Chapter 6
Edelweiss soon improved. She woke up one morning feeling much better. All the dragonets were asleep on the floor beside her bed. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
"Black Widow," she called. Black Widow woke up and lifted her head. She smiled when she saw her rider awake.
"You feeling better?" she asked.
"Much better," said Edelweiss. Black Widow woke up the others. They got to their feet. Edelweiss stood up, swaying a bit.
"Lets go flying," Black Widow said. "Then we can go to the Cove."
"Good idea," said Edelweiss.
"We'll meet you there," said Apollo. They all made their way outside. The area around the tree was quiet. The adults were still sleeping.
"You two go ahead," said Avalon. "We'll stay here and wait for these guys to wake up." Edelweiss and Black Widow both beamed. Edelweiss mounted her dragon. Black Widow spread her wings and flew into the sky.
After being grounded for so long, flying felt wonderful. Black Widow flew over the ocean and the island. The two of them laughed loudly. They passed other dragons, but paid them no heed. Then Black Widow noticed that she was about to fly over the village, and she stopped dead. Both Black Widow and Edelweiss stared down at the village with looks of anxiety. Edelweiss steered Black Widow in the opposite direction, not wanting to go anywhere near the village. They flew around the island very fast. But whenever they were insight of the village they would go way out to sea or just turn around and go the other way. This was something the Berkian dragons noticed. They suspected the young Draconians were afraid of the village. They gathered in the plaza to discus it.
"They must really be scared of this place," said Stormfly.
"I don't blame them," said Hookfang. "When I was caged up, I was pretty scared of this place. And they're only kids."
"We should help them get over it," said Toothless.
"Good idea," said Meatlug. "I wonder where they went."
"Their parents will know," said Stormfly. They all spread their wings and headed up to the apple tree. The adult Draconian dragons were awake and munching apples. They looked up when their allies came up.
"Hello friends," said Aurora. "What brings you up here?"
"Where are the young ones?" Stormfly asked.
"They went to the Cove," Re said. "Why?"
"They're afraid of the village," Toothless said.
"Yes, I saw it in their heads," Aurora said. "It's sad because they used to love coming here."
"Since we were locked up ourselves on this island, we want to help them get over that bad experience," said Hookfang. The Draconians exchanged a glance.
"That's very kind of you," said Aurora. The Berkian dragons smiled and left.
They headed started into the woods. Toothless ran home to get something. Then they headed towards the Cove. They all walked so they could stay on the same level as their alpha. Soon the Cove was in sight and the sound of singing hit their ears. The dragonets were singing their tomorrow song. There also came the sound of water splashing. The dragons looked over the edge and saw the dragonets playing in the lake, singing at the top of their lungs. Edelweiss was clinging to Black Widow. She would toss a stick clear across the lake and the dragonets would send water flying to try to catch it. When they stopped singing the adult dragons flew into the Cove and landed near the pavilion of tree roots. The young Draconians stopped their game and came out of the water, Eider held the stick in his mouth.
"What did we do now?" asked Black Widow, nervously.
"Nothing," Hookfang said. "Absolutely nothing." The dragonets exchanged a confused look.
"We saw you flying earlier," said Stormfly. "You never flew over the village, you always went around." Black Widow looked at the dirt sadly.
"It's no fun there anymore," she said. "We're not allowed to do anything: we can't run around, play our favorite games, we can't even sing, and everyone hates us."
"It's nicer out here," Avalon added. "We can't hurt anyone out here." Edelweiss got off Black Widow and Eider put the stick down.
"No one hates you," said Barf. "The humans do get riled up when you mess with their animals, but they get over it after a while." Toothless set down the thing he was holding in his mouth, which happened to be the red ball. He rolled it towards Edelweiss.
"My ball!" she exclaimed, picking it up. "I thought it had been thrown out."
"I saved it," Toothless said. "Works better than an old stick."
"We know you're scared," said Meatlug. "It's okay to be scared. We want to help you overcome it." The dragonets looked nervous again.
"We won't let the humans get you," Toothless said. "Now I just have to get out of here." Avalon and Apollo looked at each other. Then they used their magic to pull down a huge pine tree. It fell into the Cove creating a ramp out of it. Toothless ran up the tree and out of the Cove. The others followed, Edelweiss was back in her saddle holding her ball.
They head back to the village. The young Draconians stayed very close to each other. Soon they saw the village. The dragonets and Edelweiss tensed up. Avalon gave a frightened squeak.
"Perhaps they can help around the village," Meatlug suggested. "Nothing too dangerous."
"But we want to play not work," Apollo said.
"I think you'll find there's very little difference," said Toothless. "Come on you'll see." He led the way into the village and the young Draconians were right on his heels. They walked into the plaza. The riders were waiting for them.
"There you guys are, we've been looking everywhere," said Hiccup. "Aurora suggested we build houses out of rock and metal instead of wood. So we need a lot of rocks." Meatlug let out an excited gurgle. Toothless turned to the young Draconians. The riders noticed them.
"Hey guys," Hiccup said, cheerfully. The dragonets gave him nervous smiles. "You can help too by collecting as many rocks as you can." They looked at Toothless nervously.
"Go ahead, it's okay," he encouraged them. They turned and flew off, Edelweiss accidentally dropped her ball again.
Berk began its refurbishing. Re and Aurora showed the stonemasons how to carve rectangular bricks out of everyday rocks. The other dragons went out and brought back rocks from nearby islands. The stonemasons were also taught how to make mortar. Tenor was in the blacksmith making blueprints for making houses out of the bricks. The young Draconians found rocks big enough to be made into bricks. When they came in with the bricks they would drop them off at the stonemasons' workshops, then fly off again. They were alert the whole time. Whenever they landed, they would tense up. The minuet they were free of the rocks they would fly off again at high speed. Everyone noticed this.
Soon they had enough bricks to build a house. The village made the decision to rebuild Hiccup's house first, since it was the biggest. Once all the furniture was taken out and put in the great hall, the house was demolished. The spot was cleared of debris and the foundation was dug. With the help of the dragons, the vikings started to rebuild the house. They followed the blueprints. Hiccup kept the young Draconians busy to keep them from running away to the Cove, he also made sure they weren't separated.
It took a few days to build the house. The dragonets pulled carts filled with bricks up to the top of the scaffolding. Edelweiss filled the carts when they came back empty. They were enjoying themselves and were starting to overcome their fear of the village, for the time being.
When the outside walls were finished. The builders started on the roof. The shingles were made of Gronkle Iron (steel). They had also started on the interior of the house. It looked the same as before, with a few differences. The wooden staircase was replaced with a wrought iron one. The top floor was slightly lower so Toothless could jump down without hurting himself. Everything else was the same.
Soon the house was finished and Hiccup gave everyone a few days off. Hiccup was about to go inside when he spotted the young Draconians near the back of the house. They were huddle extremely close, looking up at the house. Edelweiss held her ball. They were whispering in Dragontongue.
"Hey what are you guys still doing here?" Hiccup called. The young ones stopped talking at once and jumped to their feet.
"We're sorry," said Avalon. They turned and were about to fly off.
"Wait a minuet," Hiccup said, trying not to sound stern. They turned back around looking worried. Edelweiss got off Black Widow and stayed very close to her.
"You don't have to afraid anymore," Hiccup said. "I'm not going to lock you up again and I'm not mad at you."
"What about them?" asked Apollo, looking down at the rest of the village.
"They're not mad at you either," said Hiccup. "And they certainly don't hate you."
"You're sure?" Avalon asked.
"I'm sure," Hiccup said. "You should be proud, you did good today." The Draconians look at each other. They seemed more relaxed. Suddenly they heard their elders calling them. They looked to see their parents in the plaza, waiting for them with Toothless. The young Draconians ran towards them. Edelweiss turned to Toothless and petted his nose. He purred and nuzzled her. She giggled and hugged his head, which was almost as big as she was.
"Thank you," she said. Toothless smiled.
"I know inprisonment is never fun," he said. "But you took it well. You should really value that song."
"I do," Edelweiss said. She pulled back slightly. Suddenly Toothless began licking her face. She laughed for the first time in days. He stopped after a minuet. Edelweiss kissed his muzzle then ran back to Black Widow and mounted her. The Draconians spread their wings and took off. As they flew over the village the dragonets sang their tomorrow song, as loud as they could. They left Berk and headed back to Dragon Island.