Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD
A/N: The idea of the dragons training humans in the kill ring is borrowed from Fizzlemcschnizzle's excellent story 'Hookfang's Tale'. This takes place before the events of 'Dragon Soul', not long after 'One of Us'.
I'm not actually all that happy with this chapter, but I still felt the need to write it. Just a little something to tide you guys over ;)
Two Sides
If there was one major benefit to being heart bound, understanding dragons would definitely be a top contender. The only real downside was that old habits died hard, and the dragons tended to talk over their riders.
This meant that Hiccup was trying to get used to sometimes hearing two conversations at once; or rather, hearing human conversations, and 'seeing' the dragon's thought-speak in his mind's eye. It was like having someone else's thoughts imposed in his own head, and was a decidedly bizarre experience.
He and his friends were gathered in the training ring, but for some reason, Ruff and Tuff had come in arguing fervently over…Odin knew what. Yet only Hiccup knew that Barf&Belch were bickering as well, trading insults back and forth.
"Ugly son of a troll!"
*Rotten egg for brains!*
"Hideous she-hag!"
*Putrid breath!*
"Mutton-headed snivelling wretch!"
*Snaggle-toothed snake!*
"Foul haired devil spawn!"
*Hatchling of a worm!*
"SHUT UP!" Astrid yelled at the top of her lungs. The twins and their dragon all stopped and stared at her. She breathed hard for a few moments and then demanded, "What in the name of all the gods are you two idiots arguing over this time?"
Ruff and Tuff looked at her as if they genuinely had no idea what she was talking about. Then again, that was sort of typical for them. "We're not arguing" Ruffnut answered, as if it were obvious.
"Yeah, we were just having an insult competition" Tuffnut shrugged. He looked over at Snotlout and asked, "So who won? It was me, right? I totally had better insults than her" he said dismissively, sneering at his sister, who scowled at him.
Thinking quickly, she turned to their reluctant judge and said "Hey, Snotlout, if you make me the winner, I'll…let you hold my hand later." He'd been trying to court her lately…probably because with Astrid taken and Heather being on Berserker Island, he wasn't exactly spoiled for choice. Ruffnut wasn't exactly keen…she had her heart set on some muscled hunk, and it felt weird since she'd known Snotlout for years and he'd never shown the slightest bit of interest in her before now. Still, maybe she could use it to her advantage.
Sure enough, Snotlout immediately declared "Ruffnut wins!" Thus prompting Tuffnut to complain about fairness and impartiality and "I told you we should have had Hiccup judge it!"
Everyone rolled their eyes. Toothless looked up at the Twin-Head and remarked, *I can't believe you were insulting each other just because your riders were.*
Barf&Belch looked at each other, and then down at Toothless. *If Hiccup jumped off a cliff* Barf began.
*Wouldn't you jump off too?* finished Belch.
*I'd have to, to rescue him!*
*Don't tell us not to* -
*-Copy our riders then.*
"Can you two focus?" Astrid demanded of the twins. "Hiccup called us out here for a reason."
"Uh, two questions" Snotlout drawled, "One, why are we still training? It's been five years, I'm pretty sure we've got the dragon riding thing down pat. Two, what's the point of you even being here?" he asked Hiccup, "You're grounded. What's the point of dragon training when you can't fly your dragon?"
"Well to answer your questions, Snotlout, we're not training, and I'm not flying. See, my dad wants to know exactly how many dragons are on Berk, so I…volunteered us to take a census" Hiccup told them. Everyone except Fishlegs groaned. "Oh, don't be like that. Look, to make it easier, you just have to count the kind of dragon you ride. So, Snotlout, you count the Nightmares, Astrid is on Nadders, Fishlegs counts the Gronckles and the twins count the Zipplebacks. Then we just have to add all the tallies up. Simple."
His friends did not look impressed. "Your census will be easy" Ruffnut scoffed, "seeing as the Night Fury tally is a grand total of one."
"What about those two Furies who followed him back from Myrkr?"
"That's much better, Fishface, now the tally is up to three."
"Guys, please! I've already counted all your dragons, Skull Crusher, Grump and Toothless; Selena and Shadow don't count, cos they don't really live here, they're just visiting" explained Hiccup.
"So which dragon breed are you going to count, oh glorious leader?"
"I'll count the Terrors."
Snotlout smirked. "Wow. Sucks to be you – I wouldn't wanna try and do a tally of Terrible Terrors on foot. Especially since, you know…" He pointed at Hiccup's prosthetic and mimed limping. Hiccup rolled his eyes, used to the insensitivity.
"Y'know, it's funny you should mention that. I was thinking, we haven't done one of Astrid's 'independent survival' sessions for a while…" he said thoughtfully. The others – except Astrid this time – looked horrified. "This would be a good chance to practise dealing with wilder dragons when our own aren't around to defend us. Like you said, Snotlout, we're all capable – with or without our dragons."
Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins all groaned. "Two of us are capable without our dragons" Snotlout corrected, "and who is gonna make sure they don't follow us? We all know Toothless isn't gonna stay put. Hang on…I bet you want to keep an eye on them, mister 'grounded for a month.' You're just trying to get out of doing the census!" he accused Hiccup.
"I'm not!" Hiccup protested quickly. "But like you said, it isn't really fair if I'm walking and you guys get to ride."
"That's not what I meant and you know it."
Fishlegs grimaced. "Doing a dragon census on foot is gonna take forever" he complained. "Can't they just come to keep us company? We promise not to ride them" he added hopefully.
Astrid watched Hiccup squirm, but before he could cave and agree to let the dragons come along, she stepped in. "We know you wouldn't ride Meatlug, but the same can't be said for some of us" she said, looking pointedly at the twins. "As for how we get them to stay, we can just put them in their pens for a while. Toothless can share with Stormfly" she suggested.
"Or, y'know, we could just tell them to stay here" Hiccup said hastily. "They're all well trained, after all."
"Hookfang isn't."
"Shut up, Tuffnut!"
Fishlegs looked puzzled. "I don't remember teaching our dragons a 'stay' command" he remarked, scratching his head.
"Well, we can teach them now. Here, I'll go first. Toothless?" He waited until he had the dragon's attention, and said firmly, "Wait", along with a hand signal just to make it look authentic. Then he turned and walked away.
"He's following you."
Hiccup looked back to see that Toothless was indeed padding after him. "No, Toothless, wait" he insisted. Then he tried again, but…
"Still following."
He gave Toothless an annoyed look. Come on, bud, play along. Toothless purred amusement at him. *Say the magic word* he advised.
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Hiccup tried one more time. "Toothless, wait, please." This time, the dragon obediently sat down and didn't follow Hiccup even when he walked right out of the arena.
*Good human* he teased when Hiccup came back, *Learning to say 'please'.*
The other dragons played the same trick, refusing to obey the command until their riders said 'please'. Fishlegs and Astrid caught on first, then the twins. Snotlout was the most stubborn, but when Hookfang flattened him with his tail, he gave in and said the magic word. "I'll see you soon, bud" Hiccup told Toothless, as he and the others left the arena.
Not long after they'd gone, Stormfly called out *You can come out!*
Selena and Shadow appeared at the edge of the arena and jumped down into it. *So this is where your riders train you?* Selena asked, sniffing around curiously.
*Or to put it another way, it's where we train our riders* Hookfang replied.
Shadow yawned. *Where is Hiccup? I thought he'd be here* he remarked.
*He'll be back* Toothless said confidently. Sure enough, it wasn't long before Hiccup slipped back into the arena, looking over his shoulder even as he walked down the slope into the pit. *Did anyone follow you?* asked Toothless.
"I don't think so. I feel kind of bad about ditching them like this" he admitted, squirming uncomfortably. He had already counted the Biters – it was just a matter of going to each cluster (1) and counting all the individuals, then adding them all up. He wanted to hang out with the dragons, but he wouldn't be able to during the day unless he went behind his friend's backs.
That didn't mean he wanted to, but Toothless stubbornly refused to let him out in the middle of the night again after he'd gotten sick. The dragon had become even more over-protective now that they were heart bound.
*So what do we do now?* asked Hookfang.
Hiccup shrugged. "I figured we could just chat, eat…play 'chase the light spot'…" He tilted a shield to reflect the sunlight off the iron boss in the centre. He tilted it back and forth, making the blob of reflected light wiggle invitingly.
Shadow gave a dismissive snort. *Chasing things that can't be caught is a hatchling's game. We're all full grown, we're not going to do something as silly as try to pounce on something that isn't there* he insisted.
Hiccup jerked the shield, making the light spot dart away – and Toothless lunged after it. "So much for full-grown" Hiccup teased, sniggering.
*Really, Toothless?*
*And you wonder why I call you a cat?*
Toothless' eyes narrowed. *So what if I like chasing the spot? Besides, you said snow surfing was a game for hatchlings and you had fun with that…don't judge me* he grumbled. Then he licked Hiccup repeatedly, to get revenge for the teasing. Hiccup spluttered and tried to fend him off with the shield and finally gave in, exclaiming "Okay, okay! I'm sorry!"
Selena was still exploring the arena, prowling around the perimeter. *What are all these big cages for?* she asked, sniffing at the metal bars covering one of the pens. Shadow tensed, whole body screaming wary.
*I thought you said the humans here didn't trap dragons* he growled uneasily.
"We don't! We just…used to" Hiccup admitted, squirming uncomfortably again.
Toothless reminded his brother, *We did tell you that Hiccup's people used to be at war with the dragons here. This used to be where the young Vikings would train to fight the dragons that were raiding back then* he explained.
*That's not right!* Barf protested.
*It's where we trained humans to fight us!* Belch continued.
Selena cocked her head to the side. *Isn't that what Toothless said?*
*Yes!*
*No!*
The Twin-Head began bickering with himself (themselves?); Stormfly rolled her eyes and shook herself, rattling her spikes. *You're both right. The humans trained their fledglings to fight us, and we were doing the same. Apart from Toothless, all of us were trapped here, before Hiccup and his friends rode us into battle against Her.* She and the other Berk dragons flinched reflexively.
Hiccup flinched a bit as well, but for a very different reason. He didn't like to think about how his friends dragons – his friends – had once been prisoners here. How they had been condemned to death. Back then, the village had been struggling enough without having imprisoned dragons to feed, and back then the dragons had been all but starved. One by one, they'd all have been slain – either by the 'students', or by the chief himself.
"I'm sorry" he heard himself saying. He looked around at his dragon friends and apologised, "I'm really sorry. What we did to you was wrong, and someone should apologise for that. Especially to you, Hookfang. I never wanted to kill you" he promised, reaching up to the Fire-Scale.
Hookfang rumbled indulgently, and pressed his snout against Hiccup's palm. *I didn't really want to kill you either. Well, maybe a little bit, but not since.*
"Thanks for summing that up" Hiccup snarked. His curiosity got the better of him, and he inquired "What do you guys mean, you were training us? I mean, we were…really mean to you." That's an understatement. "I'm kinda surprised you didn't just burn us all to crisps – uh, but I'm glad you didn't, obviously."
Meatlug crooned worry-concern, asking *Did you really think we would hurt fledglings? Maybe if we were mindless, but we weren't. Didn't you notice how we were careful to never really hurt you?*
Hiccup thought about it, and realised she was right. The dragons could have killed him and his friends easily, but they had held back, always firing at the shields, roaring at the trainees to intimidate them instead of using brute force. Hookfang laughed, a rasping in his throat. *It's about time you caught on! Meatlug told us what you did the first time she faced you. Meatlug, spew!*
The Rock-Tail just stared at him, growling, until Hookfang added *Please.* Then she obligingly spat a globule of magma onto the ground a few feet away.
*See how quickly she did that?* Hookfang asked Hiccup, before saying *Okay 'Lug, now do what you did back in the ring that day.*
Meatlug rolled her eyes, and began to gather another blast. Her maw glowed, and glowed…finally the penny dropped. "Hey, no fair! I was cornered, and scared!" Hiccup protested, realising what they were getting at. "People freeze up when they're scared, it's a perfectly natural reaction!"
*I suppose* Hookfang mused, *That must be why rabbits in the forest go so still when I corner them, right before I eat them. It's very amusing. Rather stupid, though, if you ask me.*
Meatlug rumbled an apology, trotting over to nuzzle Hiccup. *I'm sorry about that. I thought you were just going to duck or something. I didn't realise you really couldn't move* she explained. He petted her and assured her, "No hard feelings. Huh…now that I think about it, of course you guys weren't under the Red Death's control; but why? Was it just because you were knocked out, like Toothless was?"
Stormfly explained, *Queens and Alphas can command their subjects, but only over a range, and it only goes so far. When She commanded us to raid, she somehow spread her range out even further. Then she pulled us back when she couldn't do that anymore. Any dragons who were downed on the islands we raided were left behind and freed from her mind-snare; not that it did them much good, of course.*
*The more we fed the Fire-Giant, the stronger her Will became* declared Belch.
*The stronger her Will became, the further she could reach it* continued Barf.
*The further she could reach it, the more she could make us feed her.*
*The more we fed her, the stronger her Will became.*
*The stronger her Will became* -
"Yes, yes, you said that bit already" Hiccup said hastily. Then he admitted, "I still don't get it. If you guys were in your right minds, and you didn't want to hurt us…why didn't you just, y'know, not fight?" he wondered.
Of all the reactions he could have gotten, laughter wasn't one of them. *You say that like we had a choice!* Stormfly exclaimed, chattering with mirth, *You poor, sweet little human. You all had axes and spears and other sharp, stabby things. What were we supposed to do; stand there and let you attack us? Hide in our pens and refuse to come out?*
"Uh…"
*Those lessons were the only time we could get out of our cages* she continued, *So we played along. We didn't think we had much choice.*
It made sense, and it made Hiccup shrivel inside. Back then they'd all thought dragons were nothing but mindless beasts; the Vikings wouldn't have noticed if the dragons had tried to prove they were just as aware as humans. Stormfly scented his shame and snuffled his hair. *I'm sorry, Hiccup. I didn't mean to make you feel bad* she chirped.
He scratched under her chin and replied, "Don't worry about it. I still don't…if you couldn't show us you weren't monsters, then what were you training us to do? You said to fight you, but why? And how?"
*Did we say fight?*
*We meant kill.*
*What?!* Shadow all but shrieked. *Is every dragon on this island crazy? Why would you want to be killed?*
*We didn't want to be, but it was-*
*-The only way we could defeat Her. Isn't it obvious?*
Selena admitted, *Not really. You're talking about your old Queen, right? How would you getting killed help defeat her?* she asked, puzzled.
*It wouldn't* Hookfang said bluntly, *but we were all doomed anyway, so deciding that our deaths would somehow be useful made us feel better.*
Stormfly swatted at him with her wing. *Really, 'Fang?* she croaked indignantly, before turning to Hiccup, Selena and Shadow. *See, after we'd gotten to grips with, you know, realising our whole lives up to that moment was a lie…and being captured…Nipper told us we had to stop Her.*
"Who's Nipper?" Hiccup couldn't help but ask.
*I am!* a higher pitched voice squeaked imperiously. It was coming from the top of Barf's head – he rolled his eyes up to try and peer at the Biter perched there. *I am Nipper* the tiny dragon declared once more, puffing his chest out with self-importance. Then Belch knocked him off his perch, and he flew around their heads, shrieking. The Twin-Head snapped at him.
"Guys, don't!" Hiccup exclaimed, raising his hands. Nipper dived down and landed on one. "C'mon, he's smaller than you. Don't be mean" he scolded B&B. Now that he had a better look at Nipper, he realised "Hey, you look like my friend Sharpshot."
*We're twins* Nipper chirped by way of explanation.
"Nice to meet you. Oh, wait, I know you! You're the Terror my friends and I had to fight when…err…sorry about that" Hiccup said sheepishly, "Please don't bite my nose."
*From what he told us, you never really fought him* remarked Meatlug, gurgling amusement. *You just distracted him and sent him back into his cage.*
"Yeah…sorry. But uh, Nipper, these guys were saying you told them they had to help defeat the Queen. What's all that about?" Hiccup asked curiously.
Nipper explained, *Us Biters free. Never caught by Her. Too small. Too small to get food. Too small to be threats! Tried and tried and tried to get big dragons to stop, but never could. Too small!* He roared a bit and flapped his wings.
"Oh…the Red Death never controlled you guys" Hiccup realised. "That explains why Toothless and I saw a cluster after our first successful flight – I think it was your cluster, actually, I'm sure the Terror – um, Biter – we saw was Sharpshot. Um, sorry, I'm rambling. Go on" he prompted.
Nipper licked his eyeball, but before he could continue, Hookfang groaned *Just let us tell you. If you let him tell you, it will take all day.*
The miniature dragon growled at the Fire-Scale…but the growls soon became purrs, as Hiccup scratched him under the chin. He cradled the Biter against his chest with one arm; Nipper wriggled onto his back so Hiccup could scratch his stomach. The young man met Hookfang's bulbous yellow eyes and challenged, "Well, go on then."
Hookfang snorted at him. *Nipper was here before any of us* he explained. *He told us you Vikings had put us here to teach their fledglings how to fight and kill our kinds. The only way to stop Her was to make her starve, he said, and the only way to make her starve was if the dragons she forced to raid were all dead. We had to help you fledglings learn how to fight us, so you would grow up and kill dragons and starve the Queen.*
Everyone stared at him. Finally, Shadow announced *That is the most insane thing I have ever heard.*
B&B retorted *Like you could* -
*Do better!*
He rounded on them and snarled *Of course I can! How long were you trying to starve this Queen of yours? It clearly wasn't working. Do you know what would have worked? Killing the humans. If you had killed them, then your pack would have had no one to raid, no food to give your Queen. It would have worked a lot more quickly* Shadow declared firmly.
Then he looked around, and realised a lot of them were glaring at him. Feeling cornered, he hissed and drew his shoulders up defensively. *What? I'm just saying…* Shadow trailed off when he remembered Hiccup was right there, and he had just suggested these dragons the human called friends should have killed him and his pack. Suddenly, the Swift-Wing felt like a worm. *Sorry, Hiccup* he grunted, ear-flaps lowering contritely. *I shouldn't have said that.*
*No, you shouldn't have* Toothless glared at him. *It wouldn't have worked anyway. Think about it – she could have still made us catch fish, and the sheep we used to steal would have just kept breeding without the humans there. If all the humans had left, it wouldn't have changed anything. I much prefer the way we actually defeated her* he crooned, nuzzling Hiccup.
His other half smiled and nuzzled him back. "It's okay, Shadow" he told the Fury who was now fidgeting and refusing to meet anyone's eyes. "I can see why you'd…well, the important thing is that all that's over now. It's funny, back then we didn't expect my dad to actually let us use this place. I bet Mildew was livid."
*Who or what is Mildew?* asked Selena.
The dragons from Berk all made various noises of disgust or disdain. "Mildew was this horrible old guy who used to live here on Berk. He hated the dragons and he tried everything he could to get rid of them."
*He made Hiccup's sire tell him and his friends to lock us all up* Meatlug crooned sadly.
*He made them abandon us all on Dragon Island* Stormfly revealed, ruffling her spikes indignantly.
*He planted the blue-death flower all over this nest, so we all got sick!* Hookfang snarled, flaming up. *If Hiccup hadn't gotten the Steam-Spitter venom to cure us, we would have died!*
Toothless gave a low growl. *He made the other humans think I was angering their gods, so they tried to banish me.* Hiccup stroked him reassuringly – to reassure them both. The memory of his best friend being chained up – again – and dragged away from him was one he'd not soon forget. He remembered how Toothless had given the entire village the cold shoulder (2), even when they brought tons of apology fish, until he'd convinced his dad to have that awful trap/harness destroyed.
*He sounds awful!* Selena crooned sympathetically.
*He sure does. I don't get it; if this old human was so horrible, why did any of your pack listen to him?* Shadow asked Hiccup.
Before he could answer, Hookfang squawked *Because they're insane! My sire always said humans are crazy. They get so much wrong. They don't just bare their teeth to show they're happy instead of angry, they treat the offspring of their Alpha like the omega and listen more to the human who should be lowest on the pecking order. It's all the wrong way round! Why don't we all be the wrong thing? Look at me, everyone! I'm a bird!* He cawed like a crow, and Hiccup burst out giggling.
When he'd caught his breath, Hiccup admitted, "I guess it doesn't really make sense, does it? It's just…I mean, nobody actually liked Mildew. He just had a way of riling the villagers up. They shouldn't have scapegoated you guys, but my dad…he has to do what he feels is best for the village. He's the chief – the alpha – first, and my dad second. It's always been like that.
"As for me…they did care, in their own way. I kept screwing things up. Not on purpose, obviously, but you can't really blame them for thinking I was…useless" he sighed, idly scratching the little Biter in his arms. Nipper had fallen asleep and was snoring.
Toothless nuzzled and licked him. *We don't think you're useless.*
*You made this place a lot more bearable when we were fighting here* Stormfly told him kindly.
Meatlug purred *You were the first human to ever be kind to us. And you gave us dragon nip…* She rumbled contentment at the mere thought.
*And we're over-*
*-the eel thing.*
Hiccup beamed at them all. "Thanks, guys. Oh, I wish the others could hear you. All this time…think of what we could do, if we could talk to you all the time!"
*I think we've done a pretty good job so far* remarked Toothless. *So, do you think you'll tell them?* he asked.
Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and shrugged. "I dunno…I'll tell my dad, and Astrid, and maybe Gobber…I don't know about the others. I just…don't think I can tell them about the heart bind yet. I don't know how" he confessed. As if conversations with his father weren't awkward enough. Hey dad, funny story, whilst we were in Myrkr this guy stabbed me and Toothless bound our life forces together so I'll live as long as he does and Night Furies live for about three hundred years so yeah…
*There's no rush. You can tell them when you're ready* Toothless assured him.
Ever curious, Selena asked *Does Steam-Spitter venom really cure the blue-death flower sickness? We should tell Ekeren that when we go home. What do humans call Steam-Spitters, Hiccup?*
"We call them Scauldrons. And yeah, their venom can be used as an antidote, but for it to work you have to make anti-venom, and that would be kind of tricky for you guys (3). We, uh, usually use a sheep, but…" He trailed off awkwardly.
*But what?* Selena prompted. They were all looking at him curiously.
Hiccup grimaced. "Yeah, you guys really aren't gonna like this…Gobber kinda got the anti-venom…out of Mildew's butt" he winced.
The dragons stared at him. There was a pregnant pause. Then Hookfang demanded *Are you telling us we drank a cure that came out of that awful human's backside?*
Hiccup cringed. "Um…yes?"
That did it – all the dragons except for Selena and Shadow started gagging and dry heaving. Even the two Night Furies looked disgusted. Hiccup, on the other hand, was struggling not to laugh at the sight. "If it makes you guys feel any better, it wasn't exactly a fun experience for him either."
Toothless flopped his tongue as if trying to dry it out. *Hiccup, next time we get sick, please don't tell us where you've gotten the cure from* he begged.
"Sorry."
Once the disgust had worn off a little, and they'd cleaned up the mess (or rather, slurped what they'd hacked up back into their mouths, which grossed Hiccup out), Stormfly remarked *If you ask me, we should also blame Trader Johann. Isn't he the one who gave Mildew the blue-death flower?"
She's right, Hiccup realised. Selena inquired, *Who's Trader Johann? That's a funny name, Trader.*
*It's not a name, it's a job* Toothless explained. *Johann is the trader who told us about there maybe being Night Furies in Myrkr. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have found you all.*
*But like Storm says, if it weren't for him, the blue-death flower wouldn't have been growing here* Hookfang retorted.
*And isn't he the one who bought that nest full of fledgling Smoke-Skins (4) to our island?* Meatlug wondered, *Just before those other humans attacked?*
"Yeah…he did" said Hiccup, brow furrowed. Now that he thought about it, Johann had caused them a lot of trouble over the years. Not warning them about the Smokebreaths at Breakneck Bog or the eels in the ship graveyard. Sending them away from Dragon's Edge just in time for the dragon hunters and then flyers to invade. Making them lose the Dragon Eye lense belonging to Heather. Convincing him to go to the Northern Markets, where he'd encountered Krogan. Always turning up at just the right – or wrong – time.
Toothless crooned worry, seeing Hiccup's face darken. *What's wrong?*
"I hate to say it…" Hiccup took a deep breath and declared, "but I think Johann is a traitor. Every time he turned up, things went wrong; and at the time I thought it was just bad luck or bad timing or Johann being Johann, but now…now I think he's been playing us for fools this whole time. How did I not see this earlier?" he exclaimed in frustration, throwing his arms up.
The sudden jolt woke up Nipper, who shrieked loudly in indignant surprise. Hiccup flinched at the loud noise right next to his ear and winced, "Sorry, little guy." Nipper lived up to his name, giving Hiccup a peck on the ear – but light enough to leave no mark – before flying off to get up to mischief elsewhere. Hiccup was still having a bit of trouble believing that Nipper had somehow convinced the others to 'sacrifice themselves for the greater good' as it were.
*I knew it!* Hookfang crowed, puffing his chest out. *My rider and I knew there was something off about that human this whole time. We never liked him.*
Stormfly rolled her eyes. *If your rider knew, why didn't he say anything?*
"He did" said Hiccup, "Snotlout did keep saying Johann was no good. We just…I guess we all thought he was just complaining, we didn't think – I mean, Johann was annoying sometimes but he wasn't – my dad always trusted him. Oh, dad is gonna be livid when I tell him" he grimaced. His father's rage wasn't something he liked to see, even when it wasn't directed at him. "I really hope I'm wrong about this…but I have a horrible feeling I'm not."
*What will happen to him if you are right?* Meatlug asked him.
Hiccup paused. "I…I'm not sure. Normally if someone is a traitor my dad would just exile them, but Johann doesn't live here." Well, he did have an idea of what would happen should Johann be discovered to be a traitor…but he'd rather not think about that. He didn't like to think of his dad going to such lengths.
"Sorry, guys. I guess I kinda brought down the mood, huh?" he said apologetically. The dragons assured him it was fine. Bored of talking, they played tug of war with ropes and fetch with sticks, and wrestled each other, and then Nipper came back with his brother Sharpshot and their cluster, which lived up to its name as they all swarmed around Hiccup and clamoured to be petted.
Hiccup was thoroughly enjoying himself, and he'd all but forgotten about the others until Toothless pricked his ear-flaps up, and then nudged at his rider urgently. *Hiccup, you've got to hide!* Stormfly hissed urgently, nostrils flaring. *Your friends are coming back!*
He stood on her back, but he still couldn't reach the edge of the pit. Selena leapt up and grabbed Hiccup's stretching arm in her mouth, fangs retracted of course, and hauled him up. "Thanks, Selena" he said gratefully. She and Shadow fled; Hiccup ran to hide behind some rocks, just in time. Snotlout went past; he knew it was Snotlout, because he could hear the man muttering to himself about "…stupid census…stupid wild Monstrous Nightmares…ow…stupid Hiccup…"
When he thought the coast was clear, Hiccup left his hiding place and ran the long way around to the entrance of the training ring. When he got there, the others were all waiting beside their dragons. Snotlout looked a bit charred, as did the twins, Fishlegs looked out of breath…only Astrid seemed unfazed. Panting, Hiccup leaned against the wall and admitted, "Okay, maybe leaving the dragons behind wasn't such a great idea…"
"Ya think?" Snotlout grumbled. "C'mon, Hooky, let's ditch these guys" he said, climbing into the saddle. Hookfang was in a generous mood, so he obligingly leapt into the air and circled the arena, as Snotlout yelled "Snotfang! Snotfang! Oi, oi, oi!"
The twins quickly followed suit, off to get up to mischief. Fishlegs and Astrid hesitated, but Hiccup told them to go on and fly. Still, as he watched them go, he couldn't help but feel a bit sad. That was until Toothless licked him and playfully tossed Hiccup onto his back, running with him back to the village.
Not long after his father learned of the heart bind, Hiccup told Stoick what he suspected about Trader Johann. Predictably, his dad was furious at the thought of betrayal, and gave an angry rant interspersed with plenty of choke-miming and invisible hammer or axe smashing. When he calmed down, though, he agreed they ought to question Johann when the trader next returned to Berk.
So the following summer, when Johann's vessel docked on Berk, the man found himself not being greeted by an eager crowd, but escorted to the Great Hall by Gobber. When they got there, Stoick, Hiccup and the other riders were waiting for them. Johann looked bewildered, and a little nervous.
"Ah…is something wrong? I'm used to a, ah, warmer reception…oh, master Hiccup! It's so good to see you alive and well" he smiled broadly. He sounded genuinely relieved, and Hiccup felt doubt niggling at him.
"Trader Johann" Stoick boomed, "do you swear to answer all our questions honestly and to the point?" he questioned, putting just the slightest stress on the last three words. Johann visibly gulped, and nodded.
"On my honour, Stoick, I'll do my best."
"Very well. We have reason to believe that you have been working against the best interests of Berk, based on several instances of…how was it you put it, Snotlout?"
"Making things a million times worse."
"Aye. What do you have to say in your defence, Johann?"
All eyes turned to the middle-aged trader, who spluttered in absolute bewilderment. "I…I don't know…when did I…?"
"Shall I read out the list?" offered Gobber. Before anyone could stop him, he'd unrolled a scroll and began reading the contents aloud. "Let's see here – selling Mildew blue oleander which then poisoned the dragons, sending Hiccup and his friends on a dangerous mission to Breakneck Bog without warning them about the Smothering Smokebreaths," –
"Just wait a" –
"Making Hiccup rescue you when Speed Stingers attacked Berk" –
"Now see here!" –
"Not telling the riders about the giant eels in the ship graveyard, not warning Heather that Dagur wouldn't be alone, luring several riders including Hiccup away from Dragon's Edge with a distress call" –
"Just let me" –
"Sending Hiccup and Astrid away from the Edge before it was attacked by Dragon Flyers" –
"I had to!" Johann burst out at the top of his lungs; then he clamped his hands over his mouth, eyes wide. Everyone stared at him.
At last, someone spoke. "What do you mean, you had to?" Astrid demanded, rather suspiciously. Snotlout was outright glaring at Johann, who cringed and wrung his hands nervously, looking distraught. The doubts crept back into Hiccup's mind. Johann could go over the top at times – well, most times- but was he really that good an actor?
"Oh dear, oh dear. Oh, I knew it wouldn't last, I knew it, oh Johann, you old fool..." he muttered to himself.
Snotlout cried impatiently, "Just answer the question! What do you mean, you had to lure Hiccup and Astrid away when we needed them?"
His demanding, impetuous tone seemed to annoy Johann enough for the man to pull himself together. "I mean exactly what I said, master Snotlout. I had to do it, all of it. If I hadn't, you'd have all died" he explained. Nobody said anything, but it was clear from their expressions that they weren't buying it, and expected him to have a damn good explanation.
Johann looked down in shame. "I should have told you sooner" he confessed, "I know that. Blame it on an old man's cowardice. The truth is, when Berk made peace with dragons, and the raids stopped, the archipelago came under the attention of undesirable sorts, including your old enemy, Krogan. They intercepted me on the way to Berk the next year, just before the Straits of Baldur, and forced me to join them as an – an unwilling accomplice. They said if I didn't co-operate, they wouldn't just kill me, they'd kill all of you."
Tuffnut looked at the others and asked blithely, "Err, he does know we have dragons, right?"
Johann frowned. "Yes, I know that, master Tuffnut; but these weren't the loud, bulky crossbow wielding thugs that the likes of the Grimborns hired. They were assassins. They would have waited until you were alone, and then it would have only taken two arrows – one to take out your dragons, and one to take out each of you. None of you would've seen it coming" he declared.
"Pfft. If these creeps wanted us gone so bad, why didn't they just face us like men?" Snotlout questioned, before flexing his muscles in a way that he probably thought looked macho. "I'd have said bring it!"
"What part of 'they were assassins' did you not understand?" Johann asked impatiently. "They didn't come after you themselves because of me. Because so long as I made it seem as though I was working with them, I could blame my failures to eliminate you on my own shortcomings or your skills. I dreaded the day they decided to try and take you out themselves" he admitted.
Hiccup spoke up for the first time, "but when Krogan attacked us, he practically did it right out in the open. Why not just assassinate us back then? Heck, he had me captured and unconscious that one time – why wouldn't he just kill me when he had the chance?"
Johann mopped his brow and said helplessly, "Honestly, I have no idea why they attacked you outright. I was just relieved you would have a chance to fight back, and I didn't dare ask too many questions. As for Krogan, all I know is with a man like that, the only reason he'd spare you is because he had an even worse fate for you in mind, master Hiccup."
The trader sighed and remarked, "Look, since you went to all the trouble of making a list…yes, I sold Mildew the oleander, but I swear, I didn't know it was poisonous! Same with Breakneck Bog, I didn't know there were Smokebreaths living there! I'm a sailor, I don't go near the place. I was being honest when I said I'd sailed too close by accident. Why would I go to a place like that deliberately? It has break neck in the name.
"And just to be clear, the Speed Stinger attack wasn't my fault, I couldn't help the weather, could I? And I should have mentioned the eels, but I've gotten used to them, I suppose – it just slipped my mind! And as for Dagur – no, I didn't say he'd have an armada with him – but I never said he'd be alone, either! I just assumed – I mean, the man always had an armada with him back then! I thought it went without saying!"
Stoick's brow furrowed. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?" he questioned, a bit sarcastically. Johann cringed, as if expecting to be struck. It was then that Hiccup felt he had to step in.
"Dad? I think he's telling the truth."
"Oh really? And what makes you so sure?" Stoick rounded on him.
Hiccup held his ground and said calmly, "Well for one thing, he's not rambling."
"Hmm…good point."
"I still don't get it" said Fishlegs, "If this was going on so long, why didn't you tell us? We would have helped!"
Johann mopped his brow again and explained, "I wanted to, master Fishlegs, but I didn't dare. If I betrayed them to you, they'd stop messing about and…it's not that I thought you wouldn't have done all you could to help; but how could I take the risk that you'd fail for even a moment? I'd have been killed, any one of you could have been killed…after Krogan and so many of his men died, I thought I was free. I just wanted the whole sorry ordeal to be over."
Needless to say, Stoick wasn't happy at having such a dire threat kept secret from him, and gave Johann a very stern warning to be a lot more forthcoming about such matters in the future. Johann promised to tell the truth from then on, and apologised profusely. The other riders forgave him, even Snotlout, albeit a bit grudgingly.
Hesitantly, he asked "Well, ahem, if that will be all? I'm sure everyone's wondering where I am…"
"Aye, probably" Gobber agreed, hobbling forwards, "C'mon, I'll walk back down t' the docks wi' ya."
Stoick followed them, as if he didn't want to let Johann out of his sight. When the three men had gone, Fishlegs breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I'm so glad we sorted that out. Hey, uh, Hiccup? What gave you the idea that Johann could have been a traitor in the first place?" he inquired.
Uh oh. "Oh, uh, y'know me…" Hiccup shrugged, "Just doing too much thinking." When the others were distracted, he looked over his shoulder at Toothless and the other dragons nearby, and gave them a wink.
(1) Clusters being a term for the packs of Biters within a pack, comprised of several families over two or three generations. The male Biters move on to join or found new clusters.
(2) I made a slight tweak to the canon ending of 'When Lightning Strikes' where Toothless is warier of and less quick to forgive the villagers.
(3) Let's just ignore the fact that anti-venom wasn't a thing until the 1800s, shall we? The writers certainly did. Curse you, anachronisms!
(4) Smoke-Skins = Smothering Smokebreaths. Apparently they actually secrete that smoke from their skin as well as breathing it, so…yeah…