Snart's Saga, Part II Chapter 14
"Snart, can I ask you something?" Rainbit asked as he ate his lunch. The storm had blown over after two days, and life was returning to normal.
"Certainly, Frue. What's on your mind?"
"You told me once about dragons like Zipplebacks and Snaptrappers, the ones with more than one head."
"Yes, I probably mentioned them once or twice," he nodded.
"How do their heads talk to each other? Do they speak, or can they share thoughts somehow, or... how do they do it?"
"Frue, those dragons are Fear Class, not Mystery Class, but how they talk to each other is a mystery. I don't know. But now that you've become so interested in dragons, I think the time has come to do something about that. Where is your husband?"
"I think he's on the mainland, laying out boundaries for some fresh timber-cutting. Why?"
"If you see him before I do, please tell him I need to talk to him. It's kind of important. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for your question."
"That's okay, Snart. Nobody knows everything. Thanks for trying." Rainbit wandered away, trying to avoid the cluster of fishermen's wives who always wanted to tie her up with petty complaints and chit-chat. Snart watched her thoughtfully.
He finally caught up with Germburg before supper and began to make his request. Germburg almost exploded. "You want to what?"
"Borrow your wife, sir. Just for a few days at a time, as long as nothing important is going on."
"And exactly what do you want to borrow my wife for?" The chief watched Snart through narrowed eyes.
"I heard an expression once, sir. 'To kill two birds with one stone.' I'm not sure if you've noticed, but ever since we gave the two of you that first dragon ride, your wife has been, well, obsessed with dragons."
"Yes, I had noticed that. She's always bothering you with questions about dragons that can't possibly have any bearing on her day-to-day life."
"It's not a bother, sir. Part of the Academy's job is to help everyone understand dragons better. But her curiosity is one issue. The other issue is that, to really teach new trainers like Nagmire or Jackbart, we need the Book of Dragons. That's the source of all our facts. There's only one copy, and guess where that copy is?"
"Berk. I might have known. You want to take the new riders to Berk so they can study this Book."
"No, sir, that's not my plan at all. What I want is to take your wife to Berk, so she can make a copy of it, a few pages at a time."
Germburg stopped, thought, and nodded. "So you get your own Book, and she gets to read everything there is to know about dragons. Clever, Snart, very clever. The only problem is, she's the headwoman, and she doesn't have much free time."
"I don't suggest that we bind her to a schedule, sir, but just take a day or two now and then when the opportunity arises. Fly her down in the morning, spend the day and the night, and bring her back the next morning. I can't guess how long the project will take, because I don't know how fast she reads or writes. The Book is about this thick —" he held up his thumb and forefinger, about an inch and a half apart.
"You really need this Book for your Academy?"
"Yes, sir, we do. For teaching, for research, and because you don't like us to be too dependent on Berk. That's how it benefits you, since I know you're going to ask."
The chief pondered for a few moments. "Very well, I agree. I'll leave it to Rainbit to choose the days. Just let me know when you're leaving and when you expect to return."
"Yes, sir, we will. And thank you!" Snart noticed Rainbit wandering toward him purposefully as her husband got up to leave. He motioned to her to sit down, and explained his plan.
"Let me see if I understand you," Rainbit replied, trying to hide a smile and gradually failing. "You have work for me that involves riding down to Berk on a dragon, learning everything everyone ever knew about dragons, and then flying back? And you call this 'work'? When can I start?"
"Whenever your own work schedule allows it, Frue," Snart answered. "I understand you're a busy woman. Germburg says he'll leave the timing up to you."
"How about tomorrow morning? Would that be too soon?"
"I think it might not be soon enough for you, Frue," Snart smiled. "Tomorrow, then. Please let your husband know, and I'll notify the Academy. Each of us will take turns flying you down and back; I'll go first so I can set up the details with Hiccup and Fishlegs."
The flight south was fairly relaxing for Snart. Rainbit alternated between ooh'ing and ahh'ing over the scenery, and bouncing question after dragon-related question off of him. Skybaby glided most of the way, happy just to fly with her friend.
Snart had already discussed his project with Hiccup when he first brought Nagmire to Berk, so there were no objections. Rainbit sat in the Mead Hall with papers, ink, quills, and the precious Book, and set to work. Snart expected that she'd get distracted from time to time, and wouldn't make huge progress on the copying project. He was not disappointed. But her rapt expression confirmed to him that he'd chosen the right person for the job.
Halfway through the afternoon, she walked quietly into the Academy, where Snart was watching Astrid as she taught a group of children how to approach dragons safely. Rainbit waved him over.
"I need a break; my hand is starting to hurt. Could I go see all the dragons?"
"Of course, Frue. Grab two Dragonbags over there, one for each of us, and we'll go for a walk."
It was a slow walk. Rainbit wanted to stop and look at every dragon she saw, and there were a lot of dragons in the village itself.
"All these dragons belong to somebody?" she asked, staring at two Gronckles asleep on the roof of a storage building.
"They've all been trained by someone, if that's what you mean," Snart nodded. "They're free to come and go as they please, but once they have a special human friend, they don't go far. The wild ones stay in the pastures, or up on the heights."
They stopped again to watch a Zippleback and two Nadders feeding from a fish tray that used to be a night-vision torch. "They must eat a lot of fish," she observed.
"That's why Berk is trading for our fish," Snart answered. "The town feeds all the trained dragons, and all the wild ones that want to visit for a free meal. Some of them prefer to catch their own fish, but they stay here anyway because they're safe."
"It's hard to imagine an animal that big, worried about being safe," she wondered.
"You and I both know that the wars were hard on dragons as well as people," Snart replied. "Hiccup might be the biggest hero the dragons will ever know, because he ended those wars, pretty much all by himself."
"There are a few of our warriors who miss the days of guts and glory," she said.
"I'm aware of that. When the Jonds come, I'm seriously thinking of letting one ship through, so the guts-and-glory boys can have their sport."
"You call that 'sport'?" she sputtered, astonished.
"No, but they do," he countered. "My own idea of 'sport' would be dragon races, target practice, aerobatics tests, stuff like that. Stuff where nobody gets hurt. But I guess I'm kind of a radical in Viking society. These battle stars —" he tapped them on his vest "— probably get me more prestige in Machen than anything else."
"Do you think that's ever going to change, Snart?"
"I'm not sure it should change, Frue. Vikings should always be Vikings. We'll always have tribes and villages who don't want to play nice, and we have to be ready to handle them if they come calling. Peace on earth is a wonderful idea, but unless everyone embraces it, it'll never work. We need our warriors. The problem is what to do with them when there isn't a war to fight."
They had finally reached the upper pastures. A few dozen dragons were spread all over the landscape in various attitudes of rest. Some of them raised their heads to watch the two humans; others were content to go on sleeping. Rainbit stopped and gazed across the panorama.
"Quite the sight, isn't it, Frue?"
"For me, this is close to Valhalla," she sighed. "Look at them all! They won't bother us?"
"If we don't bother them. The average dragon is a much more sensible creature than the average person. Take that Nadder, for instance." He gestured at a blue dragon that was watching them warily from about ninety feet away. "He's got his eye on us, and his tail spines are up. But I could walk up to him slowly, say nice things to him, stroke his tail, and he'd be eating out of my hand in five minutes. He's ready for trouble, but he's not looking for trouble, and he'd rather be friendly if I let him."
"A lot like my husband," Rainbit commented.
"There are some parallels, but please don't tell him I compared him to a dragon," Snart grinned. "For me, that would be a compliment, but I'm not sure how he'd take it."
"My lips are sealed," she promised. "How would you approach that Gronckle over there?"
"With a few blades of dragon-nip grass from the side pocket of my Dragonbag," he replied easily. "Just a little. Gronckles are very sensitive to dragon-nip. A handful would knock him silly; you don't want to do that if you're trying to make friends. He wouldn't remember anything."
"And that one over there?"
"That's a Zippleback; you seem to like those. You train a Zippleback by feeding him."
"Sounds like the way most Viking women train their husbands," Rainbit said with a chuckle.
Snart laughed. "Again, there are some parallels, but most Viking men don't have two heads. You have to feed them both at once, without playing favorites. I've never actually tried it, but that's how the Book says it's done."
"Ahh, yes, the Book," she nodded. "I'm going to enjoy this work a lot, I think. It'll be hard to go back home and count fish."
"I sympathize, Frue. For the first year of my dragon-training career, I had to go back home and count potatoes. It was hard. It's probably a good thing you don't have a dragon of your own, or you'd never get anything useful done."
"Probably not," she agreed with a trace of sadness. "I suppose I should get back to my copying." Snart nodded and walked her down to the village.
While he was there, Snart picked up Hildi's and Nagmire's new dragon-riding boots. He paid for them with coins from the small allowance Germburg gave the Academy. Normally, they didn't need much money — the village provided their food and clothing and a room for Snart, while the young women lived with their parents. Still, it was handy to have a little spending money now and then.
The next morning, as he'd expected, Rainbit was very reluctant to leave. Part of it was the Book, and part was the thrill of being surrounded by dragons. She watched the Sea Dragons get their morning orders from Astrid, and fan out as they flew out to sea for their patrols, with barely-disguised envy. Snart made a mental note to take her flying more often, even if it was just for a five-minute hop. The ride home was uneventful, and mostly in silence.
