Snart's Saga, Part I Chapter 37
The storm blew itself out that night. The remaining ships from Berk would probably take another day and a half to get to Machen. Snart used that time to have a noteworthy conversation with Germberg, some free flying time with Skybaby, some time to walk and talk with Hildi, and a lot of time to sit and think.
When the Berk trading fleet finally arrived, they were met at the docks by Germburg, Rainbit, Snart, and Hildi. "Welcome, Berk!" the local chief shouted. "This is the first time we've ever had ships from another town at these piers without us trying to repel them."
"And this is the first time we've sailed with ships full of weapons and never meant to use them," agreed Stoick. He leaped lightly (for a man his size) onto the dock and extended his hand. "I'm Stoick of Berk. You must be Germburg." Snart made the rest of the introductions.
"Gobber, here, is our town blacksmith," Stoick continued. "He knows the value of everything we've brought, so he'll help us hammer out a deal."
"That's acceptable," nodded Germburg. "My wife, Rainbit, keeps track of the daily fish catches, so she'll help us as well." The four of them walked to the Mead Hall to negotiate, leaving Snart and Hildi on the waterfront.
"Your stepfather is a lucky man, having a smart, strong wife who helps him with everything," Snart said softly.
"My mother is a lucky woman, having a smart, strong husband who lets her help," she answered, just as softly.
Before he could reply, they heard dragon noises from the clearing. Skybaby launched herself into the blue for a little exercise, with Wizard close behind her. For a few moments, they soared back and forth in an intricate aerial dance that Snart hadn't seen since...
"No way!" he exclaimed. "Hildi, I can't swear to this, but I think Wizard is the dragon Skybaby mated with, back on Lovecraft Island. His markings look awfully familiar."
"That would be just too funny," she sighed, and slowly walked away.
When she looked for him that afternoon, he and his dragon were gone. Stoick said he'd stopped by the Mead Hall to say he was flying back to Berk, and he'd be back in Machen the next morning.
"Did he say anything else?" she asked anxiously.
"He asked me a couple of unusual questions, but he made me promise not to mention them until I get home to Berk."
Just before supper, they reached a deal that made everyone happy. Everyone, that is, except Gobber. "We're getting a fair value for our weapons and tools," he told Stoick earnestly, "but I can't make enough new ones by myself to handle another trade every week. I may have to ask Hiccup to leave off with the dragons and help me in the forge."
"We'll work out a deal with him, too, Gobber. We've made peace with the dragons, we've made peace with another village... I feel like we can do anything now!"
"Like you once said, Stoick, a Viking can do anything if he puts his mind to it!" They enjoyed a laugh as they waited for the food to be served. Hildi ate by herself that night; the others were too busy toasting each other and their new agreement to notice.
Snart returned very early next morning; he and Skybaby must have taken off before dawn. "Hildi, will you and Wizard ride with me to Berk? I have something to say there that you need to hear."
"What are you are going to say?"
"You'll hear it when you get there."
She spun him around to face her squarely. "Have I told you lately that I don't like it when you keep secrets from me?"
"You also told me once that you would trust me. Please, trust me just a little more." He looked earnestly in her eyes.
"Snart, if you quit the Academy, I don't know what I'll do."
"Please just come with me to Berk. You won't be sorry. And please don't cry — that's the last thing I want."
"But there's just no way! We're both locked into two different places!" They flew southward. The entire time, he thought he heard her saying to herself, "It's not fair. There's no way. It's not fair. There's no way."
When they arrived, the Academy was having its usual morning meeting. They took seats and waited. It took longer than usual; Astrid was explaining that all the dragons and riders would need Sea Dragon training so they could help the fleet find fish. Finally, Hiccup nodded to Snart, who stood up.
"I have a problem, and I need your agreement on the solution I've come up with," he began. They all noticed Hildi sitting next to him, and everyone began jumping to conclusions in their minds.
Ruffnut: "Here it comes — he's going to marry his dragon."
Astrid: "Is he going to leave the Academy for love? That would be so romantic!"
Fishlegs: "Is he going to propose to her right here in front of all of us, so she can't say no?"
Tuffnut: "He's going to dump the girl and stay at the Academy, and he's doing it here so she can't make a scene."
Hiccup: "He told me his plan, and I love it, but I hope he doesn't stress everyone out before he gets to the point."
Hildi's thoughts were far too turbulent to summarize.
Snotlout expressed his thoughts out loud. "Snart and Hildi, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S—OW! Astrid, you hit me! Does that mean you like me?" Astrid just snorted as Snart continued.
"In my entire life, nothing has meant more to me than this Academy, and the friends I've made, and the things I've been able to do here. I feel like I've really made a difference. But now I've found someone who means even more to me.
"I can't leave my work at the Academy, because it's my life, and because Hildi has threatened me with the most dire of consequences if I do. But I can't stay away from her, because... that's just not an option. And she can't come here. So there's only one thing I can do.
"Unless someone objects, I want to open a second Dragon Training Academy at Machen."
Everyone felt shock and amazement. Astrid and Fishlegs quickly got over it and started rejoicing. Hiccup finally let himself smile. Hildi didn't quite dare let herself believe what she'd just heard.
"Germburg has given us a small island near Machen with a cave. It will make a good Academy meeting space, and a good dragon's nest as well. It's close enough that we can get to Machen in a hurry, but far enough away that the dragons won't scare people until they get used to them.
"Germburg has also agreed to the same arrangement Stoick has given the Academy here — we can get our living from the town — as long as we don't get too big, and as long as we help the town. He liked the sound of our Sea Dragon work during that last storm, and he wants that for Machen's fishing fleet. So all our riders will be Sea Dragon trained.
"I'll be the head of this new Academy, and Hildi will be my... whatever you call a right-hand man when she's a woman. Hildi knows some likely dragon-trainer candidates, but she wants another trainer nearby to give her confidence. I'll be there for her. And every new trainer in Machen means one less dragon to feed in Berk, which might be important until this fish problem sorts itself out.
"Stoick doesn't like the idea of me leaving Berk, but he understands my situation and he won't fight me. So, except for me not seeing you every day, I think that makes everybody happy." He glanced at Hiccup, who was grinning hugely.
Tuffnut glanced at Hildi. "Way to go, Snart! You made her cry!"
Ruff gave her brother a shove. "You're such an idiot! Those are happy tears."
"How am I supposed to tell them apart? I'm not a girl!" They fell to arguing and pushing; everyone else tuned them out.
Snart turned to Hildi. "So, my lady, I'll still be helping people and doing great things; I'll just be doing them with you by my side. Is this okay with —" Her flying hug knocked the wind out of him, and he never finished his sentence.
"I think that's a 'yes'," Fishlegs suggested.
"I know we're all going to miss you," Hiccup said. "We've found the craziest problems for you, and you've come up with the most amazing solutions... but we'll still see you now and then, right?"
"Absolutely yes!" Snart replied. "We'll only be two hours away. We'll train our own riders, but we'll have to come to Berk for the dragons. I'll keep teaching Tetnuss about dragon doctoring. And we'll come to you for major decisions, like promoting Dragon Friends to Dragon Riders and stuff like that.
"And that reminds me, Hiccup. Now that I'm leaving Berk, that means there's only one Dragon Master here."
"You're right!" Hiccup exclaimed, his face lighting up. "All in favor of making Astrid a Dragon Master?" Astrid, who was focused on Hildi, was stunned; all the other hands went up immediately.
"Hey, Hildi can't vote!" Tuffnut protested. "She's not part of the Academy!"
"She's part of the Machen Academy," Snart retorted firmly.
"Seven votes yes, zero votes no, one abstained," Hiccup recited as he gazed at Astrid, who was almost as overjoyed as Hildi was. "Congratulations. And now, I think everybody's happy!"
Hildi just stared at Snart, her eyes brimming over. She finally managed to say, "I can't believe you! You did it again," then buried her face in his shoulder. Skybaby wasn't sure what had just happened, but she could tell her rider was very happy, so she sidled over to be close to him. Snart rested one hand on his dragon's neck, and wrapped the other arm around Hildi's shoulders.
"I used to think there was nothing I couldn't do with a good dragon beside me," he grinned. "Now that I've got a good woman, too, I'll be unstoppable. But now comes the hard part."
"What's that?" Hildi asked, looking up at him.
"A long time ago, I promised your mother I would train you in dragons and nothing else. Pretty soon, I'll have to ask her to release me from that promise."
THE END
(of Part 1)
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A/N This story will pick up with Part II. It will all be part of the same story; I just broke it into parts for convenience while I was writing it, and the chapter titles will reflect this.
To all my reviewers and favorite/follow folk: thank you, thank you, thank you! It might amuse you to know that this story started as a very elaborate daydream about what would happen if I lived near Berk, and Snart began life as a hopeless Marty Stu character named Mikkel. When I decided to write it all down and publish it here, I did some major rewriting to make my OC more believable and more interesting. I'm glad you like the results.
Wilson, my faithful reviewer whom I can't contact because you only have a guest account: I'm sorry you don't care for the lovey-dovey stuff. When I started this story, I didn't intend to have any of it. But I couldn't think of any other way to set up the story I wanted to tell. I actually invented Mallie to be Snart's love interest, then changed my mind. That left no one for the role but Hildi, whom I'd planned as a recurring peripheral character. In other words, the two characters swapped places on me. The bad news (for you) is that this isn't the end of the romance. The good news is that there's plenty more action and character development as well. Raids, rescues, personality clashes, sword fights, wild dragons, some bits of humor, a couple of all-out wars, and I've got some dragon-training scenes coming up that I think you'll really like.