Helga's Healthy Soup
Hiccup's POV
It has been a few weeks since that dragon raid where Astrid nearly died from the flames of a Timberjack, she had recovered from the shock over a period of two days and was back to her normal self. Toothless was mad at me for worrying him by nearly getting myself killed but i had a good reason to; and now after weeks of not being able fly, his wing was finally out of the splint. I had taken my spare time to make his saddle, the artificial tail fin, and mechanisms to control the tail. Toothless was so excited to get into the air again, that i had to use Dragon Nip to get the tailfin and saddle on as he kept jumping around in decided to do an easy flight, as the wing was still a bit fragile. We flew slowly around the island laughing in delight; it was so much alike to when we had our first flight at the sea stacks, and after weeks being stuck on the ground, this felt like Valhalla.
As we flew in the air, a thought came to me. "Toothless? I've been thinking. Should we teach the others to ride dragons?"
"What?!"
"Think about it. This could be the only chance we will ever get to convince Berk that dragons, are not what they seem. We can start a new era of Vikings and Dragons."
"While that sounds all well and good, there are still a few problems,"
Toothless pointed out "How are you going to convince a whole village of Vikings who have believed that dragons are mindless, savage, killing machines their entire life? Plus, the dragons aren't going to cooperate that easy, as they believe the same thing about Vikings."
"I know bud, but, it couldn't hurt to try" I lean to left, guiding Toothless to in direction i wanted to go. "They need to see the dragons for what they truly are. I can use you as an example. The war can't go on anymore. It's time to put it to an end."
"As long as you know what you're doing"
"I never do" I smirk as Toothless let out an annoyed groan
"One of these days, running into things without thinking it through is going to get yourself killed."
I laugh at that and we flew back to the village. We land in front of the house and walk inside, I need to talk with dad about this for this to work. Dad, was at the dinner table reading a document of some sorts while eating a bowl of soup and drinking from a mug of mead. As i closed the door he looked up from the parchment and smiled as he saw me.
"How was your flight?" he asked
"It was amazing" i replied "Felt good to finally get off the ground"
My father chuckled. I took a seat opposite from him and sigh; convincing my dad to allow me to teach the others to train dragons will be difficult. And, getting the others to agree to train dragons isn't going to be that easy either.
"Hiccup," my father started sternly "The Elders spoke with me last night. They told me that Snotlout has turned down the status of being heir." I stared at my father in confusion, and stayed silent as he continued. "Why, I don't know but, the Elders have made the decision to announce you as heir"
"What?!" I stood up from my chair making it fall backwards.
"Calm down, Hiccup. Let me explain. They thought of giving it to Astrid, however, she and her parents clearly stated that she didn't want it, Fishlegs turned it down too. And the Elders know the twins aren't capable of it, so that leaves you. The original heir."
"Why? Why did they do this to me?"
"We couldn't leave Berk without an heir. Otherwise, if I suddenly passed away by a sickness or death in battle or you chose to be with the dragons, it will be anarchy. Tribes from all around the Archipelago will come and fight for possession of Berk. And that will lead to a lot of bloodshed."
I sigh. The choice I have to make has been decided by others. Its all so messed up. "The Elders gave me five months to choose if i want to be heir again"
"I'm sorry Hiccup, but there are some things that a Chief can't do. The Elders have made it final."
Well this is just great. Being forced to be heir just isn't fair, i should've had a say in it. Then a thought struck me. I remembered the conversation me and Toothless had before the others confronted me. I had asked why couldn't i choose both and Toothless said it would be difficult to maintain that life. But it was not impossible. This could be the first step to achieving peace.
"Dad, I accept the status of being heir," Stoick, stared at me in surprise. "In fact I choose a life with Vikings and dragons."
He continued to stare at me, stuck in a trance and didn't move an inch as if he was suddenly frozen by the Flightmare. I click my fingers in front if his face to bring him to reality. He snapped out it and asked-
"And just how are you going to live a life with both Vikings and dragons?"
"For the past 300 years we've been at war with them, it's time to put it to an end. I know how to stop the raids."
"How?"
I gave out a heavy sigh and continued. "While I was gone, I came across the dragons nest and found out why the dragons raid us. In the nest there is this dragon; nearly the size of Berk, it radiates a low vibration sound that somehow makes the dragons do its bidding. The dragons constantly raid our village because of that monster. If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves; the Dragon Queen has been consumed by its greed for power and has resorted to cannibalism of the dragons that live in the nest. Ever since I found that out, Toothless and I have been freeing those dragons and giving them a better life and away from that monstrosity that calls itself a dragon. We plan to go to the nest and put a stop to the Queen soon, but other things keep getting in the way."
"What do you suggest we do?" My father asks in a low tone voice as he takes a swig from a mug of mead.
"I need permission from you and agreement from the gang to train dragons"
I watched wide eyed as he choked on his drink. Waiting for him to stop coughing I cast an awkward glance at Toothless who just shrugged his shoulders and laid down on the floor next to the fireplace to take a nap. When dad's coughing fit was over he just looked at me as if I was crazy.
"You want Astrid and the others to learn how to ride dragons?"
"Yes"
"And this will help stop the raids for good?"
"Yes"
"Are you sure you know what you are doing?"
"No"
"That's good enough for me"
Toothless and i waited in the arena for Astrid and the others to arrive. I had asked them to meet me in the Kill Ring but didn't tell them why. Dad told me they only had six Terrible Terrors in the cages since they hadn't been able to capture any other dragons. Three weeks after i left Berk, i came back and set all the dragons that we went up against in dragon training and took them back to the island i lived on back then, and from then on they were like family to me.
I heard chattering and turned to see the gang coming through the entrance of the arena, Astrid was in lead with Snotlout and Fishlegs and trailing behind were the twins who were bickering about something. Astrid carried the blade I gave to her, it was a bit small so I made a mental note to make a new axe head for her.
"Mind telling us why we're here?" Snotlout asked impatiently.
"You're here because; you're going to learn how to train a dragon"
Everyone just stood there with a 'are you joking' face, except for the twins who had a huge and mischievous smile on their faces.
"WHAT?!" Snotlout yelled "You can't train a dragon!"
"Um...you're speaking to the guy who shot down and trained a Night Fury."
"Point taken" He didn't have anything more to say after that.
With a smug smile i continue with my explanation. "I think it's time for a change and put the war between the Vikings and the dragons behind us and start living in peace with them. And the way to do that is to team up with the dragons."
"But why?" Astrid asked
"If you want to stop the raids, this is the only way to do it."
I walk over to the cage that the Terrors resided in, and put my hand on the lever and pulled it downwards to the ground. The heavy tree trunk bar lifted up and one terrible terror scurried out of the cage flap. The small dragon flew around the arena a few times the settled down in the middle of the ground, the terror had big marble, cat slit eyes that had dilated, its scales were sky blue and common yellow adorned it's back. tail and top of the head. It sniffed the ground and scraped its paw against the rock surface of the floor and I noticed that it twitched a lot.
Astrid and the others backed away a bit as I rolled a medium sized rock in front of the cage flap so no other Terrors came out. When I looked back at the gang, Astrid was gripping her axe in a tight hold. I walk around the Terrible Terror and gently take the axe from Astrid's hands.
"You won't be needing that" I tell her and slide the weapon away from her reach. The grinding of the blade on the rock surface caught the attention of the Terror. I snapped its head up in the direction of me and stared as it licked one of its eyeballs. I reached into my dragon scale cloak and told Toothless to cover his eyes, and pulled out a silver coin and brought it to the light, which reflected off the coin and onto the ground as a small bead of light. The Terror began to chase and try to catch it; trick i had used in Dragon Training five years ago. I jumped and chased and even breathed fire to catch the light put to no avail the light still shone bright. Eventually, i put the silver coin back in my cloak and Terror sniffed the ground, scanning for the light and wherever it could have gone. After giving up searching for it, it looked at me, twitching every now and then. Crouching down to his level i look through my cloak again and took out a fish and threw it to the Terror who gobbled it up in a matter of seconds.
It made a quiet gurgling coo and took a step towards me and gave me a quick sniff. It made another step forward and i soon found it rubbing its head against my hand. I picked him up and perched him on my left arm, observing how he twitched. "You sure are twitchy. I think I'll call you twitch. You like that?" I took it as a yes when he scurried up my arm and curled his body around my neck, his stomach radiating heat and fell asleep there. I stood up careful not to disturb Twitch, and looked at the others who were astonished.
"Snotlout, you're up" i call
"What?!" he exclaimed. He took a step back and i grabbed his arm and drag him into the middle of the arena. I moved the rock away and another Terror rushed out before i moved the rock back. This time the Terror was a light purple with a deep violet on its back. I gave Snotlout the silver coin and gesture to the Terror.
"Well, give it a try"
"What am i suppose to do?"
"Just do what i did. Reflect the sunlight onto the ground and move it around to let him play with it." I moved behind him, and watched as he tried to train the dragon.
"OK dragon, after today you're going to be mine" he held up the coin and reflect the light straight into the Terror's eye. Big mistake.
The Terror growled and pounced onto Snotlout's leg, biting down hard, making my cousin run around the arena like a headless chicken. Snotlout screamed in pain and yelled-"Get him off me! Get him off me!"
When Snotlout was about to run pass me, i grabbed the collar of his tunic and pulled him back towards me and then grabbed the Terror and started to pull him off of Snotlout's legs. Once i pulled the Terror off i held him at an arms length.
"Whoa! Is that your skin in his mouth?" Exclaimed Tuffnut
"That Terror is a pain!" Snotlout shouted.
But, the Terror emitted a loud squeal and wriggled a bit in my hands. I listened to him say "Pain! Pain! I like it! I like name!"
"Hey, Snotlout!" i call. "I think you just named him"
"Huh?"
"Pain. He likes it." I explained before I hand Pain back to Snotlout. He held and looked at the Terror curiously, as Pain nibbled on his front right paw. Snotlout hesitantly reached out a hand to the Terror and started petting Pain's head, which resulted purring from Pain. Snotlout, kept petting and started to smile then laugh.
"I trained a dragon!"
"It helps to give a name to a dragon to establish a bond. If you give them food or play with them, you gain their trust. And once you've earn a dragons loyalty, there is nothing they won't do for you."
The young Vikings stood there astonished and speechless, none of them dared to move or speak so I decided to break the ice.
"So who's next?"
Hours pasted and i finally got the others to train the Terrors. Astrid got a light green on with shapes of purple and named it Sneaky as when i got them inroduced to one another, he crawled over her and suddenly disappeared then reappeared over her shoulder then disappeared again, eventually we caught and trained him. The twins got a pair of bright yellow Terrors that they named Head and Butt, they had shown the small dragons their famous headbutt and taught them how to do it. Fishlegs got a orange a red Terror and named it Iggy, it was shy and well-behaved and had a habit to fetch items. Twitch was still asleep on my shoulders throughout the training process and i had nearly forgotten he was there, Toothless stayed by the walls and enjoyed watching Pain repeatedly bite Snotlout.
When the sun began to set, i put the Terrors back into their cage and told everyone to come back tomorrow morning, to teach them how to call their dragon and to train the Terrors how to do tricks. After leaving the arena me and Toothless headed to the Fish hut and grabbed a basket full of fish and walked to the Forge. As we were walking to the Forge Astrid came over.
"Hey Hiccup" she greeted
"Hello Astrid. What's up?"
"I just wanted to say thank you for saving me in that dragon raid. I know I said it before and that the raid was weeks ago, but..."
"It's OK, Astrid. As long as you're alive, I'm happy." Astrid stood there awkwardly, blushing so her cheeks were a vibrant red. After a while of standing there uncomfortably I decided to ask a question.
"Hey, would you like to hear some of my adventures at dinner?"
"You mean like Johann's?" She questioned
"Yeah. But, without the exaggeration."
"Well, I have been curious as to what you've doing these past years ever since i saw your map, so sure, that'd be great. I'll see you at the Great hall tonight" She waved a goodbye walked off in the direction of her house as Toothless and I continued to the Blacksmiths.
A few hours passed and the sun had set completely and the village was engulfed by the darkness of the night. Toothless had eaten all the fish from the basket and was currently sleeping in one of the corners of the Forge, I was in my private room designing a special kind of shield for myself, as i sketched out the blueprints for the shield I thought of separating my flame sword from the staff to make it easier to draw out in battle, but it could wait for now. I looked outside and saw it was time to go to the Great Hall for dinner.
I got up and nudged Toothless awake. As we got closer to the Great Hall we smelled something that nearly took away our appetite; it smelled like burnt grass and old boots. I saw Astrid waiting outside the Halls doors with the others, and all of them shared the same disgusted look on their faces. Toothless and I ran up the stairs to meet them with same question in mind.
"What in the name of the nine realms of Hel, is that smell?" I yell
"That would be Helga's healthy soup," stated Fishlegs "she makes it every few months to get the village stronger with healthy food. And her soup is horrible."
"I think 'horrible' isn't the right word to describe the smell and taste of that." Astrid held her wrist to her nose, hoping the thick fur wrappings on her arm would somehow filter the smell.
"Has anyone told her, her soup is dreadful?" I ask
"Are you crazy?" Snotlout exclaimed.
"Most likely" Toothless chipped in.
"If you tell 'Helga the Harmful' that her soup is dreadful, you will regret it.
She's got her title for being, well...harmful."
"I know that Snotlout. I once had her as a babysitter. I'm still surprised I'm alive. But that's not the point. Is there a way to avoid eating it?"
"No, not really." Fishlegs said
"SOUP'S READY!" Helga's voice boomed from the kitchen if the Great Hall. We all grimaced at the thought of eating it or even just thinking of it. Gathering up our courage we entered the Hall and saw we were the only ones here. We sat at one of the tables, not looking forward to tasting the soup of horrors. All of us sat at the table looking scared and uneasy, Astrid was tightly clutching onto her mug of water, Fishlegs bounced in his sit, Snotlout looked like his was about to wet himself and the twins hid under the table.
I sniffed the air again and smelt the soup again, and analyzed what ingredients i could smell. There seemed to be yak meat, boiled cabbage, tomato juice and eggs. Not a terrific combination, but it shouldn't have been enough to make it smell that badly. I turned to face Toothless who was lying down on the floor behind me.
"Hey bud?" i ask to capture his attention "What can you smell in the soup?"
Toothless lifted his head and sniffed the air. "I smell meat, eggs, tomato, cabbage and...eel!" With that, he bounded out of the Great Hall, screeching like a boar. That explains the disgusting smell.
"What's up with your dragon?" Snotlout asked
"He smelt eel in the soup," i reply "Eels don't agree with dragons"
I ran the list of ingredients in my head and came up with possibilities that could improve the soup. I got up a walked to the kitchen of the Hall, leaving the others baffled. Upon entering the kitchen, the scent was stronger and i wondered how Helga hadn't suffocated; i saw Helga standing over a huge pot of her soup, stirring a ladle in it. I cleared my throat and caught her attention.
"Oh! Hello Hiccup" she greeted "What can i do for you?"
Helga was a woman in her late forties, her blonde hair swept up in a bun, a small helmet adorned her head, her clothing mainly consisted of brown leather with a yellow tunic and beige fur boots and she had a smile spread across he slightly wrinkled face.
"I was just wondering what was that delicious smell was." I tried my best not to burst out laughing and not gag on the horrific scent of the soup.
"Well, it must be my famous healthy soup that i cooked up."
"Healthy soup? That's a first in Viking history"
"Would you like to try some?" she dipped a small spoon into the pot and handed it to me. I took a deep breath and sipped up the spoonful of soup into my mouth. It didn't taste as bad as it smelt, but it still was awful; it was a mixture of dry burnt wood with a soggy fish aftertaste. I swallowed it and looked at Helga with a tight smile.
"It's good," i lied "However, i think it could use some improvements"
"Really?" she challenged
"Yes, i think it could use a spice kick and a few extra ingredients"
"Well, lets give it a shot."
I grab a spare apron from a rack on tie it around my waist, i grabbed a small basket filled with onions and peeling, slicing and dicing them without crying from the vapor, i chuck them into the pot and tole Helga to get some thyme, parsley and garlic. I cut up some small mushrooms and add them to the soup along with lemon juice, we mix the parsley, thyme and crushed garlic cloves into the soup and let it boil for a minute. I took a spoonful of it and gave it a try.
It tasted much better than before, and the aroma of soup had changed from awful to delicious.
Pretty soon after the scent had changed the gang ran into the kitchen holding bowls and waited impatiently for their meal. We filled their bowls and hardly a minute had passed before the whole village came rushing in for a taste of the new and improved healthy soup. I stayed in the kitchen with Helga serving up and cooking more soup; a lot of people came back for seconds so i knew we needed extra.
I wasn't able to tell stories about my adventures to my friends, but i promise to make it up to them. I stayed behind at the Great hall to help with the wash-up and arrived home later than usual, to find my father asleep in his chair. I smile and pulled and warm blanket over him, and headed upstairs where Toothless was napping on my bed, i lay down on one of the sides of the bed and moved close to him for warmth and felt him drape a wing over me. I sigh in content and let my exhaustion guide me into a blissful sleep.
