17 The Hand That Feeds
Having finished raising the longship, the Vikings left the beach and returned to the camp to continue their many tasks. There was much that needed to be done before they could leave the island, so work on both the camp and Gobber's work area needed to be continued. Stoick the Vast stood back and let his people get on with the inspection of the hull, and assessment of how it could be made seaworthy again, while many others continued to strip the unrepairable wrecks of every last piece of useable wood and iron. He had sent Snotlout and the twins on another trip to Astrid's Island because, unlike Dragon Island it did have trees on it and they were ordered to cut a new mast and replenish the water supplies; a busy Viking is a thirsty Viking.
Stoick could sense somebody behind him, and he knew that nervous silence all too well.
"No need to ask" Stoick said to Fishlegs with his gaze undiverted from the ship "take all the fish you need and good luck with the dragons."
"Err... thank you sir, but we've had requests from some of the others in the tribe" Fishlegs informed the Chief.
"Requests; what for?"
"Well... to get some dragons for them too, so they can train them like ours; everyone seems very impressed with what we have been able to do with the dragons and they are very eager to learn how it's done."
Stoick considered this and began to wonder if the tribe could handle more dragons; he had no idea what they would be like in a larger group but as he looked around, the wild dragons all seemed very content with their new life free from the giant beast. Some flew above the island, and some were off shore diving for food, but most just sat around watching Vikings for entertainment, or sleeping in the warmth of the sunshine.
"Do you think you could do it?" Stoick was beginning to think that Fishlegs may be getting a little bit over confidant.
"To be honest, I'm not really sure Chief; I figured the best thing to do would be to help a few Vikings at a time to approach and feed some of the wild dragons, and see how we go; a kind of learn together kind of thing."
Stoick considered this carefully; he was very pleased that the boy didn't seem to be rushing ahead, but he also began to doubt that the five dragons they now had with them would be the only ones to return to Berk, and so the whole tribe should really learn a little bit about how to interact with a dragon before they all left for home.
"Sounds like a good idea; do your best."
"Thanks Chief" Fishlegs shouted over his shoulder as he ran off.
Gobber approached having finished his first appraisal of the ship.
"Good news Stoick, it's the Sharktooth; one of our best. There's a hole the size of a Gronckle in the starboard bow and some damage to the port gunnel where it looks like the mast hit it, oh and the stem post is gone."
"How long?" Stoick asked.
"I'll have the hole done this afternoon thanks to all the gear we've already stripped from the other wrecks and Thorfinn has already gone to get what he'll need to do the gunnel. We'll be ready to raise a new mast by mid afternoon... if we get a good tree that is."
Gobber didn't even flinch when a pine tree landed behind him with a loud crash.
"How's this one Gobber?" Tuffnut yelled from high on the Zippleback's left neck.
"Looks fine lad" Gobber remarked after a brief inspection.
"Is it long enough to get a yardarm out of it Gobber" Stoick asked.
"No need to; we dragged a few good ones up with the wrecks yesterday. Oh well, off to work then" and he left to take measurements of the hole while whistling a happy tune.
"Oh my" gasped a surprised Fishlegs as over fifty Vikings looked at him expectantly "I didn't expect to see so many."
"Don't worry Fishlegs I've got an idea" Astrid reassured him as she turned to the crowd.
"I'm sorry everyone but when we approach the wild dragons, we'll have to do it in a smaller groups in case we spook them. So Fishlegs and I can only take two people each."
There was a general groaning from amongst the Vikings till Starkard spoke everyone's mind.
"That's four at a time Astrid; it will take forever" he moaned and everyone agreed.
"Yes I know but if we succeed, then we will have four more people with a little dragon experience who will be able to help another eight. So it shouldn't take too long, but at first we have to take it slow; we don't even know if the wild dragons will even let us approach them yet."
As a general rule Vikings are not very good at mathematics, so most of what Astrid explained had gone in one ear and out the other; one Viking was so numerically illiterate, that the information went up his nose and came out from a place that should not be spoken of in polite society.
The impatient Berkians weren't happy about waiting and they all wanted to be the ones chosen to go first, but eventually Astrid picked out four of the best leaders hoping that they could soon take over as Viking Dragon Trainers and then she could get back to Olvor and Hiccup. Partners were quickly chosen and soon Astrid and Stormfly were walking off toward a flock of Nadders with Odd and Agnar while Fishlegs and his dragon went toward the headland with Freya and Ack; he had seen a few Gronckles when he had flown by that morning and so it seemed like a good place to start.
Toothless felt a little stronger after lunch and so he decided to follow Astrid and the group of hopeful dragon trainers strolling up the beach. Astrid felt almost as strong a bond with Toothless as she did with Stormfly; mostly because he was the first dragon she had ever ridden and after a very shaky start, Toothless had come to feel very close to her as well. For Astrid there was also the fact that he was Hiccups dragon, so taking care of Toothless while Hiccup lay unconscious was her way of saying 'Don't worry about anything, just relax and let me take care of the rest'.
Stormfly walked along by Astrid's side carrying a bag of fish and feeling very contented to be helping her little blonde friend, but the Night Fury's head hung low as he wandered alongside them. Astrid began to fear what would become of Toothless if Hiccup didn't wake up and although she did not like to think about such things, she was determined that no matter what, Toothless would not be left alone should the unthinkable happen.
A group of three wild Nadders had been watching the Vikings scurrying around the beach all day with fascination, especially when they were working with the dragons, but they all became very cautious and tense when some of these Vikings started to approach them. This was the first time any of these people had come so close and although the two dragons in their company seemed very contented, the wild dragons all stood up and began to back off a little as the strangers grew closer. But they all settled down again when Astrid's group stopped and sat down nearby.
"Okay" Astrid's heart raced "you both know the plan so let's give it a try."
The wild Nadders were paying close attention as Astrid rose with her back to them and took the bag from Stormfly. She gave it to Agnar then turned back to her dragon and began to rub her cheek and neck."
"Good girl, thank you for carrying that heavy bag for me" she cooed to the dragon who relished in the attention and gave Astrid her 'I'm-a-happy-Nadder' growly purr.
"Right, here we go."
Odd and Agnar sat with Toothless while Astrid led Stormfly nearer to the other three Nadders stopping only when they all took another step back; she rubbed her dragon's neck again and sat her down in the sand.
"Odd" she said in a soft voice "change of plan; come here slowly and hold Stormfly for me."
As Odd took hold of the rope he began to scratch the back of the dragons head.
"That's it, you stay with me girl" he reassured the dragon.
"I want to see what happens if I show them some trust" Astrid took another few steps towards the middle of the group.
As she moved forward, speaking reassuringly to the group, they all began to pace back in different directions allowing her to step in to the middle of them.
"Hello" she smiled at them, but they still kept their distance. Suddenly one gave a nervous growl.
That was all Stormfly and Toothless needed to hear; they both reacted instantly to the threatening sound and sprang to their feet roaring at the wild Nadders. All three returned the roars to Astrid's protectors and took a few more back steps while Astrid rushed back to Stormfly and calmed her down.
"It's alright girl; come on then, sit down."
She began to wonder if it had been such a good idea to bring her own dragons after all; Astrid had thought it would help to show the wild dragons that they could trust her, but she had not taken into account how protective Stormfly and Toothless would be if she were in any danger.
"I'd better stay here with Stormfly" she stated the obvious to Odd "maybe you should be the one to give them the fish."
Agnar opened the bag and Odd took out three good sized cod; taking a few step forward he addressed the group.
"Hello there Nadders; err... um... these are for you" and he tossed a fish to each one in turn.
The three dragons looked to each other and then back to Odd before they slowly moved forward and sniffed the fish in front of them. They were constantly stoping and looking around to making sure that this was not some kind of trap. The dragon on the right opened its mouth a few inches and hooked the tip of its beak on the fish dragging it back until it eventually picked it up and stepped back suspiciously. After it had finally swallowed its dinner, the other two Nadders took the fish in front of them and consumed them with delight.
Odd stood smiling at the dragons for a while until the first one made a soft, inquisitive sound to him.
"Crawck"
"Oh, would you like another one then?"
The dragon took a few steps forward as Odd went back and got three more fish from the bag and returned to the same spot. He threw two fish to the other dragons and then held the third up to the dragon closest to him. It turned its head from side to get a good look at the offering before it stretched out its neck and took the fish delicately from Odd's hands before stepping back once more and swallowing it.
"Arrawk carrarr"
"Yes" Odd nodded and grinned widely "good isn't it?"
The Nadder turned to the sea and took off, flying high over the sea stacks and towards the horizon.
"Oh!" Odd was surprised "I thought we were getting somewhere for a while."
"Never mind" Astrid consoled him "the other two are still here and they still look hungry."
"I think I'll have a go" Agnar decided as he opened the basket.
"Okay then" Astrid agreed "let's see if one of these two will..."
A sudden cry filled the air as the third Nadder returned; it flew in low and dropped a fifteen foot freshly killed shark at Odds feet and then landed nearby.
"Err... thank you" he acknowledged by putting his hand on the sharks back "I think."
"See if it will let you get closer" Astrid whispered.
Odd stepped over the shark and held his hand out as if to shake its claw but it just looked at him with more suspicion so Astrid stepped back to Stormfly and scratched her neck again. The wild Nadder seemed to get the idea; it took a step towards Odd who did the same as he touched the dragon's cheek.
"That's a good little shark killer; Odd's your friend now."
Greatest jokes on Berk: After a hard day's work Stoick and Gobber walked into a bar; you'd have thought that one of them would have noticed it.