eachdraidh | ( ✈ first flight; VIDEO, both courts — forward-dated to 1st, post-feast )

[ What the viewer first witnesses is a foot. Not a real foot, thank goodness, because it happens to be detatched from its wearer and currently being stolen; that is, until a book is thrown at the thieving imp, lamping it on the head, and the locket is placed down on a table as a young man hops over to retrieve his prosthetic, muttering as he does so. ('Steal my foot, will you? Nasty little ... Yeah, you just enjoy your time-out, bud.') Pegleg re-attached to a left leg, the tall man picks up the imp by the scruff of a leathery neck, strides out and tosses it into the arms of its awaiting (disappointed) companions. ]

Try it again and I'll show you what the ice-pick is for!

[ He sits back down with a sigh, twiddling the locket around. ]

Anyway, hi. Sorry about that. My name's Hiccup and apparently, monsters aside, this necklace can help me find people without cursing me or also trying to steal my limbs. Great! So.

[ Hiccup has very clever green eyes, almost too many freckles to count, and a slight gap in his front teeth; as well as being ~~weedy~~ slender, you wouldn't think he was the sort of person to be so confident with an unknown audience, but he certainly is. If anything, he's eager to talk, at least five years older at twenty than he was the last time anyone in the Drabwurld saw his younger incarnation ... not that he's aware of that. ~~Baby boy grew up and then some.~~

Those of a keen eye will notice he's broadcasting from an Unseelie princely estate room, contrary to the state of the battered leather armour he now wears. ]

I'm looking for a girl about my age, tall and blonde. [ Wait. ] Not just any girl! That would be weird. Really weird, like ... girl-shopping, or something. Sorry, let me rephrase; I'm looking for a tall, blonde girl called Astrid, whom I happen to actually know. [ THIS IS GOING SO WELL, ahhh. ] Don't just call me back if you happen to randomly fit that description. [ Okay, fuck it, moving on.] I'm also looking for my mother, and she's ... [ He rubs the back of his head with a chuckle. ] Uh, she's an unforgettable sight, just tell me if you see a masked, armoured person with spikes poking off their helmet. Oh! They'll also have their dragons with them.

[ Casually throwing that out there as a genuine afterthought. ]

If you see a black dragon with big green eyes, looking sort of nocturnal? That's Toothless, my Night Fury. Tell him Hiccup is at Caer Scima, he'll understand. He won't hurt you if you don't hurt him first — obviously attacking a dragon is a phenomenally stupid thing to do, under any circumstances, so hopefully no one will opt for that course of action.

[ Sitting back, he puffs a breath that ruffles an auburn fringe and raises his brows invitingly. ]

I'd love to get to know more about this place, I've never even dreamed of being anywhere this incredible. Magical. Does anyone know where the nearest dragon nest is? I want to find something to ride until I can find my own and horses aren't really my thing. Stirrups, hard ground, you can see where I'm going with that. These lockets are incredible, has anyone opened one up and looked inside? Uh, and lastly — I promise I'll shut up soon — where can I get some decent, detailed maps of the terrain?

Thanks in advance! Nice meeting ... whoever you guys are.

( ooc: forward-dated to the 1st after the welcome feast, after which he'll lose his optimistic verve as he gets to know the world a bit better. )

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They could give me back my dragon?

[ Scrap everything else, tell him more about that. ]

How will they know where to find him? Is it safe to bring him here? Would he be in any danger?

[ Look who's super distressed over anything happening to his best friend and yet desperate to have him back. It's a shade of separation anxiety, to be sure, and magic falls to wayside in lieu of Hiccup's priorities. ]

They gave me my cat? I know a dragon isn't the same, exactly, but I'm sure if you helped out they'd do what they could?

[ She laughs, biting back her grin and shaking her head. ]

No, of course not. It's magic, really. They bring him here and he'll be taken to find you or - or he'd find you on his own. I'm not entirely sure what dragons in your world are like.

[ Muttering in frustration under his breath as he rubs his face, I don't want to help in any war, he tries to give her a grateful smile. ]

They're clever, Night Furies are as smart as people. [ Yeah. Yeah, Toothless would find him, will find him. He might not be able to fly alone but he's still a 1776-pound freaking force of nature. It'll be fine, relax. ] What ... How do the rulers here expect people to help?

[ He can't quite stop rolling his eyes in exasperation. ]

I was in the middle of stopping a war when they brought me over, what do they expect me to do for their cause? I'm not exactly what you'd call Thor's right hand.

A lot of animals are smart like that -- people often underestimate them. I do hope you get to find him soon, though. I know what it's like to miss friends here.

[ Hermione smiles despite the awkwardness of the situation and she shifts, settling herself. She does understand; she had just finished up her own war and now she's here. She's not exactly in the middle of it, but she's here and she's doing. Something. ]

We all have shards and we're all here to try and do - well, something. You help by gathering things or researching or helping the king and queen with missions or quests. It's... Not simple, not really, but... It's a war. I'm just trying to keep my friends safe.

[ That's all anyone can do in times of war, he thinks. Protect our own. ]

I know what you mean. [ Complaining, he at least tries to be productive with it. ] This map the imps gave me reads weirdly, like a Scot wrote it. Why it couldn't cut me a break and be in a language I do know isn't surprising, that'd clearly be too easy for everyone. I'd even settle for Latin, at this point.

The map... I wonder if my translation spells would work.

[ She shakes her head, offering a soft smile. ]

I might be able to help direct you, if you're looking for something in particular.

It's fine, I'll just learn whatever they're speaking and writing in. It can't be that hard since we're surrounded by it.

[ As opposed to learning languages from little books that Trader Johann brought back from his travels, squinting over the swirling ink in candlelight. ]

That makes sense. But I'm here if you need help or you just want to explore again, okay?

[ But. Um. Duh. ]

I'm Hermione Granger.

Hi, Hermione. Your offer's a very kind one, do you often help new arrivals?

I try to. I was one of the first people to wake up here so I know what it's like to be lost and confused.

It's, uh, a little weird being on this side of things. I'm not surprised I'm Unseelie, though, and neither are a few people I've spoken to.

Edited 2014-10-02 10:21 (UTC)

I think a lot of people aren't surprised with where they're put. I just don't want people going around thinking it's good versus evil -- because it's really not that simple, is it?

No. I think m— uh, I think Astrid would be in Seelie, she's more of a Follow The Rules sort of person than me, and I'm not going to fight anybody just because I'm told to.

Well, there you go. My best friend is an Unseelie and I'm a Seelie -- it's really far less black and white than "A" and "B".

( ✈ first flight; VIDEO, both courts — forward-dated to 1st, post-feast )

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