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

Jarin and the Riders of Berk

Chapter 4 – Road to Recovery

The Next morning, the trainers began covering the Academy's cage roof with whatever could be found to block out the direct sunlight. The gates were kept open and there was a constant cool breeze blowing from the sea, so the air was kept pleasant inside the now darkened training yard. There was not enough room to move the recovering Monstrous Nightmare into the shade chambers where other Dragons slumbered. They could have lifted him onto a large cart, but inside the shade rooms, there would have been no way to lift him off the cart. Besides, the shade rooms, while no longer bearing cage doors, were still somewhat confined, and the last thing Hiccup and the others wanted was for the dragon to wake up in a confined space, considering what it must have endured.

If he would wake up.

For three days, Jarin and the others repeated the process of feeding the Nightmare with the machine Gobber constructed for the purpose. On the third day, the Nightmare actually rolled over on its own, but still did not regain consciousness. It was still progress of a sorts. It also seemed to be breathing a lot easier, less raggedly.

On the fourth day, Jarin was applying generous amounts of a soothing salve to the dragons wounds. Gothi had concocted the salve and taught the trainers how to produce it themselves. Dragon-nip was the primary ingredient, along with some other herbs that resulted in a cooling sensation that even humans could feel if they got it on their skin. Jarin observed that wounds were not nearly as angry-looking as they were when they brought the dragon in, and that gave him a strong sense of hope.

Without warning, the dragon lifted its head and turned to face him, though its eyes remained unfocused. It couldn't know that a human was tending to its injuries. After a few seconds, it rested its head back on the ground and began to snore. That was a change as well. Until now, its breathing had been labored, even though it had been improving. The snoring indicated true restfulness.

Jarin looked the dragon over again, with a measure of concern. There was so much damage to its skin, and it was likely it would never grow scales again where they had been scraped off. "I'll be back in a minute, friend..." he said to the sleeping dragon, as he turned away and headed towards the office building that had been established in one of the former holding cells.

The large entry had been walled over with a normal door set into it for human entry. Jarin opened it and walked inside. Hiccup was sitting at his on the far side of the room, bent over a journal. He looked up as Jarin approached.

"Ah. Jarin," he began. "I was just about to come out and check on you and the dragon. How's he doing?"

"Much better, today," Jarin answered. He told Hiccup about the dragon raising its head, laying it back down and beginning to snore."

Hiccup smiled. "That's great news." He tilted his head to the side slightly. "So what brings you here?"

Jarin cleared his throat. "I am concerned that the dragon will never regrow scales where they were stripped away. If he sets himself on fire like most Nightmares do, he will burn himself."

"Gothi thought about that," Hiccup said. "The salve you've been applying is very foul-tasting to dragons. It is a Nightmare's saliva that makes it burst into flames, so if the salve is applied regularly, it won't lick itself. No licking... No bursting into flames..."

Jarin nodded. Gothi was as smart as they came, especially when it came to potions and salves. "there's one other problem."

"Oh?" asked Hiccup.

"Without scales, he's going to be unprotected," answered Jarin. "I'm wondering if we cannot do something about that."

Hiccup was very interested at the suggestion. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well," Jarin began. "you manufactured a prosthetic tailfin for Toothless. I was wondering if some sort of body wrap might be tailored to fit our friend."

Hiccup smiled. "I'll give that some thought. I'm sure I could come up with something that will work"

Jarin's eyes widened. He had expected Hiccup to say he would have someone look into it, or assign him the task of figuring it out. But here he was going to do it himself.

Hiccup noticed Jarin's expression and laughed. "I can do things myself, you know. Dad may have named me First Rider and put me in charge over the Academy, but I like solving problems. Especially when the solutions involve making things. I delegate a lot of things to the other trainers because it makes sense to not take on the entire load for myself. And it keeps everyone from getting bored." Hiccup loved training dragons. But there were two things he was truly in his element with: Riding dragons and designing things.

"Right, chief," Jarin responded.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "What is it with you and calling everyone 'chief' all the time?"

Jarin pursed his lips. "Well, I've always been just a simple farmhand. Everyone is superior. I use the word 'chief' as an honorific to acknowledge that I know my place."

Hiccup shook his head. "First thing you need to understand here, Jarin, is that nobody is superior to anyone. Not even me. For me, 'in charge' means I'm responsible for whatever happens here, both with the dragons and those working with them. Something screws up, and I am the one whose head is on the chopping block. And for me that is nothing new. But we are all in this together as far as I am concerned. You have a knack with Monstrous Nightmares. For some reason they seem to feel at home around you. Maybe they just like the way you smell or something. I don't know. What I do know is that you bring something unique to the table. Even Snotlout is impressed with you. Don't tell him I said so, but he is. And for him, that is saying something. We are a unit. Don't think of yourself as being anything less than that. I'm glad to have you with us." He extended his hand to Jarin.

Jarin took the offered hand. Others can say what they wanted to about Hiccup as he was before he eneded the Dragon War. But you don't become such a good leader overnight. The lad's disposition was respectable, honorable, understanding and forthright. Qualities of a
leader if he ever saw them. In spite of Hiccup being seven years younger than him, he would follow him to the ends of the earth and beyond, as First Rider. That was to say nothing about how he might follow him when he eventually took over as Chief of Berk. He may not be a strong warrior, but he was proving to be wise and just. No doubt drawing on how he was previously treated, consciously deciding not to hold grudges, and make decisions based on what he saw was right. "Thank you," was Jarin's simple reply.

Hiccup nodded respectfully in response. "Was there something else?"

Now it was Jarin's turn to nod. "It's about the Dragons' names.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Their names?"

"Yes," Jarin said. "All these years we've been calling them things like Terrible Terrors and Monstrous Nightmares and Deadly Nadders. All names intended to inspire fear. They are our friends, Hiccup. They have earned our respect and out affection. We do not need to fear them."

Hiccup found himself nodding as Jarin spoke his mind. The truth was, he had been thinking along the same lines since the day he realized that everything the Vikings of Berk thought they knew about the dragons was wrong. "Jarin, you hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head. How would you like a special assignment, once our guest has recovered?"

Jarin's eyes brightened. "I'd be honored, Hiccup."

Hiccup smiled. "Good. Once you've taken care of his needs and assuming he can be integrated into our society, I want you to go around Berk and ask people what they would like to call the dragons, going forward. Explain it to them as you just explained it to me. There is not a single citizen of Berk who has not benefited from the dragons since we made peace. I am sure that the people can come up with suitable species names for them. Pick the names that you feel are the best and submit them in writing to me, and I will update the Book of Dragons accordingly."

Jarin was speechless. "You got it, Ch- uhm... Hiccup."

Hiccup clapped Jarin on the shoulder. "Very good. Now I've got to finish this inventory list so I can requisition supplies. And I imagine our guest could use your company."

It was a dismissal. But a necessary one. Jarin did not detect anything but honesty from the First Rider. "Thanl you for taking time to speak with me,"

Hiccup smiled. "No problem, Jarin."

Jarin took his leave. His life was already so much better than it had ever been before. He was a part of something bigger than himself. The Monstrous Nightmare that had washed ashore several days ago was clearly on the road to recovery, and with potentially new species names for the dragons soon to come, it meant that Berk itself was also on a road to recovery from all the long years of war against an enemy that could have been a friend all along.

He nodded to himself with satisfaction. Not bad for a day's work...