In this chapter, Jack and Sapphire's Dragon Training Lessons officially begin
BTW, did everyone see the 2 new HTTYD 2 clips? All I can say is that the more new things DreamWorks releases, the more hyped up I am for HTTYD 2!
Note: I do NOT own ROTG OR HTTYD
Chapter 7
First thing they learned about dragons was that dragons ate fish.
"Fish? As in inhabitants of the water?" Sapphire asked in shock.
Jack noticed the confused looks on the Viking teens' faces. "Since she can talk to fish, she doesn't eat them. Kind of disturbing if you eat something you can talk to." He explained.
"Moving on, if you want to befriend a dragon, get their attention. Preferably with food." Hiccup explained, grabbing a fish from a basket his father had brought into the Academy and held it up for the dragons to see.
They instantly focused on the auburn headed teen and his fish and followed it with their heads as Hiccup moved it left and right, making everyone else giggle.
"But whatever you do, do not show them an eel. Excluding the Typhoomerang, all the other dragon species hate eel." Astrid added as Hiccup put the fish back in the basket and brought out an eel.
The dragons instantly recoiled and hissed at the sight of the slippery creature.
"So the Typhoomerang dragon's the only kind so far to not have a distaste for eel?" Jack inquired to which Hiccup nodded.
"How come dragons hate eel?" Sapphire asked, directing her question to Tridacna. Although shrinking back from the eel, the Scauldron gave her a whine and the water spirit translated.
"Oh…she says they don't like eels because they get really sick if they eat one and because they taste horribly bitter." Sapphire informed them.
"Finally that mystery's solved!" Gobber chuckled.
Fishlegs quickly wrote the new info in the Book of Dragons.
"And after feeding them, it's best to play with them." Tuffnut advised. "Just toss them a stick and they'll love it." Ruffnut added. "Wow…Like dogs and fetch." Jack remarked.
"Well that's basic caring. What next?" Marina asked. Finally after another half hour, the swan had finally stopped sneezing, as long as she stayed away from dragon nip.
"Try teaching about their dragons son. I think they're raring to be part of the lesson." Stoick suggested, seeing the Himalayan Fury and Scauldron excitedly wiggling their bodies.
"That's a good idea. How do you train a Scauldron?" Sapphire asked eagerly. "Well Scauldrons are sentimental types. Douse yourself with water and they'll lick it off you. It reminds them of home, you see." Hiccup said before Tridacna playfully nuzzled Sapphire.
"But since Sapphire's a water spirit, all aquatic animals like her. Whether she's soaked to the skin or not." Fishlegs giggled as the Scauldron continued her nuzzling.
"Scauldrons also like eating Blue Oleander. Unfortunately other dragons are allergic to the flower so we can't have them around the island." Astrid added.
"Blue Oleander…In my old home in Florida, those flowers grew everywhere. I think I also have a bush of them back at my place." Sapphire said. "Then feed them to her. Just make sure other dragons aren't around." Snotlout reminded her.
"Scauldrons also have lots of venom. It can be used as an antidote for Blue Oleander poisoning in other dragons if the Scauldron eats the flower." Gobber informed Sapphire.
Tridacna whined again to her. "The Blue Oleander's nectar is very sweet so that's why your kind loves it…Interesting." The water spirit murmured, writing all the info in her notebook.
"What about the Himalayan Fury?" Jack was dying to learn about Blitz.
"Well Blitz is a new dragon species but his behavior and characteristics are a lot like Toothless'." Hiccup said.
Jack nodded as his staff brushed against a small rock, coating it with ice. Then Blitz picked the rock up in his mouth and to everyone's surprise, began to chew.
Even Toothless stared as his cousin munched on the ice covered rock like it was candy.
Blitz finished crunching and swallowed. Then just for fun, shot out an ice blast that seemed rather powerful.
"Aside from Night Fury like characteristics, Himalayan Furies eat ice covered rocks which apparently boosts the power of their ice blasts. That's something new." Jack wrote it down in his notebook.
"Remind me to write that down in the book." Fishlegs grinned as Hiccup and Astrid got Sapphire and Jack to stand together with Blitz and Tridacna for Hiccup to draw them in the Book of Dragons.
A new chapter for the Himalayan Fury was added and a new drawing for the Scauldron chapter. Hiccup was a fast drawer and finished both pictures in a short while.
"Wow!" Sapphire breathed in awe over the beautiful picture of a blue haired girl and her Tidal Class dragon.
"Cool!" Jack smiled as he saw the picture of him and a happy Himalayan Fury.
Then Marina remembered something.
"Guys I think we only have a half hour left before lessons begin. Maybe we should leave." She called over to them.
A little reluctant to leave for now, the two teenage Guardians gave their dragons a good scratch behind their ears, thanked the Vikings for teens and asked that maybe tomorrow they could start on flying lessons.
"Well we need to create saddles first and make sure that your dragons fully trust you. We can work on that later." Hiccup suggested. "Sounds like a plan." Jack agreed with him. "See you guys in two hours." Sapphire smiled before they left the Academy with Marina.
Going behind a house, Jack pulled out the dragon fang and the trio repeated the thinking process. In a few seconds, a portal opened up and they jumped in. Back at Scotland the three decided to agree on one thing.
"We cannot, absolutely cannot tell anyone about this." Sapphire said firmly.
"Agreed, if the others find out…Worst case scenario, they'll confiscate this thing and ban us from seeing our dragons." Jack piped up holding the fang up.
"So we better be careful if anything dragon or Viking related comes up. If that happens, we deny any knowledge we have." Marina added.
"Right." The Guardians of Fun and Equality agreed.
"Well I gotta go. North's probably waiting for me." Jack said before grabbing a gust and flew off.
Sapphire then looked at Marina. "Let's get going. If I miss another History lesson, Millennium will have a fit." She chuckled.
"Oh yeah he will." Marina laughed.
And with that, the duo flew off.
Meanwhile in the far north of the Viking realm was the ice covered island of the Shivering Shores. Here the people were more resilient to the cold, harsh eternal winter. Even their crops which consisted of hardy beans, oats and wheat were of the toughest variety.
Anglo the Mighty, chief of the Shivering Shores was inspecting the morning's daily quota of fish when the alarm horns were sounded.
Immediately mothers and the elderly herded the children to their houses and stayed in them while the men rushed out to the icy shores of their island. Anglo readied the sword his good friend Stoick the Vast had given him during their last meeting. (Thankfully there wasn't a repeat of what had happened the last, last time since every visitor had brought a gift.)
With the sword and his trusty shield at hand, Anglo joined his men on the beach.
"Thor's willing, what have we got?!" he approached a watchman who was looking through his spyglass. "Outcast ships sir! And they all look armed!" the watchman reported stoutly facing his superior.
Nodding seriously, Anglo quickly began shouting out orders. "Ready the catapults and torches! Archers surround the perimeter of the beach, take at least a hundred men down here for the first line of defense! The others go to the village and make sure the women, children and the elderly are protected and have barricaded their doors. And prepare to attack be it from above or below!"
Quickly the warriors followed their leader's orders and got into position.
"Messenger here front and center!" Anglo barked.
A Shivering Shores soldier with a carrier pigeon perched on his shoulder came at once. "Write a letter addressed to every tribe we know and have an alliance with, telling that we may need reinforcements from them. These Outcasts mean business…" Anglo said grimly looking at the tiny dots appearing on the horizon.
"Shall my Osgood first arrive in Berk sir?" the messenger asked, motioning to his bird. Anglo shook his head. "The Hairy Hooligans are to receive our message last. We'll only let them and their dragons fight with us if we are severely outnumbered." He stated.
Nodding the messenger and his pigeon Osgood left to send the note. First to the nearest tribe within their area and finally at Berk.
Anglo then saw the dots get bigger the nearer they approached the island. That's when they saw that dark, shadowy creatures were around every Outcast boat.
'Odin whatever tricks these Outcasts will unleash on us, keep our spirit and fire alive!' the Shivering Shores chief thought as he and his men prepared to attack.
Alvin stood at the helm of the front most ship and smiled darkly, Pitch's dark gold eyes glinting with evil as they approached the Shivering Shores.
"Boo!"
That was all it took for every Nightmare surrounding their fleet to charge.
"ATTACK!" Anglo roared. His men roared with him and charged as well.
The battle had officially begun!
"Now in the year 1547, Russia had its first ruler. What again was the name of their first ruler?" North looked up from the heavy History textbook to notice Jack playing with his pencil and eraser, seemingly making a makeshift see saw by balancing the pencil horizontally on the eraser's middle.
Jack was lightly tapping his thumbs on either side of his pencil, not even glancing up at the Guardian of Wonder until North cleared his throat.
"Jack." The Russian harrumphed.
"Hm?" the winter spirit finally glanced up.
"First ruler of Russia?" North asked once more patiently.
"Ivan the Terrible." Jack replied.
"Full title." North raised an eyebrow at him expectantly.
"Czar Ivan the Terrible." Jack corrected himself before resuming his playing.
Truth be told, he and North had already covered that part of History class! He was dying to move to a new lesson away from anything Soviet related.
Well today was the Guardian of Fun's lucky day.
"Alright, good review. Now on to a new lesson, the history of Scandinavia and its Viking roots." North promptly said.
At the word 'Viking', Jack suddenly sat alert, his eyes sparkling with eagerness.
"During ancient times, Scandinavians worshipped Norse gods such as…" North began to say before Jack piped up. "Odin, Freya, Thor, Loki, Balder and Magni." He spouted out all the Norse gods he could remember from his lessons with Hiccup and the other Vikings earlier.
North seemed surprised at how Jack knew about Norse mythology but just said. "Um…Correct." Jack grinned and took down notes as the lesson continued.
Meanwhile at the Palace of Beginnings, Sapphire entertained herself by conjuring up some bubbles. "Hee-hee…" she giggled as she used her pencil to pop them.
'Pop! Pop! Pop!'
Millennium then hooted, "Sapphire would you please?"
Honestly, the young Guardian of Equality sometimes had a very short attention span. The young girl sighed and popped all the bubbles in order to go back to the lesson.
"In what year did Mexico become independent from Spain?" the Whiskered Screech inquired. "The year 1824…Haven't we already studied this, Millennium?" the water spirit asked.
The wise owl nodded. "This is just a review. Now our new lesson will focus on the ancient history of the so-called Viking tribes."
Sapphire instantly perked up at the word 'Viking' just like Jack.
"The territory of the Vikings mainly consisted of the now modern countries of…" Millennium managed to say before Sapphire interrupted. "Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Norway & the Netherlands." She said eagerly, much to the Whiskered Screech's surprise.
Once again the teacher merely said. "Um…Correct."
As the lessons continued, both Guardians got even more eager to study. Now that really surprised North and Millennium as they went through Advanced Algebra with Trigonometry and Physics, subjects that normally put their students to sleep. (Jack's already been caught doing that at least 28 times while Sapphire followed close behind with 14.) Apparently the new Viking lesson put a spring in their step.
When lessons were over and Jack and Sapphire got a two hour break, they quickly packed up and left. They decided to stop by Burgess to see their friends but Sapphire's parents said that the kids had left for a museum trip with Jamie's mom.
A little disappointed, they decided to go back to Berk.
"I'll ask Mother Nature to make your allergy medicine later, promise." Sapphire said to the white swan who shifted uneasily from webbed foot to webbed foot. "Okay…But I'm staying at the docks just in case." Marina said.
"Alright hang tight!" Jack said as the portal opened before they quickly jumped in.
Lesson Number Two for Dragon Training: Grooming.
"Since most dragons breathe fire and only Blitz and Toothless are the only dragons who can retract their teeth, dragons often get damaged teeth due to their fire. So it's best to practice good oral hygiene on them." Fishlegs said while brushing Meatlug's teeth.
Jack looked at Blitz who was retracting and popping out his teeth for fun.
"Tooth would so love this lesson…" Sapphire whispered to him. Tridacna sniffed curiously at the giant toothbrush near her Rider.
Jack smiled and grabbed Blitz's toothbrush. "This is going to be fun." He smiled along with Sapphire.
With Fishlegs' guidance, they began brushing their dragons' teeth.
Sapphire had to wear cloth bands around her arms in case she had open wounds her Scauldron's venom could seep into but she didn't really mind. Although she was gonna have to forget about flossing Tridacna's teeth. Her teeth were just so sharp and her mouth was so huge!
Jack didn't have any problems with Blitz because the Himalayan Fury enjoyed the whole procedure, his tail wagging happily like a dog's as Jack gently brushed his sharp, white teeth.
"He seems to take care of his pearly whites as well as you, Jack." Sapphire giggled as she finished up on Tridacna. The winter spirit grinned. "Alright Blitz, I'm gonna work on your gums. Hold still now…"
Blitz gladly retracted his teeth and let out a happy purr as Jack gently rubbed his gums. He was in absolute Valhalla!
Next lesson was with the twins.
Unfortunately, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were arguing on who got to introduce the lesson. And Barf and Belch were arguing as well. Blitz and Tridacna warbled as the two of them watched the Hideous Zippleback's heads snap at each other, clearly bored at the supposed 'lesson' going nowhere.
"Lesson learned: Never ask twins for dragon training lessons." Jack shook his head as the Thornston twins began to throw punches. "You got that right." Sapphire said in agreement, watching Barf and Belch try to blow gas or sparks at one another, only to get caught in the explosive mix as their components mixed together.
One hour left, they had to get as much dragon knowledge into them.
Snotlout was next in their agenda.
This time he was teaching the two Guardians how to discipline their dragons.
"For us, I just get right in his face. Like so," the male Viking said as Hookfang grabbed his helmet.
"Hookfang, you drop my helmet this instant!" Snotlout ordered. The Monstrous Nightmare just rolled his eyes and tried to chomp on his Rider's headgear.
"I prefer to use a gentler method." Sapphire said nonchalantly while the guy tried to wrestle the horned helmet out of the enormous dragon's mouth as Tridacna got her mouth on her orichalcum staff. "Come on girl. Drop my staff." She gently ordered to which the female Scauldron easily obeyed.
Hookfang and Snotlout were now rolling around on the ground in a battle for the helmet.
"Your method isn't so effective, Lout…And Blitz, please stop chewing on my hood." Jack remarked when he felt his Himalayan Fury's teeth chomping on the hood of his jacket. Blitz then quickly released his hold on his owner's hoodie.
Obedience training?
Check!
Leaving the still grappling duo, Jack, Sapphire, Blitz and Tridacna went to find Astrid for extra lessons. No specific topics really. They just hoped that maybe the tough Viking girl could impart to them more knowledge.
When the four of them finally found Astrid, she was having another fight with Angrid. This time, Astrid had decided to borrow one of her big sister's old battle axes-without permission.
"You haven't used this thing since you were eight! I just borrowed it! What's the difference?!" Astrid yelled at her sister furiously. "First of all, you didn't ask me. Second, it's my axe to begin with!" Angrid shot back at her.
The two of them continued to shout and scream at each other as Stormfly and Magnus (Angrid's name for the Monstrous Nightmare) watched, whining sadly.
Fifteen minutes passed and the argument was still going strong.
"This is not going anywhere…" Sapphire mumbled. "Tell me about it." Jack sighed before they left at their two dragons' insistence. Blitz and Tridacna weren't very comfortable listening to fights. It made them feel uncomfortable.
Anyways, there was always Hiccup to teach them. They found him assisting Gobber at the forge, crafting a sword.
"How long have you been doing this?" Jack looked at the different weapons littered around the place, impressed. "I've been Gobber's apprentice since I was well…littler. About five years old." The auburn headed Viking replied as he placed the red hot blade in a pan of cold water to temper it.
"We've been thinking on how to repay you guys for introducing us to dragons. Maybe Jack and I can get you and Astrid a new dagger and an axe." Sapphire piped up as she watched Gobber craft a shield.
"You guys mean that?" Hiccup smiled. Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "Well we can probably find something." He knew that North and the other Guardians had some old weapons stowed around.
"Speaking of Astrid, she's having another fight with Angrid." Sapphire informed Hiccup.
"Again?" Gobber said in disbelief.
"That's the third time today." Hiccup took the new sword out and hung it on a weapons rack. "Third time? Man, why do they hate each other so much?" Jack wondered out loud.
"It's all just a strained relationship. Angrid's been away from Berk for a pretty long time. Astrid never really got to spend that much time with her." Hiccup stated.
"How old are those two girls?" Sapphire asked him. "Astrid's 16, my age and Angrid…about 18 I think." He replied.
Suddenly Marina swooped down to the forge. "No dragon nip around here, right?" she asked hesitantly. "None to be spoken for, lass." Gobber told her warmly.
The swan nodded and turned her long, graceful neck to Tridacna and Blitz. They trilled happily and she giggled, "Hey you two." before looking at the two teenage Guardians, who were looking at her expectantly.
"We're gonna be late for your other lessons, guys. And Jamie and Layla along with the others are probably waiting." She said.
Jack and Sapphire turned to Hiccup and Gobber.
"See you two again later?" Gobber asked hopefully.
"In another two hours." Sapphire gave Tridacna a gentle scratch.
"Take care of our dragons until we come back." Jack gently rubbed his hand on Blitz's head.
"You got it." Hiccup smiled as the trio flew off.