A Nadder's Mystery Chapter 3
Varinn heard the dragon's roar rattle the pots and cups in the kitchen, and all the life drained out of him. "Game over," he said softly.
His mother rested a hand on his shoulder. "I've never heard of dragons making trouble for people since the war ended, and there isn't going to be any trouble here. Not if I have anything to say about it!"
"Mom, I'm not sure how much good you can do. We're dealing with an angry, protective mother here!"
"So is she!" Edda snapped. "Or did you think dragons are the only mothers who want to look out for their children?" She stepped around Varinn and flung the front door open.
Standing right in front of the door was a tiny blue Nadder. Nadders were far from cute, in most people's estimation, but this one was so little and so eager-looking, Edda's heart went out to it. Towering over it stood an adult Nadder, also blue, and not nearly so cute. It bent down to look closely at Edda, who planted her hands on her hips and glared back at it. The dragon actually gave way, backing off half a step. Then it saw Varinn inside the house. It growled, but it wasn't a growl of immediate threat.
"What do you want with my son?" Edda demanded. The two mothers stared at each other for a moment. They could not understand each other, yet Edda wondered if they were standing on the edge of common ground, if only they could communicate somehow. Her younger son, Rangi, roused from bed by all the noise, was just staring at the scene before him. Did this mother Nadder have other children, too? Then the little dragon dashed through the doorway, around Edda's ankles, and into the house where Varinn stood.
"Hey, Scrubby!" He stooped eagerly to scratch under the Nadder's chin; the little dragon trilled with delight. The mother dragon snarled and started to charge, then stopped. She realized she couldn't fit through the door, and while she might stick her head in, she would have to butt the boy's mother aside to do it. Edda stood her ground, albeit a bit nervously. The other mother was far larger and somewhat angrier, but Edda was guarding her own house as well as her own son. The dragon hesitated, then threw her head back and let out an ear-splitting roar that must have been audible all over town. Within moments, other Nadders began running or flapping over to the Hofferson home; it was quickly surrounded.
"Varinn, this is getting out of control," his mother said nervously. "I think the little dragon needs to get out of the house before somebody gets hurt."
"Yeah," he agreed, shocked at the dragons' reaction. "Scrubby, you need to go to your mother." He gestured toward the open door. "Go on! She's calling you." The tiny dragon took a few steps toward the door, then turned back to look at Varinn.
"Does he want me to go with him?" the boy asked.
"It looks that way, but I don't think you should go out there," his mother said. "Not with eleven angry dragons standing around."
"Twelve," Varinn said glumly as another one arrived.
"That one isn't angry," Edda said with a bit of surprise. "That's Astrid!"
The Nadders made way for the Night Fury to approach the house. She let out a quick growl; the mother Nadder replied with some snarls and grunts, and the two of them had a quick discussion that sounded terrifying. Then the black dragon gestured sharply with her head, and the other dragons made room for her to scratch some runes in the dirt with her claw.
VARINN, DID YOU STEAL
THIS DRAGON'S BABY?
"No!" he exclaimed. "We rescued him out of a cave! He was lost! He came here this morning on his own! I think he likes me!"
"I don't know about the cave part," Edda added, "but it's true that the little one came here this morning all by himself, and he does seem to like your brother."
Astrid-the-dragon thought for a few seconds, then wrote some more.
I BELIEVE YOU, BUT AN
ANGRY MOTHER IS HARD
TO PACIFY. WILL YOU COME
TO THE NEST SO WE CAN
SETTLE THIS?
Varinn didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to feel afraid. He didn't want to start any fights with dragons – they were big and scary, but also kind of cool – but it looked as though he'd done so anyway. Did he dare entrust himself to them? His sister would certainly look out for him... but she was a dragon, too. Whose side was she on?
His mother seemed to sense his unease. "Astrid, could we let Stoick judge this matter? My son is a human; he shouldn't be judged by dragons."
THIS IS A DRAGON MATTER.
YOU KNOW I'LL BE FAIR.
I'M A NIGHT FURY.
"We know you'll be fair to dragons!" Varinn shot back. "There's twelve of you, and only one of me! How can that be fair?"
The Night Fury actually looked hurt.
I'M IMPARTIAL TO ALL.
BESIDES, YOU'RE MY BROTHER.
I'LL PROTECT YOU JUST
LIKE I ALWAYS DID.
The impossible contradictions of the situation hit Varinn between the eyes. His house was surrounded by angry dragons, one of which was convinced he meant some kind of harm to her baby, even though he'd shown it nothing but kindness. The most fearsome dragon of all was offering to mediate the situation. That dragon used to be his sister, who had guarded him against bullies when he was little. No, she still was his sister, except she wasn't, even though she was, but... He hid his face in his hands and shook his head; his shoulders were trembling. Even the adults had trouble sorting this insane situation out! He was still just a kid!
Then he heard the most welcome voice in the world. "What's going on here?" His father had heard the commotion and left his butcher shop to find out why all those dragons were gathering at his house.
A quick snarl from Astrid, and the dragons parted to let him through. Both his wife and his son hugged him desperately as soon as he got through the door. "Okay, I'll ask again – what's going on?"
Edda quickly summarized the morning's events; Varinn and Astrid-the-dragon nodded in agreement. Gunnarr thought for a second.
"This does sound like a dragon matter. But handing a very young man over to dragon justice doesn't sound like a good idea, even if he wasn't my own son. Astrid, would you object if I stand by Varinn's side during this trial, or hearing, or whatever you call it?"
NO OBJECTION.
HE'S NOT ON TRIAL.
I JUST WANT TO FIND OUT
WHAT'S GOING ON.
Gunnarr nodded. "Son, let's go. You and me. It's going to be fine. And, while we're walking, how about you tell me the whole story?" Varinn did so, with all the details. For the first time in years, he wasn't embarrassed to be seen walking hand-in-hand with his father. The Night Fury walked beside them, and the Nadders followed. The only sound they made was their heavy footfalls. Varinn felt like he was marching to the scaffold.
When they reached the Nest, they found it surrounded by dragons of all kinds, all standing and waiting in silence. "Son, that's a lot of dragons to be involved with just one baby. Are you sure you've told me everything?"
"Yes, Dad, honest! You can ask my friends – they'll tell you the same thing!"
Astrid flapped heavily up to the second level of the wall-less building, where Hiccup, Toothless, and Guana waited. She gestured with her head for the two humans to join her there. They climbed the stairway that had been installed for that purpose, and looked out at the huge reptiles that now surrounded them.
Two houses away, the other three members of the Terrible Terrors were sticking their heads out a second-floor window in Spitelout's house. They were just close enough to hear Varinn and Gunnarr when they addressed the dragons, but they couldn't hear the private exchanges between father and son.
"Do you think he's going to get in trouble with the dragons?" Spamlout wondered.
Hensteeth thought for a second. "If they care about the truth, he ought to be okay. If all they want is revenge for something..." He didn't finish.
"We did the whole thing together," Fluff said to no one in particular. "If he does get in trouble with the dragons, that means we're next." Henny and Spamlout both gulped.
Hiccup-the-dragon stepped over to the sand table and wrote quickly:
NIGHT-FURY-MOTHER-OF-TWINS WILL
RUN THIS MEETING. I'LL WRITE SO YOU
CAN UNDERSTAND THE DRAGONS.
GUANA IS LEARNING WHAT NIGHT FURIES DO.
TOOTHLESS IS HERE FOR CROWD CONTROL.
"Do you need crowd control?" Gunnarr asked. "That sounds ominous."
A LOT OF THESE DRAGONS ARE
KIND OF WORKED UP. YOU'LL
KNOW WHY IN A MINUTE.
Astrid roared, and the few dragons that were talking to each other fell silent. She made a short dragon monologue, which Hiccup translated as fast as he could.
OVER THE PAST MONTH, SEVEN DRAGON
BABIES HAVE DISAPPEARED. THIS IS
VERY UNUSUAL. NADDER-BLUE-FLIES-
IN-THE-STORM IS THE ONLY ONE TO GET
HER BABY BACK SO FAR.
He ran out of sand table, erased his runes with two swipes of his tail, and wrote some more.
YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS PLAYED
SOME ROLE IN THIS.
SOME DRAGONS THINK YOU'RE A HERO,
OTHERS THINK YOU'RE A KIDNAPPER.
WE JUST WANT THE FACTS.
"Go ahead, son," Gunnarr said, trying to give his son confidence. "Just tell them the truth." Varinn stepped to within a few inches of the edge of the Nest, took a deep breath, and told the entire story, from his friends' entry into the cave to the scene at his house a few minutes ago. Astrid translated his story into grunts, growls, and other dragon noises. All the other dragons stood silently and listened.
When he was done, Nadder-blue-flies-in-the-storm stepped forward and gave a short monologue of her own.
SHE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT CAVES.
ALL SHE KNOWS IS,
HER SON VANISHED THREE DAYS AGO,
AND WHEN YOU BROUGHT HIM BACK,
HE SEEMED TO LIKE YOU MORE THAN
HER. SHE HAS A PROBLEM WITH THAT.
Suddenly, a tan Gronckle roared, lifted off the ground, and rushed straight at Varinn, who screamed and clung to his father. Toothless leaped and head-butted the heavier dragon aside in mid-air. They landed and exchanged a few snarls before the Night Fury returned to his guard station in the Nest.
THAT ONE CALLED YOU A BABY-STEALER.
TOOTHLESS TOLD HER TO WAIT UNTIL
ALL THE FACTS ARE IN.
WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHO TO BELIEVE.
"Well, why doesn't somebody ask the little dragon what happened?" Varinn blurted out. "He'll tell you that I'm telling the truth!" I hope, he added mentally.
Astrid-the-dragon translated. The blue Nadder let out a shrill series of squawks and sputters that sounded more like a burning ship sinking under water than anything else.
SHE'S ASKED HER SON. HE'S TOLD HER
THREE DIFFERENT STORIES, AND SHE
DOESN'T KNOW WHICH ONE IS TRUE.
WE DRAGONS HAVE WAYS OF KNOWING
THE TRUTH, BUT BABIES' MINDS AREN'T
DEVELOPED ENOUGH FOR THAT.
"Then why don't you ask him, uhh, Hiccup, sir?" Varinn exclaimed. He wasn't quite as intimidated by Hiccup, because he didn't think of him as a relative, even though they were related by marriage, sort of.
New-night-fury nodded and stepped forward. He called to the little Nadder, who promptly hid behind his mother. The Night Fury returned to the sand table.
I THINK HE'S AFRAID OF ME
Now Gunnarr stepped up. "Maybe there's a smaller dragon he'd be willing to talk to? You could listen to the conversation and get the facts that way."
Both Night Furies nodded vigorously at that. The Astrid-dragon let out a honking roar that echoed across the village. Everyone waited. Less than a minute later, two small black specks appeared from the direction of the forest, flying fast. They soon landed right in front of the Nest.
"It's the little Night Furies!" Fluffernut exclaimed from the window.
"It's Varinn's niece and nephew," Henny corrected her. "This is a heck of a time for a family reunion."
Meanwhile, Young-boy-night-fury and Young-girl-night-fury had gotten some quick instructions from their mother, and had struck up a conversation with the little blue Nadder. They were quite animated about it; Varinn would have smiled if he wasn't so worried about his own fate. All the other dragons were listening closely. The way they craned their necks to listen was almost human.
At last, one of the small Night Furies croaked something to his mother, who nodded. All three dragon children leaped into the air and flapped away toward the sea. Astrid-the-dragon began speaking to the adults; Hiccup-the-dragon resumed writing.
THE LITTLE ONE CONFIRMS YOUR STORY.
YOU REALLY DID RESCUE HIM.
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU AND YOUR
FRIENDS JUST BECAME HEROES TO US.
A few of the dragons turned away silently, but the majority pressed closer to the Nest. The first to approach Varinn was a blue-green Zippleback, which extended a wing to him. Varinn wasn't sure how he was supposed to greet a dragon. A handshake? A head-butt? Maybe he should try to roar, and hope he didn't say "Go stick your head in a pig" in dragon language? He hesitantly reached out toward the dragon. The Zippleback brought its wing tip down sharply on his open palm; it stung a bit, but he got the idea it was a friendly gesture. When the next dragon offered him a wing tip, he willingly let it slap his hand. He had to change hands several times before all the dragons were done with him; the great creatures didn't know their own strength, and both his hands were red and stinging.
At last, the crowd of fire-breathing reptiles had left in search of other things to do. Only the Night Furies were left, and the mother Nadder. Hiccup joined Toothless, Guana, and the other dragons in doing dragon things; Astrid took his place at the sand table.
YOU DID WELL, VARINN.
I WASN'T WORRIED.
NADDER-BLUE-FLIES-IN-THE-STORM
WOULD LIKE TO SAY SOMETHING TO YOU.
The blue mother Nadder hesitantly approached him and offered him a wingtip. He extended the hand that hurt the least, and braced himself, but the dragon didn't slap him. It stood there, waiting. After a few seconds, he slapped the wingtip himself. The Nadder withdrew her wing, satisfied, and began snarling and grunting at him.
SHE SAYS SHE'S SORRY FOR MIS-
JUDGING YOU, BUT SHE WAS VERY
WORRIED ABOUT NADDER-ONLY.
"Nadder-only? Is that his name?"
SHE LAID ONLY ONE EGG THIS YEAR.
NADDER-ONLY IS HIS HATCHING NAME;
HE DOESN'T HAVE A REAL NAME YET.
"Well... please tell her there's no hard feelings, and we did our best to take good care of her boy."
The Night Fury translated; the Nadder squawked some more.
BACK AT THE HOUSE, YOU CALLED
HER SON A NAME. SHE WANTS TO
KNOW WHAT YOU CALLED HIM.
"Oh, that." Varinn blushed. The idea had seemed so clever when it came from his friends, but now that he was talking to adults, it sounded stupid. "My friends and I call him Scrubby, because... well, it took so much scrubbing to get him clean. He was really dirty when we found him. That's one reason we thought he was in trouble; we know how important it is for Nadders to stay clean and shiny."
Again, Astrid translated. This time, the Nadder went off on a monologue. It took her a while to finish.
I'LL SUMMARIZE THAT. SHE'S CALLING
YOU A DRAGON-FRIEND. THAT'S A RARE
COMPLIMENT. SHE SAYS NADDER-BLUE-
NEEDS-MUCH-SCRUBBING CAN PLAY
WITH YOU IF YOU KEEP HIM CLEAN.
Visions of soaking his boots and wearing out his hands on the beach filled his head. Would he have to put in that kind of effort every day? Would his friends help, or was this a treat that had been served on his plate alone?
"Son," came his father's voice from behind him, "I don't know much about dragons, but I know a peace offering when I see one. I think it would be good if you accepted her offer."
The Nadder came out with one more multi-toned squawk.
...AND IF YOU KEEP HER CLEAN NOW
AND THEN AS WELL.
"Whoa!" Gunnar exclaimed. Varinn slapped his forehead. That dragon was huge! It would take him and his friends all day to get her as clean as they'd done with her baby. He looked her over, and he could already see a few spots that needed polishing.
"Doesn't her human friend keep her clean enough?"
SHE HAS NO HUMAN FRIEND.
SHE MOVED TO BERK TO STAY
WITH HER FRIENDS IN THE FLOCK.
SHE NEVER TOOK A RIDER.
He thought it over. "Okay," he decided. Speaking to the Nadder, he nodded and said, "You've got a deal. Thank you." The blue dragon looked hard at him, then bobbed her head up and down before she turned and left.
YOU JUST TAUGHT HER TO NOD "YES."
THAT'S THE FIRST HUMAN GESTURE SHE'S
LEARNED. YOU MIGHT BE THE BRIDGE
BETWEEN HUMANS AND DRAGONS
THAT BERK HAS BEEN LOOKING FOR.
"A bridge between humans and dragons?!" Varinn burst out. "All I wanted to do was help a baby Nadder, not change my whole town!"
HICCUP JUST WANTED TO MAKE FRIENDS
WITH A NIGHT FURY, AND LOOK HOW HE
CHANGED THIS TOWN.
YOUR DESTINY MIGHT BE BIGGER
THAN YOU IMAGINED.
"She's right, son," his father chimed in. "Don't sell yourself short. You might play a bigger role in this crazy little village than anyone ever thought. Of course, your mother and I always knew you were meant for great things, but then, we're a little biased."
As they descended the stairs of the Nest, they were greeted by Hensteeth, Spamlout, and Fluffernut, who had rushed down to wait for him as soon as the dragon crowd had dissipated. "What happened?" they all asked at once.
"Well, we're not guilty of dragon-napping," Varinn began. "All the dragons think we're wonderful, I've made a friend out of an enemy, Scrubby is going to join our gang, I've got an idea for our next adventure, and I haven't even had breakfast yet."