Chapter 11
Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!
Thought / Dreams / Event from the past
[Voice from the past]
"Dialogue"
Letter
Emphasis
Dangerous Tone
"What kind of dragons do we have here?" He asked Gobber as they walked to the Arena, followed by Toothless, Astrid, Stormfly, Stoick, and everyone else.
"2 Monstrous Nightmares, a Nadder, 2 Zipplebacks, 3 Gronckles, 5 Terrible Terrors, and a Timberjack." Gobber answered right away.
"A Timberjack?" Hiccup asked in surprise.
"Yeah, the dragon happened to be in the forest when we went to get some firewood, so we captured it." Gobber explained as they reached the gate to the arena, "Now, what kind of dragon do you think will suit me?".
"I haven't thought about it yet, actually." Hiccup answered calmly as he waited for Gobber to open the gate, "I need to tell you that you won't be the one who choose the dragon, your dragon will be the one to choose you, and you don't own a dragon like they are your pets, they are your partners and friends." He warned them all before noticing that Gobber had finished opening the gate, "Alright, leave your weapons here".
"Do we have to?" Snotlout asked nervously, suddenly afraid to come close to a dragon without a weapon.
"You can have your weapons back after the dragons understand that you won't harm them, the best way to show that you mean them no harm is by approaching them without a weapon." Hiccup explained before he walked in, with Toothless always beside him.
Astrid and Stormfly also walked in right away, she didn't bother to leave her axe outside since she has Stormfly with her, Stormfly's presence alone would be enough to assure the other dragons that she won't harm them, but she entrusted her axe to Stormfly just in case. "I will help you, Hiccup. If you need it, of course." She offered to Hiccup, "I have learned everything that you wrote on that book, I can help you".
"Thanks, Astrid." Hiccup answered with a grin, causing Astrid to blush faintly, "So, did you read everything?" Astrid nodded, "Do you have some Dragon Nip with you then? Just in case".
"Yes, I always have some with me, in case Stormfly get in bad mood or if I come across a wild dragon in the forest." She answered confidently.
"Good." Hiccup nodded in satisfaction before looking at her, "Can you help me explain the basic knowledge about training dragons to them while I calm the dragon? Like about how everything is based on trust, how to treat their dragon, and to call them with the right gender?" He asked her with a smile.
"Sure, no problem." She answered with a smile as well before her smile turned sheepish, "Um, I need to apologize".
"What for?" Hiccup asked in confusion.
"Well, I pretty much acted as if you didn't exist in the past." She answered sadly, "We were friends when we were kids, and yet I ignored you after my Dad died so I can focus on my training. I'm so sorry, Hiccup".
"It's alright." Hiccup assured her with a smile, "I understand that you want to be strong to regain your family's honor, so I don't hold anything against you".
"I also need to apologize for something else." Astrid said as she looked at Hiccup straight in the eyes, "After you left . . . I didn't mean to intrude to your Cove, but that place is perfect for hiding dragons, so I kind of spending my time in there this past year".
"Don't worry about it." He waved her apology away, "The Cove is a special place for me and Toothless, but it's also a special place for you now, you have the right to go there as well as I do".
"Thank you." Astrid smiled happily, "The Cove is very beautiful and the atmosphere is so calm, I really love spending my time in there, especially with my dragons around".
Hiccup smiled back before noticing the others already in there, the ones who want to train dragons stood there in front of him while the rest were looking at them from above, "Who want to go first?" He asked them with a bright smile on his face.
"I will!" Ruffnut said immediately as she stepped forward.
"No, I will!" Tuffnut protested as he pushed his Sister aside.
"Hey! I will go first!" Ruffnut yelled as she pushed Tuffnut back.
"No, I will go first!" Tuffnut yelled back.
"Enough!" Hiccup called them off as he pulled them apart, "You both can go first, a Zippleback is good with two Riders so you both will have a Zippleback." He said as he released his hold on the twins, who looked at him in surprise, he guessed that they never thought he would be strong enough to pull them apart like that.
"I will get ready to open the door to one of the Zippleback's pen then." Astrid announced after she saw that Hiccup had taken care of the situation.
Hiccup nodded at her before looking at the rest, "Ruff and Tuff will go first, so I suggest for the rest of you to wait near the wall." He told them calmly before looking at Toothless and Stormfly, "You two will stay near the wall as well".
"What?!" Stormfly asked in disbelief, "And let Astrid face a dragon alone? I know how it feel in that cage, boy, and I assure you those dragons inside aren't happy".
"Don't worry, I won't let anything to happen to Astrid." Hiccup promised her, "Besides, if Astrid can get close to you, I'm sure she know how to calm other dragons as well".
Stormfly was still hesitant though, "It's alright, he will protect your Rider." Toothless reassured her as he nudged the other dragon with his snout, "Trust us".
"Still . . ." Stormfly glanced at Astrid worriedly, who glanced at their direction in confusion, her hand ready on the lever.
"You don't have to worry about anything, my Brother knows what he is doing." Toothless he assured the Nadder before pushing Stormfly along as he walked off to the wall, Stormfly reluctantly went with Toothless.
"Okay. Astrid, open it." Hiccup informed her and she immediately pulled the lever down.
The Zippleback was started as first, the dragon didn't expect to be released at all. Soon though, the second he stepped out, he began snarling and get defensive at the sight of many people in the ring.
"Calm down." Hiccup said soothingly to him, or them since they have two heads, "It's okay, we are not here to hurt you. The wicked queen is dead and the war is over." He explained as he slowly walked to them with both hands outstretched, the two heads of the Zippleback watched him cautiously as he approached them. He stopped a feet in front of them and raised his hands palm out to the two heads before stopping when he could felt their breath, he then closed his eyes and lowered his head to show the dragon that he trusted them, it's up to them now whether to trust him as well or not. Hiccup waited for a few moments before he felt warm scaly heads pressed onto his palms, he opened his eyes and smiled, "That's right, it's okay." He said softly to them as he rubbed their heads and scratched their chins. He understood that the dragons in the arena would be uncomfortable at first, considering they were locked up for who knows how long, so he would have to calm them down first until they were relaxed before introducing them to the twins.
While Hiccup calmed the dragon, Astrid made her way to the twins and motioned for them to be quiet so they wouldn't startle the dragon. "Now, did you see what Hiccup did earlier?" She whispered to them, the nodded silently, she nodded back, "That was the best way to show a dragon that you trust them." She explained so they would understand the meaning of such action, "Everything is base on trust, you can't train a dragon if you don't trust them and the dragon won't let you near them if they don't trust you, so this is important".
"So, we need to do like what Hiccup did earlier? Raise our hands and look away?" Ruffnut asked in whisper as she watched Hiccup softly talking to the dragon and reassured them that no one were going to hurt them.
"Yeah." Astrid nodded as she looked at Hiccup as well, "You need to be calm and confident when you are facing them, but don't be arrogant. Dragons can tell what we are feeling, they won't believe that you trust them when you are nervous or scared of them, that's why you need to be calm and confident".
"Do we need to raise our hand to both heads like Hiccup or just one of the head?" Tuffnut asked curiously.
"Just one is enough since there are two of you, Hiccup used both of his hands because he's alone and Zippleback has two heads. You need to gain their trust at the same time, it won't work if you try at one head at a time." Astrid explained as Hiccup slowly made his way to them, "There are a few things you need to remember, treat your dragon like you treat your friend, like your equal, and don't mistook their gender either. They are as sensitive as humans about it." The twins nodded at her in understanding, "Okay, that's for now, you will learn more after you gain their trust".
"Astrid, wait." Ruffnut stopped her before she could walk away.
"Is this dragon a she or a he?" Tuffnut asked her.
Astrid looked at the Zippleback carefully, "I think it's a he." She whispered to them before heading for Stormfly and waited there with her Dragon and Toothless.
Hiccup slowly guided the Zippleback to the twins, he glanced at Astrid and Astrid nodded at him, he nodded back before looking at the twins without releasing his hands from the dragon. "Now, you remember what Astrid told you, right?" He asked them and waited for them to nod before continuing, "Okay, just don't make any sudden move that will spook them and you will be fine." He released the two heads and stepped back until he was behind the twins, he then placed his hands on the twin's shoulders, his left hand on Ruffnut while his right hand on Tuffnut, "I will be here if you need my help".
Ruffnut and Tuffnut each raised a hand to one of the heads before stopping just in front of the heads. Ruffnut raised her left hand to the right head, which was the gas head, while Tuffnut raised his right hand to the left head, which was the spark head. They inhaled deeply to calm themselves before slowly turning away, they were hesitant, but the trust was there.
The Zippleback's heads sniffed at their hand before looking at each other, Hiccup knew that they were conversing with each other in their mind since he couldn't hear anything, probably about whether they would trust the twins or not.
Toothless told him once that a Zippleback was a special dragon, since they have two heads on the same body, each head can communicate with the other without needing to voice it out loud. It's like when someone was thinking to their own self, but instead of just one mind, there were two.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the Zippleback pressed their heads onto the twin's palms. The twins flinched a bit since they weren't expecting it and looked at the dragon with shock clearly written on their face, "Wow." They breathed in awe at the same time.
Hiccup smiled at them, "Dragons are very loyal, they will do almost anything for you once you gained their trust, and they would never betray you. Now, human's loyalty is more questionable than dragons, and since you two have gained their trust . . . don't you ever break their trust in you, or you will face the consequence, got it?" He asked them seriously with a warning clearly in his tone, they nodded silently while still staring at the dragon in awe.
"So, what now?" Ruffnut asked after a long time staring at the dragon in awe, "Do we just fly on them?".
"No." Hiccup shook his head, "You may have gained their trust, but that doesn't mean you can just hop on their back and ride them. Remember what I said? You are not the one who choose your dragon, they do." He smiled at them again, "Ask them if you want to be their Riders, they will let you if they like you".
"Can I be your Rider?" Ruffnut and Tuffnut asked at the same time, causing Hiccup to chuckle at their enthusiasm, but it seems they weren't amused with each other and began fighting to see who would be the Rider. The Zippleback looked at them in amusement before snorting and separating the twins with their heads.
"You don't need to fight, two heads means two Riders." Hiccup reminded them with a grin.
"Right." The twins stated as they remembered it before looking at the dragon again and repeated their question.
"I like this girl." The gas head announced as he gently nudged Ruffnut's hand with his head.
"And I like this boy." The spark head answered as he looked at Tuffnut.
The two heads nodded together, "You will be our Riders." They finished at the same time.
"They accept you to be their Riders." Hiccup told the twins, who were grinning widely at the news, "Why don't you give them their names and a nice scratch on their chins?".
They began scratching their dragon's heads while thinking of the best name for them.
"I got it!" Ruffnut said excitedly as she looked at the head she was scratching, "Your name is Barf".
"Belch, I think it's a good name for you." Tuffnut said to his dragon head.
The Zippleback let out a happy croon in response.
"Can we fly now?" They asked Hiccup.
"You will only fall to your death if you fly bare back on a dragon." Astrid answered for Hiccup, "You need a saddle, or at least a rope to help you hold on".
"That's right." Hiccup nodded in confirmation, "Do you want to wait until I finish making your saddle or just go with a rope?".
"Rope!" Ruffnut exclaimed excitedly, "I want to fly as soon as possible, it must be amazing!".
"Yeah!" Tuffnut agreed.
Hiccup laughed at their response, trust the twins to think of something dangerous to be something exciting. "Sure." He responded before looking at Astrid, "Would you mind flying with them? I need you to make sure they don't pull any stunt so soon and giving advice here and there . . . You've experienced in flying, right?" He asked her cheerfully before finishing uncertainly.
"Of course." Astrid answered with a grin, "I have been flying with Stormfly for almost a year now." She said reassuringly.
"Good." Hiccup said in relief before turning to the twins to see them looking at him expectantly with a roll of rope in hands, they must be getting the rope when he talked with Astrid, "Man, you are so eager." He commented with a chuckle before taking the rope from them and helped them tying it around Barf and Belch. "Ready?" He asked them.
"Of course." Ruffnut and Tuffnut answered.
"Okay." Hiccup turned his attention to Barf and Belch, "Barf, Belch. Don't fly too fast, you have to get used with the feeling of having Riders with you and they need to get the hang of flying with a dragon first".
"No problem." Barf and Belch answered at the same time. Hiccup nodded in response to their answer, causing for their eyes to widen in surprise since it's the first time they saw a human who can understand their language. "Wait, you can understand us?" They asked in surprise.
"Yes." Hiccup answered shortly before walking away so he wouldn't be in the way, "Alright, you're good to go." He said to the twins and the Zippleback as he gestured to the gate, since there's a roof for chains above the arena.
"Yeah! Let's go, Belch!" Tuffnut exclaimed excitedly.
"Come on, Barf!" Ruffnut also exclaimed with a wide grin of excitement on her face.
Barf and Belch walked out of the gate then took off immediately, "Let's go, Stormfly." Astrid said as she get onto Stormfly's back, "We need to make sure they won't destroy the village with their Dragon." Stormfly squawked in understanding before running out and took off as well.
"Shouldn't you go with them, Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked as he watch the gate in worry.
"Nah, I trust Astrid." Hiccup answered easily before looking at the rest, "Okay, who will go now?" He asked them with a big grin on his face.
"Me! Me!" Elga jumped in place excitedly, "Can I try with a Nadder like Big Sis?".
Hiccup chuckled, "Sure." He answered and looked at Gobber, "Where's the Nadder's pen?" He asked as he walked to the row of pens.
"At the far left." Gobber answered him.
Hiccup repeated the process with the Zippleback to the Nadder and introduced her to Elga, after Elga gained the Nadder's trust and named her Crimson, since the Nadder was red in color, once the Nadder accepted her, the 10 years old girl told Hiccup that she want to fly as well and wouldn't mind using the rope.
"Alright, that's it." Hiccup said as he finished tying the rope around Crimson's back and also around Elga so she wouldn't fall off when she was flying on her Nadder, "You can go fly first, I will follow you soon".
"Yeah!" Elga chirped happily before petting Crimson's head lightly, "Let's fly, Crimson, but not too fast, okay?".
"Don't worry, little girl." Crimson crooned softly, "I won't let anything to happen to you".
Hiccup smiled as he saw the two walked out of the gate, he could see that they had bonded with each other easily, maybe because Crimson saw Elga like her own hatchling. He then felt a hot breath from behind and turned around to see Toothless looked expectantly at him, he chuckled, "Always impatient, aren't you." He commented fondly before looking at the rest of the people who wanted to learn how to train their dragon, "Wait here, I will be back shortly after Elga get the hang of flying." He told them before Toothless ran out of the arena and took off to where Elga was.
The rest of the day went similarly, Hiccup would calm the dragons from the arena, which became easier and easier since the dragons from inside had heard about what had happened when Hiccup let out the few first dragons out, and introduced them to the people, then Astrid and Hiccup would take turn watching the newly bonded Vikings and dragons while sometimes giving them advice to get better in flying with their dragons.
Fishlegs got a female Gronckle whom he named Meatlug, Snotlout got a male Nightmare whom he named Hookfang, Keila also got interested in training her own dragon and got a female Nightmare whom she named Wyvern (Keila really got a good taste in name), a pair of twin girls named Ella and Elle got a male Zippleback whom they named Speedy and Firery, a boy named Rick got a female Gronckle whom he named Pineneedle, and another boy named Jack got a male Gronckle whom he named Darklava.
Gobber was actually disappointed when he didn't get a dragon because the Timberjack had told Hiccup that he didn't want a Rider yet, but he lightened up when two Terrible Terrors grew attached to him, he named them Flamer and Clawer. The other 3 Terrors decided that they wanted to explore the town since they wouldn't get killed on sight anymore, when they met Gothi, they didn't want to leave her so Gothi took them as her own dragons and named them Swifty, Greeny, and Milky.
The others had gone back to do their own stuffs since the training was done for the day, only Hiccup, Gobber, Stoick, Astrid, Toothless, Stormfly, and the Timberjack left in the arena, while those who had just gotten their own dragons still flying around with their dragons. Once they tasted the freedom when flying, they couldn't have enough of it and wanted to continue flying, and their dragons were locked up so long that they wanted to fly to their heart content.
They had just finished taking off the chain from the arena, so the dragons could fly in and out easily without having to go through the gate first, when Elga and Keila landed with a huge grin on their face. "That was really amazing!" Keila exclaimed as she climbed down from her dragon, she pet her Nightmare before going to Elga and helped her get out from the rope Hiccup tied around her earlier, "If only I knew just how free flying on a dragon is, I would try to befriend them long ago".
"Yeah!" Elga agreed as she was picked up to her Mother's arms, "I love flying! I really want to keep flying but Crimson decided to fly back on her own." She then looked at her dragon, "I guess you are tired after flying so long to make me happy, I'm sorry." She said softly as she rubbed her dragon's snout.
"I'm not that tired, little Elga, I'm just hungry." Crimson softly crooned softly as she licked the little girl's cheek, making her laugh.
"Elga." Hiccup called out to her, "Crimson said that she isn't that tired, she is just hungry." He told her what her dragon said a moment ago, "And I think Wyvern is too".
"You got it right, boy." Wyvern told him as she nodded so the others would understand as well.
"What do dragons eat?" Elga asked curiously, "Is it Sheep and Yak?".
"No." Hiccup shook his head, "Most Dragons eat fish, but sometimes they would hunt wild animals like boar too. The sole reason why they stole our live stocks in the past is because the monster like them more than any other animals, so they figured the monster wouldn't eat them as long as they brought it our live stocks".
"I see." Elga nodded before looking at Keila, "How much fish we have at home, Mom?" She asked with a cute expression on her face.
Keila blinked, "I don't think we have enough fish to feed a dragon, dear, let alone two." She then looked at Astrid, "How did you feed Stormfly, Astrid?".
"I don't really feed her." Astrid answered as she stood up, she was sitting while leaning against Stormfly as soon as they were done removing the chain, "Stormfly always went to hunt whenever she was hungry, but sometimes I give her my portion of chicken as a special treat, since Nadders loves chicken".
"Yup, chicken is very tasty." Stormfly chirped happily as she stood up as well, "Come on, let's go hunting together, I'm hungry too".
"Hold on." Hiccup told her as he went to Crimson and removed the rope from around her.
"Thank you, that rope is starting to get me itchy." Crimson said to him with a happy croon.
"Does this saddle thing I heard you are going to make will be itchy as well?" Wyvern asked as she light herself up to burn the rope, startling the others.
"No, when I made a saddle, I always make sure that it will be comfortable for the dragons." Hiccup answered with a smile, "Still, you need to learn not to light yourself when you aren't upset, Wyvern – especially if your Rider is on your back, or your Rider will get burn as well".
"I will remember that." Wyvern said as she put out her fire, "Let's go, I'm hungry".
Stormfly, Crimson, and Wyvern took off to the sky and headed out for the sea after that.
"What was that, Hiccup?" Astrid asked curiously.
"Well, the rope caused the dragons to be itchy, that's why Wyvern light herself up to get rid of it. Wyvern then asked if the saddle will be itchy for them as well, and I said no, since I always make sure it would be comfortable for them." Hiccup explained with a smile, he went over to Toothless and began scratching his head before the Timberjack joined in as he wanted to be scratched as well.
"You need to teach me how to make the saddle, Hiccup." Gobber said as he finished putting the chains to the storage in the arena, "Since the dragon raids stopped, I kind of losing my job as a blacksmith who specialized in making weapons. So, you better teach me how to make a saddle, that way, I still have something to do aside from making weapons once in a while." Hiccup answered with a grin and a nod, Gobber then looked at Keila, "I really envy you, Keila, you get yourself a dragon right away." He might cheered up when he got Flamer and Clawer as his dragon friends, but he wanted to have a dragon that could take him fly as well, he didn't want to lose to the youngsters. Not to mention that from how they said it, flying was really amazing.
"Don't worry, Gobber." Hiccup reassured Gobber as he scratched the Timberjack's head with one hand and scratched Toothless's head with the other, "I will go to the Nest tomorrow and see if any of them want to have a Rider, or maybe you will find your own dragon later".
"You don't have to go out of your way to the Nest for me, lad." Gobber said to him with a frown on his face.
"Not really." Hiccup shook his head before standing up and stretching himself, "I need to go back to Hunterville anyway, I just need to make a detour to the Nest along the way".
"Wait." Stoick cut in, "Why do you need to go back there? You can stay here, Hiccup. Berk is your home".
Hiccup smiled at him, "I know, Dad. Berk is my home, but I can't stay here just yet." He said calmly and raised his hand when Stoick wanted to protest, "I need to go back to Hunterville because I came here today as their messenger".
"Messenger?" Stoick asked in confusion.
"Yeah." Hiccup nodded, "Since I'm coming here, they want me to see if you're willing to change and accept dragons, and if you do, the Chief and his heir will come here to discuss about peace treaty with you".
"Oh, they want to be our ally?" Stoick asked with interest.
"Yes." Hiccup nodded again, "So, do you interested? If so, I will tell them".
"Sure." Stoick answered with a smile before his smile dropping, "But . . . can't you stay here for the night before you go?".
Hiccup looked up at the setting sun, "I guess I should, considering I still need to get my stuffs from my own island and make a detour to the Nest as well." He said thoughtfully before grinning at Stoick, "Okay, I will go to Hunterville tomorrow, but I still need to go now".
"Where to?" Gobber asked curiously.
"I'm going to go hunting with Toothless and my flock." Hiccup answered as he climbed onto Toothless's back, "Toothless can't fly without me, not that he like to fly without me anyway, so I will accompany him to go hunting with the rest of the flock".
"Alright, be careful, Son." Stoick said as he let out a breathe of relief, for a second he was afraid that Hiccup didn't want to stay in Berk because he secretly hate them.
Hiccup nodded in answer, he exchanged a few words with Astrid and Gobber before taking off with Toothless. A few seconds later, the Timberjack came up beside them as they flew towards the forest. He smiled at the dragon, "Hello there." He greeted the dragon.
"Hello to you too." The Timberjack greeted back before looking curiously at them, "You said you have a flock, Hiccup?" The Timberjack asked after a few seconds passed, Hiccup and Toothless nodded together, "Can I join in? I like you and won't mind it if you ride on me".
"He is My Rider." Toothless said in warning, "He will only ride on other dragons if certain circumstance happened only".
"I know, you already said it earlier." The Timberjack replied calmly, "I also already said that I don't want a Rider at the moment, so don't worry, I won't steal you Rider".
"Good, in that case . . ." Toothless said in satisfaction before looking at Hiccup, "I don't mind him joining our Flock, how about you?".
"I don't mind either." Hiccup answered with a smile before looking at the Timberjack, "Welcome to the Flock . . ." He trailed off before smiling sheepishly, "Can I name you? I don't want to keep calling you 'Timberjack' ".
"Sure, I would love it." The dragon answered happily.
Hiccup nodded before looking the dragon over, "Cyclone, your name is Cyclone." He decided after a few seconds passed, "Okay, welcome to the Flock, Cyclone".
The newly named Cyclone purred happily in response.
XXXXX
To be continued . . .
XXXXX
Froim : Please review ^ ^