Fan-Fic Fridays: The Secret Symbol - Chapter 33: A Twin Special - Dragon Fighting

The Secret Symbol

Chapter 33

A Twin Special - Dragon Fighting

         Soon we found ourselves back at Dragon’s Edge.  And, as much as I wanted to leave right then to get back to Edge of Mystery, we would be getting back real late and are dragons would be beat.  If the whole point is to keep working on the mystery, then we need to rest our dragons overnight so we can arrive back at Mystery ready to continue on.  Not to mention the fact, if we leave now, we may run into our “friends” again.  We need to make sure they do not know where Dragon’s Edge is and Edge of Mystery is located.

         Once back at the Edge, we settled in and rested until supper was ready.  Astrid made a wonderful stew with biscuits and yak milk.  All that was talked about during supper was questions for Dawn and Lilah, more for Dawn because we knew pretty much everything about Lilah.  Although, at least what she is telling us.  Maybe it is just me and mysteries, I just want to keep knowing more and asking more questions.  But, I try to know when to stop and ask later.

         After supper and every was about ready to turn in, Tuffnut and Ruffnut came in the clubhouse to announce, Ruffnut started, “Ladies and gentlemen, the premiere… of the new… Dragon Fighting League will be on… in five minutes.”

         “You guys are serious about this,” said Hiccup.

         Tuffnut replied, “Uh, no… when are we ever serious.”

         I countered, “But are you not serious in your unserious-ness?”

         Tuffnut opened his mouth but thought, and then answered, “True point.  But anyway, you guys have to come out.  It is going to be awesome.”

         Hiccup resisted, but I said, “Oh come on.  If they’re doing something they’re not supposed to, then you can stop it right then.  If it is safe, or safe enough, you can let them do it.  Besides, it might keep them occupied.”

         “Yeah, but for how long?” questioned Hiccup.  “I’ll come.  Anybody else?”

         Everyone just turned around and walked the other direction, except Annabeth.  She came with us to the location Tuffnut is leading us to.  As we neared the spot and the saw what would be going on, we became confused.

         “Welcome, to Dragon Fighting,” announced Tuffnut.

         Annabeth just looked like someone told her dumbest thing ever, although with the Twins that is what you will get on a daily basis.

         “Dragon fighting,” Annabeth paused.  “With chickens?”

         “What gives Tuff?  I paid for Dragon Fighting, not mere chickens,” I acted as if I got gipped.

         “Did we sell tickets?” wondered Tuffnut.  “Good idea, write that down sis.”

         Hiccup stated, “All I see are chickens.”

         “Yes,” Tuffnut raised his right first finger in the air.  “True that, but that is all we have right now.”

         “For it truly to be Dragon Fighting,” Ruffnut added.  “We did two dragons.  But, alas, we only have one at the moment.  They do have two heads, but it isn’t much of a competition because we always win.  We need somebody to be the loser in the competition.”

         “I hate to ask, but,” Hiccup questioned.  “Where is the arena or area you are using to fight the dragons and chickens in?”

         “Arena?” echoed Tuffnut.  “Who said anything about an arena?  Oh, wait, write that down too.  We could make this an archipelago wide event… start a league… sell tickets… make money!”  Tuffnut raised his voice and arms in a joyous manner.

         Hiccup put his hands out and slightly up, “Woah, woah, wait a minute.  Calm down, back to my question.”

         “Tuffnut, my dear brother, the lad obviously cannot understand the brilliance of our idea,” Ruffnut stepped in.  “We are not literally having the chickens or dragons fight each other…”

         Tuffnut reached behind a large rock, pulled out a bag, and threw what looks like chicken feed on a spot on the ground and let the two chickens have their fill.

         “…we’re having an eating competition,” finished Ruffnut.

         Hiccup just face palmed, but I said, “And then you would like to expand your enterprise into the dragon realm to bring more revenue to eating competition.”

         Tuffnut had a blank look on his face for a second, “I think what you just said is that if we had more dragons, we would get more money.  All we are after is the thrill of competition and to answer the question, ‘Can Barf and Belch out eat any dragon in the north, south, east, and west?’”

         Hiccup responded, “Does it really have to be a competition?”

         “Yes, it does,” I defended.  “Any competition that involves the trill of just competing, I’m in.”

         Both Twins looked shocked, Tuffnut slowly said, “Wait, really?”

         “Yeah,” I said.  “It would be nice to build more comradery among the friends around us, since we don’t get to see each other all the time.  A competition is the best way to solve that problem.”

         “I’m in as well,” said Annabeth.  “I’m sure when both our crew and your gang get some extra free time, enough to set up a league of sorts, we could get this thing going.  We could come up with some other contests or sports for our dragons to do and develop this thing to see its potential.”

         “Wow,” said Ruffnut.  “I didn’t think that was actually going to work.”

         “Well,” sighed Hiccup.  “If you guys think this is a good idea, someone needs to be in charge that knows what they are doing.  I’m sure Jarl here would be glad to do it.”

         “How about this,” I stated.  “Let’s do an eat-off, right here, right now.  Your Zippleback versus my Thunderdrum.”

         “Alright,” Ruffnut smiled.  “We just happened to have some fish on hand just for this sort of occasion.”

         The Twins brought a small mountain of fish, split the pile evenly into two groups, and each brought their dragon over to start.

         With two heads, Barf and Belch went out to an early lead.  They had but a four or five fish lead, but Fredrick kept putting the pressure on.  Fredrick closed with just a few fish left and beat Barf and Belch by two.

         “Bang!” I pumped my right arm down once.

         The Twins applauded Fredrick’s win.

         “After hearing you say you wanted to actually help out,” Tuffnut said.  “I thought you were just being nice.  Then, you ask for a mono-e-mono dragon fight right here and wondered if your dragon could back it up.  With little time to prepare, Fredrick performed admirably and won.  Ruff and I see that we will have to train our dragons for this more heartily to make sure this is their one and only defeat.”

         “You’re welcome,” I replied and stuck out my fist for a fist bump.  “Snail,” I said as my right fist neared Tuff’s right.  What I did was quickly move my hand to a flat number two to symbolize the antennas of a snail.

         “Ya got me,” Tuff said.  “I need to use that.”

         “After our mystery is over and you guys are free, we can start working on the what, when, and where for this enterprise,” I added as we made our way back to the main outpost.  “But, you guys will have to do more than just train, as Fredrick can at any time make it a game with any dragon when it comes to eating.”

         As the Twins broke off to go to their hut, I mentioned to Hiccup, “Well, at least they have an incentive to train their dragon.”

         “You’re right there,” Hiccup agreed.  “It is hard enough as it is to do that when it counts.”

         “Change of subject,” I stated.  “I would like to ask a big favor.”

         “Sure, anything you need,” Hiccup replied.

         “I would like to take the Dragon Eye back with me to Mystery for at least a day to no more than three,” I requested.

         Hiccup thought for a moment, “That is a big request, but I trust you and your crew that you will take care of it.  You need it to solve your mystery?”

         “Yes,” I answered.  “I think to actually solve it, I need the physical Dragon Eye in my possession if we are to truly solve this mystery.  I’m beginning to become very familiar with the symbols and words from the lenses.  I also have Fishlegs’ notes from the previous lenses my crew has found and will ask for any recent ones he has made on the one we just found.  With all that combined, I should be able to interpret what the last lens has on it; which Garth is working on as we speak so we can actually load it in the lens slot in The Eye.”

         “When are you guys planning on leaving?” asked Hiccup.

         “First, thing in the morning?” I said but also asked Annabeth at the same time.

         She nodded in agreement.

         “Then you may take the Dragon Eye,” Hiccup said.  “I know it goes without saying, protect and preserve the Dragon Eye for the precious artifact that it is.  There is still much we could learn from it with any new lenses we come across.  When you’re done, I await to hear a report on anything you find,” Hiccup offered his right hand.

         “Will do,” I replied and shook his hand to seal the deal.   

         We all took to bed early than either group does, but after the excitement of today, we and our dragons are tired enough the sleep and rest is wanted.

         The next morning my crew and I awoke and prepared for the trip back to Mystery, with the Dragon Eye in my possession.  Hiccup and his gang bid us, “So long,” as my friends and I took off back west to our Edge of Mystery.  About two and a half hours later, we arrived.

         Asvord put her hands on her hips and said, “Well, looked what the yak dragged in.”

         “Technically,” I replied, dismounted my dragon, and gave her and Elsa a hug.  “A dragon dragged me in, then again he did not even drag me but flew me in… but I get your point.”

         Asvord’s hands just dropped as she looked at me as a sister will to her brother, “Okay, now I don’t miss you.”

         She walked away to help put peoples’ dragons up in the stables.

         “Nice to see you too,” I added.

         Not wasting any time, Garth came straight up to me and said, “I did it.”

         Garth showed me the Dragon Eye housing he has made while I replied, “Awesome! That means we can get right to work.”

         But Elsa began, “But don’t we need…”

         “The Dragon Eye?” I interjected as I pulled The Eye out of my saddlebag.

         Everyone, who had not been with us, gasped in amazement.

         “To answer the question, you all are no doubt wanting to ask me,” I came back with.  “Hiccup let me borrow it for the time being.  Since visiting that one island with the door I have a hunch that the Dragon Eye plays a much larger role than just the decipher key to unlocking the secrets of the lenses.”

         Ashley asked, “So, is the Dragon Eye a figurative and maybe even physical key to unlocking the door.”

         “And maybe even beyond the door,” I added.  “We’ll find out one way or another when we go back later today.”

         Cazi echoed, “Later today?”

         “Yeah,” Annabeth answered for me.  “The sooner we can get out in front of this mystery the better.”

         “I know, but Fishlegs is the only one who can read, well, understand what Dragon Eye lenses are saying and get the info needed.”

         “Oh, oh, contr-air my dear Miss Olson,” I countered.  “Working with these particular thin lenses and studying them some while watching how Fishlegs operates, I am quite confident I can interpret what the Dragon Eye lenses are trying to tell us when we combine them all in the slot as one complete lens.  Besides, I have his notes from the ones he has gone over and the notes from the others as well.”

         Dawn spoke up, “So, what’s holding us up?”

         With that said we all walked straight for the Clubhouse.  Asvord, Meen, and Hyrith caught back up with us after putting up the dragons.  Dawn introduced her mother which began the explanation of what exactly went down while we were gone.