CHAPTER 15
Another two years passed by with relative ease on Berk. Tengan, newly freed from her meticulous note taking, managed to find time to fly to the Shimmering Shores on a couple different occasions to see her mother and trade stories. On both trips, Fishlegs had eagerly accompanied her, and his enthusiastic line of questioning had led to each visit being prolonged by a few days. Not that Tengan minded in the slightest. The time at home had allowed her to pen notes to her father, stored safely in Makara's tent, until he returned from the deep south. It also gave her time to catch up with Kelp, who had grown so lazy in his new home the villagers teasingly questioned if he had ever taken down Berserkers and Outcasts in battle. Leaving the Shores at the end of each visit always left Tengan heartsick for a couple days, but the feeling had lessened with the passing years as she became accustomed to "living between villages" as Astrid had empathetically coined it.
As the Riders were able to spend more of their days adventuring rather than defending, within a few months they had completed their collective map and census of all the dragons living in the archipelago; though none would dare try to convince Hiccup of the idea. Even though you could always count on seeing Toothless flying back and forth between the neighboring islands on a daily basis, slowly the once inseparable group began to meet less frequently as all of the other teens took on new hobbies and responsibilities to fill their time.
To absolutely no one's surprise, the twins dedicated their lives to Loki, the god of mischief, and the only one worth worshipping if you asked them. Tengan had quickly learned to be wary of long stretches of quiet in the afternoon as, according to Tuffnut, it was "prime Loki time". Astrid, determined to maintain her and Stormfly's battling skills, had joined the Berk Guard. The pair were often seen patrolling overhead or training, both activities which did not lend them much time to socialize. Fishlegs had also seemed to really find his calling. He and Meatlug had organized almost daily lessons on Berk's history, both old and recent, for any young viking who wanted to learn. Although his teaching schedule also kept him busy, Tengan had fallen into a semi regular routine of joining him for tea once a week to discuss his upcoming lesson plans. Snotlout, surprisingly, had been the Rider Tengan saw most of nowadays. He had somehow convinced Gobber to grant him an apprenticeship and could now often be found sporting new minor cuts and bruises from his new responsibilities as "weapons tester". Without fail, every time a new injury popped up, he'd hobble over to Gothi's hut and somehow convince the healer that his treatment would be perfect practice for her apprentice.
"You know I really do have much better things to be doing than tending to your every scrape." Tengan sighed in a defeated sort of way as she ran her fingers over Snotlout's bare back. Several small puncture wounds in a circular pattern oozed tiny droplets of blood.
"Comeon." Snotlout teased, attempting to turn his head far enough to catch her eye. "You know you love being my own personal nursemaid. Not just anyone gets this close of a look at the Snotman." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.
"Lucky them." Tengan whispered to herself before grabbing a clay pot of green ointment from the small table next to her. "Hold still." She stated simply before slathering a generous amount of the antiseptic medication in the wound. "Whoops." She added lightly. "That was a bit much. You'll feel a slight stinging sensation for a few minutes."
"AGHH!" Snotlout screeched as he arched his back away from the burning of the medication. "What ever happened to the 'Woman's Touch'!?" He scrambled onto his feet, desperately trying to scrape off the excess ointment.
"By all means, feel free to take any issues with your service to my head of complaints." Tengan gestured lazily to Rumble, who lifted his head from a mid-afternoon nap and yawned, exposing a mouthful of jagged teeth. Her Skrill had seemed more or less content with their long days of sedentary study under Gothi. He had claimed the sunnier side of the healer's roof on their second day and dozed away while Tengan worked to memorize herbs or struggled to perfect a medical mixture. "Otherwise, you're all set. I assume I'll be seeing you tomorrow? You're overdue to ask me to massage a sore muscle for you."
Before Snotlout could confirm his "followup" for the following day, the two teens were interrupted as Gothi scrambled onto the platform of her cliffside home. Breathing a bit heavily, she rapped her staff on the wooden wall of her small home, drawing all eyes to her.
"Woah Gothi, what's wrong? I thought you were checking in on Gustav this afternoon. Is there something wrong with the splint I set?" Tengan set the small clay pot down and stood to greet her mentor.
Gothi shook her head frantically before scratching wildly in the dirt with her staff.
"Ughh!" Snotlout groaned as he pulled his shirt back on, wincing as the fabric caught on the sensitive skin of his newly cleaned wound. "What is she going on about now?"
Tengan cocked her head to get a better view of the symbols, her eyes squinting in concentration. When studying under Gothi, you either learned how to read her scribbles or to dodge her staff. In Tengan's case, you learned a good mix of both. "She says the twins found something, no someONE while harassing the fishing boats… wait seriously?!"
"What?" Snotlout forced his head over Tengan's shoulder, trying to decipher the scribbles on his own.
"She said," Tengan grunted, shouldering Snotlout out of the way again. "That the twins fished Johann out of the sea."
"Bet you stall cleaning duty he takes three hours to tell us what happened." Snotlout sniggered.
In hindsight, Tengan mused once the group had been gathered in the Academy, she should have taken the bet. In an unnatural display of conciseness, Johann had informed them of Dagur's escape, the theft of his ship, and the dangers as well as the treasures of the ship graveyard in only a handful of sentences. She had to pinch herself to be sure she hadn't dreamt the rather deft explanation.
"From the way he was talking, Hiccup," The shaken trader concluded. "It sounded like you were number one on his list."
Hiccup nodded thoughtfully, his eyes glued to the detailed map Tengan had gifted the Academy last Snoggletog. He lightly traced the corners and along the borders where she had drawn dense cloud banks to symbolize the edges of their explored territory. "If he really was headed to the graveyard, that's still farther than we've ever gone before." An almost visible wave of energy seemed to radiate through the teen. "Johann, is there anything else we should know before heading out?"
"Yes." Johann nodded frantically. "There is one ship you should avoid above all else. It's called The Reaper. Riddled with booby traps. Barely made it out alive the first and only time I ventured aboard."
Hiccup nodded, a telltale smirk on his face. "Ok. Toothless and I are heading out now. Unless any of you can make time out of your oh-so-busy schedules to come along?"
Tengan scoffed, tossing the crazed mop of curls on her head. "If you think for one moment we'd let you have all the fun on this one you've gone insane. Rumble and I still have unfinished business with Dagur."
Rumble lifted his wings slightly and growled as lightning danced across his scales.
Tengan glanced at the rest of her friends, excited to see a similar fire behind each pair of eyes. It really had been much too long since the Dragon Riders of Berk had flown a mission.
After dropping the still somewhat shaken Johann off at Gothi's for some rest and rehabilitation, the crew took to the skies. The dragons, clearly overjoyed at being reunited as a flock, seemed to push themselves. Each flap had more energy, each turn sharper and more precise than the riders could remember happening in recent weeks. Several times one would call out with a low roar or playful growl and be met with an echo of similarly joyous responses.
The flight, while pushing them beyond their typical routes and distances, seemed to slip by quickly. Hiccup, unable to hide his grin, directed the teens into several formations and maneuvers, some of which had not been attempted in at least six or seven months. For the most part, everyone had remembered their hand signals and flight positions. It almost felt as if they had just wrapped up their war with the Outcasts yesterday. Especially when Snotlout and Hookfang tore through the ranks, corkscrewing through the clouds as the Monstrous Nightmare left a flaming trail in his wake.
Tengan laughed, allowing her body to rock back in the saddle before leaning forward to caress Rumble's thick neck. "I had forgotten how much I missed this." She whispered in her dragon's ear. "What do you say we remind Snotlout what real firepower looks like?"
Even with the playful sparring matches and mild diversions, the group sailed over the first few broken masts as the full moon began to climb into the sky, casting a silvery light on the dark water below.
"Everyone fan out!" Hiccup called. "And if you see any trace of Dagur, send a signal!"
Tengan nodded one and, leaning to the left side of her saddle, directed Rumble away from the group as she kept her eyes glued to the waters down below. Twice she had to urge her dragon higher as the large shadows of the fish just below the surface seemed to draw him in. After a few minutes of slow circling, she spotted an older ship that still seemed mostly intact. "That could be a potential hiding place. Let's check it out boy."
As Rumble touched down on the creaking ship, Tengan slid carefully out of the saddle and padded across the deck. Her ears strained to pick up any unnatural sound, she carefully tiptoed to an open doorway on the aft end of the ship. Peeking inside, she jumped and retracted her head quickly as several hulking masses came into view from inside the cabin.
Rumble, reacting to his rider's flinch, leapt forward and roared into the doorway, challenging any to try to best them.
Several tense moments passed with no response coming from inside the ship. Drawing her sword as a precaution, Tengan eased past her dragon and poked her head back into the room. As the moonlight filtered in behind them she sighed in relief. What she had taken for burly men were simply rows of armor stands, each with a unique design and material. Stowing her weapon, she retrieved a small roll of parchment and piece of charcoal from Rumble's pack before heading in. At each new row he paused to take quick notes on the clothing and sketch any coat of arms she came across. "Remind me to ask Johann about these when we get back, ok boy?" She murmured quietly to Rumble, who anxiously guarded the door as he was too bulky to force his way inside.
Continuing down the rows, she stopped and shuddered as a familiar emerald scale pattern met her eyes. "Oh gods." she whispered in disgust. "Most of these are made from dragon hide." Her eyes raked over the armor sets once more, her scowl deepening as she identified several species from the remnants of skin and wing membrane on display. "Let's get out of here." She sneered, stowing her notes away and scrambling back into Rumble's saddle. It took little to no time to find the others. They had all seemingly been drawn to a relatively undamaged ship resting in the shadow of the largest, arguably best preserved vessel floating silently in the dead center of the graveyard. The Reaper.
"No sign of Dagur?" Hiccup asked Tengan as Rumble landed among the others. He sighed at the small shake of her head.
"Looks like we got here first." Astrid yawned, shrugging her shoulders. "So what's the plan?"
"We wait." Hiccup asserted, his face set.
"B-But for how long?" Fishlegs stammered. "This fog really gives Meatlug the willies."
"He does have a point." Astrid added quietly. "We can't wait around here forever."
"We can't just leave Johann's treasures undefended!" Hiccup gestured wildly at their surroundings. "Dagur will steal them!"
"And he could use a lot of the items to rebuild his armada." Tengan added darkly. "There's armor and weapons for an entire battalion on just one of the ships. Plus, whatever he can't use, he can sell."
"Not if we steal them first…" Ruffnut said slyly, eyes glancing from ship to ship.
"Ruff, that is actually a great idea!" Hiccup brightened. "Let's search the ships and bring back as much as we can to Berk. But keep an eye out for Dagur. He could turn up at any time."
Whatever Snotlout was going to add was cut off as an unearthly chorus of loud hissing rose from the dark water. Loud splashes and wet thuds along the ship's hull accompanied the eerie cries.
"Woah Dagur's voice has really changed over the years." Tuffnut mused mildly.
Hiccup ran to a large hole in the tall side of the ship and peered over. "Not Dagur! Eels! Everyone get to your dragons before they're spooked!"
Too late. With the exception of Toothless, who despite his best efforts could not get any sustainable altitude without his rider, and Rumble, who was drooling all over the deck at the thought of a late night snack, the Academy's dragons had taken off. Within several wingbeats they had disappeared into the fog banks. Not a single one had even glanced back at the teens they had left stranded.
They barely had time to process the betrayal before the absolute largest eel Tengan had ever seen flopped the upper part of its body onto the ship's deck. It's body was as thick around one of Hookfang's thighs and it had teeth longer than most throwing knives.
Rumble, roaring greedily, charged the eel and sank his teeth into the soft flesh just behind the skull, The slimy sea creature thrashed wildly for several moments, crying out in agony, before shuddering to a halt, dark blood seeping from it's still mouth. Rumble, losing grip on his prize as the dead eel's weight started to slide back in the water, tore several large chunks from the slimy carcass before it crashed into the sea.
The other eels, startled by the torn remnants of one of their numbers, quickly retreated from the boat. Within moments the water had calmed once more. For several moments the only sound was the occasional crunch as Rumble happily gorged himself.
"Pardon me." Snotlout spoke up in a falsely cheery voice. "Does anyone else think that Johann should have warned us about the GIANT SCREAMING EELS!"
Hiccup sighed, barely looking up as he fought to calm Toothless. "Will you relax? The dragons will be back. In the meantime we stick to the plan. Tengan and I can drop you each off at a different ship. We'll have to take turns ferrying all of the supplies back here. The important thing is we find all of Johann's treasure. Quietly."
Tengan, after dropping Snotlout and Fishlegs off on nearby, relatively whole wrecks, made her way back to the ship littered with dragon-hide armor. Grimacing at the morbid clothing, she got to work hauling each piece out onto the deck, doing her best to pile the similar designs and types of armor together. She was immensely grateful that Rumble, although apparently equally disgusted with the armor, had been willing to help by taking the heavier items from her once she dragged them close enough to the open doorway.
"You know." She teased after several minutes of struggling with a chest full of dragon tooth maces. "This would be a lot easier if you were a Timberjack. Or a Typhoomerang. Or hell, even a Scauldron. Something with a longer neck." She teased lightly as she gave up on the chest and returned to collapse against her Skrill's side. "But I like you best as you are." She added lovingly as Rumble huffed into her face, the air surrounding his breath tingling her skin. Sighing, Tengan let her head lean against Rumble's warm shoulder as she peered at the wavy bands of early morning light as the Sun began to break over the horizon. "You know I forgot how most of these adventures usually turned into all nighters. That I could have done without."
"Over here!" A gruff voice sounded from behind a large piece of wreckage. "I thought I heard something!"
Tengan's head whipped up as she stared off towards the source of the noise. Silently, she clambered onto Rumble's back and urged him to take off into the nearby fog. As they slipped into cover, she could just make out a familiar vessel that, until very recently, belonged to the trader currently being nursed back to health in Gothi's cabin. "That looks like some of Dagur's men." She whispered venomously, reaching down to quiet Rumble's growls with a calm hand. "Let's head back towards the Reaper. See if we can't at least warn Hiccup."
They slipped as quietly as they could through the fog cover. As Tengan began to dip below it, she jerked Rumble to a halt as the deck came back into view. "Dragon dung." she cursed in a harsh whisper.
Dagur had apparently already rounded up the rest of her friends and had penned them into one of the large metal cages scattered on the deck of the Reaper. Hiccup and Toothless stood across from him, both dragon and rider tense.
Tengan, unsure of the situation, silently glided in circles above the commotion, craning her neck to catch snippets of conversation as it floated up to her.
"Did you miss me? Because-" Dagur's taunting voice cut off as a small gust of wind buffeted Rumble's wings.
"-you want?" Hiccup's reply sounded terse.
For a moment, Tengan lost the conversation as Rumble shifted course after a slight breeze from the dragon's wings erased a bit of their cover.
"-with a group, as always." Dagur's taunting reply cut through the wind. "You seem to be missing one? Where's that girl who stole my Skrill?"
"Went home." Hiccup lied quickly. "Haven't seen her, or the dragon, in years actually."
Before any more of the conversation could carry, Tengan caught sight of one of the men glancing upwards towards a patch of sunlight reflecting off of Rumble's scales. Banking sharply upward, they were forced to climb deep into the cloud cover before circling again. "Easy boy." Tengan loosened her sword in its sheath, squeezing the grip with nervous fingers. "Let's wait it out. We have the element of surprise. Let's watch and see what Hiccup does."
From their height, whenever the wind blew enough to allow glimpses through the cloud cover, the people below seemed scarcely larger than Terrible Terrors. Nervously, Tengan kept her eyes trained on them until, after the light wind granted another quick glimpse through the fog, it appeared several people had clambered onto the stolen trader ship and taken off. Hiccup and Toothless had followed close behind.
"That looks like our cue. Let's check on the others." Tengan urged Rumble into a quiet glide down to the Reaper's deck. "Are you all alright?" She asked urgently as she tried in vain to force the cage door open.
"Yeah, but I think Hiccup hit his head." Tuffnut mused. "He forgot you came back with us! He told Dagur you left ages ago."
"Do you want me to break it to him or you?" Tengan whispered playfully to Astrid as she continued to struggle against the door. "Also, what is going on with Snotlout?"
"He found a stash of hair." Astrid groaned as she threw her weight against the cage as well. "Don't ask."
Tengan opened her mouth to do just that when a large boulder crashed through the deck of the ship, feet from where Rumble had been watching over their struggles. Water began bubbling upwards around them and soon the telltale scratch of the giant eels could be heard from the depths below.
Within seconds of the crash Hiccup had returned, his face anxious. "Tengan! Glad you made it back."
"What's going on?" She shot back, alternating between peering at the splashing water growing ever closer to the deck, and throwing her body against the metal bars. "We can't get the door open!"
"Everything on this ship looks like it was built to hunt and trap dragons." Hiccup said urgently as he detached his leg to wedge the metal foot pad in the cage's locking mechanism. "Dagur stole something valuable we found down below. We need to get after him once everyone is free."
"Do you want me to go after him now?" Tengan stood back to let him work. "We won't attack directly without you. Just show ourselves and taunt him into staying nearby. Or we could deal with the eels. Rumble is the only other dragon we have right now and he's our only eel eater."
Hiccup groaned. "I don't know. If we can't get this cage open the others are in trouble but if Dagur gets away with that object… I'm not sure what it is but it can't spell anything good for dragons or vikings if it ends up in the wrong hands."
"It's a gamble either way." Tengan peeked over her shoulder nervously as the ship began to tip towards the water. The eels circled below, temporarily kept at bay while Rumble paced back and forth on the deck, licking his chops in anticipation.
Thankfully, the ship lurched from the weight of the water at just the right moment, sending the captive teens colliding with the door as Hiccup forced his weight against the lock. The combined effort knocked the door wide open. All of the commotion, coupled with the Rider's cries of surprise, seemed to have drawn the attention of their remaining hurried over from behind a large sea stack, eyeing the circling eels with considerable anxiety. The teens, not wanting to give their partners any chance to second guess their return, quickly mounted and took off.
"Any idea which way Dagur went?" Astrid called out to the others as she scanned the area, squinting into the still dense fog.
Tengan, struggling to encourage Rumble not to double back for another snack of eel throat, grunted as they leveled off. "I think I saw him headed east. It will be hard to catch him by surprise. We'll be flying into the Sun. Even through the fog he'll see us before we see him."
Hiccup grinned. "Maybe we could use that distraction after all! What do you say, you up for it?"
Tengan rolled her eyes playfully, a smirk on her lips. "Oh, I may have thought about this once or twice on the flight over. See you all in a moment!" Leaning low in the saddle, she urged Rumble into a lax dive, squinting at the blinding light of the rising star, despite the omnipresent haze diluting some of its strength. Utilizing the sparse shade from wrecked boats and nearby sea stacks to gather her bearings, it thankfully only took a few minutes to locate the retreating ship. It had just begun to pull away from the final line of wrecks and out towards the open ocean. Taking a deep breath, she bellowed over the water. "Oi! Dagur! I heard Hiccup was at the top of your revenge list!" Urging Rumble faster, they swept past the ship and slowed to a halt, hovering just beyond crossbow range off the port side. "I have to say I'm disappointed." She pouted, arms crossed in front of her chest. "I thought we had something special. Did all our past meetings mean nothing to you?!"
Dagur's manic laugh floated through the air as he threw his arms wide. "I KNEW Hiccup was lying!" His eyes flicked between the small cylindrical object in his hands and Rumble several times in rapid succession. He dropped his arm loosely to his side, grinning viciously at the dragon and rider. "Good to see you've been taking such good care of my Skrill."
Tengan smirked, making sure to stay well out of range of the armed men aiming carefully at her as Rumble hissed. "When will you learn Dagur?" She teased, propping her head up on one hand while gesturing lazily with the other. "Rumble never was and never will be yours. We're just here to put you back where you belong; in a small, dark cell on Outcast Island!"
"I'd like to see you try!" The Berserker shouted, shaking both fists above his head in fury.
As the small object whipped through the air in his hands, Toothless shot out of the closest fog bank, twisting to momentarily fly upside down as Hiccup snateched the object out of Dagur's hands. The pair quickly climbed out of bow range, laughing as they disappeared back into the fog's cover.
Tengan laughed as she followed suit, slowing down only long enough to holler over her shoulder. "You know what, I think I'll take a raincheck on that!"
Dagur's crazed shouts echoed through the muggy air as Toothless and Rumble navigated back to the group. "GOOD FOR YOU HICCUP! BUT I'VE GOT ALL THE GOLD! YOU HEAR ME?! ALL! THE! GOLD!"
Tengan shook her head in exasperation as the pair rejoined the group and began the long flight back to Berk. "He has a point you know." She said seriously after several minutes of quiet. "Unless we recapture him soon he'll be able to rebuild his armada. I hope whatever we took back from him was worth more than all of Johann's wares."
"Me too." Hiccup confided as he glanced between the worried faces of his friends and down at the ornate cylinder lying flaccid in his palm. "Only one way to find out."
"After we've all had a chance to sleep." Tengan added firmly. "There is no way we're falling back into our old patterns of two to three all-nighters a week."
"Fair enough." Hiccup chuckled in a weary sort of way.
A/N: I'm going to try to have another chapter posted this Saturday (July 18th). From that point on I'll try to keep a consistent upload schedule of either Saturday or Sunday.