"You got hit in the head really hard, didn't you."
He really doesn't have to ask the question. He saw the Kessek land the smack, and part of him is surprised Hiccup is still talking at all.
The idea of a society where everyone, even princes, are expected to prove their worth, not just to act on their worthiness, still sits unhappily with him. Azula would still have been considered the more capable sibling. His father probably would have selected her as his heir straight away, if the tradition of sons ruling hadn't been so firmly engrained.
"If you hadn't been fighting for survival every day your tribe might have been a little more like my nation." Not nearly as great, of course, but more similar in their worldview. "Things worked because the Fire Lords had been ruling it well for so long." He pauses before adding, "A nobleman does have a reputation to think of. You couldn't just sit around your palace all day not doing anything with your time, or people would start saying you were as lazy as you were but . . ." but it wasn't a matter of proving one's worth. It was a matter of meeting everyone's expectations.
"The noble firebenders, the really good ones, used to prove their skills by going out and killing dragons." He's mentioned this before, but never quite in detail, but surely this will be in Hiccup's interest and distract him from uncomfortable questions about how a prince proves his worth in Zuko's hometown. "Not dragons like yours. They were . . . longer." A lot longer. "And bigger. But they hunted them to death before I was born."
He smirks suddenly, remembering that that's not quite true.
"Almost to death. My uncle tricked everyone into thinking he'd killed the last one, to spare the last two."
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He really doesn't have to ask the question. He saw the Kessek land the smack, and part of him is surprised Hiccup is still talking at all.
The idea of a society where everyone, even princes, are expected to prove their worth, not just to act on their worthiness, still sits unhappily with him. Azula would still have been considered the more capable sibling. His father probably would have selected her as his heir straight away, if the tradition of sons ruling hadn't been so firmly engrained.
"If you hadn't been fighting for survival every day your tribe might have been a little more like my nation." Not nearly as great, of course, but more similar in their worldview. "Things worked because the Fire Lords had been ruling it well for so long." He pauses before adding, "A nobleman does have a reputation to think of. You couldn't just sit around your palace all day not doing anything with your time, or people would start saying you were as lazy as you were but . . ." but it wasn't a matter of proving one's worth. It was a matter of meeting everyone's expectations.
"The noble firebenders, the really good ones, used to prove their skills by going out and killing dragons." He's mentioned this before, but never quite in detail, but surely this will be in Hiccup's interest and distract him from uncomfortable questions about how a prince proves his worth in Zuko's hometown. "Not dragons like yours. They were . . . longer." A lot longer. "And bigger. But they hunted them to death before I was born."
He smirks suddenly, remembering that that's not quite true.
"Almost to death. My uncle tricked everyone into thinking he'd killed the last one, to spare the last two."