21 The Day of the Dragon
As the sun neared the horizon on Dragon Island, the pebbly beach was a hive of activity as a small group of Vikings loaded up the re-launched longship Sharktooth with supplies of dried fish and drinking water. Only a short distance away near the camp, about thirty more were indulging in the more interesting and enjoyable task of Dragon Training.
"Agnar was right when he said that dragons are not all the same" Sigrid commented to her chief as they walked down from the camp.
"My little beastie took a long time to get used to me, and some take hours just to build up enough confidence to take a fish from your hand. But so far the Gronckles seem to be the most easy going and quickest to gain trust in a Viking."
"But they're not really the smartest of the bunch" Gobber commented as he approached from the ship "I think that honour would go to the Nadders; they always look like they're watching and thinking and generally trying to understand everything, although I bet they get most of it wrong inside those big, round brain boxes of theirs.
"Gobber" Sigrid noted "you truly astound me sometimes."
"Oh; thank you very much Sigrid."
"It wasn't a compliment."
"Well in that case; May your dragon burn your undies to ash every wash day."
"What was that all about?" Stoick was a little surprised.
"New dragon curses. Here's another, ahem; May the droppings of a thousand dragons..."
"Alright then Gobber, I don't think we need a new line of dragon curses today."
"Mr. Grumpy pants strikes again."
"GOBBER!" Stoick was turning red.
"Alright... sorry."
"Sigrid was trying to fill me in on how the dragon training was progressing, but it will have to wait now thanks to your constant interruptions."
"Well if you're going to be like that, I won't tell you the news that the Sharktooth is ready to set sail."
"Look at the sun Gobber she can't sail now, they'll never get passed the sea stacks before dark."
Stoick was worried about the way this conversation was progressing due to the secretive grin that Gobber was now giving them.
"Do you think so Chief? Well come and have a little look at this."
Twenty yards ahead of them, the Sharktooth sat bobbing in the water attached to the shore by only a gang plank and five ropes that ran from the stem of the ship to five smiling Gronckles standing on the beach.
"You see Stoick, what we have here is another fine example of Viking/Dragon utilisation and co-operation; when Fishlegs flew around the area on his Gronckle, Ack here noticed that the others would follow him in a kind of V pattern, so he thinks that since the Gronckle is such a slow yet powerful beastie, then why not harness them to the bow of a ship and get them to assist the sails."
"Does it work?" Stoick was amazed but doubtful.
"I can't see why it wouldn't" chimed in Olaf as he joined the group.
As Olaf was the first Viking to declare that he would never go up on a dragon again, it was decided by all of the other longship commanders that he should be the one to take over the Sharktooth from Freya as she, like the rest of them, was more interested in flying a dragon back to Berk rather than sailing there.
"We've got a high tide that is about to turn and the ship is ready to sail; so the plan is to set off under Gronckle power and see if they will follow young Fishlegs and his dragon as they lead us out past the sea stacks" Olaf concluded.
"And do you really think they will pull you all the way back to Berk? I seriously doubt that" the Chief was adamant.
"Well... no" Gobber added "but once they are out in the open ocean, then it's drop the sail time and just let the Gronckles assist. When they get tired, they can land on the deck for a nice little dragon nap until they're ready to go again; we even figure that the ship may reach Berk by tomorrow night with a favourable wind and good Gronckle conditions."
Stoicks eyes lit up "and then you could set sail from Berk the following morning to return here for the next load home."
"Well that's the other thing Stoick; the ship may not need to return because everyone who wants to go back to Berk by ship can go on the first journey. Most of the tribe want to fly back on a dragon; we may even have to force a few to go on the Sharktooth so she'll have a full crew, although it is highly debatable whether Olaf will even need a full crew with the all the Gronckles to help him."
"I'm not sure this will work" Stoick was concerned "surely not everyone can fly a dragon yet."
"Well no" Ack admitted "I'm even finding it slow going trying to get the hang of the finer points myself, but I'll get there in the end and so will everybody who wants to keep trying... and we do want to keep trying."
"It's amazing" the Chief admitted "I've had so much to do with the camp and the ship, keeping track of the supplies and everybody's safety, not to mention Hiccups leg, that I just kept on assuming that we would all return by ship with a few dragons flying alongside."
"It's no surprise you thought that Chief" Ack added "so did I... until a few hours ago."
"And even though I knew that I'd be flying back to Berk" Sigrid added " it never occurred to me that another sixty Vikings or more would want to join me; it's all happening so fast and right before our very eyes. It may take us weeks, or even months until we can fully come terms with it all."
"I haven't even had a go yet" Stoick realised.
"No time like the present then; come on Chief and I'll show you what Fishlegs and Snotlout showed me" Sigrid offered.
Thinking about riding a dragon was so exciting, that Stoick began at last to understand how the other Vikings were feeling. He suddenly realised that because he had been so busy for the last few days, he had not kept track of everything the tribe had been going through; no matter how much he believed that he had.
"Olaf, get the Sharktooth ready to shove off; Gobber you and Ack pass the word around that I want everybody in earshot of the ship when I get back" Stoick ordered "Sigrid, let's go."
Sigrid and Stoick were soon flying out over the sea stacks; Buttercup truly was the biggest Monstrous Nightmare that any Viking had ever seen and still lived to tell about it afterwards. They took a quick trip around Astrid's Island while Sigrid explained how the rider could guide the dragon in altitude and direction, by simply leaning their body. Stoick was relieved to find that it was so simple and intuitive; the rider and dragon only had to work together and not fight each other as he had once assumed.
"I can really see why Hiccup likes dragon riding" Stoick declared when Buttercup landed back on the beach.
The thought of his son really brought Stoick back to earth "Oh Hiccup; I hope he's alright."
"Well now you've had a go at it, you can see how much safer it is than you would have thought. I'm sure Hiccup got back okay and besides, although I hate to admit it, even the twins have had a lot more experience with dragon riding than me. And your boy is with Astrid; who is one of the most experienced riders of us all. Olvor was right; he was much better off going back with Astrid, than spending all that time on a ship... even if it is Gronckle powered."
"Well I can't argue with that logic" the Chief conceded.
The crowd Stoick was about to address was much larger than the group who had heard him at the same time the previous evening; this time, almost everyone them had a dragon by their side.
"This morning we cleaned up after last night's storm and rebuilt the camp that I thought would be our home for several weeks; but now it appears it will only be needed by most of us for just one more night. The Sharktooth will set sail in a couple of minutes time and I am told that only a few of you want to sail with her, while the rest will be quite happy to fly your dragons back to Berk when you have learnt how to control the little beggars."
As was usual the crowd roared with laughter at Stoicks good humour; Vikings are so easily pleased.
"So anyone who wishes to sail this evening, get your selves and your gear onboard now and all those who can ride, can escort the ship out past the sea stacks and then join the rest of us back at camp where we'll make plans for tomorrow; are there any questions?"
"When will you be headed home Chief?" Starkard called from the back.
"At the moment I intend to be the last off the island; unless we get word of any problem on Berk. Anyone else have a question?" but the crowd was silent "Right then; let's get to it."
Stoick watched his people scatter; this time to their chosen task instead of the usual appointed one. Only three Vikings were currently on the deck of the Sharktooth and that was not even close to being enough help for Olaf to sail her back under normal circumstances, but nobody would ever say that this situation even close to normal.
"Fishlegs m'boy, how confident are you that this will work for us?"
"I'm pretty confident Chief; when Ack first told me about his plan we tried it out on one of the old burned out hulls and it worked a treat. I got my dragon to just hover in front of the bow with a little bit of pressure on the rope and before we knew it, the other four Gronckles just flew into formation and dragged the ship forty yards down the beach until I stopped and landed... and they weren't even trying hard."
"That's wonderful, but why do you think these beasts seem so eager to help us? I just can't figure it out for the life of me."
"I've been working on a theory about that Chief; if you'd like to hear it."
Fishlegs liked to tell people his ideas. It was a shame that they did not always want to listen; but Stoick was developing a new respect for Fishlegs and his abilities.
"Indeed, tell me lad."
"Well sir, when Astrid told us how she and Hiccup had first come here, she said that the dragons were scared of the Red Death... err... that's the name I've given the giant dragon; she told us how they would be eaten if it wasn't happy with the food offering they gave, so when we came here and killed the beast that was so cruel to them, then they must have started to see us differently."
"That's a very good theory Fishlegs."
"Thank you sir; and then when we started feeding them and being kind to them, then they must have wanted to please us out of some kind of gratitude... I think... oh and they love having their tummies rubbed too."
"Indeed; well if you're right, that may explain why everything has gone so well for us today."
"Right Chief; This could be the start of a beautiful friendship."
"Humph" Stoick thought about the boys words "I wish I'd said that."
Great jokes or Berk:
When the sun is in the east, it's morning, and when it's high overhead, it's lunchtime; but what time is it when there are ten Gronckles sitting on your house?
Time to build a new house.