Thanks to P-Artsypants for being my beta reader and for her support in writing this story. Also thank you guys for the reviews and for your suggestions.
It had been almost two weeks since Cuyler's arrival. He was living with Hiccup and Astrid on their island. He was still trying to understand that dragons weren't dangerous and that they were friendly creatures. But the fact that most dragons didn't like him didn't really help, most of the dragons were uncomfortable around him, he had a lot of dragon blood on his hands. Stormfly and Toothless tried to convince them that he was trying to change and that they should all help him, but most of them were just too afraid.
Cuyler still wasn't happy about Astrid's decision to join Hiccup, but as he couldn't convince her to leave the boy, he decided to stay with them to protect her. He had accepted the idea that they liked each other, but he wasn't sure that Hiccup was the right boy. He was a screw-up back in Berk and he wasn't sure that he could protect Astrid. He got her shot with an arrow for Thor's sake. But he tamed more than fifteen dragons, so he had to have some guts to approach them all unarmed and to trust them that they wouldn't gut him. He gave him that merit, but that wasn't enough to win his daughter.
He was sitting near a tree, with his bow prepared trying to find 'dinner'. Each one of them would hunt on turn, today it was his turn. The dragons that lived on this island would go fishing most of the time, so they wouldn't hunt the boars, since the boars are a lot easier for humans to hunt than fish, so they made an unspoken pact that the dragons would go hunting on other islands or they would go fishing, exception being the dragons that lived with them in the cave.
Then, he saw a movement in a bush. He readied his bow and waited to see if it was a boar or a dragon. He tried his best not to hurt any dragons by accident on this island, he knew that if the beasts got mad at him, he couldn't fight all of them back and Astrid and Hiccup wouldn't be able to calm them down. But he had to admit, Hiccup managed to bring together and control a pretty diversified group of dragons.
He was slightly distracted, lost in his thoughts about whole dragon situation, but when something moved again in the bushes, he regained his concentration and when the boar finally got into the clearing, he released his arrow and killed the unsuspecting animal. He then grabbed the boar on his back and went back to the cave.
When he reached the cave, he noticed Astrid leaning her head on Hiccup's shoulder and softly talking to him. "I brought dinner." he said approaching the couple and throwing the dead boar on the ground near the fire.
"Dad, we were just talking about you." Astrid said with a small smile. Cuyler and Hiccup didn't really talk that much, they tried to get on some common ground for Astrid's sake, they even had their small duels sometimes, but they were still pretty distant, so, Astrid was most of the times the messenger between the two of them.
"Nothing bad, I hope." Cuyler said with a small laugh. He then started to skin the boar and prepare the meat to be cooked.
"We were thinking that you should learn how to ride a dragon." Astrid said, hoping that her father would like the idea.
"Not going to happen. You will not see me on one of those flying reptiles." he said with a serious tone, but not aggressive, showing that he didn't really like the idea. He was happy that his daughter cared about him after he was forced to banish her, but he wasn't going to betray the viking way. He had done too much to go back now, it was just too late for him. Maybe if he was younger and didn't have so much dragon blood on his hands, he would have considered it, but not now, he was famous in the entire archipelago as one of the most efficient dragon slayers, he couldn't just throw away all the work he had done trying to make a name for himself for a silly pet.
'I don't even know if a dragon would want to fly with him.' Stormfly said talking to Toothless. There were only five dragons that knew that he wasn't a threat anymore, one of them lived in the sea and couldn't be ridden, two of them already had riders and the other two were too small to have a rider.
'Well, he is a good marksman, so he could fly a slow and steady dragon to shoot arrows from.' Toothless began to think of a dragon that could be good for Cuyler.
'I think even a faster dragon could do. Hiccup can use the bow from your back and you fly very fast and he is a better marksman that Hiccup.' Stormfly said.
"Even Stormfly and Toothless are trying to help you." Astrid pointed out after she noticed the dragons conversation. Her father got used with the idea of her and Hiccup talking to dragons, but sometimes he couldn't really believe what the dragons were saying. Why would Toothless and Stormfly want to help him? He was a dragon slayer. He didn't kill another dragons since he finally found Astrid again, but he killed hundreds of their species before. He knew the enormous military and mercantile advantages the dragons could provide. Even the simple idea of flying over some small islands would reduce the traveling speed by hours. Even days in long trips. You could easily use a dragon like Stormfly to gain an advantage over the enemy in combat, you could easily take down a ship with a Scauldron or a Hideous Zippleback, and you could easily transport a lot of building materials and heavy stuff with a Gronckle. The dragons were very useful in a lot of situations and he knew that. But his viking stubbornness and his reputation didn't allow him to befriend them. He wasn't even sure that he would disliked to have a dragon, but all the dragons on this island and on Jàrnstarfa knew him and his reputation. Even if he might want to befriend a dragon, a dragon might not want to befriend him.
"We can even try to find you a dragon." Hiccup finally spoke.
"I don't want a dragon." The man responded a little annoyed at their sudden attempts to force him to get a dragon.
"But dad, imagine all the potential you would get by having one." Astrid said getting up and approaching her father. "If you would befriend a dragon, a man by your stature and with your reputation, you could go to any small village and convince them to join us. It would help a lot." Not to mention that it would help them bond together.
"I know Astrid, but even you said that the dragons could smell all the blood on my hands. After I lived with them for two weeks I know that they are not the bloodthirsty beasts we initially thought, but I am not willing to go that far to trust a dragon with my life since I know that most of them don't trust me." He tried to prove his point. He knew that Stormfly and Toothless trusted him and weren't afraid of him, even Ild and Blad trusted him, but the rest of the dragons on the island still looked at him with suspicious looks. He did nothing to hurt them, but his past couldn't be ignored.
'Now that he mentioned it...' Toothless said.
"But if a dragon trusted you, would you be willing to be his rider?" Hiccup asked getting up and approaching the man.
"If a dragon would trust me, then I might consider it." Cuyler said trying to point that out. After all the time he spent with them he saw Hiccup make the offspring of lighting and dead itself purr like a cat and the Deadly Nadder staring at her reflection for hours, admiring herself. The dragons looked just like some big, flying and unique domestic animals.
"Good, then let's find you a dragon." Hiccup said slowly walking to exit the cave. Astrid was looking excited at her father, he will finally understand how friendly and awesome dragons are.
"Let's go!" She said quickly following Hiccup. Cuyler slowly got up and looked at Toothless and Stormfly.
"You really think that there is a dragon that will feel connected to me somehow and wouldn't be afraid of me?" He asked the two dragons. He was a little happy when he notice the two of them nod. He still couldn't believe that the dragons managed to learn Norse and to understand them. Hiccup said that he got to understand Toothless after more than six months of being with him and Astrid started to understand dragons after four months of being with Toothless and Stormfly, and other dragons. They both explained him that they could befriend other dragons, but they only felt bonded to the ones they rode. They only had a bond with Toothless and Stormfly.
Cuyler then followed the two dragons outside after Astrid and Hiccup. He noticed the two teens looking in the forest, slowly talking with each other. He walked near them so that they would notice him.
"So, what dragons live on this island?" Hiccup asked looking at Toothless.
The Nightfury was a little surprised by this question since he had no idea and quickly looked at Stormfly to answer it. The Nadder looked at him with an annoyed expression and said.
'Here we have six Gronckles, four Nadders, two Changewings , two Monstrous Nightmares, two Zipplebacks, one Timberjack and Scauldy. And almost ten Terrors, but I think they aren't that important in the matter at hand.' Stormfly said.
'Exactly what I was thinking.' Toothless quickly finished.
"So... The Zipplebacks and Scauldy are out without question." Astrid said. "So, dad, how do you like Gronckles and Nadders?"
"I don't think a Gronckle would be good for him..." Hiccup said thinking about the possibilities.
"Why?" Astrid asked.
"Because I think he would like to use his bow from a dragon and a Gronckle just isn't agile enough for him." Hiccup said. Cuyler was sitting behind them listening to their conversation, he quietly nodded at Hiccup's reasoning. He agreed with him on this situation. A Gronckle would be too slow and heavy for his liking.
"What about a Nadder then?" Astrid asked.
"Hmm... I don't know..." Hiccup began. "It just doesn't seem right..."
"How does it not seem right?" Astrid sighed. Hiccup turned and looked at her father.
"Would you like a Deadly Nadder?" Hiccup asked her father.
"Well, Nadders are very loyal and powerful dragons. Their fire is one of the strongest known to us and their poison is deadly." As Cuyler said, Stormfly slowly got in a proud position trying to show her greatness. "But they are very lazy and way too proud." as he said that Stormfly quickly dropped her proud stature and looked revolted at his declaration.
'That is not true! We are not lazy and certainly we are not too proud.' the Nadder said offended. Toothless laughed at her reaction and that only made Stormfly more annoyed, she shot a few spikes at the Nightfury, which he graceful dodged.
"I wouldn't recommend the Timberjack or the Changewings. So maybe you can befriend a Monstrous Nightmare?" Hiccup said more like a question.
"But wouldn't I get burn by their ability to light themselves on fire?" Cuyler asked.
"Well...Yes..." Astrid said trying to think of another dragon on that they knew.
"We can explore the nearby islands and try to find other species of dragons." Hiccup suggested.
'We can go to Bein.' Toothless suggested.
"Why would we want to go to Bein? You know that he let us live because we promised not to bother him anymore?" Hiccup asked with a sarcastic tone looking at Toothless.
"Who is Bein?" Astrid asked, looking a little surprised at him.
"Didn't I tell you?" Hiccup responded a little surprised.
"I don't think so." Astrid said with a slightly annoyed look.
"Didn't I tell you about a Boneknapper that almost killed me and Toothless?" Hiccup asked again, still looking surprised.
"Wait! That almost killed YOU and Toothless?" Astrid asked the boy, shocked. "YOU never told me that a BONEKNAPPER ALMOST KILLED YOU!" She yelled at him.
"Sorry..." Hiccup quickly responded, taking a few steps back. He looked at Toothless for help in this conversation.
"When did this happen?" She asked.
'When you were injured,' Toothless said trying to help his friend.
"DON'T YOU INTERVENE IN THIS!" Astrid shot back at which Toothless backed away a few steps.
'You can't say that I didn't try,' the Nightfury said before joining Stormfly and Cuyler that were watching the scene from a safe distance.
"Astrid, I am sure we can talk this out without maiming or killing me...Please?" Hiccup said backing away until he reached a tree. He knew that an angry Astrid was a dangerous Astrid.
"Now, tell me when this happened!" She said while pinning him to the tree and stabbing him in the chest with her finger.
"I was flying with Toothless when we saw a Boneknapper being attacked by some vikings and he was losing. So we intervened and he got annoyed at us and wanted to kill us. Please don't hurt me..." Hiccup said slowly raising his hands to ask for mercy.
"And how did you manage to make him not to kill you?" She said relaxing a little. It was hard to try and hurt a Hiccup that looked so scared, it looked almost adorable.
"We ran." Hiccup quickly responded.
"And how did you promise not to bother him if you ran away?" Astrid asked trying to make sense in his story. She was now slowly backing away from him.
"Well...He didn't really respond back, so we took the lack of response as a 'yes'." Hiccup said recovering his position. After he was standing near her she quickly turned around and hit him in his shoulder.
"That is for not telling me that you almost died!" Astrid said before turning around and mounting Stormfly.
"You should be happy, she always hit Snotlout a lot harder." Her father said.
"Snotlout is an asshole. And on the other hand, I like Hiccup." She said extending her hand to help her father mount Stormfly.
"I don't want to know what you would have done if you didn't like me." Hiccup said, rubbing his arm while getting on his Nightfury.
"So, lead us to Bein!" Astrid said looking at Hiccup.
"He lives on an island not so far from here." The teen said while directing Toothless to that island. Stormfly quickly followed them with Astrid and Cuyler. They reached that island in less than ten minutes. The island was mostly rocky and without much vegetation and trees. The first thing they noticed after they landed was a huge amount of bones scattered around the place.
"I don't remember so many bones being here..." Hiccup said, getting slightly worried by their surroundings.
'There certainly weren't so many skeletons when we were here last time.' Toothless said looking around.
"Don't tell me that you are afraid." Astrid said, noticing their expressions.
"You never saw a Boneknapper, did you?" Her father asked her.
"No. But I bet they aren't that dangerous." She said looking around. They all turned and looked at her after her response. "What?" she asked being surprised by their reaction.
"They are bigger than a Monstrous Nightmare." Her father stated.
"They are fully covered in bones." Hiccup continued.
"And they have a powerful flame breath." Cuyler then finished.
"So...They are slightly dangerous." Astrid said, not wanting to be proven wrong.
"Astrid, those dragons could..." Cuyler began to say before he was rudely interrupted by the Boneknapper. They all looked at the monstrous dragon. "It's a lot bigger than I remembered." He finally said.
"Please don't hurt us. We come to bring you an offer." Hiccup said, trying to look friendly in the eyes of the huge dragon. But the dragon just glared at them. He didn't make a sound. He didn't even tried to communicate his intentions.
"Toothless, can you please talk to him?" Astrid said, trying to improve the situation.
'We are here just to bring you an offer. If you don't want to accept it, we will just leave.' Toothless said slowly approaching the mighty beast, but the dragon didn't respond. He was just looking at them, measuring each one of them. Until he laid eyes on Cuyler. He noticed the bone bow he had on his back. The bone bow that would fit perfectly for his armor.
So the Boneknapper quickly charged at them. They were all taken by surprise by this. They all dodged his attack before he charged again at Astrid's father. He started to run from the dragon, trying to hide in the bones that were everywhere on the field.
"What does it want?" He yelled back at the teens, hoping to figure this out.
"What does a Boneknapper want?" Astrid said looking desperately at Hiccup. Her father was in danger and she couldn't really do anything to help him. The dragon would have killed them all, it was just to huge and powerful for them.
"YOUR BOW!" Hiccup yelled at Cuyler, running towards him.
"What with it?" He asked confused.
"Give it to him." The teen responded approaching the enraged dragon.
"Why would I do that?" the other man answered.
"That is why he is attacking YOU. He wants to finish his armor and your bone bow is perfect for it." Hiccup said, now being near Toothless and at a relatively safe distance from the enraged dragon. Cuyler quickly unequipped his bow and threw it at the dragon. The dragon instantly moved his attention from the viking, to the weapon that was now lying on the ground. He quickly grabbed the bow with his fangs and he was trying to place it on his chest armor where it was slightly cracked. It was rather funny, looking at a huge dangerous dragon, trying so hard to equip the bone bow and failing.
"What is he doing?" Cuyler asked, approaching Hiccup and his dragon.
"He is trying to equip your bow, but he is doing a terrible job." The teen pointed out.
"What do we do now?" The man asked confused.
"You can go and help him. I am pretty sure he will appreciate it." Hiccup said. Cuyler looked at him with a questioning look. "Just make sure you talk to him and make sure that he knows that you don't want to hurt him."
The viking started to approach the Boneknapper. "I am not going to hurt you." He said as he got the dragons attention. "Let me help you with that." He picked the bow from the ground and stood near the dragon. He slowly raised the bone weapon and placed it in the crack in the dragon's armor. It was a perfect match. The Boneknapper released a happy roar and playfully nudged the viking. "What is he doing?" Cuyler asked confused by the dragon.
"He is thanking you." Astrid said, staying near Hiccup. It was a wonderful view. To see a stubborn old viking to make a friend with a deadly dragon. To finally understand that dragons weren't a threat anymore. She felt her heart fill with joy and pride for her father.
'Can you tell the viking that I thank him for willingly giving his weapon to me?' The Boneknapper said.
"He is thanking you for giving him your weapon." Hiccup said.
"Tell him I am grateful to him for not killing me." The viking said, starting to pet his new dragon.
"What are you going to name him?" Astrid asked.
"He already has a name. It's Bein." Hiccup pointed out. "The vikings he was fighting called him like that, I found out later that he is one of the strongest Boneknappers that exists. None of his species should grow this big. So, I think he is an Elder Dragon, like Scauldy."
"So you like Bein?" Cuyler asked his dragon. Not being sure what he was supposed to do with his new friend.
'Can you tell me not to treat me like that? I am an elder of my species and I don't appreciate being treated without the respect I deserve.' The dragon said, getting slightly annoyed by the way the viking was talking to him. They were both elders of their species. They both had a lot of blood on their names. They both fought in many wars, so they both deserved respect. It was a rather unexpected friendship if you think about it. They both killed hundreds of the other ones species and now they are both agreeing to cooperate to bring peace.
"But I though you dragons liked to be treated like that." Astrid said looking confused at the dragon.
'I am not one of those younglings that follows you. I had survived through centuries of conflict.' Bein said.
'Well, he is older than three hundred years.' Stormfly said, being slightly insulted by him, but not daring to respond back.
"So, this dragon is an elder and he wants to be treated with respect. Not like we treat Toothless and Stormly." Hiccup said looking at the two of them.
"Good. I had no idea how to treat him like you treat your dragons." Cuyler said slightly petting his dragon on the head.
"So, can we go home now and eat something?" Astrid finally said mounting Stormfly.
"Wait, that means that I am going to fly with Bein?" Cuyler asked as both him and Bein looked surprised at Astrid.
"Yes, why not?" Astrid asked back.
"I never flew with a dragon before."
"The Boneknapper has a long neck, so you will sit on his neck and grab a hold on his horns. If a dragon has a short neck, like a Gronckle or a Deadly Nadder, you will sit on its back. And always remember to talk to your dragon about where to go or do you want him to do and you must never try to force some maneuvers on him, because he has a lot more experience in flying than you, so you must trust him. Well, that's about it." Hiccup said as he mounted Toothless.
"See you home." Astrid said as she and Hiccup began to fly back to their island.
Bein and Cuyler gave each other a confused glance before Cuyler began. "I should've expected something like that...Do you mind helping me get home?"
'If that means that I can have my revenge on Waelise and on the Nadder, then yes.' Bein said lowering his neck so that Cuyler can mount him. They flew at a slow pace and mostly in silence, Cuyler would give directions from time to time. After almost half an hour they reached the island.
Astrid and Hiccup where waiting for them in front of the cave, with their dragons closely behind them. "So, how was your first flight with a dragon all on your own?" Astrid asked a little amused.
"You didn't have to abandon me on the island." Cuyler answered a little annoyed.
"You are still in one piece, so I think it went pretty well." Astrid said with a small smile.
"We didn't try to kill each other, if that's what you are talking about."
"No, no you didn't, but you managed to surpass your differences and help each other get here. You two, both veterans and warriors, managed to cooperate and travel here as a team. I am proud of you dad." Astrid said, slowly approaching him and grabbing him in a strong hug. Cuyler couldn't do anything but smile at his daughter.
Thanks for reading and please leave your opinion about the story so far. And a quick announcement, I won't be able to update the story next week since I will be away from home, so expect the next chapter to be uploaded the next Monday.