=Brenna's POV=
(Frjadgr, Einmanudur; Afternoon)
(Berk; The Village-Great Hall)
I knew when I was arranged to marry another Heir who would become the Chief of their island when I was sixteen years old. I had two years to settle with the news, prepare myself for the event, and learn what all my Chieftess and wifely duties would be. I figured out on the trip to the yearly Chieftain meeting that I was arranged to marry Hiccup Haddock, son of current Hairy Hooligan Chief, Stoick Haddock when my parents mentioned that after the meeting; I'd be getting married. As soon as the meeting was over and Stoick mentioned that Hiccup had to take a wife; things clicked for me that I was arranged to marry Hiccup. And I instantly felt bad that Hiccup had no idea about the arrangement until that day two weeks ago. I learned instantly that Hiccup had a temper, and he was treated unfairly by the Tribe he was supposed to be Chief of, and his father. My heart went out to Hiccup; it truly did.
However, despite all the negativity regarding the matter; Hiccup has surprised me a few times, and somehow those instances have assured me that regardless that we're getting married without any feelings for one another, he will be a good husband, Chief, and, at some point, father. Hiccup had shown he could be a gentleman when he greeted me after learning we were betrothed at the age of twelve. I couldn't believe I blushed when he introduced himself so formally and kissed the back of my hand. I'd never seen such a greeting before, but I loved it. Hiccup revealed he was smart and could handle tough situations, finding solutions and other ways like during the raid and discovering we didn't have to consummate our marriage publically.
And the last things were that Hiccup was strong, very capable of fighting hand to hand or with weapons. Also, when Hiccup defending me commanding absolute respect from someone who was being rude to me. Hiccup would not allow it, so I knew that he would be an amazing father and Chief. Hiccup and I might not have mutual feelings for one another, but I knew he would treat me right as his wife and Chieftess. Honestly, I was looking forward to this marriage. And who knows, maybe we could learn to like or even love one another. Hiccup is extremely talented and while I've known about him all my life due to us being Heirs; seeing this side of him was different. Hiccup was different, but I didn't mind; he's shown me that different can be better.
I felt bad that Hiccup was sick right now; he'd been in the cove all day yesterday. Gobber the Blacksmith, who I have come to assume is like an uncle to Hiccup, went to check on him around midday and returned saying Hiccup was lying in bed and fast asleep. No one has seen him today either, but we had to deal with a raid also. Drage Riddari made his appearance and seemed to struggle. I wasn't sure what it was, and the other Chieftains and Heirs or Heiress' agreed that Drage Riddari seemed slower, out of it, and not on top of things as he usually was. Everyone wanted Drage caught, mainly to find out who he was. Why would a human be riding the most feared dragon known to humans? Drage rode a Night Fury, and wore a suit of all black and seemed to be made of black scales. The mask only showed a pair of green eyes, and Drage never spoke a word except for the time he introduced himself as Drage Riddari when we learned he was part of the raids.
This was the topic of the meeting everyone was having. Hiccup was supposed to be part of it, but since we hadn't seen him yet today; the assumption is that he's still sick. I wondered if things would ever stop, the war between humans and dragons. If Drage Riddari could ride and work with dragons, why couldn't all of us do the same? Of course, suggesting such an idea was ground to be considered a traitor, but hey; I was willing to make it a discussion if it helped us get somewhere with all this. Even Hiccup made more progress in two years than we had in Odin only knows how many since this nonsense started. And Hiccup found something by sheer accident; I thought it was funny. The Chieftains were so mad when they saw what Hiccup managed to figure something out that worked.
"This guy has to be seeking revenge, why else would he leads the raids against us. Trader Johann has mentioned that outside the Archipelago doesn't have this problem," Stoick remarked.
"But who would seek revenge?" Bertha sighed.
"Anyone who has been cast out treated unfairly," Dagur chuckled.
"If that is your manner of thinking," I stated now, surprising the others. Usually, Heirs didn't talk unless asked. "Then it stands to reason," I stopped when the doors opened, and Hiccup walked in.
"That I could be him," Hiccup shrugged. "That it could, in fact, be any one of us,"
"That's what I was going to say," I informed.
"The problem with your theories is that you don't think of everything about this guy," Hiccup continued, moving up to sit beside his father.
"Oh, and you know so much? This guy showed up while you were banished…" Soren huffed a bit.
"Exactly, so that means I've had time to observe while you're all busy trying to capture him," Hiccup rolled his eyes. Okay, Hiccup had a point there.
"Hiccup, do you know something Drage Riddari? If so, please share?" Mogadon invited.
"Also, how are you feeling?" I asked softly.
"I'm alright for the moment, thank you," Hiccup replied. "Now, with the Drage guy…It could be someone seeking revenge, yes. But most would choose to risk their lives to get close to a dragon to attempt forming some kind of alliance. We don't communicate with the dragons; there is no understanding between the two species. So, let's take your revenge theory, using myself as an example…"
"Okay…" Stoick urged his son to keep going.
"I'm someone who was banished for no reason and treated most of my life unfairly. So much so that I was willing to invoke self-exile to get away, right?" Hiccup asked as the others nodded in agreement. "Do you believe I was mad about to go out and train dragons dragon, learn to control them, and now lead them against the people I was part of a Tribe with?"
"No. It would take…Years to learn how to…I guess, train dragons," Madguts pointed out.
"Correct. Now…Drage is a young guy; he rides a Night Fury and commands 20-50 dragons at one time with surprising ease. However, the main bits of information is that he rides a Night Fury. What does the Dragon Manual say about Night Furies?" Hiccup continued. "Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Do not engage this dragon. Your only chance; hide and pray it does not find out, right?"
"Yes," Cuyler nodded.
"But Drage rides a Night Fury. It seems to me that an easier bit of revenge would be to form an army of humans before attempting to get close to a Night Fury. Seems less…Dangerous," Hiccup stated. "So, yes…Revenge could be one theory, or…Perhaps Drage isn't aiming to lead raids against the islands; maybe he's trying to stop them,"
"How do you gather that, Hiccup?" I decided to inquire.
=Normal POV=
"Because Drage doesn't let humans hurt dragons, or dragons hurt humans. Perhaps Drage Riddari is just an individual who wants to see the fighting stop on both sides. Maybe he's not the source, but he is trying to find it. The only way Drage would be able to complete such an act of working with dragons is if he befriended them, showed he meant no harm, and gained trust. Drage doesn't control the Night Fury; they work together. The few times Drage has been captured, have you stopped to notice that the Night Fury will instantly go to protect him?" Hiccup mentioned.
"I…Have noticed that," Thuggory spoke up now.
"As have I," Heather nodded. "If Drage were controlling the dragons; they would be all over the place, or even just leave. The Night Fury will come back and rescue Drage from capture," she added.
"But still, training dragons would take years. Drage has been around for a little over a year now," Stoick reminded.
"It wouldn't take years; it can take mere moments, Dad. And I can prove it if you'll consent to let me show you something else I learned while banished and not…Rebanish me over it?" Hiccup offered.
"This has to do with training dragons, doesn't it?" Stoick sighed.
"It does. As I said, I spent a lot of time observing from the cove…If Drage can do it, why couldn't any of us do the same? So I started testing things. Wasn't easy…But I think I figured out what would have been the easiest way for him do it…" Hiccup confessed. He knew he had to do something; he couldn't keep hiding as Drage and live a normal life. Perhaps he could get the others to see, for now, that Drage might not be bad. There would still be trouble if it came out he was Drage, but if Hiccup got them to see Drage was helping; maybe they wouldn't be so mad about him being behind the mask.
"If…Hiccup found a way to do what Drage does; it may be worth our time to see things," Brenna offered now. "Maybe there's another way to stop this war besides fighting…?"
"Well, fighting isn't doing us any favors…And the theory could be possible to consider if Hiccup can prove that training dragons are a possibility…" Elvar suggested.
"Can you do it, son?" Stoick asked.
"I can," Hiccup nodded. Stoick sighed.
"Show us," Stoick nodded his head now.
"Let's go to the ring then," Hiccup offered, heading for the doors. The others rose up and followed to the kill ring, used for dragon training to kill them.
. . .
(Berk; The Village-Kill Ring)
Reaching the ring, Hiccup led the group of Chieftains and Heirs into the ring, locking the gate. "There should be a Nadder, Gronckle, Zippleback, and Nightmare in those cages," Gobber stated as he'd decided to join the group while they were walking
"Nightmare in the big center one?" Hiccup inquired.
"You got it, lad," Gobber nodded. Hiccup went over to the lever and pulled it down, releasing the dragon. "Are you mad! It'll kill all of us!
"Gobber, shut up," Hiccup rolled his eyes. The Nightmare went to fire a blast at the group, but Hiccup's eyes narrowed, standing in front of them. "Trust me…" he reminded.
"Trying to son, but this is a very aggressive Nightmare!" Stoick stated.
"And if you are calm, he will be too," Hiccup said. "Relax, don't draw your weapons," he added. Hiccup stepped towards the Nightmare, removing his shield, sword, and any other weapons. "Easy…Easy, boy," he soothed. Hiccup held his hand out as the Nightmare started to sniff. However, the sound of a sword coming from its sheath made the Nightmare mad as it tried to snap at Hiccup's hand; he quickly pulled it back. "I said no weapons!" he glared.
"It was an accident!" Eret said instantly. The Nightmare charged at Hiccup, but he dodged left. Hiccup rushed in and grabbed the dragon's horns; the Nightmare tried to throw him off.
"I guess we'll go with the direct approach," Hiccup grunted. "Come on; let's get all the anger out, big guy," A few minutes later, and the Nightmare rammed Hiccup against the wall hard.
"Son!" Stoick said with concern. Suddenly, the Nightmare began to get pushed back, and doing the pushing was Hiccup; his feet were on the wall and holding the Nightmare's horns. Hiccup got the Nightmare back and glared down. Hiccup pushed off the wall and dragged the horns to the ground. The Nightmare relaxed instantly, tongue out of his mouth.
Hiccup took a few breaths before getting up and kneeling in front of the dragon. "There, do you feel better now?" The dragon snorted a bit. Hiccup got a fish and offered it to the Nightmare, carefully; it took the fish and gobbled it down before getting up. Hiccup held his hand out as the Nightmare sniffed again; Hiccup turned his head away as the dragon moved in, closing its eyes and pressing its snout to Hiccup's palm. Hiccup smiled now, looking at the Vikings. "See? Little patience and kindness go a long way. I started this method with a Terrible Terror and worked my way to Nightmare. Any dragon can be this way, and…" Hiccup paused.
Hiccup waved his hand around as the Nightmare flew in the same fashion; then landed. Hiccup put his hand down and the dragon laid there. The dragon nudged against Hiccup and motioned it's head to his back. Hiccup moved back, climbing on and holding himself on the long neck. The Nightmare flew around with Hiccup sitting there before landing again, and he got off. "Now…If someone like me can manage this…Anyone could. But the point here is that dragons and humans don't have to fight. This is what Drage does with those dragons; it's not…Control. It's…"
"Friendship, mutual trust, and understanding," Brenna finished Hiccup's sentence.
"Exactly," Hiccup nodded to her with a smile. "But perhaps Drage can't do this with a bunch of dragons at once, so he's doing his best to keep the two sides from fighting until he can figure out how to…Keep the peace?" Hiccup offered, hoping they'd see just a glimpse of what he saw was possible.
"And the dragons must attack Vikings because we always have our weapons out…" Brenna stated.
"That's another theory, yes," Hiccup replied.
"So what should we do, Hiccup? Since you've got the technique here…Are you suggesting we…Stop trying to stop Drage Riddari, let him do his thing?" Madguts asked, grumbling.
"Would it hurt to try? Just once, next raid that happens here? Just don't interfere? Maybe if we don't fight…Drage might be willing to talk with us? Get more insight into the situation of why the dragons raid in the first place. Perhaps we can…Help him? Like I said…We got nothing to lose by trying something new," Hiccup pushed.
"Alright, alright…Hiccup does have a point, and we saw the proof that anyone would be capable of this…" Stoick paused.
"Dragon Training? Bonding? Befriending?" Gobber offered.
"Yes, all those. Let us try my son's idea…Let's back off and let Drage Riddari handle things, and we'll see if there's an easier time when we don't interfere, and perhaps, afterward; we can speak with him. All those in favor?" Stoick raised his hand.
"Well, I'm his future wife, I stand by his ideas," Brenna raised hers with a smile. Not long after, the rest of the Chieftains and Heirs did the same.
"Then we agree; the next raid here on Berk, which will happen likely before the wedding; we let Drage Riddari handle things and try to talk to him," Stoick stated firmly.
Thank the Gods! Hiccup thought gratefully that his plan hadn't backfired and they weren't going to interfere next raid on Berk. If this worked, when the other Chieftains went back; they would back off too. Hiccup could be Drage and tell the others that he's not the one doing this, but working on finding the problem to end the war for good; his goal is peace, and hopes they will see it his way too. Phase One was done, and Phase Two was underway.