22 All Hail Chief Olvor
Olvor and Gothi entered the Great Hall to the sound of Vikings arguing almost to the point of fighting, but silence fell as two of the most respected members of the tribe walked in to the room and stood at the head of the large oval table that surrounded the fire pit. The two women had taken their time in re-dressing Hiccups leg, therefore giving the angry tribe a chance to get a good deal angrier. They declared openly to each other how disgusted they were that the dragons were being treated far better than the warriors and how the young Vikings should be punished for what they had done.
"Where's Astrid?' someone shouted "She owes us an apology for what she's done."
Olvor looked at the crowd and saw that they were not in the mood to listen to reason so she decided to try and turn the situation around unreasonably. If Stoick were there he would have been able to order the attack on the dragons to stop, but in his absence Mulch was in command and so disobeying him was the same as disobeying Stoick. Olvor needed to make them all believe that that she was now in charge and it was they who were disobeying the Chiefs orders and when this was achieved, then the Dragon Riders would no longer be in such deep trouble.
What she was about to do was very unfair on the brave Vikings who were only protecting the village, but it had to be done before more dragons started arriving back on Berk and causing more upset. She was about to take a huge risk by replacing Mulch as acting chief of the tribe and when Stoick found out (and he would find out) he would be expected to hand out a severe punishment. For if anyone was to take the Chiefs position at the Great Hall, it would be seen as a challenge to his leadership; unless that person spoke for the Chief and had his permission, which she did not.
"I speak with the authority of Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk" she lied "and I speak to the members of his tribe; will you hear me?"
It was done and now Olvors place in the tribe was in great peril for if Stoick did not approve of her taking this liberty, he would have to banish her from Berk forever or lose the respect of his people.
"We will hear she who speaks for our Chief" Mulch gave the traditional reply and so Olvor spoke.
"The warriors of Berk lead by Chief Stoick the Vast did indeed land on Dragon Island yesterday morning exactly as planned and prepared defences to lay siege to the dragon's home."
A collective gasp went up and a chatter moved around the Great Hall; the Vikings of Berk had been trying to find the dragon's nest for three hundred years and had always failed but Stoick had succeeded and proved himself to be Berks greatest chief of all time.
"On Stoick's order, the catapults opened up the side of the volcano where the nest lay but instead of attacking, the dragons all fled."
A huge cheer filled the hall and so Olvor was forced to call for calm before she could continue.
"But as the dragons fled, we heard a mighty roar coming from inside and a giant dragon, of a type not seen before, broke out and attacked us; it stood almost as high as the mountain itself and with one breath of flame it destroyed our entire fleet of Longships."
Eyes opened wide and mouths dropped as everyone stood in stunned silence and wondered how many of their friends still lived.
"The rocks from our catapults bounced off its hide and left no mark to show the places where they had struck so Chief Stoick gave the order for everyone to retreat to the far side of the island while he heroically distracted the beast. Stoick did intend to sacrifice himself to give his people the best hope of escaping, but while beast was advancing on he and Gobber, four dragons attacked the giant from out of the sky and saved us all; these dragons were all ridden by the young trainees and led by Stoicks son Hiccup."
The listener's faces now wore looks of astonishment and confusion as she told them of how Stoick had released the Night Fury from its bonds and of Hiccups battle in the clouds, but when she came to the explosive destruction of the giant and Hiccups injury, every head dropped and every eye closed. Olvor knew that the next words she spoke would be Astrids only chance of redemption in the eyes of those whom she had attacked.
"Stoick declared to us all that we should only ever attack a dragon if it threatens us and he followed this up by entrusting the life of his son, the Hero of Dragon Island, to Astrid and her dragon Stormfly; so when she defended him against your attack, she did so under the express orders of her Chief."
"W...w...we... d..didn't know..." Mulch stammered "is the boy alright?"
"He lives, but he still has not awoken."
Olvor was beginning to enjoy the power she wielded and decided to go for broke.
"But don't worry everyone, I will speak to Stoick on your behalf and explain to him that you had no way of knowing that the dragon you attacked was carrying his injured son and that you were bravely defending the village with your very lives. When I first entered the Great Hall tonight, I heard someone demand an apology from Astrid, but believe me when I tell you this; now that she has had time to calm down and now that Hiccup is safe, she is very sorry for the way that she treated you all... but I say that she did the right thing... Stoick entrusted his son to her care and she had no choice but to defend him... so please give her a chance and I do think you should give her your apologies for trying to knock her out of the sky."
The tribe murmured as they considered what Olvor had said but it seemed that the trouble was over... for now.
The welcome smell of cooked fish wafted down to the water as Stoick, Gobber and Agnar watched the Sharktooth disappear into the distance and with it went Olaf the skipper, eight crew, one boy and five Gronckles all making their way slowly back to Berk. Several of the newest batch of Dragon Riders were now returning to the island from ship escort duty. Many of them hoped this would be their last night on Dragon Island. A very proud looking Deadly Nadder glided gracefully into land nearby and walked up to the three men.
"You should have tried it Agnar" Odd told his friend as he dropped to the ground "we saw the ship all the way to Astrids Island and I haven't had so much fun in years."
"My dragon is still a little skittish with a rider on its back so I didn't want to push it too far out to sea till I was sure he was ready for it."
"Very wise" Stoick agreed "so you enjoyed yourself then Odd?"
"Well you know what it's like Chief. So have you decided what breed of dragon your gonna train yet?"
"Not yet but something big and comfortable I think."
"So not a Gronckle then?" Gobber smirked.
"Very funny Gobber" Stoick didn't smile "but what about you? You haven't even been up yet."
"Well actually, with your permission I'd like to head back to Berk with Sigrid first thing in the morning; there's a few little tasks I'd like to get done as soon as I can... if you don't mind."
"What kind of tasks, can't they wait till we get everyone safely back to Berk?"
"They could I suppose, but have a look at this first."
Gobber bent down and began to draw in the sand with his finger. He drew a rough sketch of a person with a very strange looking left leg; Stoick's eyes grew wider as he began to understand.
"Oh... I err think we should have a word with Sigrid then."
"Good because I have another little plan I would like to run past you both."
With a soft creak, the door to Stoicks home opened just enough for the face of a timid Viking to fit through the gap, but the horns of his helmet still had to remain outside.
"Astrid... Miss... can we err... can we come in please? We do promise not to hurt master Hiccup miss, really we do."
The youngest warrior was developing quite a reputation on two islands now, but the worried men and women at the door were very fortunate that her rage had subsided as she sat in the warm room with the still sleeping Hiccup. When Gothi and Olvor had un-wrapped his leg, the sight of it had made Astrid feel ill, but she was determined not to look away. This was a part of him now and she would accept it for it was. His leg was nothing to be ashamed of and if he awoke... she stopped herself, WHEN he awoke she would make sure that he knew his leg had not changed the way she felt about him in any way. Olvor used the water and alcohol mix to clean his wound once more, but did not soak the dressing this time. Instead she used one of Gothi's herbal concoctions that had a much more pleasing smell to it. Olvor explained to Astrid that the new dressing would make the leg feel numb so Hiccup would not be in as much pain when he awoke.
Astrid looked up when the six Vikings entered the large room where she sat with only her dragon and the sleeping boy for company.
"Close the door behind you please, we need to keep this room warm."
The group was relieved that she spoke softly and politely as they approached her and they began to feel like this would not be so bad after all.
"We're very sorry about what happened and we want you to know that we would never have attacked you had we known the truth."
Astrid stood and looked straight at them all which unnerved the men in the group as they were all married men and they recognise that look. It was a look of grim determination that their wives would have if their husbands were in trouble. They began to feel that things did not bode well for them, but they soon found they were wrong when she spoke.
"I apologise too for the way I acted but... well... it had been a very long day and a very long trip" she smiled and the Vikings could all relax at last.
"You could make it up to me if you want."
"Anything Miss; you just name it" they grinned feeling happy to get on her good side.
"Could you bring Hiccups bed down from upstairs please; quietly?"
After making quick work of their task the four men and two women left just as Gothi arrived to check on the boy once more. She was very satisfied with the sounds of his heart and breathing, but was also pleased with the light snore that emitted from Astrid as she lay on the bench where Hiccup had been, before he was placed in his own bed once more. Gothi smiled to herself as she covered the girl in a woollen blanket, put some wood on the fire and settled down in a chair next to the sleeping dragon and soon the sound of another person snoring filled the air as she soon them in slumber.
Greatest jokes from Berk:
What do you get if you cross a Gronckle with a Gopher?
Caddyshack 3.