Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon or associated works. It belongs to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.
Summary: See previous chapters.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my grandmother, who died last Monday, 2/5/2011.
CHAPTER TEN
It made for a very interesting sight.
As Hiccup had told Thora and Camicazi, (repeatedly, as a matter of fact) laughter had a time and place, but that time and place was NOT around a bunch of edgy Viking teens who were about to sneak into the Dragon caves for the first time.
Thora had agreed… to the point where she dragged Camicazi to just out of the Dragon Cave's hearing range, so the two could continue to point and laugh from a distance.
Cursing his adopted sister's sense of humour under his breath, Hiccup led the way into the caves. "Remember: Keep your voices down, and if the mother dragons return, don't try to play hero! Just get out as fast as possible."
The other Vikings nodded seriously. The idea of working WITH dragons was new to them, but a healthy respect of just how dangerous dragons could be had been drummed into them from birth. Even a Basic Brown could be deadly under the right circumstances, such as when it was protecting its young.
It took a while, the twins had to be forcibly separated twice, and there were a few close calls in regards to watching where you put your feet, therefore almost stepping on a slumbering dragon's tail, but everyone came out in one piece.
They sneaked back out again to see Camicazi discussing trying to teach Stormfly Latin swearwords (she already knew most of the Norse ones), to the occasional disapproving look from Thora, who was leaning against Firesong and reading a book, the dragon's wings spread over them both like a sunshade.
Snotlout and Thuggory instantly went over to show off their baby Monstrous Nightmares, Fireworm and Killer, while Fishlegs alternated between cooing over his Basic Brown, newly named Horrorcow, and filling everyone's ears with facts about dragons. Hiccup supposed that there was some kind of serious irony that Ruffnut and Tuffnut had both come out with a Hideous Zippleback, and even Astrid seemed slightly less aggressive as she hugged the baby Deadly Nadder.
The Hooligan Vikings-in-Training still had a lot to learn about riding dragons, and even more about taking care of them, but the Hooligans, Meatheads and Bog-Burglars were starting to step on each other's toes, and you didn't need Hiccup's brains to see that it would be better for the other tribes to head back to their own islands.
Despite Thora's (loud) protests, she was sent back to the Meathead Islands, while Hiccup (to even louder protests from both Hiccup and a territorial Camicaze) was going to Berk.
This was a source of tension, as many held the quiet, unspoken fear/hope that Hiccup might choose to stay there, having finally gained his life-long wish of being accepted by his father and tribe. The Bog-Burglars relaxed slightly when they found out that Camicazi and Thora had an even quieter word with a terrible terror, who sneaked on board one of the Hooligan ships, ordering it to talk to the dragons that the Hooligans used in training and convince them to get Hiccup away Berk if he needed their help.
Such an incident was unlikely, given that Hiccup rode a Night Fury, but there was no harm in taking precautions.
Unlikely or not, it became necessary when Stoik and the other Hooligans, realizing from a half-recalled conversation with Thora that a dragon could find Dragon Island, decided to go there, either to get dragons of their own, or to take out whatever was causing the raids.
Hiccup's almost desperate objections had been ignored, and every available ship had been launched, guided by the Terrible Terror used in Viking Training, as the Terror stowaway sent by Camicazi was both undiscovered, and far too smart to even consider it. Anyway, it was already winging its way back to the Bog-Burglar island as fast as dragonly possible.
Hiccup was pacing the dock, frantically trying to think of a solution, when Toothless perked up, and Hiccup turned just in time to spot Firesong and Stormfly. Camicazi jumped off, her long hair even wilder than usual. "You see, this is why girls are better than boys! We have way to much sense to go running off to get ourselves killed trying to fight something that even Night Furies are reluctant to face!"
Behind her, Thora's expression conveyed what Hiccup was thinking: that the only reason Camicazi hadn't run off to Dragon Island was because she didn't know where it was and couldn't convince any of the dragons to take her there.
It seemed to be the cue for the other young Vikings of Berk to approach from wherever they had been hiding. "So what are we going to do about it? All of our dragons are just babies."
Hiccup grinned, in the manner of one who knows that he is about to do something stupid and reckless and that smiling is the only way not to burst into hysterics. "Something crazy."
Camicazi and the Hooligan Vikings matched his smile, while Thora sighed. "I'm going to get the world's biggest headache over this, aren't I?"
They ran to the dragon training ring, at which point the basics of the Plan dawned on everyone else. Thora sighed. Camicazi grinned. Fishlegs was the first to recover from the shock. "If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle."
Tuffnut elbowed him aside. "You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon." Hiccup looked confused; Tuffnut sighed. "It's me."
Snotlout pushed him out of the way. "I LOVE this plan!"
Ruffnut shoved him into her brother. "You're crazy!" She sent a guarded look at Camicazi, then leaned in, her voice soft, "I like that!"
Astrid yanked the other girl away by her braids. "So, what is the Plan?"
The Monsterous Nightmare would be the hardest to convince, and Hiccup felt as though he was walking on eggshells as he coaxed it out of it's cage. Slowly taking Snotlout by the wrist, he placed his former rivel's hand on the Nightmare's head. Snotlout made a noise that was halfway between a whimper and a laugh, looking panicked as Hiccup left him there. "Wait, where are you going!"
Hiccup picked up a coil of rope from the weapon chest as the other dragons slowly emerged. "You're going to need something to hang on with."
Dragons had a complex hierarchy, mostly based on who could eat you if you didn't do what they wanted, but also on size, temperament and abilities. The lower-ranked dragons usually took their cue from the higher ones, with a few exceptional circumstances. Seeing two Night Furies and a Monstrous Nightmare willing to be ridden by humans, the lesser dragons couldn't really object to doing the same.
The new Hooligan dragon riders were mounted, and Hiccup gave a last check to see that none of them were about to fall off. "Everyone ready? OK, let's – "
Thora's voice cut him off. "I thought you were supposed to be sensible, Hiccup." She dismounted, facing Toothless. "I think we need to know what we're facing, first. What is on that island?"
Hiccup looked calm yet determined as he lead the mixed flight of dragons through the sky, but internally he was swearing up a storm. A Green Death. The smallest were the size of a mountain, and they ate anything that they thought might look tasty. Up to and including other dragons. That certainly explained why so many dragons were willing to follow its commands.
On the other hand, it was also a good thing, in a very twisted way. A Green Death was so lethal that the other dragons would hardly think of disobeying it, but no one likes being prey, so they also wouldn't get in the way of anyone who felt like fighting it.
The Vikings might actually stand a chance of getting out of there alive.
Well, the Dragon Riders did, at least. The odds for the Vikings that had sailed there, on the other hand, didn't look so good.
They had managed to coax the Green Death out of it's nest, at which point it had promptly set fire to the boats, leaving them stranded. At least Stoik had the sense to send the other Vikings as far away as they could get, though Hiccup didn't think nearly as much of Stoik and Gobber actually trying to annoy it, even if it was a good distraction.
But he and the younger generation had an even better one. A concentrated blast of fire from seven dragons had a sharp effect on even the Green Death's tough skin. Thora veered off as the others swooped around the Green Death. "I'll see if I can coax some of the other dragons back!"
Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins ran distraction, while Camicazi, Hiccup and Astrid tried to find a weak spot, all with limited success. Finally, Hiccup spotted a possibility. "That thing has wings. Let's see if it can use them!"
As it turns out, a Night Fury is very distracting, especially when accompanied by a Mood-Dragon who had somehow picked up her rider's gift for irritating people. It took all of ten seconds (and a very large burst of fire from Toothless) before a very angry Green Death was following Toothless and Hiccup into the growing thunderclouds. "You think that did it?"
Camicazi and Stormfly swooped alongside them. "Oh, yes. I'll take care of things down here, Hiccup. You and Toothless are the only ones with the speed and co-ordination to pull this off… even if you are both boys!"
Hiccup grinned. "Thanks, Cami. Don't worry, Sunshine: Bog Burglar girls are still better than boys, even though I'm the exception."
An old joke, throwing her own words back at her. Camicazi refused to let on how much this forced levity frightened her. "Come back to me and prove it. I'm proud to call you my boyfriend."
She circled some of the rock formations in order to dodge the Green Death on her way back down. Someone needed to dig Fishlegs out from under his Gronckle, and everyone else was standing around looking useless.
Hiccup glanced over his shoulder to see the Green Death gaining on them, and followed Camicazi's example of swooping between the rock formations in an attempt to keep ahead. It wasn't very effective, as the Green Death simply smashed through them, but it did slow the monster down a little. Finally giving it up as so much rubble, Hiccup urged Toothless higher into the darkening clouds, narrowly dodging a burst of flame. "OK, Toothless, time to disappear!"
The dwindling daylight and the impending storm combined to make that easy. The Green Death reached a point of some visibility in the clouds and tried to spy the little dinners that were so stubbornly resisting their fate. Sadly for the Green Death, while its sense of hearing and smell were excellent, its sense of sight was not, and its night vision was almost non-existant. Night Furies were difficult to see or catch under the best of circumstances, and even other dragons rarely saw them coming.
The only warning the Green Death had was a millisecond on incoming heat before a bolt of blue fire struck it, and being turned by the force of the blow was the only thing that allowed it to catch a fleeting glimpse of black wings before another bolt of fire hit from another direction. And another. And another.
Finally, the Green Death decided to solve the problem by blanketing the sky with fire. The black worm might be fireproof, but the little snack riding it was not. Sure enough, it could hear a cry of "Watch out!"
Hiccup swore under his breath as he noticed Toothless's false tailfin catch fire. They were running out of time. "OK, time's up. Let's see if this works." He nudged Toothless into another steep dive. "Come on, is that the best you can do?"
They dodged around the monster, heading straight toward the ground. "Come on, Toothless, stay with me. Just a little longer!"
The Green Death plummeted after them thinking of nothing but crushing the two. Hiccup and Toothless managed to stay ahead, but just barely, and the Green Death opened it's mouth, knowing that there was no way for them to dodged its fire at this distance. The second before the gas became an inferno, Toothless flipped around and shot a bolt of his own directly into the Green Death's mouth, the one place that it wasn't fireproof.
The Green Death began to burn, its own inner fire turning against it as it hit the ground in a raging inferno, and Toothless quickly swooped to the side, desperately trying to get behind the Green Death and out of the way before the tailfin failed completely. Barely ahead of the fire, they almost made it… before the huge club of a tail hit them. The tailfin snapped completely, and Hiccup was thrown out of the saddle, falling into what was sure to be his doom.
Thora had managed to bring enough dragons back to get the Vikings back to Berk, if they made a few trips. They landed in a thick fog of dragon-induced smoke, spotting the Vikings gathered around something, and no sign of the Green Death.
Spotting Camicazi near the front, she elbowed her way between the Hooligans. "Our ride home is here, so what's… oh."
Toothless lay a few meters in front of the crowd, barely able to lift his head, and curled around something lanky, unmoving, and slightly crisped.
Ah, Hel!
httyd
httyd
httyd
httyd
A/N: Yes, it's been forever since I updated. Unfortunately, moving has taken up more than a little of my time, and lack of an internet connection has taken up even more, especially as my sister and I are currently not talking and she is the closest source of using the net. Good news, my internet should start working on the 16/5/2011, at which point updates should become more regular.
Not supposed to do review responses, but I thought it needed answering…
Aftershockxx: I did know all of that, actually. However, I am working largely off of the Books, which, being fiction, largely disregard historical facts. I'm pretty sure that the Roman's didn't have dragonskin handbags, either, or eat baby puff nadders in garlic sauce, but that's fantasy for you.