Dragons and Guardians: Riders of Berk
Author's note: Remember readers, Hiccup rides on Toothless's back while Aniu flies using her wings. And Barf and Belch is one dragon. Nava and the other guardians also fly while their wings and Nava and Aniu don't have dragons but they're still part of the gang. This note is here just to avoid confusion.
Chapter 2: Viking For Hire
"Everybody needs or has a place in the world. Some people are born to theirs."
(Flashback Scene)
Stoick stood at the head of a ship while a few Vikings walked around on it carrying stuff. "Raise the mainsail! Turn her toward starboard." He ordered. "Aye, sir!" The Vikings shouted, obeying his commands.
"Some people discover theirs."
(Flashback Scene)
Toothless gently pressed his snout into Hiccup's hand as Aniu stood beside them. The Night Fury snorted before leaving.
(Flashback Scene)
Shouts, screams and roars echoed as dragons and Vikings fought against each other. Gobber was in the forge, hammering a sword into shape.
"And some people make a place for themselves."
When it was done, he put the weapon in a cart full of other weapons. Then he dragged it out to the battlefield. "Grab a weapon!" Gobber shouted. "No time to be choosy!" A few men ran forward and grabbed a weapon before running back out to the battlefield.
Gobber grabbed his prosthetic battle hammer and charged at a Monstrous Nightmare who breathed fire at him. The blacksmith dodged the flames and avoided the fire blasts of a Deadly Nadder and a Gronckle. A second Nadder flew overhead, threw down some tailspines and flew away.
(Flashback ends)
"But then the world around them changes and the place they made is gone."
Fishlegs and Meatlug flew past the forge where Gobber was hammering out a another sword. He stared happily at the weapon but then sighed when he remembered that dragons no longer needed to be killed. There was a couple of hostile tribes but they hadn't played up in a long while.
Sadly, Gobber placed the sword in his overflowing with weapons cart.
In the arena, which was now the Berk Dragon Training Academy, Hiccup, Aniu and their fellow six members of the Dragon Trainer Gang as they called themselves, were testing their knowledge of dragons by having a Quiz Battle.
The first team (Team Astrid) consisted of : Astrid, Nava and Fishlegs. The second team (Team Snotlout) consisted of: Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Hiccup and Aniu were the Quizmasters. So far, Team Astrid was way ahead of Team Snotlout with way more points. Their dragons slept behind their riders.
Hiccup was wondering if he should've swapped the members of each team around a bit because he had the more intelligent teens versing the not so intelligent teens.
"Every dragon has its own unique abilities that give it its special place in the world." Aniu told them. 'Which dragon makes the best welding torch?" Hiccup asked.
"Oh, Deadly Nadder!" Astrid instantly answered the question which made sense because she rode a Deadly Nadder. " Its magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun!" Fishlegs piped up. "It's currently the dragon with the hottest known firetype. But there could other dragons out there that have much hotter flames." Nava said.
"Correct. Point to Team Astrid." Hiccup said, marking down the points on the rock slab behind him. Astrid, Nava and Fishlegs fist-bumped. "Score is now one-hundred to ten." Aniu said.
"And you started with ten." Astrid smirked at the other team. "Oh, yeah. Well, the game's not over." Tuffnut glared at them before he looked confused. "Wait, what team am I on?" He asked stupidly. "The losing team, genius." Nava smirked.
"Next question." Hiccup interrupted. "What is the shot limit of a Hideous Zippleback? Team Snotlout?"
"I don't think they can count that high." Astrid remarked. "I don't think they can count past twelve." Nava said.
"Oh, really? Let's find , Belch!" At Ruffnut's command, Barf and Belch stood up and fired six fireballs at the wall behind Team Astrid. Fortunately, Astrid and her team ducked. "Ha, looks like it's about three." Tuffnut snickered, holding up two fingers. "Told you we could count that high." Ruffnut sneered.
"It's six." Aniu corrected. "You're half right. Five points."
"Yes, we're up to thirty." Ruffnut exclaimed and hi-fived her team mates. "All right, it's our turn." Astrid said, determined not to be outdone. "What happens when you shoot fire at the rider of a Deadly Nadder?" She whistled at her dragon and Stormfly woke up and fired some tailspikes that pinned Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut to the wall by their clothes.
"No fair. She didn't give us time to answer." Tuffnut complained. "I've got a question." Snotlout snapped, unpinning himself from the wall. "What will happen when I sic Hookfang on you?"
"Okay, guys. That's enough training." Hiccup quickly ended the lesson before things got violent. "And we did some really good work here today." Aniu said.
"Prepare to face the Monstrous Nightmare!" Snotlout bragged, sitting on Hookfang's neck and tapping the side of the dragon's face. Hookfang woke up and for some strange reason, instantly set himself on fire.
"Aaah! That's the third time this week!" Snotlout screamed, leaping off his dragon and running for the nearest water trough to extinguish his burning backside.
The young Jorgenson threw himself into the water, extinguishing the flames. "Aah. Sweet relief." Snotlout sighed in relief. "We better go check on Hookfang because he's way more bad-tempered than usual." Aniu said Nava. He nodded in agreement and both of them walked over to the Monstrous Nightmare.
"You okay there, Hookie?" Nava asked. "I'm fine." Hookfang growled moodily. "Now just leave me alone."
Nava and Aniu sensed that was all they would get from Hookfang that day so left him alone. Meanwhile, Hiccup and Astrid walked over to Snotlout who was still sitting in the water trough.
"Hookfang never flames up when you're riding him. Is he okay?" Hiccup asked Snotlout. "Maybe he just realised who his rider is." Astrid smirked. "There's room in here for two." Snotlout flirted with her. Angrily, Astrid grabbed his helmet and dunked him under the water before walking away.
In the village square, Gobber was trying to sell his weapons. "Gather around. Come on, one and all." Gobber called out. A crowd of curious Vikings gathered in front of it. Hiccup, Toothless and Aniu flew down and landed beside them. Mildew was also there.
"You may think these dragon killing weapons have no more use but think again." Gobber told them.
"Hey, Gobber what if there are human invaders we need to fight off?" Fengo yelled. Many people muttered to each other, they didn't think about that. But no human enemies had attacked them in a long time so it was unlikely they would be attacked any time soon.
Gobber held up a sword and a plate with bread on it. "This long sword is now a lovely butter knife." He continued and demonstrated. But the plate and slice on bread shattered in his hook-hand. The blacksmith smiled nervously at the crowd.
A man cleared his throat, Gobber took that as a sign to continue. "Moving on." He said. "This is a dark day." Mildew gasped dramatically beside Hiccup and Aniu. "A great dragon slayer peddling his weapons as kitchen utensils. Mmm. Tsk, tsk,tsk."
"Up next, how about this, uh..." Gobber held up a mace and a horsefly landed on the table. "...handy fly swatter." And swung the mace down but it destroyed the table and the fly flew away. The Vikings stared at him. "It's also good for getting rid of unwanted tables."
"Now for the lady of the house. " Gobber walked over to his miniature catapult which he named Big Bertha after his believed-to-be-dead wife. "When the hubby's off sailing or whatever, how are you gonna protect yourself from home invaders? No problem when you have Big Bertha."
He tapped the catapult and accidently fired a boulder at a man's house, smashing a large hole in the roof. The occupant named Silent Sven stared at the hole then looked at Gobber. The reason for the silent part of his name was because he was mute.
The villagers began to leave. "Wait! There's more!" Gobber yelled desperately. "Come back! You haven't seen everything yet! I haven't cleared out my dungeon yet!" But no one came back.
Gobber sighed and looked down hopelessly. "It's okay, Bertha. We'll find a place for yah." He said sadly, stroking the catapult's wood.
"Oh, it's hard to watch. Especially for you two, Hiccup and Aniu. " Mildew said in fake sadness. "The feelings of guilt must be tearing at yah insides. I mean, you put him out of business with your little peace pact with the dragons. You two ruined his life. Bravo." With that, Mildew left.
Hiccup and Aniu were indeed feeling guilty but if they hadn't spared Toothless's life the war would still be going on and both dragons and people would have lost their lives. Both of them looked at Gobber one last time and left.
That night, Hiccup, Aniu and Toothless sat in their room in the Haddock house. "You know Gobber made this for me? He taught me everything I needed to know to make your prosthetic tailfin, bud." Hiccup said.
"We've gotta find some way to help him." Aniu said. Then Stoick walked through the door and sunk into his chair with a groan. "Tough day of chiefing, Dad?"Hiccup asked, walking down the stairs and giving his father a mug of water.
"I was all over the island. I married the Svensson girl to the Odegaard boy at dawn then down to the fields where some kids were tipping over yaks then back up to the newlyweds to settle a domestic dispute. I guess that honeymoon's over." Stoick recounted. "Sometimes I wish there were two of me."
At those words, Hiccup dropped a log he'd been holding into the fire. "There-there are two of you." He stammered. Behind him, Aniu held back a giggle. "Is that another crack about my weight?" Stoick snapped, slamming his mug down on the table.
"No, I mean Gobber. He can be the other you." Hiccup corrected. "Gobber? Oh, he's way too busy making all those dragon-killing...well, he used to be until you –which is great except for Gobber." Stoick said awkwardly.
"Exactly my point." Hiccup told him. "You know, that's actually not such a bad idea." Stoick said, standing up and walking outside. "Which works out great 'cause that's kinda the only one he has." Aniu said.
"I greatly appreciate you helping me out, Gobber." Stoick told his best Viking friend as he and Gobber walked through the village. "I'm just glad I could find time in my busy schedule, Stoick." Gobber replied casually.
"I've got a full day ahead of me." Stoick tore a piece of paper in two. "Here's your half." The blacksmith took a look at his half. "Oh, this will be interesting."
"Now remember, some of these situations are delicate. They require diplomacy " Stoick reminded him. "Oh, no problem." Gobber said. "I'm great at ...that."
"Really, you can speak to people with tact and sensitivity?" Stoick asked in surprise. "Oh, I thought it meant clubbing people on the head and asking questions later. But I can give your thing a shot." Gobber said easily.
Stoick left hoping Gobber wouldn't do anything wrong.
First up, Gobber was in the Great Hall welcoming a new baby to the tribe. "Whosoever brings this child forth into the Hooligan Tribe let he be known." Gobber announced, reading from another piece of paper.
The mother proudly handed her baby to him while the father lovingly placed a hand on her shoulder. "As a representative of the chief I welcome this baby into the Hooligan Tribe and pronounce the name to be..."
"Hildegard." The father stepped forward and whispered in his ear. Gobber looked at the baby's face and shuddered. "Yech. Hildegard? Doesn't seem like a Hildegard to me." Gobber said. He fondly remembered his own daughter Camicazi. She had brown hair and blue eyes. "Let's go with Magnus."
"But she's a girl, Gobber." The mother snapped, hands on her hips. "Don't worry, she's not gonna look like one. Magnus it is."
The baby's parents stepped back in shock. "And please accept this teething toy on behalf of Stoick the Vast." Gobber held up a massive, sharp mace. "No!" The mother cried out in horror.
At Bucket and Mulch's house, Gobber talked to the two men. "Bucket says you never paid him for the sheep." Gobber said. "I never bought the sheep." Mulch protested. But a sheep bleated behind him.
"What's that? A little woman?" Gobber asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, Mulch. You're cheating me now." Bucket said miserably, not understanding the sarcasm.
"Clearly, there's only one way to settle this." Gobber picked up a hammer and a mace and gave them to Mulch and Bucket, who raised them in a fighting stance. "Diplomacy, check. All right, what's next?" Gobber said once he was out of the house. He ticked his piece of paper and walked away, ignoring the sounds of battle within the house.
Down at the docks, Gobber hammered some iron onto a wrecked ship. Silent Sven, the fishermen, watched doubtfully. "I know the conventional thinking when repairing a ship is wood, but if ask me, there's nothing like a good old slab of iron."Gobber told him.
Just to make sure, Gobber tapped the ship with his prosthetic hammer. "Ha! Nothin's getting through this."
"Gobber! What do yah think yah doing?" Stoick shouted, walking towards them followed by Fengo, Namara, a bruised Bucket and Mulch who glared at each other, the renamed Hildegard and her unhappy parents.
"Just checking another item off the list." Gobber said nonchalantly. He tapped the ship again and the boat slid down the ramps, into the water and sunk.
"And adding an item for later." Gobber said, dumbstruck. "Recover sunken ship. Same time tomorrow?"Stoick face-palmed.
That night in his home, Stoick placed two blocks of ice to his head. "Here you go, Dad." Hiccup said, handing him a mug of cold water. Stoick put an ice block down and grabbed the mug.
"Wow, a two-block headache." Aniu said in surprise. "You know, Dad. I think you're being a wee bit rough on Gobber. It was his first day. Tomorrow will be way better." Hiccup said. "Oh, it will be for me because it won't involve Gobber." Stoick agreed firmly.
"What do you mean?" Aniu asked. "I tried to fit a square peg in a round hole and sunk a ship and named a baby girl 'Magnus'." Stoick exclaimed. "I'm not saying she didn't look like a Magnus but try telling that to her parents."
"I can't believe you let him go." Hiccup sighed. "Well, we've gotta help him." Aniu turned into her Barn Owl form and perched on the table." There must be something we can do." She said.
" 'We' don't have to do anything. You and Aniu, on the other hand, are going to be very busy finding a job for Gobber." Stoick told him.
"You're bringing Gobber here?" Fishlegs asked nervously the next day in the Dragon Training Academy arena. "He's gonna be great." Aniu said. 'Hopefully.' She thought. "Nobody understands dragons like old Gobber. He has spent a lifetime, you know, studying them." Hiccup told them. "If we can tap into that, we'll all be better dragon trainers."
"I'm back!" Gobber announced throwing the gate open and walked in, dragging a cart full of weapons behind him. "Did yah miss me?!" The dragons growled and reared back in surprise. "First of all, welcome and one tiny question. Why did you bring your, you know..." Hiccup asked.
"Killing things? I thought maybe we could train them by threatening to kill them." Gobber reached into the cart and pulled out a mace, causing Hiccup, Aniu, Nava and the other dragon riders to gasp. "That's how my daddy taught me to swim." Gobber tapped the weapon and the dragons growled and reared back, fear in their eyes.
Not noticing their reactions, Gobber slammed the mace onto the stone floor, leaving a small crater. "School's in session!" He announced merrily. Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch had enough and fled the arena, quickly flying away, only Toothless stayed behind.
"Eh, I didn't like school either." Gobber remarked casually while Hiccup and Aniu face palmed. "You wonder why, Gobber." Aniu sighed. "Yeah, having a Viking who likes violence and weapons teaching here at the academy isn't a good idea." Nava said. "Come on, let's go get our dragons." Astrid said, walking out of the arena with Nava, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut following her.
A few hours later, Astrid, Stormfly, Nava, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Barf and Belch returned to the academy. Hiccup, Toothless and Aniu were still in the arena, reading a book. "What's wrong with you guys." Aniu asked as Astrid and the twins dismounted and leaned over, groaning in pain.
"Ugh, we've been riding our dragons for four hours. " Astrid groaned. "It took forever to chase them down after Gobber scared them away."At these words, she spun around to glare at Stormfly, who backed away. The Deadly Nadder knew better than to be close to her rider when she was in this mood.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Hiccup said before sighing. "I just don't know what to do with him." A grunt of pain caught his and Aniu's attention. Tuffnut was bent over while Ruffnut continuously kicked his backside. "Do you huys always have to fight?" Hiccup asked.
"It's okay. I asked her to do that." Tuffnut said , letting out another grunt when Ruffnut kicked him again. "I was just trying to get the feeling back."
"That only makes it worse, Tuffnut." Nava told him. "Really?" Tuffnuit asked him. "Yes, really." Nava replied. "You gonna return the favour or what?" Ruffnut asked her brother, bending over so Tuffnut could kick her backside.
"I've flown for hours on Toothless and I never had a problem." Hiccup said. Astrid walked over to him. "That's because you have a saddle." She said. Toothless raised a wing and glanced at his saddle. "Saddles!" Hiccup and Aniu exclaimed.
"Saddles?" Gobber asked when Hiccup and Aniu told him about their idea in the forge. "I love it! I've got so many ideas. He took a look at the designs Hiccup and Aniu had drawn and tossed them aside. "But not like these. Good ones."
"We're glad you're excited." Hiccup said, picking the papers up. "But I still think there are some things in my designs you can use. I mean, you did teach me everything I know."
"Exactly. That's why you should let Gobber do what Gobber does best." Gobber said. "I've been making saddles since you were a baby. In fact, I was your babysitter."
"We know you know what you are doing but keep this in your mind, every dragon is different." Aniu said. "So, you need to adjust..." Hiccup started. "Hiccup, I may have taught you everything you know but I haven't taught you everything I know." Gobber interrupted before going back to his work.
Hiccup and Aniu sighed and left. Later that evening, they past by the forge and could hear Gobber singing as he worked:
"I've got my axe and I've got my mace
And I love my wife with the ugly face
I'm a Viking through and through!"
"You know, he doesn't sing that song unless he's actually very happy." Hiccup commented to Aniu and Toothless. "I think we did a good thing."
The next morning, Hiccup, Toothless and Aniu gathered up the gang and brought them down to the academy. Gobber stood beside his creations which were covered with a large sail to add to the excitement. The teens and their dragons were looking very interested.
"All right, this an exciting day for all of us." Hiccup announced. "Gobber has been working hard to..."
"I think they might wanna hear from the artist himself." Gobber butted in. "I've made a lot of saddles in my day. Horse, donkey ("Shame all of those were snatched up in the dragon raids." Nava whispered.) and now dragon. But these saddles are special. They're like my children. That is, if you strapped your child to a flaming reptile and rode it. So, without further ado..."
He grabbed the sail and threw it aside, revealing the saddles. "Whoa, wow." Astrid, Nava, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut gasped in awe. Their dragons had different reactions. "Oh, great Draco.*" Stormfly groaned. "How will we be able to even fly with those things on us?" Belch asked. "Please tell me our riders are not gonna put those saddles on us." Barf begged. "That saddle looks very heavy." Meatlug said, pointing at the saddle which had a few giant maces attached to it. "If Snotlout expects me to just let him put any of those saddles on my neck I'll burn him." Hookfang grumbled.
"It looks like the dragons aren't too happy about those so called saddles." Nava said. "Whoa, Gobber. This is not what Hiccup and I imagined." Aniu said hesitantly.
"How could it be?" The blacksmith asked. "I'm Gobber. No one knows what it's like to live in here." Gobber gently tapped his helmet with his hook. "Is-is that?" Hiccup asked, pointing at a saddle with a bellow and a lit candle attached to it. "Yep, flamethrower." Gobber said proudly, pumping the bellow at the candle, causing it to fire out a small plume of fire. "Didn't see that one coming, did ya?"
"Uh, no. Not for dragons. They come with one built inside them, actually." Hiccup said. "I know. But can you ever really have too much firepower?" Gobber asked.
Meanwhile, Ruffnut and Tuffnut decided to try out the saddles made for Barf and Belch. The twins placed two small boulders in the tiny catapults attached to the saddles and fired them. But the boulders hit Barf and Belch in the backs of their heads, knocking the Hideous Zippleback unconscious. "Ow." Ruffnut complained when Barf and Belch fell to the ground.
"Uh, catapults for the twins? Not such a good idea." Hiccup deadpanned. "Letting them use those is a recipe for disaster." Aniu added. "You can do it, girl. Think light." Fishlegs told Meatlug, who was struggling to hover under the combined weight of her rider and the maces. The female Gronckle quickly fell down due to her exhaustion.
"Oh, come on! You can't tell me my saddle is heavier than Fishlegs!" Gobber exclaimed."My mum says I'm just husky." Fishlegs said defensively. Hookfang kept growling and rubbing the side of his face against the stone floor for some strange reason as Snotlout tried to attach the flamethrower saddle to his neck. " Come on, Hookfang. What is wrong with you?" Snotlout asked when he failed to do so. Hookfang just snarled and threw the saddle off before turning away. "That's it! Someone's trading dragons with me!" Snotlout exclaimed.
"Yeah, sure. I'll trade my perfect dragon for an angry oven." Tuffnut said sarcastically. Astrid wasn't having any trouble at all with Stormfly's new saddle. "This saddle is actually pretty good." She said. "Wait till you try the horn." Gobber told her. Taking Gobber's advice, Astrid blew the horn attached to the saddle. But it tripled in size and volume, scaring Stormfly into throwing some tailspikes at Snotlout, pinning him up high on the stone wall. "Really? Again." He asked in frustration.
"So anyway, I think we're really gonna need to make a few..."Hiccup started to say. "Changes! I'm way ahead of you. I've got so many ideas." Gobber interrupted. "It's getting crowded up here." He chuckled, tapping his helmet again.
Later that day, Hiccup, Aniu and Toothless stayed behind to clean up the academy. Astrid, Nava and Stormfly helped them out a bit before they had to go home. Currently, Hiccup and Aniu were sweeping the floor with brooms while Toothless curled up on clean patch of ground to nap.
"By the gods." Stoick muttered, walking into the arena. Fengo and Namara flew in and landed behind him. "This place looked better when we were killing dragons here."
"Yeah, we sort of got Gobbered." Hiccup shrugged. "Well, you know Gobber. He means well. He just doesn't always do well." Stoick explained. "So, what are you going to do about him?"
"Aniu and I are gonna clean up his messes and redo his work." Hiccup answered. "I hope it only has to be done once." Aniu said. "Look. Gobber's like family." Stoick told him. "Yeah, I know he is. That's why I can't say anything to him." Hiccup said.
"No, son. That's why you have to. It's not fair to you and it's not fair to Gobber." Stoick said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "Why do I have to say something to him? You didn't. You just passed him off to Aniu and me." Hiccup whined, shrugging his father's hand off his shoulder.
"That's what a chief does. He delegates. Look, I gave you and Aniu this academy because it's the best thing for Berk. Now, you two have to do what's best for the academy. And I'm sorry, but what's best is very rarely what's easy."
"If you believe it's best than do it." Fengo said. "But make sure to talk about it with your friends and comrades first." Namara added. "Thanks for the advice." Aniu said gratefully. The two parents smiled at their daughter.
Together, Hiccup, Stoick, Aniu, Toothless, Fengo and Namara walked out of the arena. "What about him?" Stoick asked, gesturing to Snotlout who was fast asleep, still pinned against the wall by Stormfly's tailspines.
"What happened to him?" Fengo asked. "Astrid blew a horn attached to her dragon's saddle, Stormfly panicked and shot some tailspines at him." Aniu told her father.
"Leave him, he's going for a record." Hiccup said in response to Stoick's question. "Enough said." The three adults chuckled. Snotlout had gained a pretty lengthy record of dozing off even before the Dragon Training Academy came to be, anyway.
Later that evening, Hiccup, Aniu and Toothless stood outside the forge where Gobber was working. "Hey, you never know, guys. Maybe Gobber finally looked at our plans and is actually making the saddles better." Hiccup said.
Just then, a small explosion happened in the forge and blew out Hiccup's torch. "Or not." Aniu deadpanned. "We better go see what happened in there." Toothless said. Nodding, Aniu walked toward the forge, followed by Hiccup and Toothless.
"Gobber?" Hiccup and Aniu asked once they were inside only to see Gobber spin around and point a loaded crossbow at them. "Don't shoot!" Hiccup and Aniu exclaimed desperately, throwing their hands up. "I'll never shoot you, Hiccup and Aniu...unless I absolutely had to." Gobber said.
Both teens chuckled nervously. "Yeah. Still, if you could please put the crossbow down, I know Aniu and I'd feel better." Hiccup said. "You know, about the weapons, maybe the catapults were a bit much for some of the dragons yesterday " Gobber said, walking over his bench. "So I've gone a different way. I've gotten rid of the two big ones."
"Gobber, that's great. What a relief." Aniu said. "And replaced them with six little ones." Gobber held up a teaspoon-sized catapult. Hiccup and Aniu stared at him in disbelief. "Yeah, um, Gobber, we need to talk. We think it might be time for you to take a little break." Hiccup said.
"In case you haven't noticed, the only time a Viking takes a break is to die." Gobber pointed out. "Maybe 'break' is the wrong word." Hiccup said. "What we mean is we're not sure things are working out."
"We'll, get back to me when you're sure." Gobber stopped hammering a piece of iron and listened. "Okay, we're sure." Hiccup said carefully. "Gobber, we're gonna need to take you off the saddle project."
Gobber stopped hammering the iron piece and looked down. "Are you getting rid of me, you two? Now I see why you had me put down the crossbow."
"Just was just the saddles." Hiccup said quickly. "We'll find something else for yah." Aniu said gently. "I don't need your pity." Gobber said sadly. "I've lost an arm and a leg. I think I'll survive losing a job."
"We're really sorry, Gobber." Hiccup and Aniu said apologetically, both placing a hand on Gobber's shoulder before leaving the forge and Gobber staring sadly at the floor. "So, how did it go?" Toothless asked once Hiccup and Aniu joined him. "Horrible." Aniu whispered.
"Well, that was awful." Hiccup sighed as they walked away. "I don't know what could be worse than that." Suddenly, people screamed and a long plume of fire shot into the sky. "Okay, it looks like we're gonna find out." Aniu said.
Snotlout ran up to them, panting. Behind him, Hookfang seemed to be going on a rampage. "I never...thought...I'd say this but Hiccup and Aniu...help!" He grabbed both teens by the shoulders and shook them, staring over his shoulder in terror.
Villagers screamed as Hookfang landed on a house and breathed fire down at the ground. He roared and seemed to be rubbing the side of his face against the wood in pain.
Then the Monstrous Nightmare jumped onto the ground and waved his head around, letting out streams of fire. "Everyone, back away." Stoick ordered. "The dragon's out of control. It's not safe here." Fengo and Namara tried to calm Hookfang down but failed.
Hiccup, Aniu, Snotlout and Toothless ran towards the scene. "I don't know what happened. I was just rubbing his head. He usually loves that but this time he went crazy. My dragon hates me." Snotlout wailed.
"Mum, Dad, what's wrong with him?" Aniu asked "We don't know, Aniu, but Hookfang seems to be in pain for some reason and when most dragons are in pain, they tend to rampage around. I see no physical injuries and he doesn't seem to be sick." Namara said. "Yeah, he was acting up in the academy a couple of days ago, I asked him what was wrong and he said he was fine." Aniu said. "We better find out what's wrong with him and fast." Fengo said.
Hiccup slowly and carefully approached Hookfang with his hands outstretched. "They do say a pet starts to take on the characteristics of its owner. I think that's what's happening here." Fishlegs said. "Hey." Snotlout snapped and elbowed him in the guts. "Oof. Yeah, I rest my case." Fishlegs grunted in pain.
"When was the last time he ate?" Hiccup asked. "Not for days." Snotlout replied. "You hungry, boy?" Hiccup asked, picking a fresh fish from a basket. Hookfang sniffed the fish and Hiccup threw it to him. But when Hookfang chewed on it, he growled in pain and spat it out onto Stoick's beard causing the Viking chief to glare at him.
"Oh, sorry Dad."Hiccup apologized. "We've got to bring this dragon under control." Stoick snapped, throwing the fish to Toothless who ate it. "Don't worry, I can do this." Hiccup reassured him. "Be careful, Hiccup." Aniu said. Hiccup nodded at her and gently touched Hookfang's face.
"There you go. It's gonna be okay." Hiccup murmured, gently tapping the side of the Monstrous Nightmare's face. But Hookfang roared in pain and flamed up. "Hiccup, run!" Astrid, Aniu and Nava screamed. "Way ahead of you!" Hiccup shouted, running over to them.
Toothless roared and tackled Hookfang to the ground. The Monstrous Nightmare knocked him off both dragons started circling each other."Toothless, stop!" Hiccup yelled when Hookfang shot fire at a house. "I've seen enough, Hiccup." Stoick said. "I'm sorry but we tried it your way." Hiccup looked dismayed at the fact and Stoick walked away.
"Gobber, we need yah." Stoick said, walking into the forge. "No, you don't." Gobber sniffled. "Nobody needs me. Nobody needs any of us. Not even you, Bertha."
"Are-are you crying?" Stoick asked awkwardly. "Of course not. I'm just chopping onions." Gobber lied. "There are no onions." Stoick said. "Not anymore. Look what I used to chop them with." Gobber sadly held up his prosthetic mace hand.
"There's a dragon in the plaza that's out of control." Stoick told him. "Then why don't you call Hiccup and Aniu?" Gobber asked. "No Gobber. We need you." Stoick said. Gobber looked up in determination.
Back in the village plaza, Hookfang and Toothless were still circling each other. "Come on, guys. Hurry up and think. What haven't we tried?" Hiccup said to his friends. Snotlout turned and his eyes widened. "Snotlout. Have you got any ideas?" Aniu asked. "Gobber." Snotlout nearly whimpered.
Everyone turned around to see Gobber standing there, armed with a variety of dragon-killing weapons. "Stand back. I came here to do what I do best." He said. "He's gonna kill my dragon." Snotlout gasped in horror. "No, he's not." Hiccup and Aniu denied.
"Uh, yeah, he is." Tuffnut said. "You don't use that stuff to butter toast." Ruffnut said. "Well, I mean we would, but you don't." Tuffnut corrected himself.
"Dad, you can't be serious. Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon." Hiccup insisted. "I'm sorry, Hiccup. But sometimes you have to fall bck on old ways." Gobber said sincerely "But he's a good dragon." Hiccup argued. "He's a good dragon!" Snotlout exclaimed desperately.
"There's probably just something wrong with him." Hiccup said. "There's definitely something wrong with him." Snotlout wailed. "We have to try to help him. We can't just get rid of him because he's having a bad day." Hiccup said."A bad day for a dragon can be a disaster for all of us. That's not a risk I'm willing to take." Stoick said firmly. "Gobber?"
The blacksmith walked forward and threw a bola at a roaring Hookfang. It tangled around his wings. A second bola tied his legs together. Hookfang tried to breathe fire but started coughing. "Ha! You're all out of fire." Gobber exclaimed triumphantly, drawing out his sword.
"I can't let you do this." Hiccup said, running forward and grabbing Gobber's sword arm. "There's no choice. It has to be one." Gobber said. Hookfang set himself on fire, burning the bolas and roared in Hiccup and Gobber's faces.
"Do you see that?" Gobber asked, staring into Hookfang's mouth. "I do." Hiccup said, letting go of Gobber's arm. "Time to put this beast out of his misery." Gobber said, sheathing his sword.
"Hiccup! What are you doing?" Astrid asked frantically. Hiccup held up a hand to stop her. With a battle cry, Gobber leapt onto Hookfang's face and held on as the Monstrous Nightmare struggled before he was thrown off.
Hookfang stopped roaring and thrashing around as he noticed the pain was gone. "Oh, you didn't kill him." Snotlout cried out in relief. "For a toothache?" Gobber held up a fang which was badly rotten and had a large, brown hole in it. "What kind of lunatic are you?"
"A toothache?" Fengo asked in disbelief. "That was the cause of all of this?" Namara asked, also shocked. "I knew something was wrong with him." Aniu exclaimed.
Hookfang happily flew over to Snotlout and nuzzled him. The boy laughed before realizing he was showing his soft side. "Stop it. Stop it."He whispered. Hookfang's eyes widened in concern and he put his rider down.
"Ugh, I don't know where that came from. Can you train that out of him or..." Snotlout asked. Hookfang, realizing his rider had reverted back to arrogant old self, growled and left.
"Thank you, Gobber." Aniu said gratefully. "A bad tooth. I can't believe I didn't think of that." Hiccup said. "That's because you're not Gobber. I've forgotten more about dragons than most men will ever know." Gobber said. "Well, I better go put the girls away."Sadly, he hobbled over to his cart."Gobber! Not so fast." Hiccup said quickly. Gobber turned to look at him hopefully.
Two days later, Gobber was in his forge, cleaning Barf's teeth. The gang's dragons were also waiting in aline to have their teeth checked.
"When the world around you changes, the good men find a way to change with it and Gobber is one of those good men. In fact, he is one of the best."
Gobber was so happy he began singing:
"I've got my axe and I've got my mace
And I love my wife with the ugly face
I'm a Viking through and through!"
*Draco is the god and creator of all dragons. Most dragons believe in him almost the same way the Vikings believe in their gods.
Ah, the Race to the Edge expansion pack for School of dragons is coming out soon. Looking forward to getting my hands on a Deathsong and Razorwhip. When it comes out, this story's updates will slow down because I'll be so busy enjoying the new feature. But I swear I'll finish this story no matter how long it takes me.
This chapter was 13 and a half pages long on Microsoft office.
Updated: 26. 07.2015 Australian Time