you to my aunt just in case." I whispered. He nodded and closed his mouth. We turned around, following Nightwing back toward the break in the trees. "Uh...Brenna?" Snotlout began, walking beside me. "Yes?" "Thank you...for..er...helping me with those." He said, glancing away. "You're welcome," I paused. "Snotlout?" "Yeah?" He replied. "Thank you for keeping me company."
Once we were out of the forest, Hookfang swooped down from the sky, landing in front of Nightwing and sniffing her scales curiously. She snorted, doing the same to the big orange dragon. The two reptiles exchanged a series of hisses and clicks, before each stretched their neck forward to lick the other one's shoulder. Snotlout and I smiled at the concept of our dragons becoming friends so quickly, and we mounted our respective animals. "Ready to go?" I asked him. "This time, you lead the way, gorgeous." He nodded. I blushed again, urging Nightwing to take flight.
The jaunt from the forest to my aunt's hut was peaceful, Hookfang and Nightwing gliding through the air together silently. I kept glancing over at Snotlout to make sure he was doing okay with the bee stings, but he was a viking, stubborn as his father and macho almost to a fault. He would be fine in the end.
Gothi was feeding her Terrible Terrors, watching as they fought over some mackerel, tearing the fish apart from gills to tail tip. Nightwing dropped me off on the overhang that hovered precariously over the ocean. Hookfang did the same with Snotlout, before both dragons flew away toward the land below. Hearing the disturbance, my aunt turned her attention on us, walking toward me with stiff legs. She gave me a gentle hug in greeting, before turning a skeptical gaze on Snotlout. She began writing in the sand pile next to us, asking what he was doing there. "Snotlout was helping me get the honey and he got stung by a bunch of bees. I used a bit of the honey as an antiseptic, but I believe it would be beneficial if you looked at them as well. So far he hasn't had any allergic reactions, but I just wanted to be safe." l explained. She nodded with an eyebrow raised, but moved over to examine my friend. She checked his tongue, throat, and arms, making sure that he wasn't going into any kind of severe problem.
Nodding to herself, she began writing in the sand again. "He'll be fine." I read. "What is it? What did she say?" Snotlout asked worriedly. "You'll live." I smiled, patting his shoulder. He breathed a sigh of relief, "Thanks, Brenna." "Of course." I slung my medical bag off my shoulder and withdrew the honey jars to hand to Gothi. She gave me a smile and set them down, before turning and rearranging one of her shelves to put them away. "Um, one more thing Aunt Gothi," I began. She motioned for me to continue, still moving things around. "I was wondering, if there is nothing else you need for me to do today, may I go to Dragon's Edge to see Hiccup and Astrid and everyone?" I was ready to beg if I needed to at this point. Gothi turned back around and smoothed over her sand to write again. "I have no problem with you leaving, child. Have fun while you are young." She scribbled. "Thank you, Aunt Gothi! I love you so much! I'll be back tomorrow morning!" I threw my arms around her and kissed her cheek. She patted my back and pulled away, motioning for me to go on. I grinned, looking at Snotlout in excitement. He was staring back with the same happy gleam in his blue eyes. "Let's go!" I announced. Snotlout called Hookfang, and both the male dragon and mine appeared, flapping their wings calmly. They rested their necks on the boards, allowing us to saddle up and get situated. With a final glance to my aunt, we were in the air and flying toward the horizon.