25 An Unexpected Loss
The last eighteen Vikings on Dragon Island sat around the glowing stone cooking fire, each with a dragon at his or her side, enjoying a last meal before they set off for Berk; Stoick stood up and picked up two fish from a nearby basket before returning to his seat and holding up a fish in each hand.
"Come and get it lads."
The twin heads of a Zippleback took a fish each and nuzzled the sides of Stoicks face with a satisfied purr as the great Chief roared with laughter.
"I am definitely going to enjoy living with dragons when we get home."
"Ya know we're going to have a lot of work to do when we get back Stoick" Thorfinn pointed out "with all these dragons living with us, the whole village will need to be changed... upgraded."
"Indeed Thorfinn and we'll need to work out what needs to be done as soon as we get back, since the dragons are already there."
"Aye Chief" piped up Phlegma the Fierce "its okay for our homes to be made of wood, but the beasties will need stone stables that they can nay burn down."
"Much like the volcano there" Ivar concluded.
"Well actually I don't think it is a volcano" Thorfinn pointed out "it's just a mountain."
Everyone was surprised at this comment and most were disbelieving of his statement and so Thorfinn explained.
"When we first came here, the whole place was completely surrounded by a thick sea fog right? Well when Hiccup destroys the Red Death, that fog begins to slowly thin and the next morning after the storm it's gone even though we have always seen it here in the past. Don't ya all remember how every time we would go searching for the dragons nest, come rain or shine we would always come up against that sea mist; but look at the mountain now."
They all turned as one to look up at the mountain as Thorfinn continued.
"When we first landed here I could see red glowing molten rock pouring from vents in the mountainside, but now they have gone dark and cold and so has the glow that came from deep within the hole that our catapults made. I believe that the Red Death would use its mighty breath to keep its mountain home hot deep inside, so the sea water surrounding the island would be warmer than the waters of Berk or even the waters around Astrids Island to the east. That was what caused the sea fog, but now that the mountain has cooled, it's all gone."
"You've really put a lot of thought into this haven't you?" Ivar noted "But I still think it's a volcano."
"Time will tell and it is all very interesting, but I think it's time that we got back to practicing our dragon flying skills. I would like to set off for Berk in another hour or so" Stoick ordered.
As the group of contented, fish filled Vikings and dragons arose from lunch, a Deadly Nadder approached followed a short time later by the islands biggest Nightmare.
"Hullo there" Stoick greeted Sigrid and Odd with a broad smile "I didn't expect to see you two back here today; is anything wrong?"
"Maybe Chief" Odd spoke quietly so no others would hear "we need to have a little private chat before you return to Berk."
Stoick could see the concern on their faces so he called to Thorfinn.
"Take the group for a trip round the mountain and over to Astrids Island while I have a talk with Odd and Sigrid."
"Right Chief" Thorfinn replied and set off to fulfil his orders.
"Is there anything wrong with Buttercup" Stoick asked "he doesn't look very well."
"No he doesn't Chief" Sigrid frowned "I should have let him rest longer back on Berk after he helped carry Toothless all that way."
"I think you're right Sigrid; a Nightmare of his great size... well... he must be very old."
"Sit down lad" Sigrid petted her dragon "have yourself a good rest."
The trio walked south from the camp but their dragons all kept following several feet behind no matter how much Sigrid tried to make Buttercup rest; eventually she gave up and they all stopped walking."
"It's Hiccup isn't it?" Stoick assumed that was why his friends had returned "he didn't make it through."
"Hiccup is still alive and resting in Gothi's care" Sigrid reassured him "but Astrid and Olvor did have some trouble when they got back to Berk."
"What kind of trouble?" Stoick asked concerned.
"Well... the others in the village weren't expecting a group of Dragon Riders to arrive last night, so they attacked the dragons; Hiccup and Astrid were almost killed."
"Aarrgh... I should have seen that coming" Stoick fumed.
"Olvor did" Odd calmed him "but it still didn't go according to plan and... well... Astrid went a little bit berserk in defending Hiccup and Stormfly; she almost caused a riot."
Stoick smiled a little and shook his head "She a tough one alright; so what's the problem, did she hurt someone?"
"Err... no but everyone was so angry that Olvor had to take desperate measures to keep things from going totally out of control again."
"How; what did she do?"
"She took your place in the Great Hall" Sigrid admitted "and claimed to speak with your authority."
"Oh" Stoick was worried "who else knows about this?"
"Before we go any further Chief, as far as Sigrid and I are concerned" Odd stated "only you and Olvor were aware of your arrangement with her as we were not present during your conversations. So if you tell us that you gave her your authority to act in this way, well that's good enough for me."
"And me too" Sigrid added.
"But if you tell us otherwise, then of course we follow our Chief and not some pretender... if you catch my meaning."
Stoick gave a wry smile and nodded as he considered their words, but before he could respond their attention was re-directed to a strange short roaring breath coming from behind them. Windrunner and Stoicks Zippleback were standing by close to Buttercup when the huge red Nightmare suddenly collapsed near the base of the mountain behind the trio of Vikings.
"BUTTERCUP!" Sigrid shouted as they all ran to the dragon's side.
She fell to her knees and picked up its massive head in her arms as Odd moved in to listen to its chest.
"What's wrong my little baby?" she cooed to the dragon as it gasped for every breath.
Odd stood back up and went to her.
"I so sorry lass, but his heart sounds strange; very strange indeed."
The tears began to flow from the mighty warriors eyes as she held onto the dragon that she had know for less than a day, but had already come to mean so much to her.
"We were going to do so much together" she sobbed "ride the wind, explore the world."
His breathing became short and irregular and Stoick saw a strange look of vacancy in the dragon's normally expressive face. With one long gasp, he breathed his last and closed his eyes for the final time. Sigrid howled as her heart broke; his end had come so quick, so sudden. Odd and Stoick knelt to comfort her and to their surprise, the dragons came to do likewise with one of the Zippleback's heads resting lightly on her shoulder.
Two hours later, the dragons body lay covered over inside a pile of rocks; Sigrid removed her helmet and placed it on a large rock half way up the pile as Ivar blew a long note on his ram's horn. Over twenty dragons spread their wings wide, lifted their heads and roared to the sky as nineteen Vikings each raised their fists and joined in.
"Who would have thought when we landed here that we would soon be mourning the loss of a dragon" Thorfinn sighed.
"A dragon... and a friend" Odd agreed.
"Let us know if... you know... we can help at all" Phlegma smiled.
"Thank you my friends" Sigrid lifted her head "shall we go home Chief?"
"Indeed" agreed Stoick "it's about time I took back my authority as Chief of Berk."
The other Vikings looked at each other with surprise; 'Who acted with his authority?' they wondered. Stoick offered Sigrid a place on his Zippleback as the last of the warriors of Berk mounted their dragons and departed for home.
Stormfly and Cuddles strode up from the dock pulling a huge metal bowl that had formally been one of the village's massive torches. Wood and oil inside the bowl would light up the night sky during the dragon raids. It was placed near Gobbers forge at the bottom of the steps that lead down from Stoick's home and was held straight with four wooden blocks placed around the edge. As soon as the Vikings had it fixed and steady, the call went out for three Gronckles to fly in with the net they carried and fill the bowl with another catch of fresh fish.
"There we go" Mulch stated satisfied "hopefully the dragons like fish much more than they like sheep."
"From what I saw, they never even ate the sheep they stole" Astrid pointed out "Everything went straight into the mouth of the giant dragon, but they will never have to feed that horrid thing again."
"Aye Lass and not to offend or cast any disparages upon you, but I still find it hard to believe that there could ever be anything that big out there."
"Oh no offence will be taken; I still find it hard to believe... and the rotten thing nearly swallowed me. I just hope there are no more like it anywhere out there. Come on Toothless, let's go and see how Hiccup is doing."
"Hold on Astrid" Gobber called out "if you're going up to Stoick's house, you can give me a hand."
She went over to the forge and was given a block of wood but as she contemplated it, more pieces of junk were soon placed in her arms.
"Let's see now" Gobber considered his workbench full of parts "I'll need this and this too… erm… I better take those and Ooo… that as well…"
"HEY" Astrid called from behind the pile she carried "Do you expect me to carry everything, or are you planning to help as well?"
"Oh… sorry Lass" and he removed half the pile "I guess this'll do for now."
"What on earth is all this stuff for anyway?" she asked as they climbed the steps.
"Well you see my dear, our little invalid friend up there will never be satisfied with a fine example of replacement body parts like mine. I've been studying the mechanism that he's constructed for his Night Fury, allowing it to fly with Hiccups help. A leg made from a simple piece of wood just won't cut the sturgeon."
"So you can make him something... better, so he'll still be able to fly on Toothless?"
"That's the plan" he knocked on the door and pushed it open "good afternoon Gothi and how is your little patient doing?"
Gothi shrugged as Gobber pulled back the bed clothes to measure Hiccups leg.
"OWW!" he started as her staff cracked him on the skull "Alright Gothi; I'll be careful."
Astrid tended to the fireplace as Toothless lay curled up at the foot of the bed, dozing but not fully asleep. When Gobber had finally finished his measuring and playing with his pieces of bent metal and carved wood, he covered Hiccup again and picked up the rest of his bundle."
"Come along now lizard, I need you outside for a minute or two. Can you give me a hand please Astrid?"
She roused the dragon with a rub on the top of his head and led him to the door. Once they were all out in the sunshine, Gobber straightened Toothless's tail, laid some of his project alongside and took more measurements.
"Hmm... yes... that will do nicely. Righty ho then, I've got some casting to do" and he picked up most of his things and hobbled off back down the hill.
"Bring the rest when you come down Lass" he called back as he rushed off.
After she had taken Toothless back inside and checked on Hiccup once more, Astrid gathered up the rest of Gobbers parts and bid farewell to Gothi as she closed the door behind her. While walking carefully down the steps with an armful of metal rods and bars, she met up with Little Freya passing by while doing another loop of the village on Stormfly's back. The dragon nuzzled Astrid's cheek, almost causing her to drop her load of scrap metal.
"Yes it's good to see you too Stormfly" she looked up to Freya "You can't keep her you know; I'm gonna want her back soon."
"Yeah" Freya was resigned but disappointed "But Mom says she won't let me ride on Cuddles till she can be sure he won't catch fire while I'm sitting on him; I wish I had my own dragon" she pouted.
"Alright then you can take one more trip around town and then I need to take her for a flight around the island."
"Can I come too?" Freya bounced excitedly.
"NO; I have work to do."
"Meany" came the accusation as the dragon walked off once more.
"Where do you want all this stuff Gobber?" Astrid called out.
"Anywhere on the bench will do" the blacksmith answered as he poured molten metal into the pair of moulds he had made since returning that morning.
"Did I hear you say that you're going for a little trip around the island later?" Gobber asked.
"Yeah; I wanted to see if any of the wild dragons have been settling on Berk... now that they're free to leave Dragon Island. Also Odd asked me to check out some good places to build the dragon pens. They need to be close by and easily reached, but not crowding the village."
"Well if he wants them close but not in anybody's way, then you only have to think about what it is you want to house."
"I don't understand what you're getting at" Astrid admitted.
"Well think about this; Ships and Sheep."
The puzzlement on Astrids face only deepened as she considered his words.
"Nope; you've lost me."
"Where do we keep our longships?" he prompted.
"Down at the dock."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why? That's where the water is."
"And where are the sheep pens?"
"Over by the cliffs where they can get... to... the...fields." she began to understand.
"Thanks Gobber." And she ran out to find Stormfly.
"That's my girl; almost as slow as Stoick, but she gets there in the end."
"I HEARD THAT" she called back as she ran.