16. Donkey Problems

The next morning, Hiccup was feeling pretty rested. He still felt kind of tired, but much better than the last few days. He was eating consistently too.

Seeing him in decent enough health, and after some begging, Ignacio decided to let him join the rebuilding effort.

It wasn’t much right now, he and a few other villagers who were experienced in this sort of thing were in the early stages of planning. Making blueprints, figuring out exactly what materials they’d need. The biggest matter at hand currently was clearing the space of rubble.

A matter Hiccup took into his own hands.

Firmly grasping his shovel, he urged Toothless to blast away fallen walls and bits of debris. He had checked to make sure there was nothing more to be salvaged here, of course.

He had to be strategic about this. The Night Fury only had about six good plasma blasts before he reached his shot limit, and needed time to recharge.

After taking some time to map out the most efficient targets, he marked them and urged to dragon to shoot these exact spots. When the smoke had cleared, he was delighted to see his plan had worked.

Where there were once large chunks of building now stood a huge pile of gravel. It was a lot to clean, but it was nothing a shovel couldn’t fix.

After shoveling for what felt like eternity, Hiccup presented his handiwork to Ignacio and the rest of the Crazy Casita Construction Crew. Ignacio came up with the name.

“Nice work, kid! You just saved us a week of work!” After a grateful shoulder pat, Hiccup felt a burst of pride from within himself. A feeling he was becoming more familiar with, strangely.

He was then told his next objective. Senor Rendon, up at the barn, ordered new shoes for his donkeys. The blacksmith wasn’t taking new orders right now, the rebuilding took priority. But this wasn’t a new order. Senor Rendon had asked for these shoes a while ago, before Hiccup was here. So, the blacksmith figured it was time to make good on his promise.

 With a winded Toothless insisting on following, the boy and his dragon made off for the farm.

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On the familiar path to the barn, he noticed a familiar sight. Luisa.

Though she wasn’t hefting the donkeys this time, she was trying to wrangle them.

“Come on, guys! Work with me here!” She was chasing after them, while they ducked and dodged her attempts. Amused looks on all their long faces. She was starting to get frustrated. Gritting her teeth, and pounding the dirt with a fist after another failed tackle left her in the mud.

Hiccup couldn’t watch this anymore.

He nodded to Toothless, who leapt out in front of the donkeys. A loud shriek erupting from his throat. He stalked around the burros, too fearful to attempt running, and eventually herded them into a tight little group.

Mud staining her white top, Luisa stood. Hands on her knees, catching her breath.

“I didn’t need your he- “She abruptly stopped her sentence, before speaking in a softer tone. “…Thanks…”

Shrugging, he responded. “Eh, don’t mention it.” As Toothless steered the terrified donkeys to the barn, Hiccup motioned for Luisa to follow them. She did so, with her shoulders sagging and her expression pitiful.

As they walked up the hill, the boy couldn’t ignore the mighty girl’s sadness any longer. He coughed to gain her attention. “There uh…something on your mind?” She initially looked reluctant, fighting the urge to bottle up her issues. But she knew now that venting was exactly what she needed to do.

“I just feel so…weak!” She waved her giant arms about in frustration. “I can’t even lift more than one donkey!” “It’s not your fault, you know.” Hiccup started. “The magic is gone.”

She sighed. “I know, it’s just…” She struggled to find the right words. “Bringing the donkeys back was my thing, you know? It was something I could always do to be useful. Even if nothing else needed to be done, I could count on the donkeys breaking out again. And now…I can’t even do that.” Hiccup looked thoughtful, before replying. “You don’t have to be doing something all the time, you’re already doing enough as you are.”

After a moment, she nodded. “I know, I…I’m still working on that…” She then grew a small smile. “You sound a lot like my sister.” He donned his lopsided smirk. “Who, Isabela? But I haven’t even said the word flower a million times yet.” She snickered at his quip. “No, Mirabel! You’re both a couple of dorks who give really good advice!” He noticed he didn’t feel insulted when she called him a dork. The way she said it carried nothing but friendliness in her tone, as opposed to when Snotlout or the twins said it.

A query then struck Hiccup. “Hey…why do the donkeys always get out anyway? If the barn’s door is broken, shouldn’t it have gotten fixed?” She furrowed her brow. “I dunno. We’ve had the blacksmith mess with that door so many times, but nothing ever works…”

As they climbed the hill, a horde of donkeys in front of them and a dragon in between, Hiccup pondered the situation.

He was gonna check out that barn, and see why the donkeys were always escaping.

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It was perhaps the simplest thing Hiccup had ever created.

It was just a latch. A basic latch.

And yet, somehow, the sliding doors on the barn lacked a latch. Meaning the donkeys could just slide the doors open from inside whenever they felt like taking a stroll.

After he had helped the hulking girl corral the herd into the barn, and made his delivery, he rushed to the forge. Leaving a stunned Luisa in his wake, and an exasperated dragon trying to catch up to him.

How did the barn doors not lock? What, did they think the animals would stay inside on their own? Just to be nice?

It took no time at all, and after some time to let it cool off, he grabbed the device and took it back to the barn.

He was surprised to see Luisa still there, laying on the hill with hands behind her head and her eyes shut tightly. Despite her relaxed position, she seemed to be uncomfortable. And focusing very hard. Like she was forcing herself to take it easy.

The donkeys were already out again.

She peered at the boy as he approached the barn, taking note of the bundle of cloth in his hands. “What ’cha got there?” He unraveled the cloth, revealing his creation. “Something that’ll make all your donkey problems disappear!”

She watched him as he worked. He had brought some tools to properly install the device, and after a few final twists of a screwdriver, it was ready to test.

He slid the barn doors open, and turned to Luisa. “Alright, I’m gonna go in here and try to escape. You lock the doors, and I’ll see if it works.” She did as she was asked.

Now locked in the stuffy barn, Hiccup attempted to bypass the doors just as the donkeys would. He attempted to slide the doors open, it didn’t work. He tried to push the doors, and it didn’t work. He jostled and kicked the doors, he moved to the back of the barn and ran at full speed, crashing into the doors. But they still didn’t open.

Now slumped over in a pile of hay, Hiccup stood with a satisfied smile. He politely knocked on the door three times, paused, and then two more times. The signal. As Luisa set him free, he brushed dirt and hay off his ruana. He noticed Farmer Rendon was now present. “Er, Hiccup. What exactly are you doing?”

He looked to the towering girl and the befuddled farmer, grinning at another successful invention. “Those donkeys aren’t getting out any time soon!”

As he explained the specifics of his very basic creation, the farmer’s joy grew and grew. Soon the man was ecstatic, waving his hat around and hooting with glee. Elated that his donkey induced issues were now over. He frantically shook Hiccup’s hands, thanking him over and over. “It really wasn’t a big deal, just a simple latch…” He smiled nervously.

The animals in question were heartbroken. Their jig was up.

As the farmer returned to his chores, dancing a merry jig the whole way, Hiccup saw that Luisa looked conflicted.

Hiccup’s grin fell. “Did I…do something wrong?” Luisa scrambled to make herself clear. “No, no, it’s fine! I just…” Another sigh, as she calmed her nerves. “It’s good, you did good. That’s one less problem.” Her breathing grew a bit heavy. “But it’s also one less thing for me to help with! What am I supposed to do with- “She gulped, and spoke the last words in a frightened whisper. “Free time?”

Hiccup recalled something his fathe-the chief of Berk told him once. “A true Viking never rests, he keeps going until he passes out.” The phrase wasn’t literal, Vikings slept all the time. It more represented the Viking ideal. Stubbornly pushing forward until your body literally couldn’t take anymore, then getting up and doing it all again. Never showing weakness, even something so simple as needing to sleep.

He always found the sentiment rather silly, which he now considered ironic thanks to his recent escapades.

“Where I’m from, everyone’s a big buff meathead. Never showing a hint of weakness.” He shook his head. “But that’s not how it’s supposed to be! We need to be weak sometimes, so we know what’s wrong. What we need to work through, or even just to feel kinda crappy for a moment.”

He gazed into her eyes, or at least as much as he could considering the height difference. “You aren’t weak for feeling weak, it actually makes you stronger. Bottling your emotions up doesn’t make you tough, never taking a break doesn’t make you hardcore. It just hurts you, and the people you care about. Trust me, I’ve seen the proof. A whole island’s worth of proof.”

She reminisced on the events of the past few days. “Yeah, I’ve seen the proof too…” She slumped over, and took a seat. Slightly quaking the ground beneath the scrawny teen. “I just don’t know what to do, how do I relax? I haven’t taken time off since I was…five!” The boy approached her. “Well, what do you like to do?” She shrugged in response. She hadn’t considered her own interests in years.

The two stayed silent for a moment, the rush of the wind and the calls of distant livestock being the only noises. Finally, Hiccup spoke. “…You wanna find out?” At her questioning gaze, he elaborated. “We could go into town, and find something you like to do. Get you a hobby.” She looked hesitant, but she remembered what her youngest sister had told her.

She had to start making time for herself.

Determination flashing, albeit with a hint of uncertainty, she quickly stood. “Let’s do this!” With those words as her battle cry, she marched to the village. Set on finding herself something to occupy her time when not working. With Hiccup in toe, they spent hours exploring her options.

And enjoying each other’s company.