[FINISHED] If You Can't Beat 'Em, You Might As Well Join

Hiccup's eyes followed the direction he was pointing and nodded, giving a gesture for him to lead the way, "I'll follow you," he chuckled, falling into his naturally ungraceful gait just a little behind his quicker companion as they pushed their way through the hum of people to the street he'd been indicating. He still couldn't keep his eyes from wandering, and they didn't get far down the street before his feet had wandered as well.

It took him a few minutes before he finally realized that he'd split off from Tyro somewhere in his distracted ambling, but for the moment he thought little of it. He was sure he could find his way back to the main street they'd been walking on, and he was sure he could find his way to the fountain that he'd mentioned.

For the moment though he focused on the small street he'd wandered down, looking around with wild, eager eyes as he peeked into open windows and took in everything that was so entirely new to him.

Hiccup was somewhat dazzled by the colors and styles thrown together like some out of whack painting as his pace slowed down to take it all in. He recognized small tells and little hints of his own culture, but for the most part everything was new and incredibly eclectic, a breath of fresh air to the mundane sameness that he'd come to expect from Berk and most of the villages he'd ever encountered. It was almost shocking to him just how refreshing this all was, and just how stuck in a rut he was realizing he'd been in back home.

He took a turn without really thinking about how much farther he was trailing from the street, down an alley way lined with tent-like structures that seemed to tinkle from the bottles that sparkled atop the poles. He was about to investigate what might be inside, forgetting social grace and personal space in his eagerness, when the screech set him on edge and he whirled to face the source of the noise.

At first he didn't even see the old woman receded into the clothes like a snake seeking warmth, but then the pile shifted and he held his hands up, laughing with a mixture of amusement and discomfort, "uhh ha, that's a new one, been called demon before, but not a heathen as of yet!" he tried for a disarming grin, feeling a little on edge that he was being screamed at, and thus having attention drawn to him.

Hiccup's hands never left the defensive position in front of him, of course, he wasn't necessarily afraid of this clearly decrepit old woman, but he still didn't quite enjoy being screamed at, and the accusations seemed to snap him out of the role of the awestruck newcomer and back into the sarcastic chief of the Hairy Hooligans, he laughed and pushed her hand from his shoulder, waving a hand disarmingly.

"Aw and here I thought heathen was maybe a funny way to compliment a guy," he laughed, clearly not terribly concerned with a screaming heretic, which it seemed like this lady clearly was, he stepped back and made a face, he could smell her breath from here and didn't even try to hide that it wasn't pleasant, "I dunno anything about Ekairra or gods, but I do know a thing or two about good manners, and you're tragically lacking," he quipped with a smirk, glad when she pulled back to fetch the suspect drink, which he could only guess at the contents.

He lifted his hands again when she brandished the bottle at him, grinning rather peevishly at her, "you have beautiful eyes, ma'am, the crazy really compliments them." He laughed and tilted his head, "look, I'm sorry for whatever I did to disrespect, but I just got here, surely we can just agree to disagree?" He gave a placating shrug, he didn't know what to say to simmer down the woman, so he'd defaulted to the way he always handled people in a stressful situation.

Perhaps it had been unkind to be so needlessly biting in his reply, but really she'd come after him first, and he wasn't the sort of person to just sit back and allow someone to lay accusations on him, especially when he had no idea what she was prattling on about. Perhaps he had done something unknowingly wrong, but he also knew this was not the normal way to approach such things.

He laughed when she made a statement about lightning striking him down or some other equally terribly punishment she imagined on him, "been there, done that, still kicking lady!" He didn't sound concerned with her threat in the least, "see though that's the nice thing about night fury scales, lightning just kind of grazes them!" He added, stumbling back a little when the bottle was hurled and shattered at his feet, "charming," was all he said in response.

"No kidding? My best friend is a Night Fury! I'm sure he'd love to have a word with you about manners," he gave a look that opened the floor for her to try and one-up that, then smirked, "now that is something we can agree on! They've always had a laugh at me, but one of us isn't a raving lunatic, and I think we all know which one that is," Hiccup was ready to turn and leave this situation, taking a few steps back, [/b]"anyway if we're done here, I'll just take my heathen ways back down this alley, nice to meet you though,"[/b] he gave a flourished salute as he continued to back-step.

Hiccup rolled his eyes to show how little he cared about this weird woman and her words, but was glad when she dropped the flap of the tent and stopped glaring him down. He was sure if looks could kill he would be dead where he stood, but luckily for him he was relatively unscathed by her venomous words.

He turned and his eyes widened when Tyro approached, before the realization hit him and genuine guilt crossed his features for a moment, "ha, yeah I guess my wandering eyes got the better of me," he said, the apology clear in his voice before he glanced back at the tent, then the symbol on his shoulder, "I had no idea a place existed where anyone worshiped Night Furies," he admitted, "I suppose I ought to be careful, doubt everyone will be as decrepit as that hag was," he said with a slight chuckle.

He gave Tyro a gentle, good natured nudge, "I wont wander again, take a breath, alright?" He chuckled, "Ashriji doesn't have to know I wandered off like a moonstruck deer," he added that to try and smooth over the boy's obvious distress, before gesturing, "I'm curious about these fountains you mentioned," he added, trying to get back to the flow of the guided tour, and he was genuinely curious as to just what he meant when he used the term 'fountain' in this city.

Hiccup looked pensive as he considered those words, perhaps he should have fetched his other clothes, but it wasn't like he anticipated being taken into a place where such a thing would be considered heresy, "guess I should have thought to bring my other clothes along with me, but you know what they say about hindsight," he laughed and shrugged, it wasn't terribly inconvenient, so a few locals might shout at him, that wasn't entirely a new thing to him if he was being entirely honest, he was always getting in trouble with someone or another.

He took a big breath in the much more open plaza they came out into, a welcomed change to the stifling streets they'd come from. He didn't hate the crowds, but he was also glad for the chance to breath in the much more crisp air, his eyes widened considerably when he caught sight of the fountain, and his hobbled pace picked up to see it up close.

"Gods this is incredible!" Hiccup exclaimed, craning his neck to get a good look at the upper bowls that spilled water out like a waterfall fed by a stream. He'd never seen anything like this, and found himself marveling at how it managed to flow like that when it was clearly man-made, "how does it work? I've seen natural fountains, but never anything like this! Where does the water come from? How do you keep it flowing like that?" He looked over at Tyro with wide eyes and a wider grin, he'd never been ashamed to admit when something was beyond the scope of his knowledge, and he'd never imagined there were placed in the world where things like this existed.

Hiccup chuckled and gave an understanding nod when the boy admitted that he didn't actually know the answer to his question, shrugging a little, []b]"hey no harm here, I mean I don't know how it works either!"[/b] he chuckled, dipping his own hand into the cold water, of course the heavy leather gloves prevented him from feeling it entirely, but that didn't particularly bother him.

He watched Tyro's face as he attempted and failed to wink, giving a well meaning laugh and tilting his head, "I can't wait, so many things here are so new to me," he admitted, sitting on the edge to look around with a heavy sigh, "Berk has always been pretty forward as far as viking capabilities goes," he gestured around them with a glance at Tyro and a grin, "but this place is amazing, so I can't wait to see what else these lands have for me," he already had a million questions, and several ideas, everyone was going to get sick of him when he finally came home.

He stood after a moment and clapped his hands together, grinning, "where to next? Anything else you'd recommend a newcomer to see?" There was a soft chuckle in his words, eagerness lighting up in his eyes.