Snart's Saga, Part I Chapter 6
A/N
For those of you who have waited patiently for the canon cast to make an appearance, your wait is over. I have tried very hard to avoid any OOC stuff.
o
Snart awoke the next morning, stiff from sleeping on a rocky beach. Skydancer caught another fish and brought it to him for his breakfast, but brought nothing for himself. Apparently dragons ate only one meal a day, but when Snart tossed him a piece, the dragon happily consumed it. He used the time to teach the dragon his new name. Skydancer was a quick learner.
Riding the Nadder when he took off from flat land was even more jarring than jumping off a cliff with him. He sprang into the air with a leap that whipped his rider's head back painfully. Snart made a mental note to brace himself the next time they tried that. Once in the air, though, he really began to enjoy himself. He was riding a dragon! No one in history had ever done this before! He was sure of it, or someone would have said something about it somewhere. He could direct Skydancer's head, and thus the direction they flew, by nudging the dragon's horns lightly. The view from half a mile up was staggering. He just hoped the dragon knew where they were going.
In the distance, an island came into view. It was a central rocky highland surrounded by village buildings and some pasture land. He wasn't sure — he had never studied geography like a Viking raider would — but he thought it might be the island of Berk. He steered Skydancer toward it. He figured he'd be safe if the inhabitants threw spears at his dragon; they'd never hit him at his current height. He wanted to see everything.
What he saw left him baffled. The village was overrun with dragons of every kind! They were perched on rooftops, walking in the streets, flying around the harbor, everywhere. And there was no sign of fighting, either. People were going about their business as though their arch-enemies weren't five feet away from them. It looked like some people were even riding dragons along the streets. What in the names of the gods was going on here?
Skydancer's snort brought his attention off the village, and he caught motion out of the corner of his eye. Two dragons were flying up to meet him. One was a Nadder like his own, but slightly bigger; the other was a smaller black dragon of a kind he had never seen before. Both had human riders. "Fly straight and level, Skydancer. If they're peaceful, we won't scare them; if they want trouble, we'll get out of here fast."
The two dragons were flying hard and quickly overtook him, one on either side. The Nadder's rider was an attractive young woman in semi-battle dress, staying on her dragon with a simple harness. The black dragon was even more remarkable. It had a man-made red tail fin and an elaborate saddle apparatus, and the thin young man who rode it had an artificial leg. "Are you a friend or an enemy?" the man called.
"I hope I'm a friend," Snart called back. "What village is this?"
"It's Berk," the woman answered. "How did you learn to train your dragon?"
"We kind of taught each other," Snart shouted. "Can we land and talk without shouting?"
"Follow us in," said the young man with a nod. The two local dragons dove toward a cliff on the edge of the village; Skydancer followed without any orders from his rider. They all landed and the humans stepped off their mounts.
"Welcome to Berk," said the young man. "My name's Hiccup, this is Astrid, that's Toothless, and that's Stormfly."
"I'm Snart, from Hulm village. This is Skydancer. We were just flying around, getting used to each other, when we saw your village. Does everyone here ride a dragon?"
"Everyone who wants to," replied Astrid. "We've got a lot more dragons than dragon trainers, and we've only been doing this for a week or so. Why do you look so disappointed, Snart?"
"Well... I just thought I was the only person who ever rode a dragon."
"I know the feeling," agreed Hiccup. "But it's a lot more fun to have company. Let's go down to the Dragon Training Academy. You can meet the rest of the team, and we can hear your story." He led the way to a stone amphitheater with a very military look about it. Several other young people were setting up tables and benches, cleaning out side rooms, and fussing over two dragons — one short and squat, the other green with two heads. Astrid introduced the people as Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut. Snart decided that Fishlegs might be the one he had the most in common with.
Astrid produced some drinks, and they all sat down. The locals were very interested to know how he had tamed a Deadly Nadder, so he told his story from the beginning. "It's great that you know how to heal broken dragon bones," Hiccup said. "There's still so much that we don't know about them."
"I took some lucky guesses," Snart admitted. "It could have gone either way. Now, I'm dying to know how this village turned into a dragon's nest."
They all joined in the telling of their story, which mostly revolved around Hiccup and his forbidden friendship with his amazing Night Fury. When he described how Toothless had shared fish with him, Snart exclaimed, "I forgot to mention — Skydancer did the same thing with me!"
"Maybe that's something all dragons do when they choose a human friend," Hiccup wondered.
"You won't catch me eating anything with dragon-spit all over it," Tuffnut interjected.
"Maybe that's why your dragon won't do what you tell it to," observed Astrid. "Or maybe it's something that only the really smart dragons do."
Hiccup was clearly not given to boasting; he glossed over several important parts of the story, and Astrid had to supply the details. Snotlout and the twins placed great emphasis on their own roles in the tale, which didn't seem very significant.
"So you're the ones who killed that giant dragon out on the volcano island?" exclaimed Snart.
"Hiccup and Toothless did it," Astrid said firmly, as Snotlout seemed about to claim some credit. "We all helped a little, but they're the ones who brought it down. Ironically, Hiccup finally killed his first dragon in front of the entire village, or most of it."
"I'm impressed," nodded Snart. "But how did you know so much about the dragons in the first place?"
"The Book of Dragons," Fishlegs cut in. "It's been handed down for generations. It tells you everything about every kind of dragon there is. Like, there's this one with four heads, and it smells like —"
"I'd like to see this book," Snart cut in. "I want to know more about Nadders."
"Mostly, it just says 'Extremely dangerous, kill on sight'," sighed Hiccup. "It's great for fighting dragons, but not so much if you want to ride one."
Snart was disappointed. "Is this Book of Dragons a sacred thing? Or can you write some new pages in it, with all the new things we're learning about them?"
Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs stared at each other, wide-eyed. "What an excellent idea!" exclaimed Astrid.
"It's a great idea," agreed Hiccup. "Fishlegs, do you want to be in charge of it?"
"Me? Write stuff in the Book of Dragons? Oh, wow." Fishlegs looked rapturous.
"I like the way you think, Snart," Hiccup said decisively. "If what you say about your village is true, maybe you'd be better off coming to live here."
"I couldn't," Snart protested. "I've lived in Hulm all my life. And I don't think there's much farmland on this island. How would I earn a living?"
"It was just a thought," said Hiccup with a shrug. "Will you join us for lunch? I'd like you to meet my father."
"Your dragon can eat all he wants from the fish feeders," added Astrid.
"They used to be night-attack torches," interjected Ruffnut.
"But we don't need them for that any more," finished Tuffnut. They glared at each other.
"I'd love to stay for lunch. I haven't had much company for quite a while. Human company, that is." Snart was quietly amazed at his reaction to this place. He had barely met these dragonriders, and yet he felt more comfortable with them than with the people of his own village whom he'd known all his life.
It turned out that Hiccup's father was Stoick the Vast, the chief of the village. He was curious about the state of things in Hulm, and was impressed to learn that Snart had begun riding Skydancer only yesterday.
"There are some people who just seem to understand dragons," he decided. "My son is one of them. You're cut from the same leather. You're welcome in Berk any time you want to fly by. Is there anything we can do for you while you're here?
Snart thought for a moment. "Well, I'm still new at this whole dragon-riding thing, but I noticed that some of your riders have saddles or harnesses. Would it be possible —"
"Go see Gobber, the blacksmith," Stoick ordered. "He does excellent work. We'll take your dragon's measurements, and you'll fly home tonight on a brand-new saddle."
"Sir, that's very generous," gasped Snart. "But that kind of leatherwork... I don't have any money with me..."
"My son told me about the conversation you had, and your idea for adding to the Book of Dragons. One or two more ideas like that will pay for your saddle. We're shifting to a more dragon-centered way of doing things here, and any help you give us will be worth its weight in gold."
"Thank you, sir! I'm very grateful." Snart didn't add that he was also very amazed to find a village chief who didn't look down his nose on a humble farmer.
He spent the rest of the day at the Dragon Training Academy, learning more about how dragons were changing Berk. He found the Book of Dragons and read everything known about Nadders (he no longer thought of them as Deadly). He also talked to Astrid about her Stormfly. He was astonished to discover that some of the things he had done by accident with Skydancer, like his tail-first approach, were actually the best way to go about it. He also noticed that she rode on the back of her dragon, behind the wings, rather than on the neck like he did. Both methods seemed to work; his perch was more secure, but he had to be more careful of his Nadder's head spikes than she did.
Then Snotlout brought in his own dragon, Hookfang, and Snart almost cringed against the stone walls of the Academy. Skydancer was big enough to have made him nervous, but this Monstrous Nightmare was just huge! Granted, the gargantuan dragon on the island could have swallowed Hookfang whole, but that dragon was dead and this one was alive and well, and looking scary. Snotlout seemed to enjoy Snart's reaction.
Around supper time, Gobber the smith presented Snart with a saddle and riding belt for Skydancer. Snart had to admit, the work was outstanding. It had slots cut in the top to admit the Nadder's back spines, and two straps that went around the dragon's neck and upper torso to hold it in place. Two loops on the saddle attached to hooks on the riding belt so he couldn't fall off, no matter which direction he might be pulled. "I've learned a few tricks from watching the riders," Gobber confided. "Some of them like to live dangerously, but I say, better safe than sorry, eh?" He chuckled.
After supper, one challenge remained: getting Skydancer to wear the saddle. He looked at it suspiciously, snorted, and pulled away when Snart tried to put it on him. Snart finally had to explain that it was to keep him from falling off, with appropriate gestures. At that point, the dragon reluctantly crouched and allowed Snart to strap the saddle on. Fishlegs watched the gestures and looked thoughtful.
Snart said another round of thank-you's, promised to return soon, and braced himself for Skydancer's take-off leap. It still rattled his teeth, but not so badly. Knowing that the saddle kept him on the dragon's back allowed him to relax, and the dragon seemed more relaxed as well. They flew easily, taking their time; Snart mentally noted a few landmarks that would help him find Berk again. It was nearly dark when they got home.
Skydancer made as if to return to the clearing. "Oh, no, you don't," Snart protested, running to get in front of him. "That's not how I treat my friends. Those narrow-minded villagers never come here anyway, so forget about what they think. You stay here; this is your place now." The Nadder paused, then sprang into the air, landed on the roof of the farmhouse, curled up, and was soon fast asleep.