I neither own nor claim any rights to "How to Train Your Dragon"

Jarin and the Riders of Berk

Chapter 2 – Rescue Attempt

Jarin was a Viking of average build. Nowhere near what anyone would call skinny, and a far cry from beefy. He wasn't weak, but also wasn't considered particularly strong, either. Before the war with the dragons came to an end, he spent most of his time working the fields and tending to whatever livestock the dragons hadn't carried off. He had killed a few dragons before. Not because he wanted to, but because if he didn't they probably would have killed him.

He had mulled it over for a long time after the Dragon Training Academy was commissioned, and had finally come to the conclusion that he needed to join. And as strange as it may seem, he seemed to be a natural at earning the trust of Monstrous Nightmares. Snotlout made him an apprentice. Raw talent could not be ignored. Snotlout had made it abundantly clear that the arrangement was would last so long as Jarin didn't try to steal his thunder. A blasphemous statement that he didn't think that Thor would be too happy with. But no lightning struck Snotlout after having said it, so Jarin assumed that whatever thunder the guy had must have been on loan.

So he could train Monstrous Nightmares with relative ease. However, training one and establishing a true bond with it were two different things. He looked at the other fellow Vikings with their dragons and saw how they stayed together. He could call Nightmares to him. Ride them, help them assimilate into the society of Berk. But none of them really seemed to have that same sort of rapport with him. He had asked Snotlout what his secret for success was, and the only thing he got was a rambling speech about how he was successful with everything.

It was Fishlegs who explained to him that Nightmares are very prideful. He assumed that Hookfang bonded with Snotlout because he was once seen as a threat, but proved to be a friend when he laid his hand on him with no intent to do harm. According to Fishlegs, dragons have emotions just like people do, and what Hookfang most needed was hope, more than anything else. After all, the Dragon was kept in a cage, day-in and day-out, fed enough just to keep it alive. How could one not lose hope in a situation like that.

The Nightmares he had helped train since he came to the Academy were all products of this new age of peace, and so it made sense that making an emotional connection with them would be more difficult. On the other hand, there was this Nightmare that hat washed up on shore that he was about to go help try to save. If he could have a direct hand in nursing it back to health, assuming it would survive, perhaps a bond would form.

He found Brokenclaw asleep in the back of what used to be the academy's holding area, now converted into a sort of man-made cave for dragons who wanted to rest in a cool, dark area as opposed to in the open sunlight. A few Nadders lifted their heads and sniffed the air as he approached, one extending and retracting its spikes as it was startled and immediately realized that there was no threat.

"Wake up, Brokenclaw," he said as he began to remove a Nightmare saddle from a wall hook that used to be used for mounting weapons. "We've got a brother to help."

The Draggon didn't stir. He just lay there snoring, his left front leg stretched out in front of him. The third fore-toe was twisted an a nasty way, clearly having once been broken and never healed properly. Hence the name Borkenclaw. How the injury actually happened was a mystery. First Rider Hiccup assumed that he might have been distracted while making a grab for prey and ended up slamming his toe into the ground. It made sense.

"Brokenclaw!" Jarin called again, louder this time.

This time, the Nightmare raised his head, yawned and looked down at Jarin with an expression that plainly said "What do you want, two-legs?"

Jarin smiled. "I know you would rather sleep, but we need your help to save one of your kind. So please let me get you saddled up."

The Nightmare's eyes widened and the expression changed to something that might as well have been "Why didn't you say so?" He got to his feet and crouched down so the saddle could be slung over his shoulders, then stood up so that Jarin could get underneath him to fasten the buckles.

A few moments later, Jarin was in the saddle and he and Brokenclaw were on their way toward the open gate. As they emerged into the sunlight, the bright orange streak pattern in the dragon's scales seemed to light up as if on fire, backdropped by brown scales with black speckles. Brokenclaw was one of the most beautiful Monstrous Nightmares anyone in Berk had ever seen. Even Snotlout was impressed.

"Alright," said Snotlout, who was mounted on Hookfang and waiting for Jarin. "Let's get to the armory and load up the rope. Gobber should have it ready by now."

"Right with you, chief," Jarin said as they took to the sky.

Astrid was already at the armory with Stormfly, waiting on Snotlout and Jarin. As soon as they landed, she stepped forward with an irritated expression. "Took you guys long enough. I was wondering if I would have to come get you."

Jarin spoke up. "It took us long enough to get Brokenclaw to wake up and get the saddle on him, chiefette."

Astrid narrowed her eyes at him. "Do NOT call me 'chiefette' ever again, new guy, or you'll be missing some teeth. Got it?" He grinned at her in response, and she rolled her eyes at him. She did not have time for any foolishness today. "Okay... What's the plan, Snotlout?"

"We'll tie the ropes under the Nightmare's arms and drag him in the water," Snotlout said. "We can raise the cage-roof at the academy and fly him in when we get close. If we need more lift support, there are plenty of Dragons here to help. I think we can manage it."

Snotlout was not the brightest candle on the shelf, but he knew Monstrous Nightmares and how to handle them. He spoke with confidence. Astrid nodded. "Then let's get moving."

Loading up the rope only took a few moments, and Astrid sent a messenger to the academy to keep an eye open for their return and be ready to raise the cage-roof. If all went well it shouldn't take too long.

O O O

Toothless crept forward and sniffed the mass of blistered and torn Nightmare that had come to rest on the shore and growled again. It smelled of sickness and death. And danger. Hiccup was reaching out to touch the creature and Toothless pushed his way in between, teeth bared.

"What's wrong, Bud?" Hiccup asked. "I don't think it's going to attack me" He tried to move past Toothless to get to the badly wounded Nightmare.

Toothless would not budge. Two-legs can be stupid sometimes, he though. Even those as smart as Hiccup. How many times will he ignore warnings and face trials by fire before he gets it through his thick skull that if I warn him, there's a flaming good reason?

Hiccup sighed. He had no clue what Toothless was so worried about. However, he had ignored his Night Fury friend's warnings before and had faced extra hardship for having done so. He had lectured many novice trainers about learning to listen to their dragon. Taking his own advice was not so easy a lot of times. But this time he would do so. He had never seen a Nightmare with injuries like this before. He had no idea where it had come from. "Okay, buddy. We'll treat this with caution. It IS hurt very bad. Nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal."

Toothless bobbed his head in an approximation of a nod, and settled down, facing away from the unusual smell wafting from the poor beast in the water. Now they would have to wait for help to come. Toothless thought about the dream he had the night before, in which he relived the fateful events that brought him to this wonderful destiny. Only the dream turned into a nightmare when instead of just roaring into Hiccup's face and bounding away, he bit the boy's head off. He remembered waking up in horror only to find Hiccup resting peacefully across the room. He had seen Hiccup bolt upright in his bed in the deep of night, terrified of something. He wondered if his two-legged... no... one-legged friend ever had a nightmare in which he didn't cut those bonds, but did deliver a death-blow and take a Night Fury's heart to his father. Thank the Creator-of-all that neither one of them would ever intentionally harm the other.

They had taken a flight together in the wee hours of that morning. With the stars and moon shining so brightly, with the two-legs' village looking so beautifully peaceful, dragons sleeping near, on or even in the houses they once destroyed, it made him glad of the hope he held onto. That hope led to this glorious new age of peace. After they returned, neither had a hard time finding sleep for the remainder of the time before dawn.

O O O

Fishlegs heard through the grapevine about the Monstrous Nightmare that had washed ashore on one of the small out-islands. He caught up with Astrid, Snotlout and Jarin as they were setting off to see what could be done about saving it.

"What are you doing here, Fishlegs," Asked Astrid as he pulled alongside her.

"I'm coming with you guys," he answered. "I've never heard of a Monstrous Nightmare seeking refuge in water. It interferes with their ability to set themselves on fire. I really think I need to get a look at it before we move it. It may be important in figuring out how to treat it. Reminds me of the time Meatlug and I-"

"Alright. Fine. Whatever," she snapped, cutting him off. Fishlegs was a nice guy, and a truly loyal friend, but he could talk her ear off if she let him. And she wasn't going to. "It won't take long to get there... just follow me."

Fishlegs gave her a hurt look, bit nodded and swung Meatlug around and fell in formation between Snotlout and Jarin on the backs of the two Monstrous Nightmares.

Astrid was right. The trip was relatively short, as the dragon flies. Within a few minutes they were landing their dragons on the beach. Fishlegs hopped off of Meatlug and jogged over to where Hiccup and Toothless were waiting next to the blistered mass of scales and flesh that was the injured Monstrous Nightmare. As he tried to draw close to the beast, Toothless growled and put himself between them. He looked at Hiccup.

"Don't look at me," Hiccup said. "He won't let me near either."

Fishlegs nodded, looking closely at the beached Nightmare. "Something's not right here." He turned to Toothless... "I really need to get closer. Don't worry. It'll be okay"

Toothless cocked his head to one side as if considering what the two-leg just said. He seemed reluctant when he stepped aside and went to lay down a short distance away, not taking his eyes off of Hiccup.

Fishlegs stepped closer to examine the dragon.

"GAH!" he said, as he turned aside and vomited. After a few moments of retching, he looked at Hiccup with watery eyes. "It's disgusting! Someone has used some sort of tool to scrape the scales off of this dragon. There's infection all over these lacerations. I don't know if we can save this one. It may be better to put it down.

"Put it down?" Jarin demanded. "No! We can't. If there is anything we can do, we need to do it. If there is a chance it can be saved, we need to take it!"

Hiccup turned to Jarin. "I understand how you feel. I don't ever want to kill a dragon. But I don't want to subject one to torture either. And if Fishlegs is right, that is exactly what we would be doing."

Fishlegs chimed in. "If we can save it, I am all for it. I just wanted to keep it real. If we are going to do this, we need to do it now."

Hiccup pursed his lips, glancing at Toothless, who still looked uneasy about the situation, and then back at the badly abused Nightmare. He nodded his head... "Okay, Snotlout. I assume that you and Jarin have a plan. Let's get things moving. Astrid. You and Fishlegs head back to the Academy. Start organizing everything we will need to take care of this dragon. Someone has done horrible things to it. I cannot imagine that they were done for the sake of anything but cruelty. Make sure there is a lot of Dragon-nip on hand to keep it calm. The last thing we need is for it to recover, assume it is in danger, and go into a rage."

Astrid and Fishlegs mounted their respective Dragons and took to the air. Below, Snotlout and Jarin were already working to get ropes tied to the Nightmare's forelegs, just below the shoulder, with the other end tied around the wrists of their dragons.

The journey back to Berk took longer than expected. While the wounded Nightmare floated on the water, its limp bulk kept shifting and rolling, threatening to pull the two flying Nightmares off course. Snotlout and Jarin had to fight for control almost every minute of the trip.

Finally, with the sun setting, they got as close as they could before the water would shallow up enough to beach the Nightmare again. Hiccup gave an order to hold there for a moment. He zoomed towards the academy on Toothless and was gone for a couple of minutes. When he returned, he was followed by two more Nightmares bearing ropes, which were quickly fastened to the wounded creature's thighs. Four healthy Nightmares to lift and carry one that was near death.

The move went without incident, and soon the injured dragon was lying on its side in the middle of the arena.

"Okay, people," Hiccup announced. "I am putting Fishlegs in charge of the treatment of this dragon's injuries. All of you are to be at his disposal. Jarin, a word if you please."

Jarin stepped up to Hiccup and saluted. "What can I do for you, chief?"

"First of all," Hiccup said. "Stop saluting me. And second, I am putting you in charge of this dragon's well-being. Your talent with Nightmares is impressive, and I can think of nobody else I want handling this one."

Jarin grinned. He had planned on requesting the responsibility. "You can count on me."

Hiccup nodded. "Jarin, you need to be very careful. This Dragon has clearly been treated horribly by humans. It may not be trainable. Toothless was wounded when I trained him. It took a lot of effort to earn his trust. But Toothless does not have the volatile behavior that Monstrous Nightmares do. When Hookfang had a bad tooth, he nearly tore Berk apart. If we are able to get this dragon out of danger of death, then it will surely be in terrible pain when it regains consciousness."

Jarin listened to Hiccup's advice very carefully. He had never trained a Nightmare that was wounded so badly before. The First Rider knew more general knowledge about Dragon Training than anyone, and he was determined to put it to good use. "I'll do my best, Chief."

"I know you will, Jarin," Hiccup said, clapping a hand on Jarin's shoulder. "This is very important. I know how much that bonding with a Dragon means to you, and I do hope that this will be the one. However, if this dragon proves to be untrainable, we will have to put it down. We cannot afford a rogue Nightmare in the midsst of Berk."

Jarin nodded. "Understood, chief."

"And another thing," Hiccup said. Please don't call me 'chief.'"

"Yes sir." Jarin replied. "Oh. Speaking of chiefs, Stoick wanted me to tell you to find him once we got the Nightmare settled."

Hiccup nodded. "Thanks Jarin. Go see if Fishlegs needs help. I'll see you later."

Jarin turn back towards the wounded Nightmare as Hiccup mounted up on Toothless and flew towards the great hall. He had his work cut out for him."

Okay... Here's Chapter One. Hopefully guys will enjoy it.

Be blessed...