I Own Nothing. If I did I probably wouldn't have to worry about my retirement.
All Rights Reserved
Chapter 25
How to Train Your Dragon Riders
The following day the Owl Guts and the Bog Burglar ships arrived at last. Nearly 30 ships crowded their way into Berk's harbor. Gort was among the first to disembark, followed by his daughter Marva.
"Stoick, old friend! This is highly irregular! I get a message begging for my aid in rescuing you, and I rush into action at once, and then I'm a few days out when I get another message saying you've already been rescued, but to please continue sailing to Berk! And all the while I'm getting news from passing ships telling me of a great battle with the Berserkers and that your dead son is alive and the ruler of Dragons!" He spotted Hiccup and looked over him with curiosity. "So you are the Dragon King?" He shook Hiccup's hand warmly. "Well, if what I heard about Berserker is true, I hope to Odin you're not angry at me for anything!"
Hiccup smiled. "Not at all, Gort,"
"I'm very glad to hear it. Let me look at you, lad. Hmm. You look a lot better than you did the last time I saw you. That must have been…10, 12 years ago? How old are you now, my boy?"
"23,"
"23? You look younger."
"I feel older," Hiccup mumbled in Dragonese so no humans could understand him. Marva approached him now.
"So it's true, is it? Hiccup the Useless is the Dragon King?"
"Marva!" her father snapped. "What have I told you about how to behave in front of Chiefs?"
Marva rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Hi, Hiccup, how ya doin'?"
"Just fine, Marva."
Gort said hurriedly "Have you seen Bertha yet?"
"She is right behind you!" announced the Chief of the Bog Burglars. Next to her was her daughter, Camicazi, whom Hiccup had not seen in nearly a decade. Astrid's description had not been inaccurate: she was, by any standard, incredibly beautiful; long golden hair, a thin but muscular body, and lovely blue eyes.
"Hello there, Hiccup," she smiled. It was a smile that would have made any man's heart flutter.
Hiccup, however, was not any man, and in his mind, Camicazi could not hold a candle to Astrid. So instead of blushing and stuttering he acted as though they were just old friends.
"Hi, Camicazi," he said easily. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"You've been very busy, by the sound of it." She suddenly came forward and gave him a fierce hug, which made his back hurt again.
Further down on the docks Snotlout and Fishlegs stared goggle-eyed.
"When did Camicazi turn into a goddess?" Snotlout whispered.
"Oh gorgeous, where have you been all my life?" Fishlegs whimpered.
Ruffnut walked over to them. "Um, guys? You're drooling. And—hey, is that Camicazi?" She suddenly became enraged. "And is she hugging my Hiccup?!"
"'Your Hiccup?'" laughed Tuffnut, "don't let Astrid hear you say that!" Luckily for Ruffnut and possibly Hiccup and Camicazi, Astrid was in the woods with her students that morning. A runner had been sent to fetch her, but had yet to find them.
Camicazi pulled out of the embrace. "I must say, you seem to be in pretty good shape, all things considered."
"Thanks. Now give me back my sword."
Camicazi looked puzzled.
"Cami, picking a person's pocket while hugging them is a very old fashioned trick. Hand it back."
"Fine," she revealed Hiccup's sword Inferno was in her hand and gave it to him. "You're good. Most men never notice when I do that—until it's too late!"
Bertha looked at her daughter proudly.
As they went to Mead Hall Marva suddenly started walking right next to Hiccup and said "I'm all excited to hear about your encounter with Drago Bludvist! What was he like? What did it feel like to be brought before him? Did he subdue any dragons while you were there?"
"Excuse me?"
Marva went on without listening to him. "Is he really as intimidating as they say he is? Is it true he can control a dragon by just waving his hand?"
"Do you think I was paying him a social visit?" Hiccup asked in disgust.
"Of course not!" Gort said loudly.
"Typical Dad," Marva grumbled.
Mildew was out with his cabbages.
"Cabbages nice and fresh!" he shouted.
"He's still around?" Camicazi muttered to Hiccup. Unfortunately he spotted her.
"Well, well, well! It's the girls from the tribe full of them old ladies! It's thanks ta them and them dragons the world's fallin' ta ruin," he shouted to the rest of the people passing by. "See wot 'appens when women rule?"
Camicazi and Bertha stopped in their tracks, and so did everyone else. "You want to say that again?" Cami asked dangerously.
"No. But ah do wanna say that a woman in charge is a dangerous thing!" he bellowed.
"Mildew, shut up!" Stoick shouted. A wiser man would have taken the hint but Mildew had gotten fed up with everything over the past few days.
"It's all right, Stoick," Bertha said coldly, "I know you don't treat your guests this way,"
"Guests, vests, and all the rests! Make ma words, the only fittin' place fer a woman is on the bed!" Mildew jeered.
Camicazi casually took off her boots and socks. Then she suddenly pointed at something behind Mildew. Mildew turned around. When he turned back he saw Camicazi had climbed onto his cart and was walking barefooted over his cabbages.
Mildew's face instantly turned bright red. "WHY YOU—YOU—YOU—ME CABBAGES!"
A small crowd had gathered and was laughing loudly. Cami responded by doing a small gigue before she climbed down. The damage was done. Even if her feet had not been muddy, which they were, nobody was going to buy any of those cabbages now.
"Stoick! Ah demand justice!" Mildew screamed.
Stoick shrugged. "I think Camicazi just gave you that,"
"Just remember, Mildew," Cami said as she put on her socks and boots, "when you go around saying nasty things you can't expect everyone to just let you get away with it!"
Bertha gave her daughter a hug for this. Mildew broke into yet another tirade of swear words. It was becoming a normal reaction for him.
The three Chiefs and their inner circles met in Mead Hall. Gort and Bertha both understood the situation at once and were quite willing to help, especially after Hiccup pointed out how their own tribes would be in danger whether they helped or not. Both Chiefs observed that their tribes were tired after a long and boring voyage and would welcome the chance for action instead of sailing home after a needless trip. However, the crews were tired, the ships would need repairs and refitting, and weapons would need sharpening. Hiccup and Stoick already had expected to spend the day on this and they agreed to postpone the movement one more day, albeit reluctantly.
"The longer we wait the more time Drago has to make a move against us," Hiccup warned.
"We move the day after tomorrow, son, and no later." Stoick assured him. "If Drago can come up with something in that time, he's smarter than I'd give him credit for."
That did not reassure Hiccup, but he kept his mouth shut. The last thing he needed was to say something that would scare anyone into backing out.
"So," Bertha said, "We are agreed about allying ourselves with Berk against the common foe. What I want to know is what role will dragons play in this?"
All eyes turned to Hiccup. "That's simple enough. Either we attack a fleet of ships at sea or we attack Berserk. In the case of the former, it's a straight forward sea battle, and the dragons will fly around destroying enemy ships and preventing reinforcements from arriving. In the case of the latter, the dragons will provide covering fire while our troops land and then join in the attack. In other words, it'll be a typical Viking battle, only for the first time in history there will be support from the air."
"And we'll go in with those explosives Hiccup used on Berserk." Stoick added. "I've got people rounding up all the jars they can. Hiccup's got the powder on his island. He'll fly there the morning we set out and bring the powder to our ships. We'll prepare the explosives as we're sailing."
"Don't want the Twins getting their hands on what's left of it until the fighting begins." There were nods of agreement.
"And only you will be riding a dragon?" Bertha asked Hiccup.
"Well…"
"Hang on a minute!" Snotlout exclaimed, "what about me and Hookfang?"
"Snotlout," Astrid whispered warningly. During meetings like this she believed it was best that those with little authority should only speak when spoken to.
"No, Astrid, I want to know! Hiccup, why did you bring those dragons to Berk if you were not going to have us take them into combat?"
Hiccup sighed. "Snotlout, they came to Berk because they wanted to be with you guys, and I wanted to show Berk and her friends up close that dragons and humans can live together. And while I have considered the idea of people riding them into combat a thousand times, you've only ridden Hookfang—how many times now, two or three? Do you think you're ready to fly a dragon into battle?"
"You let Fishlegs and the Twins do that on Berserk!" Snotlout griped.
"They dropped explosives from the air, and Meatlug blasted a ramp with Fishlegs on her back. Have you ever tried dodging a million arrows and boulders flying towards you while in the air? Do you think I was doing stuff like that the first times I rode Toothless?"
"Well why can't we just drop explosives again? I'd love to drop some of those things onto the enemy!"
"Just a minute!" Camicazi interrupted, "If they can ride dragons into battle, I wanna ride one too!"
"So do I!" Marva added eagerly, to her father's surprise.
"Well—"
"I think it would be better to have some riders on those dragons," Bertha agreed. "And if we do, the Bog Burglars must be represented." The members of her tribe present nodded vigorously.
"As should the Owl Guts," said Gort, which prompted nods from his own tribe members.
"And I'm going with Hookfang! The two of us are unbeatable!"
"I think 'e's right," Spitelout said with a crafty smile.
"Look, I—"
"And I insist Astrid goes too with her Nadder," Olaf Hofferson said, "if she wants too, of course."
Astrid nodded. "Of course I do,"
"Well, Hiccup?" Stoick said.
"This discussion is feeling a bit one sided."
"Well, Hiccup?" Bertha said forcefully.
"Well—but—look, I can't train you guys to manage dragons in combat in under two days! And, Camicazi, Marva, you two don't even know how to ride dragons! You don't even have dragons to ride!"
"You've got a few here that don't have riders," Snotlout pointed out. "That white one, the green one, and the pink one. That makes five—no, three, sorry."
"Astrid, what do you think of this?" Asked Stoick. He called upon her because he guessed she had the most influence on Hiccup.
"We can do it," Astrid said firmly.
Hiccup got the feeling he did not really have a choice in this matter. He knew arguing would counter his own war effort, so he agreed—on the condition that he would have the final say in who would be riding a dragon and he would permit any discussion once he made his decision.
So now he had less than two days to teach a group of people how to ride a dragon well enough to fly it in a pitched battle. Camicazi he felt could handle, but he was entirely opposed to Marva riding a dragon. Not only did he dislike her but he knew she liked Drago Bludvist, which was hardly the role model he had in mind for potential dragon riders. But he could not figure out how to say so to her father without offending him and he figured if he brought it up his own father would dismiss it and order him to train her for the sake of diplomacy.
"Diplomacy. The way to sound nice while either insulting people or making them do things they don't like."
Astrid watched with amusement as Hiccup was surrounded by nearly 20 youngsters the moment he entered the arena. A large portion of her trainees, Gustav Larson, and many others immediately began begging with him and pleading with him and offering bribes and a few threats, all so they could ride a dragon.
She nudged Stormfly. "And who'd have thought a year ago this would happen?" Due to the noise nobody else but Stormfly heard her. Gustav and Ase were among the most vocal in their desire for a fire breathing winged friend. After a minute of attempting to reason, Hiccup gave up bothering to respond and just folded his arms and waited for the small mob to slowly realize it might want to simmer down.
Hiccup finally spoke when it was quiet. "Thank you!" He glanced over the group. "I'm glad to see so many enthusiastic recruits!" A loud yell went up and the noise began again. This time Hiccup did not wait but roared.
"NIGHT FURY!"
"GET DOWN!"
"One day nobody will react like that," Hiccup said dryly. One by one the kids sheepishly got back on their feet, "Now as I was saying, there's a problem: I have at the moment only one dragon who has no rider and no more will be coming for a while, so…that means only one person here will get to ride a dragon for the time being." A loud groan went up. "Now look guys, I'm sorry but that's the way it is! But listen: after this war is over, assuming I survive, my hope and intention is that each and every one of you will get to ride a dragon! You have my word on it! You've just gotta be patient a little longer, that's all." A loud cheer went up. It was followed by another loud groan when Astrid stepped in and told everyone to go help out their families.
"See?" She told Hiccup as the crowd dispersed. "You can do a good job leading!"
"I never said I couldn't. I just don't know if I want to lead Berk." He realized Gustav was still in the arena. "Hey, Gustav, what's up?"
"I wanna be a rider! You said you had one dragon available! I wanna ride him—or is it a her? I don't care, I wanna be a rider!" He looked like a child begging for a new toy. Perhaps in his mind he was.
Astrid looked horrified. She grabbed Hiccup by the ear and dragged him away so they would not be overheard. "No, no, and no! You are not letting Gustav be a rider!"
"State your case, then, because I barely know him."
"He's irresponsible, reckless, never listens, has a horrible crush on me which keeps him unfocused, he causes more problems than he solves…do I need to go on?"
Hiccup shook his head and smiled thoughtfully. "Sounds a bit like me 10 years ago,"
Astrid was flabbergasted. "You're considering this?"
"Hey, he'll be a picnic compared to Marva, and speaking of which…" Marva and Camicazi came jogging into the arena as he spoke. Right behind them were the dragons and the Hooligan Riders. Hiccup told Gustav to join the group and Gustav nearly kissed his feet (or foot, as Snotlout would say).
"What about me?" Astrid asked. Over the years she had gotten used to being the one doing the teaching. Hiccup asked her to stay where she was.
"So Hiccup, what's the plan?" Snotlout asked eagerly.
"Yeah, when do we get to do some serious destruction?" The Twins hollered.
"How soon before I can get up in the air again?" Fishlegs squealed.
"Which Dragon do I get?" Gustav cried.
"Who said he gets a dragon?" Snotlout demanded.
"Which dragon do I get?" Camicazi asked excitedly.
Most of this was said simultaneously. Only Marva kept silent. Hiccup shook his head and raised a hand.
"Ok. First things first. Astrid, you are going to take the established Riders for a few warm up flights around Berk. The focus will be getting a better feel for your dragons and getting comfortable being on them. Gustav, Cami, and Marva, you three will stay here for the moment." Hiccup waited until the established Riders had left before going on. "Ok, Gustav, let's do you first,"
"Smart. He looks like he's going to wet himself if you make him wait any longer" Toothless commented.
"What's he saying?" Gustav asked eagerly.
"He said it was smart to have you go first. Now—"
"Will I get to learn how to speak to dragons?"
"That'll be up to you and your dragon. Now, let's see…" Hiccup did not consider himself to be sexist, or at least he did not mean to be, but in this case he figured that a male dragon would be better suited to a male human. So he had Shamrock come over.
"Just as long as he's not like the last one," the Treejumper grumbled.
"That's highly unlikely." Personally, Hiccup would have paired Gustav with someone like Evictus, but he had to make do with what he had. "All right, Gustav, hold out your hand like this and…" he gently led Gustav's hand to Shamrock's snout. Shamrock sniffed, and abruptly pulled back, shaking his head.
Gustav was stunned. "But you said—!"
"Gustav, it's all right. It took me several tries before Toothless would let me touch him, this can take time—which we don't have right at the moment," he looked at Shamrock angrily. "Shamrock, what's going on?"
"I'm sorry, but I won't bond with him. Something about him just doesn't sit right with me."
"Then will you at least let him ride you until I find someone who will?"
Shamrock gave in after a minute of thinking.
"Ok, Gustav, here's the deal. Shamrock seems unwilling to bond with you—but he's willing to let you ride him for now, and he might change his mind later!" Hiccup added quickly, for Gustav looked about ready to cry. "So, for now, you'll ride him, and then, once we get the chance, I'll find you a dragon you can bond with. Ok?"
"Why don't you make him bond with the dragon?" Marva demanded.
"That's not how it's done, Marva."
"Why not? It's what Drago would do!"
"Drago has never bonded with a dragon, so he wouldn't know now would he?"
"But he's got an army of them, so he must be using a method that works!"
"Correction: he had an army of them. An army made up of beaten and scared slaves. That's not how we're going to do this."
"But Hiccup, how will I know if a dragon wants to bond with me?" Gustav asked nervously.
Hiccup thought of how he could explain this. "You know those stories you hear about love at first sight? I'm not saying bonding is like falling in love with a dragon, but it's kinda similar…once you see that person, you just know somehow. And it's not just with humans either: you look through a pile of axes or swords, or jewelry or a vase, and you find one that feels exactly what you're looking for. You can't explain exactly how you know this, but you know. It's the same situation here. And we'll find you a suitable dragon, Gustav, don't worry."
"So can I go flying now?" He asked eagerly. "I wanna show Astrid! And speaking of which I wanna talk to you about—"
"I'll help you saddle up." Hiccup interrupted. "Once you're up in the air, find Astrid and join her group. Shamrock, make sure he gets there safely, ok?"
"Sure thing,"
Gustav was positively delighted to be told to find Astrid and join her. But he nearly did not because he was so excited he almost fell off several times before Shamrock got into the air.
There was no trouble with Camicazi and Midnight. The blond Bog Burglar goddess and white Snow Demon took to each other like ducks to water. The only problem was Camicazi decided she liked the name Stormfly better than Midnight.
"Why can't there be two Stormflys?"
"Because that would cause more confusion than we need." Hiccup said patiently, "you can't steal a name, Cami. Astrid and the real Stormfly would not like it. Nor would Midnight, I imagine,"
"Oh it doesn't sound so bad," Midnight mused, "and I have flown through snow storms in the past,"
"We could call her Stormfly 2," Toothless teased.
"You're supposed to be on my side, Bud!"
Hiccup ended the debate by giving Cami the same instructions he told Gustav, and she was thrilled to obey. That left Marva, and Hiccup honestly would rather teach Dagur the Deranged how to fly a dragon than her. He just hoped Persephone, the last remaining dragon, had the temperament to work with him on this.
"Ok, Marva, let's get you on Persephone,"
"Why does she have such a stupid name?"
"It's the Greek Goddess of the Underworld,"
"I prefer the Daughter of the Greek Goddess of the Harvest,"
"Actually, that sounds pretty fitting, because that's what we're gonna be, aren't we, Stephanie?" Marva slapped Persephone on the head with more force than she probably intended.
Hiccup was indignant. "Easy there! You don't want to hurt her. When you're in the air, she's all that'll keep you from falling to your death."
"Whatever. So do I get a whip?"
"What?" Persephone cried. Hiccup said the same thing.
"You know, a whip, so I can get her to go faster when I want her too! Show her who's in charge!"
"Simply saying 'go faster' usually works," Hiccup said dryly. "And we do not use whips."
"Then how about a rod, or a pike or something? Drago Bludvist uses one!" Persephone started shaking. Toothless's pupils turned to narrow slits.
"Ok, that's it. Persephone, you may leave. Marva, you're not becoming a Dragon Rider."
"What?"
"Do you seriously think I'm going to let you after what you've been saying? You idolize Drago so much I think you'd join him at the first opportunity! Or perhaps that's the actual plan?"
"Listen Toothpick, his methods clearly work, so why can't I use 'em? I'd use a whip on a horse or a donkey, why not a dragon?"
"Because dragons are not horses or donkeys," Hiccup snapped, "and even if they were, I would not beat one."
"That's how you've always been, Useless. Too weak and too tender hearted. It's sickening. That's why you were always so easy to pick on when you were younger. You couldn't man up, and you still can't!"
"So you have to hurt a dragon to be a man?" Hiccup folded his arms. "And do you really think insulting me is going make me change my mind? On the contrary, you're only confirming my decision!"
Marva put her hands on her hips. "And how do you think my father will react when you tell him this?"
"Hopefully, he'll ground you for a month and teach you to show a little courtesy to other people."
"My father has no power over me, Useless. Suppose I tell the Owl Guts to sail away? That wouldn't be very good for your little war, now would it?"
Hiccup decided to call her bluff. "Yeah, good luck persuading your tribesmen to do that." And yet he was starting to change his mind and consider his options. This could escalate and cause a problem with the alliance, something he wanted to avoid. Perhaps a flight on a dragon would change Marva enough. After all, it had worked on most others so far. And if a flight failed to, then he would be furnished with stronger reasons to not make Marva a Dragon Rider. So he humbly apologized, admitted he had been hasty, called Persephone back, and helped Marva to mount her. However, he also flat out told Marva to not use Drago as a role model for this, and he intentionally skipped the part of trying to get Marva to bond with Persephone.
Marva, of course, saw his apology as a sign of weakness and kept making rude comments about every move he made. When a saddle strap needed adjusting, she demanded why it hadn't been done right in the first place. When Hiccup told her to loosen up on the reigns or she'd strangle Persephone, Marva snapped that she already knew that and didn't need his help to tell her that. Hiccup began to wonder if she and Mildew were somehow related.
"How are you holding up, Persephone?" Toothless asked.
"I now see why Grimm has such distaste for humans," she moaned, "I hope this is not permanent. She weighs too much and she's tugging on my throat!"
The Dragon King saw this too. He mentally slapped himself for giving Marva one of the smaller dragons available, but, as he noted before, he was making do with what he had. "I'm really sorry, Persephone, but it's only for a few days at most. I'll give you some greengages every night for a month, if that'll make you feel better." Persephone loved that fruit.
Persephone composed herself. "If the survival of my kin requires my pain, I can withstand this and not share the burden with others."
It still felt like hours before Marva was up in the air. And just like everyone else, she was so excited about flying that she was actually civil for a few minutes as they moved to join the others.
There was no fixed method for what they were doing, but Hiccup had some plans in mind. In aerial combat their main problem would be the projectiles. The enemy would shoot arrows, spears, nets, chains and boulders at them, so two essentials for fighting in the air would be good maneuverability and quick reflexes. So he had his team practice making sharp turns at random moments.
"Imagine there's a volley of arrows heading straight for you. The moves you make will decide if you live or not!" he told them. Then he quickly began shouting "Up! Left! Left again! Right! Now dive!"
For someone like Astrid, this was easy. She had a fast and agile dragon and she already had good reflexes. For Fishlegs and Meatlug, it was much more of a challenge. They were large, slow, and cumbersome. Hiccup made a mental note that they should wear more protective gear. For the three new riders, Gustav was enjoying riding Shamrock so much that he seemed oblivious to the fact that he was training for combat. Marva kept shouting and kicking Persephone, urging her to go faster and complaining when she did not. Camicazi, however, was doing almost as well as Astrid. Snotlout was having trouble directing Hookfang. The Nightmare would intentionally do the opposite of Snotlout what ordered. Still, they were flying quickly and Hookfang's random twists and turns would make them a hard target. It was very much the same story for the Twins, except the trouble was not that the dragon was messing around with the rider; it was that the riders were messing around with each other and the dragon was caught in the middle of it. The most frequent problem, Hiccup saw, was when Tuff wanted to go one direction and Ruff wanted to go the other direction, which either resulted in them colliding with each other, or pulling on Barf n' Belch's necks so much the Zippleback looked ready to be split in half, and what was even stranger was that the dragon seemed to be enjoying it.
They engaged in these practices for most of the morning, and then Gustav began complaining his rear end was getting sore. Several others echoed the complaint, so when Hiccup spotted an island he told them to land and have some lunch. First, however, he put them through some stretches that would make their muscles hurt less later on.
"Hang on a minute, where's Persephone?" Toothless suddenly said.
"Where's Marva?" Camicazi asked almost at the same time. All eyes shot upwards and they saw the pink dragon carrying Marva away westwards.
"Now where are they going?" Fishlegs asked.
Hiccup shook his head in exasperation. "I don't know and I don't really care. C'mon, Bud, let's go bring them back."
"Couldn't you just have Toothless order them back?" Astrid asked. "I thought a Beta had mind control over its subjects."
Hiccup mounted the Night Fury. "They do. But Toothless isn't a Beta anymore," They were in the air and gone before they could explain further.
"Now where did they go? They were just over there." The King scanned the horizon and pulled out his spotting glass.
"How could you lose sight of a person that large?"
"How could I lose sight of them? You're the one who's always boasting about their superior vision."
Marva had gotten separated from the group some time before they went in for a landing, mostly because Persephone was not used to carrying a human on her back and was flying slower than normal. Marva had not helped matters by repeatedly kicking Persephone, urging her to go faster. At the same time, Marva had intentionally tried to get away from the group. She did not like any of them and wanted to be alone. As it was, she had not seen the others land because she was facing the wrong direction and was too far away to hear Hiccup. So they just kept going. Persephone was getting increasingly anxious but Marva could hardly care less if they found Hiccup or not.
"And they call him the 'Dragon King.' Hah! If that wimp of a fishbone is a king, Drago Bludvist is a God!" Still, she had the sense to not get too far away from the others and when she spotted a large island she ordered Persephone to land. Persephone was only too happy to oblige her.
"What a weak dragon," Marva said scornfully, for Persephone was panting heavily, "Figures Useless would give me a crummy one. Course, if he let me use Drago's methods I'd have her whipped into shape in no time." She just could not see why he would not allow this. Drago's methods had worked, had they not? For her, much like Snotlout, it was the results that mattered, not the means.
She wandered around lost in thought about what she would do now that she was riding a dragon, when she became aware of a breathing sound. She followed it to a huge clearing and came upon the largest dragon she had ever seen, fast asleep in the late morning sunshine.
The dragon was a dirty white color and looked more like a snake with wings than a dragon. Its spiked tail alone was nearly 40 feet long. Its massive head was larger than Persephone's entire body, and its mouth, from what she could see of it, looked about as wide as the Night Fury's wingspan. All of a sudden it yawned and she saw its mouth was filled with rows of teeth, the largest ones being as tall as she was. It opened its eyes and she saw they were bright red. They burned like sunlight in the desert. Then it rolled over, snuggled into a pile of dirt, and resumed its siesta.
Marva's mind instantly got busy. She admired the obvious raw power in the dragon's body. It was a colossal improvement over the weak Persephone. She imagined bringing this giant dragon into Berk as her own. She imagined bringing it to Drago Bludvist. Everyone would be awed that she, Marva, had tamed this mighty beast into servitude. Such a thought greatly excited her. And she would tame it by using Drago's methods, instead of those stupid ideas Hiccup the Useless carried around. Intimidation, fear, punishment, and oppression, those were much better suited to this than anything Hiccup might have in mind, and she would prove it so.
So she grabbed a large branch and walked right up to the dragon, which she was unaware was called a Screaming Death, and poked it right in the nose.
Up in the air a ways away Hiccup and Toothless were getting annoyed, when Toothless turned his head sharply.
"Did you hear something?"
"Yes I did, Bud. Let's check it out!"
What they had heard had been the Screaming Death's reaction to being poked awake. Now that it was awake and could see who had disturbed it, it actually was uncertain of what to make of it. This was unfamiliar territory for it. After all, most Screaming Deaths do not expect to be woken up by little humans waving sticks around. It eyed Marva with more curiosity than anger.
Marva, for her part, was waving the branch around and roaring loudly, though to the Screaming Death it was only a mild yell. She thought it was working, for the Dragon seemed quite tame. Yet at the same time, it was not doing what she wanted. She expected it to cower, but it was only staring at her. The Dragon actually seemed rather amused by what it was seeing. And Marva did not like that. She wanted it to fear her and become obedient, not be amused!
After a few minutes the Dragon decided it had seen enough and got up to find a new island to sleep on. Marva, in a fit of pique, flung her branch at the creature and got it right in the eye.
The Screaming Death instantly roared and rounded on her. The only reason she was not killed on the spot was because the Dragon was distracted by the pain in its eye. But the sight of the enraged beast was so horrifying Marva panicked at once and ran for it. She never ran so fast in all her life. Her only thought was to get on her dragon and get out of there. She reached Persephone just fine, but when they took off the Screaming Death spotted them. It roared again and shot after them.
Persephone shouted all kinds of friendly apologies at it but the white dragon paid her no heed. It opened its mouth and shot a large ball of fire at them. Persephone only barely dodged it. Marva was holding onto the reigns for dear life and screaming at the dragon to go faster. Persephone chanced a glance back and saw the Screaming Death was right upon them, its hellish eyes blazing, its mouth wide opened, and its rows of teeth gleaming. It was getting closer! Persephone screamed for help. The Screaming Death screamed in reply and she felt herself grow dizzy. It would have them in seconds!
Suddenly a plasma blast got it right in the mouth and Toothless and his rider swooped into view.
"Keep going! We'll cover you!" Hiccup shouted. Persephone needed no encouragement. Marva did not seem to notice; she was still screaming herself hoarse. Hiccup and Toothless swooped around the Screaming Death and dodged a fireball, then another one. This one was so close Hiccup's hair would have caught fire had he not been wearing his helmet.
"This is not how I imagined my day going!" Toothless shouted.
"Confuse it, Bud, spin left now!"
Over on their island, the other Dragon Riders had heard the noise and saw what was going on. Astrid at once climbed onto Stormfly.
"Come on, we've gotta help!"
Snotlout looked annoyed. "Um, excuse me, but that's Marva the Larva who's in trouble. Why on earth should we be helping her?"
Astrid glared at him. "Because Hiccup is," That was reason enough for the rest of them. As they flew they watched with horror as it seemed Persephone and Marva were about to be eaten, then cheered when Hiccup and Toothless attacked. Astrid quickly saw what one problem was: Persephone was too tired and Marva was not helping matters. Those two would have a better chance if they were separated.
"Snot, can Hookfang carry a dragon?"
"What? I mean, of course he can! Hookfang can carry anything!"
"Ok, Stormfly and I will go in and pull Marva off of Persephone. Hookfang, grab her, understand?"
"Grab who?" Snotlout asked nervously.
"Persephone of course! Everyone else go help Hiccup! It's time for some real combat training!"
"Um, I think she's enjoying this!" Fishlegs whimpered.
Astrid might have been enjoying this, but Hiccup and Toothless were not. The Screaming Death shot ball after ball of fire at them. They swerved in every conceivable direction to dodge the onslaught, which led them unknowingly further away from the aid of the other dragon riders.
For cover they sped towards some sea stacks, which the Screaming Death promptly smashed into, sending rocks flying. One lucky piece struck Hiccup in the head, but thankfully his helmet was still on. His ears started ringing, however.
"How much longer do we have to do this?" Toothless shouted as he dodged a larger bounder as it plummeted to the sea below them.
"Just a little longer Bud, hang in there!" Hiccup sounded calm, but he was clinging to his saddle for dear life. The Screaming Death roared again and swung its tail, sending a barrage of giant spikes towards them.
"Pull up!"
One spike came so close Toothless felt a breeze brush against his leg, but the rest passed below them harmlessly. So the Dragon tried again. This time its aim was better. They had to make a very sharp turn to dodge them and one spike struck Hiccup's prosthetic.
"Oh come on, I just repaired that!" Hiccup yelled indignantly.
"Just be glad it's not the other one!" Toothless yelled back.
Marva had no real idea of what was going on. One moment she was sitting on a dragon's back and nearly strangling and deafening her, the next she was the grip of a very strong pair of talons and speeding through the air.
"Oh Drago, Odin, Thor, Freya, somebody help me!"
"That's what we're doing!" Astrid yelled down at her. She spotted Hookfang gently grabbing Persephone and carrying her in his claws.
Astrid shouted at him "We'll take them back to the island we were resting on! And then we'll go help the others!"
The others had finally caught up to Hiccup and Toothless, only to have Hiccup order them to turn around.
"I've got an idea, but we need to get him over land!" Hiccup yelled. That proved to be easy. The Screaming Death was so angry it followed them like a shark chasing fish. But the fish in this case were a bit too fast or nimble for it, and in its frustration it shot of more fireballs in quick succession.
Camicazi wanted to turn around and fight it but Hiccup shouted no. Fishlegs wanted to get out of there, squealing that he and his stomach were not ready for this kind of excitement. The Twins and Gustav wanted more of this kind of excitement. Hiccup shouted at them to just keep going. As if to reinforce his point, a fireball almost got Gustav and Shamrock. Gustav abruptly began urging him to go faster. They went so fast they almost collided with Snotlout and Hookfang.
"Ok, times up," Hiccup yelled, "Toothless, pull up a little, the rest of you, just keep the dragon over that island!"
"What's your plan?" Toothless asked anxiously as they climbed higher.
"You won't like it." Hiccup replied. He pulled the lever that allowed Toothless to glide. "Just keep going in circles until you can land. If you can't, I'm sure Hookfang or Midnight will pick up you up."
"And just what are you going to be doing in the meantime?" The Night Fury demanded.
"Try and put a Screaming Death to sleep." Hiccup stood up.
"You're going to—WHAT? NO, NO, NO, YOU ARE NOT—"
"Oh come on, Toothless, let's have some fun!" And with that the King leapt off his dragon and began a free fall.
"YOU'VE ALREADY SHORTEN MY LIFE BY 20 YEARS!" Toothless screamed after him, and he wasn't the only one who screamed.
Hiccup plunged through the air. At the very last moment he opened the wings of his flight suit and gently floated downwards. The Screaming Death was right below him, though it was unaware of it, being focused on Fishlegs and Meatlug.
"Careful," Hiccup whispered, "Careful…" he adjusted himself and managed to land squarely on the Screaming Death's large head. With no time to waste he pulled Dragon nip out of a pocket and shoved it against the Screaming Death's nostril. The dragon inhaled once, twice, a third time, and then was out like a candle. It stopped moving its wings and fell like a rock right onto the island below it. As it did, Hiccup leapt into the air again and glided to the ground. The Screaming Death was not so lucky, and took out a few trees as it landed, though it was blissfully unaware of it.
The other riders were surprised by how suddenly the danger and passed. At Hiccup's request Hookfang flew off to collect Toothless while Midnight and Stormfly went to collect Persephone and Marva. When the Night Fury was safely on land, the very first thing he did was walk over to Hiccup and clobber him with his tail.
"Of all the people in the world I had to make friends with the most idiotic, reckless, and insane of them!"
"That's why you love hanging out with me, Bud!"
Astrid then punched him in the chest. "What were you thinking?"
"Well if you had a better plan, I'd love to hear it! How else was I going to get him to calm down? Maybe you could use a little dragon nip yourself!"
"I know I sure could," Fishlegs groaned as he flopped on the ground.
Gustav was looking at the sleeping Screaming Death. "Cool! So when will it be waking up? Can I ride him, Hiccup? Please, please, please?"
"Are you crazy? Absolutely not!" Astrid snapped.
Hiccup held up a hand. "That'll depend on what the Dragon thinks when he wakes up, which will probably be in about ten minutes. So," looking dead serious he turned to Persephone, who had just arrived. "How the heck did you end up with a Screaming Death chasing after you?"
The other riders watched him conversing with Persephone as they brought their heart rates back to normal.
"I wish I knew how he does that," Fishlegs said enviously, "I'd love to talk with dragons!" The others, baring Marva, agreed.
Hiccup finally turned to Marva. "All right, what's your side of the story?"
"Nothing! I was just minding my own business and that thing attacked me!"
"For no reason?"
"Does it need a reason? It's an animal, stupid!"
"You do know I can just ask the Screaming Death what happened when he wakes up. If you're lying to me, it's completely futile."
Marva shrugged uncomfortably. "So I might have tried to train it. That's what you would have done!"
Hiccup decided to just wait for the Screaming Death to wake up. Marva accused him of favoritism; that he was intentionally siding with dragons instead of his own kind. Hiccup ignored her and pulled out some bandages from a bag attached to Toothless's saddle.
"Some medical supplies." He explained to Astrid. He had gotten a few nasty cuts in the landing and the Screaming Death and Persephone had some wounds too.
"I didn't know you carried that around! Why didn't you use them after we escaped from the Berserkers?"
"I did. It was early the next morning when Fishlegs was on sentry duty. I would have used it earlier except the rest of you saved me the trouble—thank you for that, by the way." He added sincerely.
As he cleaned his wounds he gave his assessment of how he thought the Riders had done when confronted with a genuine danger and asked them what they thought. Overall, he was very pleased with how they had performed, calling it promising. Most of the Riders were just disappointed they had not been involved more. Further discussion was put on hold because the Screaming Death stirred and groggily looked around. All at once it darted backwards and tensed up. Hiccup approached the creature with his dragon friends right behind him.
It was a standoff. The Screaming Death eyed the group uncertainly, wondering which one would strike first and which one he should strike first. The dragons bared their fangs, clearly showing they were ready for a fight. Hiccup told them to stay alert but look less threatening. He calmly and carefully walked towards the Screaming Death with both arms raised.
"Is he crazy?" whispered Ruffnut, "I like it!"
"Is he surrendering?" Astrid said to nobody in particular.
"Easy, there, big guy," the King whispered, "There's nothing to worry about."
"Who are you?" The Dragon roared so loudly everyone was nearly deafened. "How do you speak my tongue?"
The Dragon King carefully held up his sword (he had not brought his shield with him today) and tossed it away.
"I'm sorry I had to use Dragon Nip on you like that, but I had little choice."
The Screaming Death growled. "Is that why your friend threw a stick in my eye? Did she not have a choice either?"
The King now noticed the bruised eye up close and felt a pang in his heart.
The other humans watched amazed as the King took some bandages and gently began cleaning the dragon's wound. As he did they conversed in dragonese. While nobody could understand what was being said, it was obvious their friend was giving sympathy to the huge dragon. Some of the other dragons appeared to be chatting with it too. It was strange to see such a menacing looking creature having a casual conversation while it was being nursed by a human.
At last the King turned around. "Toothless, Astrid, you and others have called me crazy and stupid, and maybe I am. But I at least am not so stupid as to wake up a Screaming Death and fling a stick at it! That was quite a show you put on, Marva!"
"And you believe it?" Marva shrieked. "That thing tried to kill all of us and you're siding with it?"
"Yes I am. What does he have to lose by telling me the truth, a truth which perfectly confirms what Persephone told me?" He looked outraged. "Darn it, Marva, I wouldn't have minded if you'd gotten chased for trying to train him—do you think I haven't had any close calls over the years? But when I'm told that you tried to intimidate him like Drago Bludvist would have done, I am NOT going to let that pass! You almost got yourself and the rest of us killed; Toothless and Persephone especially, and all because you wanted to imitate the man we're supposed to be opposing! Good grief, woman, whose side are you on?"
"Mine!" Marva growled. "You're a fool, Useless. You think you can stop someone as powerful as Drago? I've followed his work for years; he's more powerful that you can imagine! If you're so strong and clever, why haven't you managed to kill him yet? So yes, I tried to train that dragon in Drago's way to make you see the truth, and if that stupid beast had had any brains, I would have succeeded!"
The King was unimpressed by her outburst. "You can tell that to the Chiefs when we get back to Berk. We're done here. And since you've completely blown the right to ride a dragon, Barf n' Belch will carry you back. And if the Twins have the wildest and death defying flight ever, I will thank them for it!" He stormed away to talk with the Screaming Death again.
Marva looked at the humans for support, but they looked unimpressed. Astrid and Fishlegs looked disgusted by what amounted to treason in their eyes. As for the others, Ruffnut summed up their feelings with one simple sentence when she said "Sheesh, Marva, even I know better than to anger a Screaming Death!"
Marva turned to Hiccup. If he was going to insult her like this, she'd pay him back. "I heard you had a panic attack in the cells on Berserk."
He ignored her.
"I would have loved to see your pathetic little body being flogged, you know that? I'd have loved to see it!" Hiccup froze and started shaking slightly. "Oh, does it hurt you to remember it? Does it hurt you to know you're trapped in a cell and being whipped by a powerful man who—"
"Shut up."
"—Can beat you up and there's nothing you can do about it? Does it hurt to know how weak flesh really is? To feel that lash on your face and back, to know—"
"Shut up!"
"To know that—"
Astrid was about to step in, but Hiccup suddenly roared, whipped out Inferno, and flung it at Marva. It missed her by inches.
"You think it's funny?" He shouted. "Shall I give you a taste of real pain?"
"Hiccup?" Astrid said nervously. There was a dark glint in his eyes that terrified all of them. Toothless crept behind Marva so she could not get away, his pupils turned to slits. He did not approve much of what was happening, but he was on his human's side over anyone else's.
Hiccup's voice lowered to a cruel whisper. "Shall I throw you in a cell and flog you? Or put a branding iron to your face?" He seemed to grow larger as he drew closer to her. "How about I let rats chew on your mangled skin every night? Since you've praised Drago so much, you just might be a spy like Adoncia. And do you know what your precious Drago does to spies he catches?" He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Marva by the throat. "HE THROTTLES THEM, THAT'S WHAT!"
"HICCUP!" Astrid screamed. She grabbed his shoulders trying to separate the two. Marva was so shocked she had no reaction at first. Fishlegs and Snotlout leapt in as well, and between the three of them they managed to pull them apart. Marva was enraged and now tried to fight back but Camicazi and Ruffnut grabbed her. Tuffnut and Gustav just stared with their mouths slightly opened, uncertain about whom they should help or who needed it.
Hiccup looked ready to break down and start sobbing. Instead he turned around and walked away, not looking at anybody.
"There he goes, running like the coward he is!" Marva tried to laugh hoarsely. Astrid's own temper snapped now and she punched her in the face.
"That's enough out of you," she snarled. "Hiccup!" The others followed her and found Hiccup a small distance away sitting on a rock, his head in his hands. Toothless was already next to him crooning and nuzzling him in the side.
Astrid slowly approached him "Hiccup, much as I admit Marva deserved that—"
"What's got you so riled up?" Camicazi interrupted.
"I'd rather not say," he said shortly,
Astrid gently put an arm around his shoulder, "what's wrong, Hiccup? We all want to know,"
"Why?" he demanded. "So you can torment me about it like she did?" his gaze softened. "Sorry, I didn't mean that. I know you wouldn't do that," He swallowed and took a deep breath. "It was four months after I'd left Berk. We had landed near a town in Spain. I'd gone exploring the town like I often did; Toothless had gone off hunting in the woods. I stopped in a tavern for a meal and there was this girl named Adoncia. She—" Astrid saw his eyes begin to slide out of focus, "I found out later she's the daughter of some noble and a servant girl. She and her father filled their coffers partly by having her sleep with rich men with high reputations and then blackmail them for it. She assumed I was a rich, young, and naïve foreigner, because I was clearly not local and nobody poor was likely to have traveled that far. So she marked me down as her next customer and tried to seduce me."
"Tried?" Astrid repeated. For some reason she felt a bit relieved to hear that word.
"I wasn't going to sleep with a girl I'd met ten minutes earlier!" he snapped, "I politely and then firmly turned her down and tried to leave—several times. She didn't take the rejection very well. Tried to go all out with me but instead of kissing her back I ran for it. Next thing I knew she was screaming that I had attacked her and soldiers were dragging me into custody. They threw me into a cell." His voice lowered. "I can still remember the smell of the straw on the floor. I didn't keep a picklock in my leg until after this, so I had no way to escape. Then they searched my belongings and found a journal with some drawings of Toothless. They wanted to know more, and they still thought I had money hidden somewhere. Adoncia can speak and read Norse and some other languages; it opened up opportunities for her line of business."
He began to tremble but with effort controlled himself. "Adoncia and the jailer would take turns with the whips. Then there'd be times when Adoncia would lie down next to me wearing practically nothing and she'd stroke my cheek and whisper in my ear that it would all stop if I just told them what they wanted, and then hint that if I did I'd receive a wonderful reward for it…but since they'd shifted their focus from money to Toothless, I'd ignore her and it would start up again."
The trembling grew worse but he kept talking, as if compelled to get this out of him. "I was in there for nearly two weeks. Every day they'd kick me, fling their whips at me, place a branding iron against my legs…sometimes they'd have me change cells so they could have someone clean up the bloodied straw…and all the while I could hear other prisoners screaming too, pleading for them to stop and crying like children…then you'd hear the crack of a whip or the sound of bones breaking and another scream came…while at night you hear the sound of the rats scurrying around, but you see nothing in the darkness while they begin gnawing on you…then in the morning you'd see somebody being led past the cell and wonder if they were freed or being led out to be executed, and wondering if your turn was next…and sometimes wishing your turn would be next to end it all…do you have any idea what that can do to a fifteen year old boy? Look at me! Even just talking about it makes me shake! When I got out of there I couldn't look at a woman without being terrified for months! The mere sight of blood made me sick! Every time I saw a dark haired woman I thought Adoncia had found me, I had nightmares several times a night, and there was one time I couldn't even be in a dark room because it looked too familiar!" Hiccup's body suddenly began to contort. Toothless grabbed him with his paws and shouted "It's all right, snap out of it!"
"Thanks Bud." He shook his head and calmed down.
"How did you get out of that place?" Snotlout asked. He was looking at his cousin with admiration, pity, and horror. He remembered only too well his own terrifying experience in a cell, but he at least had never been harmed physically then.
"Toothless broke me out. When I didn't return he went looking for me. Being a dragon he could only venture into the town at night and couldn't go very far into it. But when he found out where I was…" He fell silent for a moment. "Well, let's just say it was only then that I realized why Night Furies are so feared and I hope I never see him like that again."
Authors Note: I am taking a short vacation, so there will be no updates or messages until October 25 at the earliest.