Serenity Comes to Berk
The sunlight gleamed on the surface of the ocean. The vikings of Berk were making their way back home after the battle with the Red Death. Some of the vikings were flying on the backs of dragons and the rest were sailing back in the few ships that hadn't been destroyed by the Red Death.
Astrid flew through the air on her new Deadly Nadder. With in the past few hours she had developed a strong relationship with the dragon and had named her Stormfly. They were following one of the ships. Hiccup lay on the deck in a coma. He was the reason the vikings were heading home from the battle. Hiccup had defeated the Red Death, his victory had cost him his left leg. Gobber had bandaged the stump to stop the blood loss. Laying next to Hiccup was his Night Fury Toothless, also unconscious. The black dragon had saved Hiccup's life from the fire that killed the Red Death. He had a lot more injuries that Hiccup. He had broken several bones. The two of them were laid out on an old sail.
The convoy took three days to reach the little island of Berk. The dragons and riders flew ahead and landed in the quiet plaza. Astrid and her fellow young vikings ran down to the docks to help unload Hiccup and Toothless. Gobber and Chief Stoic the Vast carefully put Hiccup onto a stretcher and hauled him off the ship. They made their way up through the village, to the big house at the top of the hill. The vikings on dragons picked up the corners of the sail and flew Toothless up to the great hall, Stoic was comfortlable having a dragon in the house yet. There were other dragons that had been injured in the battle, though not as severely. They were all put into the great hall as it was big enough to hold them all.
When all was in place Stoic fetched the town healer Gothi. She came to Stoic's house to take care of Hiccup's Injuries. She cleaned his stump and rewrapped it. Stoic and Astrid stayed out of her way. Gobber was in the great hall trying to see what he could do for the injured dragons. Unfortunately he knew very little about healing dragons. He went to Stoic's house, after failing to help them.
"It's no use Stoic," he said, not bothering to keep his voice down. "Those dragons are hurt bad and I don't know what to do. Not to mention they won't let me near them."
"What are we going to do?" asked Astrid. "Toothless will die if he doesn't get help soon." Stoic turned to Gothi.
"Do you think you can help them Gothi?" he asked. Gothi considered for a few minuets. Then she wrote on the floor with her staff. Gobber translated.
"She says she'll do what she can," he said. "But she doesn't know much about dragons either. Hiccup is okay for now." They all followed Gothi out of the house and up to the great hall.
Inside there were about nine dragons with injuries, including Toothless. They were conscious and clearly in pain. Toothless was the only one still out cold. Gothi went to the first dragon; a Gronkle with a twisted ankle. But the Gronkle flinched away nervously.
"Will you hold still you ungrateful lizard," Gobber bellowed. The Gronkle roared and shot a lava bomb at them. The humans backed off.
"It's clear they don't need help," said Stoic. "It would be foolish to anything without hurting ourselves or them. We'll try again tomorrow." They reluctantly left the great hall. As soon as the doors closed the dragons turned to each other.
"They just want to help," said female Monstrous Nightmare with a huge burn on her wing.
"I don't want them touching my leg," said another Gronkle with a gash in his left hind leg. "These are the same humans that were killing our kind for 300 years." The other dragons murmured in agreement.
"It's true, they don't know anything about healing dragons," said a yellow Nadder with a sprained knee.
"Maybe some one out in the world knows what to do," said the Monstrous Nightmare.
"Maybe," said the Nadder. "But fat chance of them finding their way here."
"I do hope help comes soon," said a blue Zippleback with a burn on it's right neck. "That Night Fury really needs it bad." They looked a the black dragon near the back. They could tell he was in agony.
"Yeah," said the first Gronkle. "He's the one who saved us all with that small human, if anyone deserves to live it's him." Then the Nightmare yawned.
"Well, we should get some sleep," she said. "Help will come." The dragons settled down and made themselves as comfortable as they could. They fell asleep one by one. The Nightmare was the last one to fall asleep. Just before she closed her eyes, she looked up in the direction of the Dragon's Heaven.
"Please send someone to help us Lord Draco," she whispered. "That Night Fury really needs help." Then she closed her eyes.
The sun went down and the stars came out. The village was quiet. Suddenly a dark figure glided silently over the village. It stopped and hovered in mid air. It was a large dragon with a rider on his back. They both looked down at the viking village. They could see several dragons sleeping next to houses.
"This village seems different than all the others that we've passed," the rider said.
"Yes, it is," the dragon said. "It's safe to land here but we'll have to wait until morning."
"Good plan," the rider said. They flew over the village and landed in the forest.
The next morning Stoic woke up. He had fallen asleep in his chair, which was positioned next to Hiccup's bed. Stoic checked on his son first thing. Hiccup was not out of the dragon's mouth yet, but he was improving. At that moment Fishlegs came into the room.
"Chief, there's a dragon and rider coming towards the village," he stammered. "And it's no a dragon we've seen before." Stoic followed Fishlegs outside. In the distance they could see the dragon and rider flying towards the plaza. It got closer and the vikings and dragons cleared a spot for the dragon to land.
The dragon was bigger than a draft. It had emerald green scales and sapphire blue wings. Its eyes, spins, and talons a rich gold color. It had the body and legs of a dog, a long muscular neck, narrow lizard-like snout, a pair of gold horns behind its head, a long tail, and lizard like paws. Around it's neck was a fancy blue and green leather with reins attached to it.
The dragon landed gracefully and folded its blue wings. The rider dismounted. Stoic approached them. At first he thought the rider didn't have a face, then realized the he was wearing a blue wool balaclava with dark goggles. He was also wearing a green cloak and a black leather hat with a wide brim, and a pair of black fingerless gloves.
"Hello," Stoic said. "And just who might you be?"
"I apologize for this intrusion," the rider said, his voice muffled by the balaclava. "But I'm out of previsions. I've been looking for a civilized place to rest and resupply. This village seemed safe enough."
"What's with the mask?" asked Astrid.
"I don't trust my identity with strangers," the rider explained.
"Well, if you want to stay here you'll have to contribute," Stoic said. The rider exchanged a look with the dragon.
"That sounds fair," the rider said.
"What are you skills?" asked Stoic.
"Dragon healing is my best skill," the rider said. Stoic seemed surprised and relieved.
"That's lucky," said Gobber. "There's a few dragons in our great hall that need a healer."
"Lead the way then," the rider said. They went up to the great hall where the injured dragons were. The blue and green dragon followed.
They went inside to find most of the dragons awake. They turned to the humans and were surprised to see the new dragon and rider. The rider looked around silently.
"Who are you?" asked the Nightmare.
"It's okay," the rider said quietly. "I can help you." The dragons looked surprised, as did the vikings.
"You can speak our language?" asked the Nadder. The rider nodded. Then he approached the closest dragon, which was the Gronkle with the twisted ankle.
"Careful, they're wild dragons," said Gobber. But the rider paid no attention to him. He crouched beside the Gronkle. He made strange sounds that seemed to calm the dragon. The rider held his and out and stroked the dragon's snout. The blue and green dragon lifted a large green bag and handed it to the rider, who got right to work. He opened the bag and pulled out a leather brace. He wrapped it around the Gronkle's ankle. He whispered to the dragon the whole time in the same strange language. When his work was done, the rider patted the Gronkle on his side and sent him on his way.
"That was fast," said Gobber. The rider chuckled.
"Practice makes perfect," he said. "Do you know which dragon is in critical condition?"
"Just the Night Fury at the back," said Stoic. "He has some broken bones."
"A Night Fury you say?" the rider said, sounding interested. He turned to the back of the great hall and saw Toothless laying unconscious. The rider knelt beside him and stroked his head.
"What's his name?" the rider asked softly.
"Toothless," said Astrid.
"Oh, that's a cute name," said the rider.
"He belongs to my son Hiccup," said Stoic. "Who's currently recovering from an amputated leg." The blue and green dragon looked surprised.
"Really?" said the rider, a note of pity in his voice. "You should be by his side then. You guys take care of this, Hiccup, and I'll take care of his dragon."
"Good idea," said Stoic. They turned to go.
"When you're done, will you tell us your name?" asked Astrid. The rider didn't say anything.
"That depends," he said finally. "I'll stay until this Night Fury is fully recovered. If, by that time, I feel it's safe enough I'll take this balaclava off."
"Sounds like a deal," said Stoic. With that the left and the rider began his work.
The rider stayed in the great hall with the injured dragons. None of the vikings bothered him. He patched up the other dragons one by one and sent them on their way. Finally only Toothless remained. His broken bones were healing smoothly, he was no longer in pain. The rider and his dragon stayed next to him for days. The rider left the balaclava on the whole time.
Early one morning Toothless finally opened his green eyes. He lifted his head and looked around. He recognized the great hall. Suddenly he noticed that Hiccup wasn't next to him and he panicked.
"Hiccup!?" he called. He felt a hand on his neck.
"Calm down you're okay," said a strange voice. Toothless turned to see the mysterious rider and his dragon. He tilted his head in curiosity.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm a dragon healer," the rider said. "I landed here a few days ago."
"Where's Hiccup?" Toothless asked.
"It's alright, he's safe," the rider assured him. "He's in his house."
"I want to see him," Toothless said. He tried to get up, but was hit by a wave of pain.
"You need to relaxed," the rider said sternly. "You're still badly hurt." Toothless laid back down. The rider stroked his head.
"Don't worry," he said. "You're improving very well. You'll be walking and flying before Hiccup wakes up."
"I'll be walking sure," Toothless said. "But not flying." He swung his tail around and showed the rider his missing tail fin. The rider gasped.
"Oh my," he said. "Did you lose it in the fight?"
"No," Toothless said. "Hiccup shot me out of the sky, and my tail fin got cut off in the crash." The rider nodded in understandment.
"Is that how you two met?" he asked.
"Yes," Toothless said. "He built me a new fin so I could fly again, that new fin fell off in the fight."
"He must mean a lot to you," said the rider.
"Yeah, he saved my life," Toothless said. "I owe him everything." The rider nodded again.
"That's my story," Toothless said. "Now, where are you from?" The rider sighed.
"I'm from the dragons' homeland Draconia," he said. Toothless thought for a minuet.
"I think I've heard of that place," he said. "Why are you wearing that mask?"
"I've had bad experience with humans," the rider said. "As far as my king and queen are concerned mankind has lost the right to know who I am or what I look like."
"I'm not a human," Toothless said. The rider patted his neck.
"When you're better I'll take this mask off," he said. Toothless nodded then changed the subject.
"How bad am I?" he asked.
"Not that bad actually," the rider said. "Most of your broken bones were just cracked ribs and they heal themselves. Other than that, the only other bones you broke were your shoulder bones. You're a good, strong dragon Toothless."
"You know my name already?" Toothless asked. "What's yours?"
"All in good time," the rider said mysteriously. "You should rest now. The sooner you're healed up, the sooner you can go see Hiccup." Toothless laid his head down. The rider gave him painkillers and he fell asleep.
A few more days went by quietly. Toothless's broken bones soon healed. The rider checked to make sure he could flap his wings without feeling pain.
"Are you in pain anywhere?" the rider asked.
"My shoulders are a bit sore," Toothless said. "But they don't hurt like before."
"Well, that's a good sign," the rider said.
"Can I go see Hiccup now?" Toothless asked. The rider exchanged a look with his dragon.
"Try walking first," the rider said. "If you don't feel any pain, you may go see Hiccup." Toothless slowly got to his feet and rolled his shoulders. He felt really sore, but he walked around the great hall. He wasn't even limping. He couldn't tell if the rider was satisfied or not. He walked up to him.
"No pain?" the rider asked.
"Nope," Toothless said, he sounded excited. "I want to go see Hiccup."
"Okay," the rider said. "I can walk you over there if you want."
"No thanks," Toothless said as politely as he could. The rider nodded.
"Be careful," he said. Toothless turned towards the door of the great hall. Then he paused, a thought had struck him. He turned back to the rider, who was packing up his medical supplies.
"Thank you," he said. The rider looked at him. Somehow Toothless knew he was smiling. The rider tapped the brim of his hat.
"You're welcome," he said. Toothless left the great hall.
The rider gathered his supplies. The dragon watched him the whole time. He could tell that his rider was nervous.
"You don't have to take your mask off if you don't want to," the dragon said. "I'm very familiar with your history with humans."
"I found what Re and Aurora wanted me to find," the rider said.
"Ah yes," the dragon said. "The Night Fury."
"It's only one," the rider said. "But it's a start." He grabbed his medical bag and strapped it to the back of the saddle. Then they left the great hall. The vikings and dragons were going about their activities. They didn't even look up when the rider and his dragon came out side. The sun was setting and the sky was getting dark. The rider looked around and his gaze landed on the big house at the top of the hill.
"Now let's see about those previsions," the rider said. The dragon followed him to the house. They approached the front door and found it opened. The rider found Stoic, Toothless and Astrid by Hiccup's bedside. They looked up when the rider entered the room.
"Hello again," said Stoic.
"Is this a bad time?" the rider asked.
"Not at all," said Stoic. "Come in." The rider made his way over to a vacant seat. Toothless nudged the rider's hand and he petted him.
"Thanks for you help with the dragons," Stoic said.
"Not a problem," the rider said. "I never turn down a dragon who needs help."
"You'll be wanting those previsions I suppose," said Stoic.
"I have a better idea," said Astrid. "Why don't you stay here. These dragons will most likely get hurt or sick eventually and we don't have a dragon healer." The rider sighed and looked at Stoic.
"Sure, unless you have somewhere else to be," he said.
"No I don't," said the rider. "If you want me to stay, I'll stay." Toothless gave the rider an encouraging nudge.
"Sure, I'll give you space to work and everything," said Stoic. The rider sighed again.
"Alright I'll stay," he said. "But I do have a condition. I have no interest in fighting, I was never trained to do so. I am hear to heal the and nothing else."
"That sounds like a deal," said Stoic.
"However, my dragon knows how to fight," the rider continued. "He will be the one joining you in battle." Stoic seemed pleased.
"Perfect," he said. "You can have the spot behind this house." The rider nodded in gratitude.
"Well, I better get my camp set up before it gets too dark," he said. He got to his feet and headed for the door.
"Will you take your mask off?" asked Stoic. "I want to know who I just hired." The rider paused in the doorway and looked over his shoulder.
"Tomorrow," he said. "My king says I look better in the daylight." With that he left.
Outside the rider joined back up with his dragon. They made their way up the hill to a patch of land behind the big house. It was plenty big enough for the dragon. The rider unsaddle his dragon and took out the tent. Dragon and rider set up camp. While the rider set the tent up as well as a folding arm chair, the dragon dug up a big fire pit. When camp was set up the rider went right into his tent and fell asleep. The dragon laid beside the tent and went to sleep as well.
The next morning the village was greeted by bright sunlight. The vikings and dragons were bustling about. Then the door to the chief's house and Hiccup emerged after being asleep for so long. He was quite surprised to see all the vikings and dragons getting along. The vikings saw him and rushed over, happy to see him.
"I knew it, I'm dead," he said to no one. Stoic came up beside him.
"No, but you gave it your best shot," he chuckled. "So, what'd you think?" He gestured to the scene before them. The vikings gathered around then, very excitedly.
"Turns out all we needed was a little more of, this," said Stoic gesturing to Hiccup.
"You just gestured to all of me," said Hiccup, both confused and flattered.
"Well, most of you. That bit's my handy work," said Gobber, pointing to Hiccup's new leg. "You think it'll do?" Hiccup looked down at his metal leg.
"I might make a few tweaks," he said, amused. They all laughed. Suddenly Astrid punched his shoulder.
"That's for scaring me," she said. Then she grabbed Hiccup's collar and kissed him, right on the mouth. Hiccup stepped back, stunned. They smiled awkwardly at each other. Then Gobber handed Hiccup a new saddle and a bright red tail fin.
"Welcome home," Gobber said warmly. Suddenly the door to Hiccup's house and Toothless began climbing over vikings to get to Hiccup. They immediately scrambled to get out of the way. Toothless looked his rider in the eye, smiling big. Astrid laughed loudly. Hiccup saddled up Toothless and attached the red tail fin, which had a white dragon skull painted on it. Then Hiccup mounted up and Astrid mounted Stormfly. They took off and joined the other riders. Stoic watched them, feeling very happy. At that moment the new dragon healer came down, his dragon at his heels.
"Hello," Stoic said. "Hiccup is up and riding again."
"I'm glad to hear it," the rider said. "Recovery is always a reason to celebrate." The rider stroked his dragon's neck. They went to the plaza as the riders zoomed overhead.
"So, how long do you plan to stay?" asked Gobber.
"As long as there are dragons to heal here," the rider answered. "Or until you send me away."
"It'll be a long time then," said Stoic.
"I may head to my home a few times when I get homesick," the rider said. "But I will always come back."
"That works," said Stoic. Then he cleared his throat.
"Right, you want to know who I am," the rider said, nervously. He stepped into the middle of the plaza. A majority of the vikings and dragons were watching the rider. He took his hat off and put on the dragon's saddle, followed by the cloak and the gloves. The rider was quite slim. He wore a green shirt, a blue leather jacket and pants, and brown leather boots with green and blue embroidery around the top. Then finally the rider pulled off the balaclava. The rider was a beautiful young woman, 20 or 21 years old. She had light golden brown hair that want just passed her shoulders, and flowed in the light breeze. She had a round face, emerald green eyes, and very delicate looking skin. Everyone looked shocked. She looked amused.
"Not what you were expecting was it?" she said. Her voice was soft and gentle.
"You're not from the Archipelago are you?" said Stoic. The rider shook her head.
"I come from a country way far to the south," she said. "This is my first time to this region."
"What's your name?" asked Gobber. The rider smiled.
"My name is Serenity," she said. "And this is Draco." She gestured to her dragon. "He's one of the few dragons in the world that can speak human languages." At that moment the riders flew over again.
"What do you call this place?" Serenity asked.
"This is Berk," said Stoic. "I'm Chief Stoic the Vast, and this is Gobber the Belch." Serenity looked at Gobber, looking him up and down.
"I can tell you've had a rough couple years with dragons," she said.
"300, to be exact," Stoic said.
"Dragons are wild animals," Serenity said. "But they're almost never evil." She took her hat off Draco's saddle and just held it. At that moment Hiccup and Toothless landed in the plaza. The Night Fury was surprised to see that the mysterious rider was a beautiful young woman. Hiccup dismounted and Toothless went up to Serenity. She held her hand out to him.
"Hello again Toothless," she said.
"You're very pretty," Toothless said.
"Thank you," Serenity said. "You're very easy on the eyes yourself." Toothless purred.
"You can speak to dragons?" asked Hiccup, interested. Serenity looked at him.
"Yes," she said. "It's an extremely rare talent. I'm the only human alive, who's mastered it."
"How do you learn that?" asked Hiccup. Serenity smiled.
"It takes a lifetime to learn," she said. "And I'm not very good at teaching it to anyone."
"How good a rider are you?" asked Hiccup.
"I've been riding since I was a child," Serenity said.
"Why don't you join us for a flight around Berk," Hiccup offered. "You can get a tour." Serenity chuckled.
"Alright," she said. "But know this; I have been riding for a lot longer than you, the adrenaline had worn off a bit. I have no more interest in showing off." She put her disguise into her saddle bags and mounted Draco.
"It's good to have you here Serenity," Stoic said.
"It's nice to be here," Serenity said. "This place, Berk you called it? It's very different from the other viking villages I've passed on the way here. Not one of them has been as welcoming as you." She clicked the reins and Draco took off. Hiccup got on Toothless and followed. Serenity looked down at the village.
"I think I'm going to like it here Draco," she said. "I should probably tell Re and Aurora where I am."
"Taken care of," said Draco. "I sent Aurora a vision last night."
"Way to plan ahead my lord," Serenity said. Draco smiled. Then he thrust his wings back and zoomed after the other riders.