Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.
Chapter 10
It was only a few short days later that Hiccup had met and worked with the Terrible Terror and Gronkle the Dornaran's had. Both dragons were almost ridiculously easy compared to the others as both tended to think more with their stomachs than anything else. As they had no Hideous Zipplebacks, apparently that breed kept to the farther north, he had then turned to working with the dragons and humans together to let both sides become more used to one another. The sixth night he'd been on the island there was a meeting among the warrior elders and chief he never knew of.
The men met in a smaller chamber off of the Great Hall. It was paneled in intricately carved wood, which made the space seem warmer and more private. Avric sat at the head of the table within the room. He leaned forward enough to rest his elbows on the table. "So," he spoke. "What do you think of the Dragon Master?" His eyes met those of the other men in the room.
"He's a fool." One man stated with a loud snort. His beard, red and tangled, jerked with the movement. His nose was missing a piece from a fight with another Viking in his youth. He'd won the fight, but the other man had been a biter. He narrowed dark blue eyes. "Worse yet, he's an innocent fool."
"He does have a way with the dragons." Another man ventured.
The first speaker gave a bark of derisive laughter. "Tricks is all he has. No more than what I've used to train my hounds. And it's only because he was too gutless to kill that he even attempted it." He looked around the table. "Last I heard cowardice wasn't a virtue among our people."
"The men say he's firm enough in training, hates it when they get to threatening to the beasts." Another of the elders stated. "They humor him, backing down though it hurts their pride to do so to such a scrawny child. Several though, we should consider separating from the boy. Mostly the younger ones. I've been hearing some of them disagreeing with our plans and would rather not have the boy alerted to them early."
"His foolishness makes 'im easy t' control, though." Spoke another man, the one who had captured Hiccup, Othvald.
"Oh aye. Give him a pat on the back and a few words of praise and he lights up better than the Northern Lights." The first man, who was called Birgnar, stated. "Just goes to show how simple he is."
"I think he keeps that dragon so close as it has all of its own canny and the boy's as well." Another man, Gosti, said.
Avric nodded. "As much as I would've enjoyed seeing the boy and how he handles flying, I'm glad you left his flying kit behind. The way his beast looks I have a feeling it would've been air-born long before now, taking the boy back to his home land whether he agreed or not." He paused. "Have any of you heard anything of how the Berklanders or their Chief have responded to the boy's disappearance?"
"I have," stated Othvald. "Th' sailors speak of seein' a great deal more of the ships from Berk. They've been pulling into ports in every Island of the archipelago, startin' with those nearest 'em and workin' outwards. Supposedly they're there to trade, but the tradin' is done quickly without much barganin'. They say their sailors seem distracted and there's a large number of warriors on each ship for it being a simple tradin' run. Their ships are coming closer to our island everyday."
"Yet with all of their ships out searching for Stoick's lost child, there must be few people left back home." Avric stated. There were quiet murmurs and nods around the table at this statement. Several looked smug and pleased at the idea.
"Ha," Bergnar barked. "Spending all of that time searching for a scrawny little runt. If my son Dirk had been such a useless wretch, I'd've left him to die on a barren island a long, long time ago."
"Aye, Stoick should've married again after the first died so quick. Gotten more sons, better ones that way." Gosti said, shaking his head. "Then he'd've seen that this boy was a lost cause. Wouldn't've spent so much time coddling the boy."
"I always wondered why the boy was never brought to any of the gatherings before. I assumed that he was too protective of the boy as he was his only one." Bergnar drawled. "I never figured that it was because the he was a complete fool."
Avric listened as the men controlled the discussion, watching those who hadn't spoke as they nodded in agreement, or shook their head at such foolishness that they were hearing.
"As weak as he is, I've heard Stoick's still planning on having him as his heir." Othvald replied. "His skill at manipulating beasts apparently being more impressive than his lack of any other Viking qualities."
"WHAT?" Bellowed both Gosti and Bergnar, as the others in the room shouted their dismay and disbelief.
"If that doesn't prove how soft Stoick's gotten in his age, nothing will." Bergnar said shaking his head, as the others argued that such a rumor must be a joke. No one could see a complete non-warrior like the boy as Chief. Even if Berk was no longer bothered by dragons, there were still raids to conduct, as well as proving yourself strong to avoid having other tribes challenging you.
Avric leaned back in his chair and raised his hand for silence among the still arguing men.
"Gosti, Bergnar, I want you to see that those who have learned the Dragon Master's techniques pass them on to others. Especially those who seemed to have become more sympathetic to his ideas. Keep them away from him. I'll distract the boy with the last dragon we have. Make sure everything is ready."
The others nodded as the group broke up and left the room.
A/N: To my mind Hiccup has a slight problem with tunnel vision. i.e. "I want to do this therefore I need to do that" which can work when you need to accomplish something but can also backfire in the whole "Possible repercussions? What do you mean?" when it comes to dealing with things. I mean he proved he was pretty impulsive in releasing a really ticked off dragon in the movie, when no Viking had ever seen one or possibly died when they did. I get a feeling his impulsiveness got him into a lot of trouble as a child.