8 Don't Know Why
Hiccups wound had been seared by the intense heat of the exploding dragon, so he had hardly lost any blood at all, but it still needed a lot of cleaning and shaping, it was going to be tough on both surgeon and patient.
"At this stage I'm glad he's still unconscious" Olvor remarked as she worked on Hiccups leg.
"Have you got enough salt water for now?" Agnar asked the surgeon.
"Aye; I think so" she replied as she dipped another bandage in the water and cleaned up around the stump "thanks for your help."
"You're welcome; well I think I'll go and check on some of our other patients.
"Right ho then; let me know if you need anything cut off or sown back on" Olvor smiled.
"I don't know how you do it" Astrid remarked "it smells bad and it looks revolting."
"Does it change the way you feel about him?" Olvor asked suspiciously.
"WHAT? No... no... we'll still be friends... of course."
"Friends huh?"
Astrid turned a little pink because she wasn't sure if she should admit her feelings about Hiccup to anyone while his life was still in the balance. Also she did feel differently about him now that he had lost his leg; she was proud of him, but was unsure if that was the way she was supposed to feel.
It was all very confusing for a young girl.
The weary Viking Chief approached the warm inviting glow of the camp fires but as he walked, he heard the sound of beating wings growing closer and closer. He looked skyward and beheld a sight that would soon become very familiar to all the inhabitants of Berk; young Snotlout Jorgenson bringing his Monstrous Nightmare to a landing with a loud thump. He landed a few yards ahead of Stoick, dropped down to the ground and ran up to the Chief to give his report.
"What did you see son?" Stoick enquired.
"Well... a couple of dozen people had made it around the headland before the... thing, the... giant dragon or whatever it was, went down and exploded and they thought you were all dead" he smiled excitedly.
"So when they see me riding a dragon, WOW, it just blew their minds." he grinned joyously but seeing Stoicks glare he composed himself and saluted "err, Sir."
"What did you do then, did you just leave them there?"
"Err, n-n-no sir" Snotlout stammered "I landed nearby to tell them what happened back here, and they attacked me.
"They attacked...? Of course; if they had followed my orders and made for the far side of the island, then they would have had no idea about what had happened, and would believe that we were still at war with the dragons."
"You're not kidding; it took my ages to get my dragon back after they drove him away."
"So then Snotlout, are they on their way back now?"
"Not yet sir. It was already getting dark behind the mountain so Mr. Olaf has decided to make camp where they are, and they will make their way back at first light."
"Well done lad. Anything else?"
"Some of the wild dragons are returning to the island, but they mainly seem to be going inside the mountain or spreading out around the island, but they don't appear threatening anyone at all."
"Right... good, settle you dragon down for the night and go take a rest by the fire; and... good work."
"Thanks Chief" replied Snotlout as he trotted happily back to his dragon.
As Stoick entered the campsite he could see some his brave warriors warming themselves by one of the fires after having had their injuries attended to by Big Freya and Agnar. Big Freya wasn't a particularly large woman, but she had given her daughter the same name, so everyone had come to know them as Big Freya and Little Freya.
"What's all this laying about while there's still work to be done?" Stoick bellowed loudly.
A mighty roar of laughter erupted from the group and Stoick joined in with delight. Hoark the Haggard lay close by with a slightly broken leg. He raised his arm in a delicate way with his pinkie finger raised up and spoke.
"Sorry Stoick ol' boy, but I couldn't abide with any more work today; I'm simply exhausted don't you know" and the laughter erupted once more.
Stoick wanted to say how proud he was of them, and that he was sorry he had led them into this near disaster, but he knew that what they needed now more than anything, was a leader they could be confident in; a leader who would make all the hard decisions and get them safely home again. This had been a day of 'firsts' for Stoick, but the surprises were not over yet. He looked down at the lovely warm fire that was keeping the chill away and saw that it had no wood or coal in it at all; it consisted of nothing more than several glowing, red hot rocks. Hoark could see the puzzled look on his Chiefs face so he explained.
"It was amazing Chief; we had some wood from the broken catapults and young Astrid brought in her dragon to light it, but with one breath it turned the wood into ash, and even set fire to me britches."
Another roar of laughter went up from the group before Hoark could continue his tale.
"Well we knew it weren't any good doin' that again, so we piles up these rocks and the beast breaths on 'em for less than a ten count, and they bin glowin' ever since; it must be nearly two hours now."
The others nodded in agreement and continued to enjoy the warm glow in the cool evening. Stoick made his way toward the base of the mountain where he could see another of the woodless fire near a cave entrance, where a dozen or so Vikings sat singing off key. As he drew nearer he noticed that the loudest and most off key was none other than Gobber the Belch; friend, blacksmith and legendarily bad singer. The others around the fire(?) silenced themselves as they saw their leader approach, but not Gobber; he wailed on till the song was complete and only then acknowledged the Chief.
"Well halloo there; if you're looking for what left of your son," Gobber declared tactlessly "he's back there in the cave with Olvor... and young Astrid who has hardly left his side, IF you know what I mean."
Stoick ignored the insinuation and asked "What do think Gobber; how's everyone doing?"
"Weeeell, if you consider how we started the day thinking that we would be fighting an epic battle against hundreds of homicidal beasts, yet ended up being saved from a monster that was about to serve our arses up on a platter by our very own children and a bunch of dragons, then pretty darn well I'd say; I don't even think that anyone is dead... although for the life of me I don't know why."
Stoick gave a half smile as Gobber sat back down and contemplated a new song; as usual, the down to earth blacksmith had summed up the situation perfectly, so Stoick made his way back into the cave and was surprised to find it not cold and dark, but warm and inviting; he soon realised why when he saw that one of Astrid's amazing rock fires glowed nearby. There were actually two fires in the cave and each was a few feet on either side of a large rock, about the size of Hiccups dragon; Stoick smiled to himself at the comparative thought. The rock had been covered with a coat made of Yak skin on which laid his son, still unconscious, having his leg attended to by Olvor while Astrid sat holding his hand and lightly stroking his hair; the two ladies looked up as Stoick entered, although only Astrid jumped up with a start.
"Oh... Chief! I... err.."
Olvor smiled as Stoick calmed the startled girl.
"It's alright Astrid, no need to stand at attention" he reassured her.
"What.. err... yes, thank you sir" she stuttered as Stoick turned to Olvor.
"How's my little hero doing?"
Olvor spoke low as she took Stoicks arm and turned him away from Astrid.
"He's not good Chief, and it's not just the leg; he's got bruises everywhere and I've got no way of telling if he's hurt inside or not, so only time will tell. The good news is that his heart is beating strong and his breathing is regular, but the bad news is that I've got nothing to put on his wound apart from salt water and I'm worried about his leg going bad."
"But you've fixed his leg" Stoick whispered in protest while looking back at the beautifully bandaged limb.
"Yes yes I've done me best, but one of the secrets of my success is the pure alcohol I normally mix with fresh water to clean a wound and soak the bandages" Olvor replied. "I keep a small flask in my doctorin' bag, but it fell out and smashed during all of today's goings on and the only other supplies are in a keg back on Berk and we won't be getting back there in a hurry."
"I could go and get it" came a voice from behind them.
Stoick and Olvor turned to find Astrid had snuck up behind them and was eavesdropping on every word.
"It only took us a few hours to fly here; I could take my dragon, get a bottle of your stuff and be back before morning" declared Astrid, fairly bouncing with excitement.
"But it's dark outside and you'd never find your way" Olvor noted.
"Yes I will, I know the way, and you should see how Berk looks at night from above the clouds; you can see the signal fires for miles and miles."
"Oh really?" said Stoick accusingly "So you've seen Berk from atop a dragon before have you?"
"Err... just the once when Hiccup and I..."
"Well how would you find you find your back here then?" Stoick continued and Astrid began to feel a little less confident of her ability to convince him of her plan.
"This is the dragon's home" she pleaded "It knows the way."
Stoick looked grimly ahead, and slowly inhaled.
"Alright" he snorted as he pulled off mighty fur cape and swirled around the small thin girl.
Astrid winced; the smell made her feel ill, but she could not deny its warmth. They strode out of the cave with Astrid in front being half pushed and half carried as the Chief gripped her shoulders and lifted her up so that her legs were almost running on air. As the pair emerged from the cave Stoick put Astrid back down, looked up and sniffed the air; he knew the signs very well and was sure that this would not be a calm night.
"I don't know" Stoick wrinkled his nose as he pondered "maybe you should wait till morning and go with the others."
Astrid could tell that the Chief was in the middle of changing his mind, but she was not about to wait for an order that she did not want to hear; so she broke free from Stoicks grip, ran to her dragon, leapt on and flew off into the night. The mighty Viking growled to himself as he watched her go; it was one thing to be brave, but he knew more than anyone else alive what could happen when someone acted rashly and without thinking, just as he had done with Hiccup a few days ago.
"Ahoy there Stoick." the voice of Sigrid the Strong called out.
"Ah, Sigrid" Stoick got right to the point "salvaged much of any use from the longships; what's left of them?" he enquired.
"Aye Chief. We've got three kegs of fresh water and two small barrels of the pickled fish, but all the bread and biscuits are gone; waterlogged of course. There are a few tools and four spare sails and several lengths of rope; I'm sure we'll find more tomorrow on the other ships when we bring em up."
"If they're still there in the morning; we might be in for a rough night."
Stoick was worried because, although most of his people were close by, some were still out of sight several miles away with no provisions; they were strong and he was sure Olaf would see them safely through the night, but he wished that he could do more for them. As he also considered Astrid flying out over the ocean, an idea flashed into his mind and he ran off to find Snotlout.
"Come with me" he called back to Sigrid who followed close behind, wondering what he was up to.
The four remaining dragons and riders were relaxing around their own private pile of glowing rocks, talking and laughing over the day events with Toothless still resting on the makeshift dragon litter; the riders stood up as Stoick and Sigrid approached.
"Snotlout; I know it's dark but do you think you could fly back to Olaf with some supplies for him and the others?"
"No worries Chief" Snotlout declared proudly with chest out and hands on hips "they're just around the headland so I could fly there in no time" he bragged.
"Good" said Stoick, turning to Sigrid. "Wrap up one barrel of fish and one keg of water in a sail and bind it well with rope, I don't want it coming apart in the air, and then give it to Snotlout."
He turned back and pointed to the boy "Tell Olaf that I said there may be some rough weather tonight so I have sent you and the dragon to help him. Make some of these hot rock fires and if they can't find a cave, tell them to use the sail to shelter under as best they can; I'm counting on you lad."
"I won't let you down Chief" he declared proudly and ran off after Sigrid to get the package ready.
Striding with purpose, Stoick rushed back to have a chat with Olvor but stopped for a brief word with Gobber on the way.
"Get all the wounded and as many as will fit into the cave; and take the supplies with you." He turned and shouted to all in earshot "Everyone else stay as close in to the cave as you can, and bring the dragons in close as well"
Picking up two of the salvaged beams, Stoick strode back into the cave.
"It smells like a storm's on its way Olvor, so I've ordered all the injured in to the cave."
Stoick placed the beams between some low rocks to make some seating and made his way back outside to where Gobber and a few volunteers were carrying the litter with Toothless on it nearer to the cave where a large overhang of rock would provide some shelter for all who would not fit inside. Looking out into the night he did his best to keep his feelings well hidden, but so many people were on his mind; not the least of which was his own son who lay in the cave behind him and also the small group beyond the headland, but it was the young girl flying far out over the sea that occupied his mind the most.
He whispered quietly to himself "She must really love my son."
Hey there; are you far from home (Berk) and feelin' that rumblin' a deep down in your tummy? Well this is your lucky day because a new family restaurant has just opened up on that rock covered paradise that is Dragon Island, McGobbers!
At McGobbers we've got anything you could want (as long as you want fish) and we've got both kinds too; fresh and pickled.
Want a Pizza? Then grab a Deep Dish Fish special (with anchovies)
Want a Hotdog? We got Dogfish (you can have it hot if you like)
Want a Burger? Then try the new Big Gob fish burger with cheese (byo cheese)
Yes sir at McGobbers if it's got fins, we cook it so come on down, pull up a rock and take a seat; we've even got free Dragon Rides for the kiddies.
(no responsibility will be taken if you child looks like a salmon and gets eaten by a dragon)