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

Jarin and the Riders of Berk

Chapter 12 – Solutions and Problems

Hiccup had listened very carefully to Jarin's explanation. The woman's tale was horrifying, and he believed it. But something was missing

"Tarina," he began, "You were looking for Shadowhorn after you left your island?"

Tarina looked back at him. "Yes. I knew the ocean would carry him away. I knew he was still alive. I didn't really know what I could do if I found him, but the least I could try to do was be with him, give him some small comfort at the end. I am so very glad he came here, where Dragons and humans live in harmony."

Hiccup nodded. He extended his hand to her. "I am Hiccup, Acting-chief and First Rider of Berk. I welcome you and pledge to see to it that for as long as you choose to remain here, you will be safe."

She clasped his hand. "Thank you," she said, looking him up and down, no doubt thinking that he didn't seem like chief material, acting or otherwise. Then he saw her look at Toothless, who was nuzzling his hand, no doubt thinking that if he could tame a Night Fury, then there must be something more to him than his outward appearance suggested. Truth was, she was half-right. He wasn't chief material. At least not the way he saw it. The council deferred to him because Stoick, the real chief, told them to. Will they do so of their own accord when he became chief in truth? He hoped that he would not know that answer for a long time to come. Not because he was afraid of the answer, but rather because he was afraid of losing his father. All his life, he had endured his father's disappointment with him. Now, finally, he had his father's respect and acceptance. Nobody knew how important that was to him.

Since he took on the responsibility of acting-chief, he had done well. The issues brought to his attention were real issues, and he managed to solve them, seemingly to the satisfaction of the council members who brought them to his attention, and the citizens in question never approached him with discontent. Maybe people were looking at him in a new light. Maybe they worried that he would feed them to Toothless if they complained. Of course, they knew Stoick would be coming back, and they were probably afraid that defying Hickup's decisions would be in essence defying Stoick's decision. Nobody with half a brain would defy Stoick. The night he downed Toothless, Stoick has beaten the snot out a Monstrous Nightmare with his bare hands. Anyone who saw that would think twice about crossing the Chief.

"Jarin," Hiccup said, "I came to tell you that last night, I had an epiphany concerning Shadowhorn's body wrap, and I wanted to run it by you. There's a bit of an ethical question associated with it, and I wanted your thoughts."

Jarin was all ears, and he told Hiccup so.

"What I was thinking is that we use the most pliant leather we can find as the base for the wrap, and graft actual Monstrous Nightmare scales onto it," Hiccup said.

Jarin's eyes widened. "Real Nightmare scales? Where do we get those?"

"When I started researching this, I decided to go through an inventory list of things stored up in the vaults that might be useful," Hiccup stifled a yawn, He had been up all night working on the details of this idea. "I found a reference to a large chest filled with Monstrous Nightmare scales that had been kept for possible use in fireproofing buildings and shields. The ideas were good, but many buildings were destroyed by dragons smashing them as often as torching them. And as for shields? Well, some of those dragons have eaten many vikings, shields and all, without even using their fire. And as hard as it was to harvest scales, it was determined that while good on paper, the ideas would not be good in practice. But the scales were kept just in case."

Jarin looked thoughtful. "I hate the thought of using scales that were ripped off another dragon, even if it was already dead. It just seems wrong."

"Hence the ethical question involved," Said Hiccup.

"If I may," said Tarina, and both Hiccup and Jarin turned to look at her. "If you use the scales to create a body wrap for Shadowhorn, then they will be put to a positive use, and in a way, the dragon they belonged to would not have died in vain. Whereas if they remain in storage, not being used for anything, then that dragon's death will remain empty."

Hiccup and Jarin looked back at each other and spoke at the same time, "She's right."

Hiccup nodded. "Okay... that settles that. Now all I need to do is figure out exactly how much area needs to be covered, and the required shaping of the wrap, and it should not be too hard to actually make it. It'll be time-consuming, but by the time it is done, his scars will not be as tender, and we can manage figuring out the right amount of padding needed to prevent chafing. Thank you for your input, you two."

"You got it, chief," said Jarin.

"Glad to help," said Tarina.

Hiccup mounted up on Toothless. "Let's go home, boy," Hiccup said, and Toothless bounded forward and launched himself into the air, swooping low through the Academy gate. On the way back to his house, he began pondering two things at once. One, the issue with making the body wrap for Shadowhorn, and two, what could be done about Tarina's father and his cruelty. The former was something he could directly handle. The latter would be a matter to take up with his father when he got back.

Tarina's presence on Berk made him nervous. He felt she could be trusted, but had a feeling that her father would be looking for her. And if he was like some of the other Viking warlords he had known, the man would use his daughter's presence as an excuse to invade, no doubt pretending to believe that she was being held there against her will. Hiccup was by no means warlord material, by his standards. But he was calculating and cunning like them, capable of thinking in circles that many would find confusing. Hiccup applied his thought process to finding ways to make life better for people, while the average warlord sought to make it worse. But having an analytical mind gave him an edge that might help deal with potential threats. It wasn't too unlike inventing a new machine. He just needed to give the matter some thought. His father would be back in a few more days, and with any luck, he would not only be able to tell him about the issue, but also advise him on it as well.

He had just enough time to eat breakfast before he had to leave for the great hall to meet with the council for today's agenda. Toothless always accompanied him. Even though the entire village had come to love and respect the Night Fury, it was still intimidating to face Hiccup with his hand resting on the dragon's shoulder and those piercing green eyes, both his and the dragon's staring back at them. Toothless put on a fine show of staring straight at each council member's eyes. . It was so effective that Hiccup had begun hearing whispers that the some of the council members were beginning to feel that in spite of Hiccup's physical limitations, with dragon power and the wisdom he had been showing, he could be an effective chief after all. He wasn't trying to trick anyone. He just did not have any time for nonsense, so he simply used the tools at his disposal to their fullest. Toothless clearly didn't mind. In fact, the Night Fury had actually taken the first step by glaring at anyone whose tone towards Hiccup was anything less than respectful. Sometimes, you've got to listen to your dragon, he thought. So he did.

He sincerely hoped that today's exercise in village politics would be light. He was exhausted. The sooner he got things done and over with, the sooner he could come home and take a nap. Astrid would not be free until nightfall, so he might just be able to make up for lost sleep before she dropped by, as she had been doing quite often since there picnic on the island. They would talk about each other's day, eat a quiet meal, and they would cuddle and kiss for a while. Then she would go home and he would go to bed.

He thought about the direction his relationship with Astrid had gone. Everything felt so natural. There was no sense of urgency. They were there for each other, and yet still maintained personal freedom. But he never thought of anyone else he would rather share his quiet time with, and eventually his whole life, than Astrid. No matter how tired he was, spending time with her was never an inconvenience.

Well, he thought to himself, I'm not going to get done any sooner by starting later. He finished the last of his breakfast and then he and Toothless left the house for a quick ride up to the great hall.

O O O

"I couldn't help but notice that when you touched Shadowhorn, that you had trouble standing," Jarin said to Tarina after Hiccup had left.

She turned to look at him. "That was so strange. There was this overwhelming feeling of joy. Like I had found something that I was not aware that I was even searching for."

Jarin's face took on a puzzled expression. "We call it the dragon bond. You now share a mental and almost spiritual connection with Shadowhorn. As do I. But it is strange, as so far we've only seen dragons bond with a single human. So something special seems to be at work here."

Tarina considered this. "Please don't feel like I am intruding on your territory. I had no idea that this was even possible."

Jarin shook his head. "No need to worry, Tarina. As much as we have learned about dragons since Hiccup and Toothless ended the war with them, there is still so much we don't know. A lot of it we may never know."

She nodded.

Jarin sighed. "Tarina, I want to apologize for the way I spoke to you earlier, interrogating you like you were some sort of criminal."

Tarina shook her head. "There is nothing to apologize for, Jarin. I understand that you were being protective of your friend. I am just glad it was you and your people who found him, and not some pirate crew that would have just killed him." She looked around at other dragons playing happily with each other, and some humans cheerfully bringing them fish. "He'll thrive here. After all those years in captivity, he can know peace." There were tears in her eyse.

One thing that Jarin had a hard time with was seeing a woman cry. Especially one so beautiful as Tarina. He rested his hand on her shoulder, comfortingly.

Instinctively, Tarina grabbed Jarin's hand and twisted it, his wrist cracking loudly, and he let out a yelp.

"Why would you DO that," he groaned.

Tarina immediately reached out and took his wrist gently. "I am so sorry," she said. "I'm not used to being touched, except by people who want to attack. I reacted without thinking."

Jarin flexed his hand and bent his wrist back and forth. "Nothing's broken. I think my wrist just popped." He looked at her with a wry smile. "You moved like lightning. That was impressive."

She smiled. "I've been practicing techniques like that since I was very young." There was that sad look again.

"What's troubling you?" he asked.

"Shadowhorn is free," she began. "But I am not. My father did not give me leave to go. He will come looking for me. And he will find me. If that happens, it will be very bad for everyone here. Especially the dragons."

"Why does he hate them so much?" Jarin asked.

"My mother and baby brother were lost in a dragon raid," she replied. "Ever since then, he has been cruel and unreasonable. Not just to dragons. He tortures people, too. Jarin, I love my father. I remember him as he once was. Kind. Gentle. Loving. I'd give anything to have him back, but I know that it won't happen. His mind burns with one emotion: Rage.

"He will not surrender his power. He has used up my people's resources on his mindless quest for revenge that will not be sated no matter how many dragons he kills, or captures and tortures. The actual dragon raids have stopped. We thought that it was because we killed enough to finally drive them away. Now I know that it is because of one young man and a dragon he befriended. What exactly did he do, by the way?"

Jarin smiled. "The Dragons raided the islands of the region because they were under the control of a massive creature that we have come to call the Red Death. It sent them out to recover food for it. Hiccup and the Riders of Berk battled it, and ultimately Hiccup and Toothless lured it way up into the sky, did massive damage to it, and it flew head-first into the ground trying to get at them. The explosion was massive. Toothless saved Hiccup, though in doing so, it seems he accidentally bit off his lower left leg." he sighed. "With the Red Death gone, the control on the dragons was broken, and we as a people learned that day that not everything is as it seems. Because we saw the truth, we were freed ourselves from generations of misjudgment. The dragons helped us rebuild, and they have proven useful in so many ways. We do not force them to help us. They do so willingly."

Tarina smiled. "I wish things would have happened differently for the people of Nartara. If we had known all of this, then maybe we...

"the people of WHERE?" demanded Jarin.

Tarina looked confused, but seemed to realized that she had never actually told anyone the name of her homeland. "Nartara," she repeated.

Nartara... The island where Stoick had gone to begin peaceful negotiations with a people who had made peace with Dragons like Berk had. How much did theor mad leader know of Berk? Enough to say the right things in messages sent with traders, that they were interested in making a connection. Stoick could be in serious trouble. "Oh Thor in a thunderstorm hurling lightning bolts!"