50 But Not Forever
Hiccup greeted the dragons on the watchtower one by one in the pre-dawn light, rubbing their chins and necks in just the right way. He started with Meatlug who was the only dragon that still slept, but her snore became a purr as Hiccup rubbed her tummy while Barf and Belch placed their heads on his shoulders; Barf even licked Hiccups face with his rough forked tongue.
"Your riders won't be too much longer" he spoke soothingly "and then we'll all be off again."
"You've all been brilliant over the last week" Hiccup mentioned as he petted Hookfang "we could not have done it without you all."
He moved over to Stormfly who stopped her preening to joyfully receive the adoration the dragon felt she so rightly deserved.
"Thank you" he hugged the dragon's neck "thank you for taking such good care of Astrid. Also for catching Incontinentia in time and ending this whole mess. You are just like your rider; truly amazing."
A few minutes later, Hiccup climbed into his saddle and Toothless shot into the morning sky. It felt good to stretch his wings without the worries that had plagued them all for the last week or more. The dragon could sense it in Hiccups mood; things had changed – things were different and his friend was more relaxed this morning as they both just enjoyed the sky, the clouds and the sunrise.
Whilst it was true that Hiccup did not know exactly what he'd find at Horston Beach, he thought that he had a pretty good idea of what it may be. Sleeping Vikings, working Vikings or maybe even drunken and hung over Vikings, but what he did not expect was an all out screaming, yelling and stomping family battle between Gauk and his daughter Dianta.
"What on earth is going on here?" He asked Spitelout as he landed near the Sharktooth.
"Gauk has informed his family that they do not have to return to Berk with us. His wife Karin was quite pleased but his kids... as Gobber would say 'Not so much' and it appears that the young girl is taking the news the hardest."
"IT'S JUST NOT FAIR" Dianta screamed and stamped her feet as Hiccup and Toothless approached Karin who held on to young Rowan while her daughter tried to yell the roof off the roofless beach.
"I assume this is our fault?" Hiccup asked Gauk's frustrated wife.
"Yes... although not entirely" she replied "I understand how much danger my husband was in with Rekkur on the throne and so I understand why we had to leave before. I'm happy though that we won't have to leave now, but Dianta had really set her heart on being a Dragon Rider when she grows up, just like that girl Astrid."
"You can still come with us" Hiccup offered "and this time it would not have to be permanent. Maybe Gauk could be some kind of 'Ambassador to Berk' for a while."
"But I really don't want to go; all my friends and family are here."
"Do you think a ride to Staggshund on a Night Fury will calm her down?" Hiccup offered.
"It may do, but it may start up all over again when you've landed. At least it will give Gauk and me a chance to get on the road home."
"Well... if you want to give her the news" Hiccup informed Karin "I just need to check the longship before we go."
Hiccup returned to Spitelout and Freya and was relieved to hear the yelling stop behind him.
"Aren't Olaf and the crew here?" he asked.
"No" Freya replied "They went back to Staggshund with your father, so we came to check on the ship."
"You can tell Stoick that she looks in fine condition thanks to the good weather and the soft sand; so once the kegs are filled with water, Olaf will be able to relaunch and head for home" Spitelout grinned.
"Thanks I'll pass that on; I see you've got Viper with you" Hiccup noted "how is he doing."
"It's obvious that he misses Ivar" Freya pointed out "so Spitelout has been trying to keep him happy and so has Cuddles; I swear to you my dragon knows something is wrong with Viper."
Hiccup turned to leave but then remembered "Oh... please tell Astrid and the others that I'll meet them in Staggshund."
When Hiccup got back to the top of the beach, he saw Dianta was very busy trying to make friends with Toothless. Rowan sat with Cuddles, Viper and Adelinde while Gauk had finally managed to finish loading his cart for the trip to Staggshund.
"What should I do with Adelinde?" Gauk asked as Hiccup approached.
The beautiful Nadder that had been assigned to carry the Elydonian would have to return riderless if Gauk did stay, but for now she was very good company for the mourning Nightmare.
"She can stay here with Viper and Cuddles; I'll tell Stoick where she is."
Hiccup noticed Karin smiling to herself as she watched her youngest child conversing with three dragons as if he expected them to answer him.
"Rowan was quite skittish when the dragons arrived back last night; being around them is much different in the dark" she mentioned "but he calmed down when he saw that one of them had brought his daddy back. When the morning came and he saw his sister petting them, he really changed his mind... and so have I."
"Sometimes it just takes a little interaction to really get to know them" Hiccup noted.
"The more I think about it, the more I believe it would be alright for Dianta to be a Dragon Rider when she's older... if it's alright with you and your people" Karin informed him.
"I think she's old enough now; we have children younger than Rowan with pet dragons and I wasn't much older that Dianta when I first rode Toothless; and he was a wild dragon back then."
"Maybe so... but you saw the way she reacted when she found out we were not be going to Berk; I think her attitude need to mature a little before she is allowed to go off on her own."
"Well you are her mother so I can't argue, but I'll talk to my father about it and see what he says because if she did join us, I think she'd have to move to Berk; she could still visit home of course" Hiccup pointed out.
"And she'd have an incredible life" Karin nodded.
"If it's okay with you, I'll have a chat to her on the way to Staggshund about what's really holding her back."
"It may help coming from you" Karin nodded.
There was no conversation during the first few minutes of the flight as Dianta held on to Hiccups chest so tight, he was finding breathing difficult. He was even sure she hugged him tighter than Stoick did during the chief's first dragon ride. He could certainly tell this was no embrace of passion; this was white knuckled terror as the young girl finally realised what it meant to be a Dragon Rider.
"Are you alright back there?" Hiccup asked and followed up with "You don't have to hold on so tight; Toothless won't drop you."
"W-w-we're s-so h-high up" she shivered, but not from the cold.
"Oh come on! You've seen the dragons flying; you knew we'd be going this high."
"B-but it's s-s-so dif-f-f-rent when y-you're up-p here."
"Have you got your eyes shut?"
"OF COURSE I'VE GOT MY EYES SHUT; ARE YOU AN IDIOT?"
"Maybe I should take you back" Hiccup noted.
"NO! Please... I'm sorry... it's just... so..."
"Not what you expected?"
"Dad was right; it is scary."
"He got used to it and so will you if you want to; but I can take you back if it's too much" Hiccup offered again.
"NO... no... I'll try... now what do I do?" Dianta asked.
"The hardest part is getting used to the height, so don't concentrate on the ground. Look straight ahead just like you do when you're walking or riding a horse; do you ride horses?"
"Oh yes" she replied "that's why I thought I'd have no trouble with dragon riding."
"Okay then; look straight ahead" she opened her eyes a little "now look up at the clouds."
Very slowly, Dianta became accustomed to the sky around her and Hiccup found it easier to breath.
"That's it; now remember when you look down, watch the ground miles ahead of you, not right underneath you."
Hiccup managed to get most of the stain out of his tunic, but getting rid of the smell was going to take something a little stronger than river water.
"I'm really, really sorry Hiccup" Dianta apologised for the umpteenth time as Hiccup wrung out his shirt and put it back on.
Toothless was having a wonderful time jumping around in the shallows and making the biggest splashes he could manage.
"We're not far from Staggshund now, so maybe we should walk the rest of the way... or at least until my clothes dry out a bit."
"Honestly Hiccup I am really, really, really..."
"ALRIGHT... I get the message."
Hiccup didn't ask her to, but Dianta walked ten feet behind Toothless as they wandered down the road because she couldn't look either the young man or the dragon in the eye at this time. They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when Toothless suddenly lifted his head and looked around the sky.
"Do you hear something Bud?" Hiccup asked but then he heard it too; the cry of a Monstrous Nightmare high overhead.
"Better give them a call Toothless" the Night Fury roared a reply and the dragons began to circle.
After several seconds, all but one had resumed their course to Staggshund, while Astrid and Stormfly set down next to the pedestrians.
"Hey Babe; whatcha doin'?" Astrid asked as she dropped out of her saddle and onto the ground.
Astrid was about to take Hiccups arm for what she'd hoped would be a nice romantic stroll when reality struck like one of Gobber's hammers.
"Oh my; what is that amazing aroma you've discovered?" she asked "you smell worse than Prince Nainn."
"Dianta has discovered that dragon riding is not as easy as it looks."
"Where is she?"
Hiccup looked behind him only to discover that Dianta was gone.
"IT'S NO GOOD HIDING; COME ON OUT" he called.
A very embarrassed young girl stepped out from the undergrowth on the side of the road.
"Hello" Astrid smiled "remember me?"
"Y-yes; you came to our farm with your dragon… and I saw you on the beach at Horston… I'm really very sorry."
"What for?" Astrid asked.
"What do you think?" Hiccup shrugged.
"I… err…" Dianta stammered "well I… I THREW UP ON YOUR BOYFREIND."
Astrid rushed over and hugged her as she began to cry from the intense shame she was feeling.
"Oh Hiccup" Astrid shook her head "What did you do? Was it the spinning or the power dive?"
"WHAT? No we were flying straight, calm and level; I swear we were."
"Really?"
"YES; REALLY."
"All right, calm down, maybe it was something she ate" Astrid looked Dianta in the eye "don't worry about it; no harm done."
"Oh really" Hiccup stood with his hands on his hips "if you think so, then why don't you come and give me a hug?"
Disaster has struck – again (this is starting to be a regular occurrence). I recently received a call from my local library telling me that Moon has been appearing there daily while I'm at work and using the public access computers and when one of the librarians tried to stop him... well... let's just say that it wasn't pretty. The time has come – he must be stopped so I have stripped my ship of its weapons and electro force armour and converted The Contessa (my car) into an Ultra Mega Cat Hunting Machine. As soon as I have posted this chapter, I am leaving to travel the land (maybe the world) in order to track him down and bring him in.
Who knows, there may be a TV series in this.
