A World Gives and Takes: Chapter 12
Trying to fortify a hut made of palm fronds and situated on sand did not prove an easy task. They could not create stakes long enough to hit solid ground, but did find firmer sand. Jack worked on assembling the wooden spikes along a central piece, much like the Vietnamese did during the Vietnam War. He muttered the name of the trap to himself as he worked. Hasna sat between his legs and handed him a new spike each time he asked for one. Inside the hut Hiccup sat at the table weaving rope out of fond fibers he pulled out as long threads. The tedious task would, they hoped, yield a netting they could place over the roof and along walls. Thus, if anything got past the punji traps Jack prepared, it would get caught in the net if it tried to burst through a wall.
"Jack!" Hiccup yelled.
"What?" The Guardian yelled in return.
"We need to pull more strands."
"This is worse than when we made the portal trap for Etuuchand!"
"Tell that to me when you get a set of fine scars on your arms and hands from where you got burned pulling more wire than I care to remember," Hiccup fired back.
The slender man with medium brown hair, tanned skin, and warm, liquid-brown eyes stepped into the hut. His now tattered britches hung loosely on his hips, and he wore no shirt. A two-year old girl, or so they estimated, trailed behind him carrying a sharpened stick. Her long, black hair fell to nearly the middle of her back, skin sun-darkened to almost black, and eyes dark as coal looked about with an intensity belonging to an adult. The boy sitting on the ground playing with the scraps of fronds, look so similar as to announce his kinship to the girl. Only the length of his hair that fell to his shoulders marked the biggest difference. His round, somewhat upturned nose sitting in the midst of a broad face and above a wide mouth with full, dark lips clearly marked him as a child not from Berk. Even with tans both Hiccup, who dressed the same as his mate, and Jack looked pale and wan in comparison.
"Come 're, Hasna," Jack motioned to the girl as he took his seat. "Want to learn something new?"
She walked up to him even though it seemed reasonable to assume she only understood one or two words, and that included her name. Hasna stood at the edge of the table. Jack grabbed a palm frond. The pointy end got clipped. At that end he slowly demonstrated to the girl how to separate the strands and pull them apart. He continued to show her until he got down to the finest thread he could pull. Then he handed the frond to the girl. She glanced at it and then looked up at him.
"Let's see what you can do," he calmly stated, and went about removing another long piece of fiber. He nodded his head to her piece.
"This might be too intricate for her, Jack," Hiccup stated.
"Maybe, but at least it gives her a sense of helping, and that we expect her to help. Right, Hasna?" Jack rejoined and his voice rose on the final two words.
The girl smiled at the sound of her name. She then stared at the frond on her hand. Jack moved his hands forward and gave a third demonstration. At last Hasna comprehended what Jack wanted. Her chubby little finger began to work. She managed to pull the succulent leaf in half. Jack never moved his hands and continued to pull threads free. The girl frowned at the piece in her hand. Her tiny nails, often sharp enough to lacerate skin, began to pick the piece she removed. She cut it in half again. Without needing to be told, Hasna tried the trick again. Slowly but sure reduced the piece to the point where either Hiccup or Jack would need to take over. She grunted in frustration.
"Here," Jack said and handed her the next larger strand she created. "Do that again."
As Hasna worked at making smaller pieces, Jack pulled her first effort into five threads that he laid out next to the pile Hiccup started. He then went back to fiddle with his original frond. While Biva played in the sand and generally enjoyed himself, three others bent diligently to their task.
"Ja!" Hasna half-yelled his name.
As Jack turned his head, the girl pushed a sheave of separated fronds at him. She reduced them to the smallest size she could managed. Jack glanced at Hiccup who appeared very surprised.
"She might be a little older than we thought," the Viking stated while the Guardian split a new frond and handed her both pieces.
"And a hell of a lot smarter than either of us guessed so far. Did you have this much patience when you were younger?" Jack mused.
"Actually, I did. You know my dad wouldn't let me fight dragons 'cause of my size and I got stuck working with Gobber at the forge. Besides, where do you think I learned to tinker… and that takes patience.
Jack bobbed his head. He heard the tales many times over the years, and the injustice Hiccup felt served as part of what drove him as a teenager and a young adult. Without fully realizing it, although Gobber claimed he knew exactly how Hiccup would turn out, Hiccup's father bred him into the man who would lead Berk down a new path. Berk then began to lead others down the same path when peace led to prosperity and a significant increase in life expectancy.
"I think you found you first apprentice, Jack," Hiccup said and stared at Hasna.
Hasna all but attacked the frond. She pulled it into ever smaller strips to the smallest she could produce. Her eyes gleamed with focused intent. Jack could already hear the Guardians heaping praise on her. He watched her work for a moment. The girl seemed determined to an almost frightening degree.
"We're going to have to be careful with this one," Jack quietly intoned. "I know we keep saying this, but I think she's a lot smarter than I was at this age."
"You don't even remember," Hiccup said in a faux malicious manner. "And I think that goes for me as well."
For over an hour Hasna maintained her focus. However, the growing stack in front of her finally seemed to indicate she did enough. It would take Hiccup and Jack twice as long to reduce her product to even smaller strands. She looked at the two men.
"Hungee," she announced with clear intent.
"When aren't you?" Hiccup remarked.
"Fiss?" Hasna asked and pointed to the pole behind the Viking's head.
Without a word the man stood, stretched, his spine popped a few times, and then he reached behind and seized his fishing pole. Hasna squealed, hopped off one of Jack's efforts at crafting a stool, and ran toward the door.
"Wait for me!" Hiccup loudly commanded.
Hasna came to a halt and looked sheepishly around. Jack realized she more or less understood what got said, either because she knew the word or guessed by the tone. He dark eyes scanned the man as he approached. Then he paused and turned to his husband.
"Mind coming out and keeping Nepta busy? He scares away the fish."
"Right behind you," Jack answered.
The Earthling dropped the frond in his hand, stood and walked over to the boy, and scooped him out of the sand. Biva complained about the disruption of play. Jack simply kissed him on the forehead and headed for the door through with Hiccup and Hasna already departed. As he passed through, he snagged the rough-woven bag containing several coconuts reserved exclusively for the water dragon. The breezy hot afternoon called to them, and they answered.
For the next several days their lives continued at the same pace. They spent time fortifying their home. Hiccup and Jack made some needed alterations to the superstructure to make it more secure. Hasna became more assertive about assisting, and got frightfully angry when denied because the work proved to dangerous for her untrained hands. Biva continued his explorations at walking, his health and vitality now completely restored since reaching the island, and it challenged the two men to keep a constant eye on him. The need for a half door to keep the boy corralled became apparent, and three sets of hands built the needed piece. Jack fabricated simple hinges from the absurdly hard bamboo-like trees that grew all over the island. Sometimes the Berkians thought they could hear it growing.
The making of nets became frustrating for everyone. Hasna wanted to help, but lacked the dexterity. She threw a constant fit when not allowed to take part. A seeming symbiotic relationship existed between brother and sister. When Hasna got angry, Biva followed suit. Hiccup and Jack got forced into dealing with the children with greater frequency as the children developed and made demands of their own. The days when they meekly accepted what happened long since vanished once an established settlement took shape on the island.
The turn of the eight-day since they began pulling strands for the nets came as they hung the last one on the exterior of their slowly expanding hut. All thought not perfect by any standard, both Hiccup and Jack knew the creature lurking around the interior of the island would not find their home an easy target. Moreover, they felt fairly confident it would get seriously hurt in the process. They celebrated that afternoon by removing the last tree within easy jumping distance of the hut. Hiccup tried to understand what Jack meant when he talk about deforestation and desertification, but did not receive a satisfactory answer.
"I ache everywhere," Jack said while snuggling up against Hiccup on their quasi-hammock bed.
The tough fronds made for excellent weaving, and a more or less hammock large enough for both of them hung above the floor strung between the trunks of two pruned trees used a load bearing posts. A smaller one for each child hung near theirs. Biva grumbled peacefully in his sleep and his sister dropped into deep slumber the moment she lay down. The children got worked hard very hard that day as the last of the preparations reached completion.
"You didn't have to cut the tree down alone, you know?" Hiccup teased him.
"So which one of them would look better without a hand or limb?" The Guardian rejoined.
"Did you thank Nepta? He did most of the baby sitting. I couldn't get Biva to sit still or stay in the same area for more than five minutes."
Jack grinned at the neat manner in which his mate sidestepped the original question.
"I bet you were a lot like that as a child," Hiccup mused.
"Maybe. What about you?"
After few seconds they both started to snicker. Hiccup recalled the innumerable times his father yelled at Gobber for failing to keep track of him as a child. Once he began inventing, the Viking found countless ways to avoid being penned. Jack thought back to the days when gained a mastery over his powers and created winter havoc wherever he set foot. The Guardians at the time gave chase, but even the fleet Toothania could not catch a person who could slip through solid objects. Outside the still unusual but now familiar nighttime sounds of the island jungle echoed around them. Hiccup pulled Jack closer to him. Jack leaned his head upward, and the mouths met. Despite the protests of his muscles, other wants took control. In the deep quiet of the night, Hiccup and Jack reminded themselves of a part of the reason they stayed together for over a dozen years.
"It's a leash," Hiccup said the next morning when he saw Jack tying a newly contrived harness around Biva's chest.
"Biva, hold still," Jack commanded the wriggling boy who fought him every inch of the way. "This'll help keep you safe."
"Sure about that?"
Jack threw his mate and stern glare. Hiccup held out one arm and deflected Hasna's charge. She tumbled headlong, and popped onto her feet as though propelled by the growl emerging from her lips. She rushed the Viking again, and once more failed to make contact. Whatever ailments she suffered from her time at sea now became a distant memory. A variety of food, none of which she ever refused, water, and a level of exercise that rivaled dragon rider training did her a wealth of good. Biva fared just as well, although he grew increasingly more picky about what he wanted to eat. If they failed to cover everything with dehydrated coconut and juice from a fruit neither Hiccup nor Jack ever saw anywhere else, then the boy would not eat it. What lay underneath almost did not matter, but the coating became paramount.
"Would you rather have him running into the ocean when Nepta isn't around?" Jack asked.
At the sound of the water dragon's name, both the boy and the girl tried to head in the direction of the shoreline. The dragon became a de facto nanny, and both men could see a deep affinity between the children and the creature. Neither could recall seeing a dragon become that attached to children, including Meatlug who often coddled Haloke. In the past several eight-days Nepta proved an adept and agile watch-dragon over the children. The fear either would drown when the beast swam nearby got reduced to nearly nothing. However, the dragon did like to send some time away from the encampment, and Hiccup speculated it went deep-sea fishing for food. On that day Nepta swam lazily in the small lagoon down the beach from the hut.
"Alright, let's go see Nepta," Hiccup to the noisy if unintelligible demands of the children, and he opened the half door.
Jack got dragged forward as Biva dug his feet into the sand and pulled against the harness and leash. The Guardian constructed it in such a way the boy could not easily take it off or remove the tether. He grunted loudly in objection when he could not move faster. Jack walked and kept the squawking child from racing away. Hasna got deterred by the hand holding hers. To Jack's eyes it looked like father and daughter enjoying a day at the beach, and lump rose in his throat. Extraordinary ideas began to bubble in his brain not long after they rescued the children. Each passing day further sharpened and solidified the notions. He looked at the boy struggling to increase his pace, and the Guardian felt a second surge of the same emotion.
An afternoon spent with Nepta meant the two men could lounge under one of the nearby trees and lean against one another. Sometimes the moments became too endearing and required a kiss or two. Jack could not shake the feelings he experience on the walk to the lagoon, nor could he deny how often he felt them in the past three weeks. He gently clasped Hiccup's hand, and then raised it to his lips.
"What'cha thinking, Jack?" Hiccup asked since the small demonstration routinely revealed some deep thought on the part of his mate.
"I don't know why or how I know… maybe it's just stupid or wishful thinking, but what do we do about them when we get back to Berk?" Jack asked in a somber tone.
"What do you mean do about them?" Hiccup pounced one portion of the question.
"Don't be dense."
"I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead to be honest. I'm just worried about making it tomorrow and then the day after that," the viking replied through an exhale. "Not sure how we're going to get rescued."
"Toothless," Jack quipped before he even knew what he would say.
Hiccup turned his head away from watching the children splash around with the Nepta. He did not blink and cast a long gaze the Earthling. Often times people thought they communicated through telepathic means when they stared at one another, but in reality they simply took time to appraise the other's mood. After ten seconds Hiccup narrowed his eyes.
"I think they're ours now," the Guardian softly stated.
Hiccup blinked a few times.
"What other parents do they have? And what do you think it would do to them if they got separated from another pair of adults they came to trust. Besides, I think Hasna already loves you like a father."
The Viking's eyes widened to an expression of surprise and said: "I would've said that about you. Gods, Jack, she loves spending time with you. She learns so much… and you're so patient with her."
"She's never asked me to go fishing with her, and she obeys you better than me," Jack countered.
"Oh, yeah. Have you ever seen the way Biva comes to life every time you get near him? I swear he knows who and what you are under that skin," Hiccup forthrightly returned.
"Don't be stupid."
Hiccup roughly nudged his shoulder against Jack's, and then he began to chuckle. Jack grinned. He bumped his shoulder against his mate's.
"I thought we got over doing this?" The Hallan inquired.
"It's not a contest… and maybe they like each of us for different reasons," the Earthling remarked.
"Jack… do you think… oh, gods this is stupid."
"You started it, so you've got to finish!"
Hiccup huffed a little as he built up the courage to reveal what his brain suddenly produced. He looked from his husband to the children who hung on the neck of the sea dragon. The easy and gentle manner of the very large creature never failed to astound. The children and the creature seemed to find something necessary in one another. That thought dovetailed directly with his first notion. He returned to looking at his mate.
"Maybe we're good at this whole parent thing. I know you are 'cause of that Guardian stuff you've got going on deep down, but me… it's weird, but I can't wait to see them every morning to make sure they're okay… safe and sound," the man explained.
"Is it because we don't have our… dragons?" Jack asked and his voice caught on the last word. Visions of IceSpike and how she would respond to the children flashed in his brain, but quickly got followed by the sight of the trapped dragon sinking into the dark, storm-tossed waters.
"No," Hiccup said and wrapped a sun-browned arm around his beloved. "It's different. It's more… more… fundamental. I don't know how to explain it."
"It's because they're human."
Hiccup nodded his head a little. He never wanted to admit that Toothless might simply be a dragon: a viciously fast and wickedly smart one, but a dragon nonetheless. He loved the creature beyond measure, but the two children effected him in a more profound manner, and it seemed reasonable that their being human could be the cause. The part he did not want to say aloud came in the fact he grew to enjoy caring for and protecting them. The children gave him an insight into Jack of a new and increasing important kind. The term Guardian took on a meaning he never considered in the past.
"Yeah, it's because they are human. I don't know why it makes a difference, but it does," Hiccup confessed that much. "Let's me understand you better."
Jack raised his eyebrows.
"Protecting Berk with the dragons is one thing, my love, but these two lives are so completely dependent on us it… it's an entirely different game. I understand why you do what you do on Earth… what you did here… still do here so much better."
The Guardian leaned into the side hug and said: "I told you this before, but I never once regretted I died saving my sister. She needed to live. Her life was worth so much more than mine…"
"Jack!" Hiccup chastised him.
"Hear me out, Viking," Jack instantly rejoined in frustration. "This is what makes a Guardian a Guardian… and you're one whether you like it or not. You risk your life for our people every time you go into the sky to defend them. You're not thinking of yourself…"
"But I am," Hiccup interrupted again. "I can't stand the idea one of them might die when I could do something about it. I have the means to fight for them, Jack, just like you do on two different worlds. I need to do this for them 'cause I can't stomach the notion I might loose one of them… even Rotmeat."
Jack started to snicker at the idea Hiccup would sacrifice himself for the one person on Berk no one could really tolerate. Aside from his name that seemed to describe the inner person, Rotmeat never did anything for anybody. He seemed to harbor a grudge against the entire island, no one knew why, and yet he refused to find a new home. That Hiccup would include the odious man in the list of those he would die to protect spoke volumes. The sound of the children and dragon enjoying themselves to the utmost washed over the two men like an incoming tide.
"You're right, though, Jack: they are ours. It hasn't been that long, but I can't imagine what it would like without them. The need us… and I need them. I don't know why, but I do. I need them almost as much as I need you," the Hallan said quietly as he stared as the trio playing on the edge of the lagoon.
Jack wrapped his arms around his husband and squeezed. Hiccup spoke for him as well. His life as a Guardian seemed to swell within his body. Although he thought he imagined it, Jack chose to believe he could feel his powers expanding. Once again Elada's statement seemed prophetic to the extreme: Jack sensed he did become more of a person, more of a Guardian, because of his life on Halla. The world on which he got trapped that long since became his voluntary home breathed a vitality into him Jack could not describe even if given dozens of uninterrupted years.
The morning spent enjoying the warm morning and splashing around with Nepta, including the two adults who played as eagerly as the children, lent them a sense of peace. Their situation seemed stable, but the men knew dangers could stem from any quarter. Once they secured their homestead, both got the freedom to think about the immediate and long-term future. The walk back to the house with Biva leading the way, angrily constrained by the leash and harness, and Hasna stating her hunger over and over seemed natural to the two men. Hasna pulled at Hiccup's arm while her brother tottered from side-to-side in a wide arc testing the limits of his tether. Jack grinned the entire time.
For the next several days the quartet of people gingerly explored the fringe of jungle that lay on the other side of the sandy beach. The dark grains looked like a carpet leading to the trees. They did not stray too far inside the fringe. The Earthling and Hallan decided to check for signs the beast who lived further in the woods ventured near them. They examined both ground and tree trunk. Only near the lagoon, Nepta's playground, did they find any evidence. Several tracks leading from and to a tree, plus score marks on the trunk, told them much.
"So it does climb, and I think it's been watching us," Hiccup darkly and thoughtfully muttered. His hand remained firmly clasped to Hasna's who went quiet when they entered the jungle.
"We always thought it could climb, and it makes sense. Getting a drop from a tree would be an invaluable hunting method," Jack replied while holding the wriggling mass of Biva in his arms. "I'm, ah, also kind of worried it might travel through the trees. I don't see any other tracks around."
They scanned the area and found only falling boughs and fronds.
"How do you feel about a stroll on the beach?" Hiccup asked as he eyed the upper reaches around them.
"Sounds… pleasant," the Guardian replied as he, too, searched the higher vegetation. Then he lowered his voice and said: "Let's hope it's not like a singewing…"
"Yeah, I'm trying not to think that, Jack. Let's just walk."
They made every attempt to mask their nervousness as they headed toward the beach. Hiccup strained his ears listening for any sound that came from above. Jack's head remained tilted back as he continually surveyed the trees. It seemed to take a small eternity to reach the dark sand. As training to encounter wild dragons taught them, never move fast or make quick motions lest one attracts a hunting foe. Only when they neared the water did they begin to breath with ease. Jack set Biva down and let him wander. Hiccup attempted to let go of Hasna's hand, but remained attached.
"Hasna?" He softly asked the girl.
"Tere… bad?" She inquired and pointed to the woods.
"There is… a little bad."
"She's reacting to us," Jack needless stated.
"Might be good she is," Hiccup rejoined.
"We've got a problem since I don't want to go back to a fish-only diet."
Hiccup turned and faced the jungle. Inside it hid all manner of food that would give them variety and kept them healthy. Their only source of potable water lay within the jungle as well. His mind began to chase shadows as he considered the free flowing spring might be used as perfect location to ambush unsuspecting prey. The man frowned.
"What're you thinking?" His husband inquired.
"Water," Hiccup rejoined.
Jack's face fell.
"Hate to say it, but I don't think we're done cutting down trees, Jack. We need to clear the path to the spring. Then we can put up some sort of shelter around it to keep us safe when using it."
The Guardian nodded. Although it promised a world of back-breaking labor, it seemed the only sensible course. The foursome headed to their home as the adults discussed and made plans as to the task now laying before them. Hiccup felt tired just thinking about it, and Jack looked laggard as well. For over almost six eight-days they struggled to stay alive and take care of the children. Hiccup thought back to his youth when the Vikings routinely fought with dragons who extracted both flesh and wool from the Hairy Hooligans. Until Toothless arrived and altered everybody's life, the Vikings seemed to spend a third of their time rebuilding the village, fishing, or hunting for dragons. The coming of the night fury in their lives freed everyone from some of the more serious struggles. In the same vein, Jack reviewed the snippets of his remaining childhood memories. He recalled a hard life on the frontier as it required they make everything they needed. It seemed to be the root of why he developed such a playful nature: it served as a balm to the hardships. This situation, however, caused him stress.
The lack of metal and a decent forge meant they did not have a good range of tools. Hiccup tried his best to fashion the various blades they needed from the bits of metal they found around the wreckage on the east end of the island, but it never seemed enough. Although volcanic glass should be plentiful, the predator in the jungle kept them from making a search for the commodity. Hence, they cobbled together what tools they could and set to work. By the middle of the third day, with Hasna desperately trying to participate and Biva waging a never-ending war against the leash, the task announced it would take the men a long time to complete. The blisters and sore muscles would only be a bonus.
"One day and only two trees!" Jack fumed as they returned to the hut for their evening repast. Biva tried to walk in the other direction back to the jungle and vociferously let his displeasure be known. "My hands feel like a yak did a dance on them!"
Hiccup, equally sore, shook his head. His head, neck, shoulders, back, and chest still glistened with sweat, and he tore a new hole in his pants. It would be long before he needed to alter a new pair they found along the ragged eastern coastline. He shook his head.
"You look beat," Jack said in a calmer voice.
"So do you," Hiccup said and grinned at his mate. Next to him Hasna dragged their makeshift axe through the sandy soil. "I thought cutting a tree down was bad, but… both those two at the same time wore me out more."
"Oh, no. I hear what you're trying to say!"
"Jack, no…"
"We take turns like we agreed," the Guardian cut off the Viking as he hauled a now sitting toddler along the path that increasingly became only sand. It would take forever to get all the grains removed from the boy.
Hiccup eyed him and thought it both amusing and annoying Jack so quickly figured out where the conversation would lead. As much as he cared for and, in truth, loved the children, minding both at the same time drove him to his wits' end. Hasna came close to getting clobbered with the axe four times while they worked. Biva, meanwhile, continued his ceaseless and extremely vocal battle against the leash. However, neither man could stomach the idea of the boy alone and lost in the jungle with a largely unknown hunting beast lurking about.
"This is going to take us forever," the Viking grumped.
Jack stopped walking, and Hiccup ran into him.
"Warn a guy!"
"Hiccup, what if we don't have to do this alone?" Jack mumbled.
"Who are we go…" Hiccup began to question and halted as he followed the line of site of his husband.
Jack stared at the ocean.
"Never saw him come on land once," the senior dragon rider said in a quiet voice that almost got drowned out by the yelling of Biva. "He's a deep sea dragon."
"Nepta!" Hasna gleefully called out.
Biva instantly climbed to his feet and started trotting toward the shoreline. He came up short when the leash took hold, and fell back on his bottom. The boy let out a loud squawk.
"She knows the word dragon now?" Hiccup asked and stared at the girl who let the axe fall into the sand. Before the girl could dart to the beach, he grabbed her hand and the axe she promptly forgot.
"She knows more than that. Ever listen to her in her sleep?" The Earthling inquired. "She talks in her sleep."
"I noticed that, but I thought it was just… mumble-jumble."
"Not all of it. Listen more closely. It's a mix of her native language and Berkian. I think it means she's making a transition. I'm willing to bet pretty soon all she'll know is our language."
"Go!" Hasna yelled at an opportune moment.
Hiccup started walked, but did not release her and said: "Eat first; Nepta second."
"Go!" She hollered a second time and reached outward toward the beach.
Her yelling set off her brother who began to throw a pitched fit. The two of them raised a considerable clamor as the adults lead them to the hut much against their will. Hasna began to cry when they veered away from the beach toward the hut. Jack resorted to picking up Biva who screamed and kicked his arms and legs.
"Isn't this point where we hand 'em off to Fishlegs or Astrid?" The Viking loudly spoke over the two crying children.
Jack craned his head around and smirked at his husband. Many times in the past he got their friends' children wound up drum head tight only to return the time-bombs to their parents. The transfer often acted like a trigger for a tantrum. What once seemed funny in the past now appeared less humorous. The two men and the two distraught children made their way to their home.
"Go lay down and cry it out," Hiccup commanded Hasna when they stepped through the door.
She ran to her bed and flung herself onto it. Jack closed the hut door with his one free hand while setting Biva down. The boy sat where placed and bawled. He knew they likely acted out due to hunger and thirst. He watched as Hiccup set aside the axe and aimed for their food stores. It seemed reasonable to assume the children would calm as they prepared a meal. Hasna began wanting to assist with that detail as well, but her current state indicated she would she would waver between helping and stomping. Biva acted as though abandoned on the shore without a friend in the world. Even after Jack bent down and whispered to the boy while he undid the harness did not console the toddler. Hence, the preparation for dinner commenced under the ruckus created by two distraught children.
"Yep, I never really appreciated this part of the whole parenting deal," Hiccup loudly exclaimed over the noise.
"Comes with the territory, just like when a dragon eats something bad and you've got to nurse it through it's system," Jack answered at the same volume.
A year before Toothless at some bad fish. Despite it's turned condition, the dragon ate it anyway after a grueling long search and rescue flight. Half way through the basket, Hiccup pushed the night fury away. Everyone who witnessed the gorging by the beast knew it came too late. For the next day and a half Hiccup nursed the violently ill dragon. The bad fish exploded out of both ends of the renowned night fury some six hours after consumption. Fortunately they moved the stricken Toothless to the dragon cave and spared their home a disastrous mess. It took dragon five days to fully recover. Somehow the riders tended to overlook the messier parts of ministering to a dragon in favor of the aerial and fighting aspects. The reminder served both men well at the moment.
Hiccup finished preparing the fish, fruit, and limited vegetables at their disposal. Cups made by carefully segmenting the bamboo-like tree saplings got filled with water. Jack busied himself preparing the coconut concoction that ensure Biva would eat. As he added the ingredients together, the boy began to settle down and watch the happenings. The assumption Biva acted out of hunger got confirmed when he pushed himself up and waddled to the table and stood next to his chair. Hasna, conversely, remained on the bed and cried to herself. It seemed she expected to play with Nepta that day, a reasonable one, and got disappointed when they did not go to the shore. The Viking and Earthling left her to her personal discontent and finished getting the meal ready.
"Up, you," Jack said while hoisting Biva onto his seat, "and someone really needs a change after we eat."
Biva grabbed the placement Hiccup wove with Hasna and tossed it to the side. His eyes fixed on the trencher of prepared food. He seemed ready to cry at a moment's notice if his meal did not appear forthwith.
"Hasna, are you hungry?" Hiccup rumbled as he carried the offering to the table.
"Hungee," she muttered between sobs.
"Well, come on, then. It's ready."
"Hungee," she repeated and slowly began to slither off her bed.
Jack did not wait and simply gave a hunk of coconut and fruit juice covered fish to the boy. Half of it disappeared into Biva's open maw. The man feeding him shook his head.
"You're going to choke, Biva," Jack said and gently held the child's hand down.
"Mwah-ah-ah-ah!" The toddler managed to bellow around the food in his mouth.
"Chew that first!" The Guardian demanded and pointed to the small, brown and around face.
Biva masticated the items in his mouth, but he grumbled the entire time. His eyes never left Jack's hand that held the other half of the fish chunk. In the meanwhile Hasna slunk to the small table and crawled into her seat. She cast a doleful look at Hiccup as though reproving him for some heinous transgression. Hiccup deposit a portion of the fish and fruit on her plate. He held the vegetables back as they tended to be the first thing she ate. Hasna started to open her mouth and scrunch her eyes.
"Do it and you don't get any," he warned her in a deep vocal tone.
The girl's eyes creaked open a bit. Hiccup watched her scan his face and posture. While they might not yet be able to communicate with full sentences, or even words in Biva's case, body language became essential. Jack watched Hasna appraise the Viking, and her ferocious intellect became readily apparent. This girl planned, Jack said to himself and realize he would never need to visit her if she lived on Earth. The standoff continued until Hasna picked up a piece fish and placed it in her mouth. Hiccup did not appear entirely satisfied, yet he sat down and began eat.
"Fwa-a-a-a-a!" Biva let loose in a staccato manner. It meant he wanted another piece of coconut encrusted whatever since the substrate only acted as a delivery device for the coconut.
Jack handed him the second half of the fish piece. The boy grabbed it and jammed it into his mouth. Silence echoed around the table except for the eating noises. Hasna never took her eyes from the Viking who left the wooden platter of vegetables sitting to his far left while the girl sat to his right. Jack began to smirk as he thought of the number of western films he saw that included very similar situations.
"Stop grinning like that," Hiccup warned him, but the corners of his mouth twitched.
"So everything we talked about keeping them…"
"Doesn't change one bit. You wouldn't believe how many times I heard Astrid complain about getting her kids to eat when this age. Guess it's our turn now," the Hallan quickly interjected.
"Just checking," Jack mumbled.
The two men started to snicker.
