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

Hiccup felt all the hairs along his neck stand on end before the hot wash of guilt and shame set in. Tyro! He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about his poor travelling companion. This was the second time he'd left the poor kid with no idea where he'd gone, and he realized the poor kid had probably spent the entire time panicking. He grimaced as he came to slump against the wall, "ah geeze, I'm sorry..." He said, and he was, he hadn't meant to cause so much trouble.

He very much looked every bit like a scolded dragon that knew it had done something wrong as he ducked his head and looked over at him with a guilty look, "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble, I guess I get ahead of myself...Really really ahead of myself," he offered a disarming smile. He hoped the kid wasn't too angry at him, but he also wouldn't entirely blame him if he was, he'd caused quite a bit of headache, more than he'd intended.

"Look I think I've given you enough heart attacks for today, sorry," he apologized again, running a hand over the back of his neck, "why don't we head back to the ship? The sun's going down anyway, and uh..." He shuffled a little, "look I'll make it up to you, alright?" He gave a half smile, hoping maybe he could mend any anger the boy felt.

Hiccup held up a hand and put the other over his heart, giving the boy a sincere but crooked smile, "I promise, I'll behave and stick by your side," he wouldn't tell the poor kid about his run in with the very angry fisherman, almost being skinned, he figured that part of the story would only serve to worry Tyro more, and that was the last thing he wanted to do, he'd kind of caused enough drama for one day, for a hundred days really.

He let out a breath as they arrived at the docks and Ashriji's ship dominated their view, looking over at Tyro, "I'm not terribly good at cooking, but I can help you out if you'd like? It's the least I can do," he gave him a wry smile, there wasn't much else he was in a position to offer, but a helping hand was sometimes enough.

He was sure his face still read guilty dog as they crossed the plank to board the ship, and he found himself wondering what Ashriji had gotten up to in the time they'd been gone. He'd of been lying if he didn't say he was also ready to rest and recoup.

Hiccup just kind of gave a good natured laugh at the gesture, but it didn't negate the guilt he felt though, and it showed on his face as they boarded the ship. He watched curiously for a moment as the deck hands and workers made quick and efficient work readying the ship for the trip up the river, before he glanced over at Ashriji and laughed, "oh yeah, Tyro was a gread guide!" He followed this with a softer chuckle, and a guilty grin, "I didn't make it especially easy on him," he turned the apologetic look towards the boy, before glancing back to his captor.

He looked curious as he craned his neck a little to watch the workers busily doing their jobs, "I take it we're gonna be shipping out soon? Where are we headed next?" He was curious what the next stop would be, what kind of place they were heading for.

"This place was amazing, I've never seen so much...Well all of this!" He turned to Tyro and gave another half grin, "I kind of let my eagerness get the better of me and gave him a heart attack just about," he admitted, "I guess I forget not everyone's used to...Well...All of this," he gestured to himself from head to toe, laughing a little at his own joking.

Hiccup looked between them with a guilty expression and laughed, running a hand over the back of his neck. He became very curious though as she went over the stops they would be making along their path to Sohai, the prospect of so many new places was exciting, but something else was tickling at his mind a little bit, the berating words of the old woman coming back to the surface as he caught the red glint of his shoulder guard in his peripheral.

"What is Ekairra?" The question seemed to come out of nowhere, but he looked to his shoulder with a curious expression, "I ran across this very unfriendly old woman," he mused, before tilting his head to the side and looking back over at Ashriji, "she seemed very cross with me over this," he gestured to the night fury silhouette on his shoulder, before resting his hands on his hips.

"Am I going to run into more trouble over this stuff? I mean I like nicknames as much as the next guy, but heathen and heretic are a bit much," he laughed as he said this, but he was genuinely curious about this religion he'd apparently disrespected, the idea of people worshipping night furies was a new concept, but one he kind of thought sounded fascinating.

Hiccup followed after Ashriji as she led them into the lounge, flopping down into one of the comfortable chairs himself and listening with rapt attention as she went right into answering his questions. He was glad when she assured him he probably wouldn't run into too much more trouble, he could handle it if it happened, but that didn't mean he particularly wanted to piss off the locals, he was here to learn things, not cause trouble, and it was hard to learn when people wanted to yell at you.

He looked interested as she explained why the woman had gotten so angry, nodding and running a hand through his hair, "that makes sense, but wow...I mean I've met villages that worshiped or deeply respected dragons, but a whole religion?" He sounded amazed, but it also kind of made him pensive as he sat back in the chair and looked thoughtful.

"I spent so much time trying to protect dragons from the outside world, but I guess there was no real need for that..." He let out a long breath, "most of the raiders and hunters we've rescued dragons from came from the Archipelago, I take it that doesn't happen all that much out this way, huh?" He said this jokingly, but it was certainly an eye opener. When they'd moved to New Berk there had been talk of a mass exodus of all the dragons into the hidden world, that hadn't been the route he chose, and now he was glad for it.

"Yeah, Toothless, he's gonna be worried sick about me," he laughed as he said this, but he wouldn't be entirely surprised if the dragon managed to track them down, it wasn't like he was bound to the ground anymore, "by all means, is there anything else I should be especially aware of? I'd rather not get yelled at again," he chuckled, running a hand over the back of his neck.

Hiccup nodded along with her words, letting out a soft sigh and shaking his head, "hunters prowl the Archipelago like packs of wolves hunting sheep," his nose wrinkled distastefully and he made a sound in his throat, "but at least wolves do it to survive, dragon hunters and trappers are just greedy and cruel, they don't play fair."

He looked up at her and tilted his head, it was strange to realize they might not be terribly different, at least when the topic of dragons and their safety was concerned, "yeah? Me too. My people used to lead raids on hunter ships to free trapped dragons, hunters told such extravagant stories about us!" He laughed, "you drop onto their ship dressed like this and no one knows if you're human or not, I'm sure they've got plenty of stories of terrifying fiery demons," he smirked, looking almost proud of this title.

He looked interested when she began to talk about the desert, tilting his head, "not really, I might not be as big a fish as you, but it's dangerous to have a bad reputation among vikings," he sighed, shaking his head, "you end up with people like Grimmel, driving you from your home and burning it to the ground," he said this like it was still a very raw wound, which is was, festering angrily in his heart and making him wish he could have ended Grimmel's life with his bare hands.

Hiccup relaxed and sat back in his seat, nodding along with her words. He'd seen plenty of hunters and trappers, sunk too many of their ships to count, he was glad that at least he seemed to be in the company of someone who shared those particular beliefs, "well if nothing else, it's comforting that there's other people out there who fight to protect dragons," he felt at ease because of that, maybe it was foolish and naive, but it was hard to fight nature.

He laughed and nodded, waving his hands as he spoke, "you're telling me! The rumors people have started about Berkians and me in particular have been...Interesting..." He chuckled, looking a little cheeky, "if nothing else, having a reputation where people think you're some valiant dragon conqueror has its perks," he frowned, "but it causes just as much trouble, I suppose, people want to prove how tough they are so they come looking for a fight." He scoffed, not that he was especially scared of them.

When the subject changed to Berk, and she seemed at least somewhat interested, he leaned forward and looked bitterly to the floor, "yeah, we fought a cold war with Grimmel and his people for months, until they ambushed us in the night and left nothing but a smoldering scar where Berk used to be," there was a bitter note in his voice as he spoke, nose wrinkled in anger, "we lost so many, dragons, humans, we gathered whoever was left and fled into the night," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "we did what we could to establish ourselves, it's a small island," he lied, as far as anyone outside of Berk knew, that was all that was left...He wasn't quite ready to tell anyone about New Berk, especially not someone who was his captor.