A Boy and his Dog [Spike]

[Hiccup]

(ooc: June 11. Open only to Spike and Hiccup unless either of us says otherwise.)

In Hiccup's mind, it was time for a well deserved break from hanging around the castle. The encounter he had had with Astrid had been good, even refreshing, but part of him just wanted to be alone in town for the day. So there the scrawny redhead was walking toward town with his hands in his pockets and his head in the clouds. For once, Hiccup was enjoying himself. No one was putting him down and he was all by himself. Both things he liked, especially after having to put up with Gothel lecturing him about needing to practice more. Practice. Bah. Who needed that on such a beautiful day?

Hiccup rounded a corner and made his way toward the center of town. He didn't have any particular destination in mind as he walked. He just wanted to enjoy himself. What he ended up finding was a nice place to sit near a fountain. Relaxing seemed like a good idea. Hiccup pulled his hands out of his pockets and sat down, looking skyward and letting a grin spread across his face. Happy former Viking was happy. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and everything was beautiful.

...Yet, in the back of his mind, it seemed like something was calling him. He couldn't determine what that was, but there seemed to be a faint voice in the back of his mind whispering to him. Almost like... he was supposed to be looking for someone. But who?

"Nah... don't be silly, Hiccup. No one's looking for you and you're not looking for anyone. ...I think." Hiccup murmured.

[Spike]

Spike trotted happily along, nose to the cobblestone streets, in search of someone. He didn't know who this person was, only that he was supposed to find him. He wasn't the Master, no...nor any of the ship's crew. Nuh uh. Not any of them. The scent that he was following was very different from those of the crew; for one, it didn't smell like bad fish.

The town was full of shops that had mouthwatering scents wafting through open doors and Spike would have stopped to beg. (He was an expert beggar; just sit down and look as cute as possible) But he had a task, a mission and he wouldn't stop until he had completed it.

The sound of water splashing caught his attention. He wasn't that hungry; Spike could go on for a little longer without food. Water, on the other hand did sound like a good idea. He whuffed and bounded towards the fountain, taking long slurping gulps of it.

[Hiccup]

The sound of a dog woofing, followed by the sound of slurping up water, broke Hiccup out of his thoughts. The scrawny wizard glanced about as if he was trying to find the source of the sound, and low and behold he found it after a moment. There was a dog not that far from him drinking from the fountain like a doofus. Hiccup could hardly keep himself from laughing at the sight. It was humorous and yet adorable at the same time.

"Well, hey there big guy. What are you doing here all by yourself?" Hiccup asked. He wasn't expecting an answer. As far as he knew, animals couldn't really speak to humans that often. Then again, Arthur could speak perfectly fine when he was in his animal forms and Astrid had been able to speak while she was a wolf. Who was to say that this dog couldn't speak? Besides, Hiccup had heard Angel speaking to Wilbur. It didn't seem entirely out of the ordinary.

[Spike]

Spike perked up when he heard someone speaking to him. He wagged his tail excitedly. He jumped up for a moment. It was the boy he was searching for! "YOU!" He bounded towards Hiccup and ran circles around him. "IT'S YOU! IT'S YOU! Oh, it's finally YOU!" He barked happily. "What am I doing out here? Why, searching! Searching for you!"

[Hiccup]

Yep, looks like talking animals really are a part of the norm here.

Never mind that. Hiccup was surprised that this dog was evidently looking for him. Up until that point, Hiccup had felt pretty all right on his own. That day was the only time he could think of when he had felt incomplete. Like he was waiting for someone. However, he couldn't just turn the dog away. He clearly was very happy to see him. At the same time... well, Hiccup just hadn't expected anyone to actually look for him.

"Whoa, you've been looking for me?" Hiccup decided to ask. It still seemed odd. He'd never thought it possible that anyone other than the people he had known from home and the few friends he had made while he was a wizard would bother trying to find him. Let alone a dog that he had never met before. "Why me?" Hiccup asked.

[Spike]

(OOC: You are a brilliant Hiccup!! I read the entire thing in his voice! XD

Yep, looks like talking animals really are a part of the norm here.

Brilliant! )

Spike was thrilled. After, well, he really couldn't say how long he'd been searching for this boy, seeing as how dogs live in the moment and don't keep track of time very well...but by his estimation, it was a very long time.

He sat down and tilted his head to the right, confused. "Because you are my new Master," He felt a little bad saying it, because Spike was still loyal to Sinbad. But after the bright rocks came crashing down from the sky, something inside of him made him search for 'the boy with the head that was on fire'. Spike looked again. Yep. This was him. He was certain of it. No other person he'd met had hair like this. "The bright rocks made me go find you. And now I've found you! What are your orders, Master?" He thumped his tail, and dust rose from the street.

[Hiccup]

"Uh... you could start by not calling me master." Hiccup suggested. Being called master just seemed a bit awkward to him. He'd never been anyone's master before. The whole thing seemed a little odd. Why would this dog have been told to come looking for him? Hiccup couldn't say he didn't like the idea of having a canine companion, but he still couldn't help wondering why Spike was looking for him. Him of all people. He who was so unimportant to so many.

"My name's Hiccup. Let's just start by getting to know each other better, okay?" Hiccup asked. That seemed like the best idea. After all, if they were going to spend time together it seemed like a logical idea to at least know a little about each other.

[Spike]

Spike barked twice. "Yes Mas-- Hiccup." In all his eagerness to please Hiccup, he slipped up, but rebounded and got the name right on the first try. Spike panted and a ribbon of slobber dripped onto the street.

He didn't really know what to say beyond that. Not having a voice for most of your life and then suddenly being able to speak the language of man was a bit of a shock to the dog. What would he say?
Spike never had to talk about himself before, he mostly acted on impulse or command.

The golden canine peered around Hiccup. "Where is your crew?" He sniffed the air. "Are they hiding?"

[Hiccup]

"Crew?" Hiccup repeated. Okay, now he truly was confused. What did Spike expect from him? Some kind of armada and the finest batch of Vikings to ever sail around the archipelago? That wasn't about to happen. Hiccup just shook his head at that thought. "I'm afraid this is all I've got." Hiccup said, gesturing to himself and offering a sort of apologetic look. He hadn't meant to get Spike's hopes up. ...If he had, anyway. "I'm just a wizard... I guess. I don't have a crew. I don't even have a boat! In fact, the last time I tried to even build a boat it sank before it even reached the harbor." he said. He'd been such a failure at building boats that Snotlout, with his fancy boat called Sparrowhawk, had never let him live it down.

"Sorry... I'm probably not what you expected. I'm just Hiccup. Nothing special." he said. He did realize one thing as he spoke, though. He didn't know the golden canine's name. Hiccup let one hand rest under his chin and offered a quizzical sort of look. "What am I supposed to call you, anyway?" Hiccup asked.

[Spike]

That was it? Didn't all humans travel in packs? He peered around Hiccup one more time, just to make sure no one was hiding back there, then sat down in front of him again, satisfied.

His ears flicked upwards at the word 'boat'. "I used to be on a boat! The old Master called it 'The Chimera'. It was my job to keep strangers off it, unless the Master said it was okay." The other word, 'wizard' rang a bell in Spike's head, but he didn't have anything to connect it to yet.


"Expect? I'm not expecting anything." Didn't Hiccup know that this was supposed to be the other way around? "Well, a bone every now and then would be nice....and maybe a pat on the head from time to time?" Spike's head bobbed in a nod. "Just 'Hiccup' is good with me!" His name? "I'm Spike! Fiercest dog on the Seven Seas!" He stood up and puffed out his chest, head held high and gave a growl to show just how 'ferocious' he could be. However, Spike couldn't keep the happy-go-lucky look off his face for very long, so it ruined the effect, ending up looking more along the lines of 'goofy' instead of 'fierce'.

[Hiccup]

More like Spike the incredible doofus.

Okay, so Hiccup would keep that little thought to himself. He just couldn't help it. Spike looked like a big old doofus. Not something to be feared. Of course a dog with a desire to find a human would get stuck with him of all wizards. From Hiccup's perspective, it looked like it was a stroke of bad luck to the dog. Evidently it was a good thing from Spike's perspective, though. Then again, the dog wasn't constantly putting himself down. Hiccup had that tendency to put himself down after all that had happened to him.

"Well, it's good to meet you Spike." Hiccup finally said. One thing struck him as a little bit odd, though. Evidently Spike had had a human before him. What had compelled him to leave that human? Or was it the other way around? A sea-faring dog ending up with a Viking whose only boat, The Hopeful Puffin, had ended up sunk before its time seemed strange. Still, Hiccup wasn't going to openly complain about it. Spike was a welcome change from what he had grown used to in Berk and what he had come to expect from the rest of the world. Harsh judgment, in other words. Spike didn't seem to possess a harsh bone in his entire body. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"So... you want to do something around here?" Hiccup asked. He stood up from his spot and stretched a little bit. Might as well do something with Spike, right? "I don't exactly have anything to do right now, and I don't have to head back to the castle any time soon. So I'm free to do pretty much anything." he said.

[Spike]

So, he knew the boy was his new master, that his name was Hiccup and that he didn't like being called master and didn't have a crew.
His ears rose at the word 'castle'. The last time he had been in a castle was back in Syracuse during a feast. And what a feast it was! Food just lined up for the taking. Spike had jumped on top of one and made his way through the entrees.

Thinking about all this food made him very hungry all of a sudden. "Can we get some food?" He asked. He couldn't remember the last time he ate and by dog standards, that was too long ago. "I'm so hungry I could eat a whole swordfish right now!"

[Hiccup]

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[atrb=background,http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/696/hiccupmiddle.png] "Food? Sure... I don't see why not." Hiccup replied. It wasn't an unreasonable request, after all. Surely there was some place to eat in town. It was all a matter of finding out where such a place was. He rose from his spot on the fountain, stretching a bit after a moment, and motioned for Spike to follow him. Since it was Hiccup's first time in the town, really, he didn't have much of an idea about where anything was. Did that stop him, though? Not in the least. Call it Viking stubbornness that bordered on idiocy. "Come on. Let's see what we can find." Hiccup said. He began to walk a little bit ahead of Spike, glancing at the different buildings as he walked, and hoped silently that they would find some place to eat quickly. Now that he thought about it, he realized he hadn't had much to eat that day anyway. Just a quick bit of fruit and he had gone out of the castle. Well, now he needed a decent sized lunch to make up for it. "Uh... do you have any idea of what kinds of places there are to eat around here?" he decided to ask. ---- Song: I'm Still Here by John Rzeznik Images and Codes belong to their rightful owners Table made by Rapunzel Don't Steal!

[Spike]

Spike trotted alongside Hiccup. How was he supposed to know? Oh wait, duh Spike, use your nose. He picked up scents of some kind of leafy green thing (nope), the warm smell of freshly baked bread (okay but not great) and the mouthwatering, savory, succulent scent of meat from one of the restaurants. BINGO!

He was about to bark and point, then remembered that he could speak. "I smell meat." Spike pointed anyway out of habit at the restaurant door.

[Hiccup]

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[atrb=background,http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/696/hiccupmiddle.png] Hiccup glanced in the direction Spike was pointing toward. Meat, huh? Well, it had been a while since Hiccup partook of anything even remotely Vikingish in terms of food. This seemed like the best place for them to have lunch and maybe get to know one another better. After all, they were a team... at least as far as Hiccup could tell. They needed to know more about each other if they were going to work together. At length, Hiccup nodded his approval. "Seems like a good place to me. Let's see what they've got." Hiccup said. He moved toward the restaurant in question and opened the door, holding it open so Spike could go inside before him, and waited. Look at you, Hiccup. You're being so unViking-like that you're holding doors open for dogs. Hiccup thought he must have looked quite silly. He had been paired up with a relatively doofy looking dog that claimed to have been looking for and was treating him as an equal. The latter didn't seem quite that strange to Hiccup, as he had thought animals ought to be treated equally if they could speak, but it must have looked strange. ---- Song: I'm Still Here by John Rzeznik Images and Codes belong to their rightful owners Table made by Rapunzel Don't Steal!