Learning from the Masters
A How To Train Your Dragon Fanfiction
Based off Le'Letha's "Nightfall"
The air was far too warm for Alekt's liking. He stifled any complaints he might have had of it beneath a languid yawn, rubbing a kink from his neck as he stood and ambled about, not yet fully awake but aware enough of his surroundings.
His thoughts were quick to linger and reflect on the communication from the day before with (click)-phuh. He wasn't sure he could quite call it a discussion, per say. An exchange of concepts, maybe. In some ways, the feral man was easier to communicate with, and in other ways he was more difficult. Most words were lost on him, and Alekt was a person of language more than expression. It went a bit out of his comfort zone, but he tried to project some of what he thought would translate what he wanted to say, giving off signals that he assumed would warrant the best messages.
It was a bit difficult, but he was managing, though much in part of the fact that (click)-phuh was sharp-witted.
He recalled trying to communicate their predicament, their past, and their intentions for the future. The dragon-man had not seemed pleased by his trying to show that part of why they wanted wings was to raid on other human settlements, though none in particular that were Viking.
(click)-phuh had sat up straighter and squared his shoulders then, chattering agitation and distaste at the idea. Alekt wasn't sure exactly why. It had come up before that they wanted wings to be able to fight other humans, but perhaps that had been misinterpreted as fighting only for the sake of self-defense. That was part of it, but not all. It was well within the interests of his fellows to plunder from neighboring peoples who were their competition. Humans did it all the time, and animals each had their own brand of doing the same to other species or sometimes even their own. Certainly, dragons must compete with other dragons.
From what he was able to discern, (click)-phuh's hate towards the concept was most likely out of distrust. (click)-phuh doesn't regard himself as human, that much was well established, but Alekt has no such delusions about his own existence as a human and no matter if they are allies or not, the dragon-man has never once forgotten what Alekt is.
The feral had retreated away back towards the Night Fury, chattering and protesting in vocalizations that Alekt hadn't been certain were meant for him. Tt-th-ss appeared not to be terribly concerned, but dragon-nip was a difficult thing for such a beast to resist, the dragon watching (click)-phuh back lazily and chattering in his own turn.
Rolling the memory over in his mind, he tried to make sense of the root of the agitation. He didn't think that (click)-phuh's concern was for any humans, but perhaps he was wrong. The dragon-man knew a little bit of Norse, which dragons generally did not speak, so perhaps he spends more time with other humans than Alekt first gave thought to. It was possible though that these dealings with humans to learn were not pleasant, or frequent, since his linguistics were so difficult to project.
The more likely reason was he probably distrusted that the raiding would stop at other humans. It was a fair guess to make. Humans are not good at knowing when they have done enough damage, instead only shifting focus on who bares the brunt of it. Dragons and humans have always been at-odds, but dragons have always had the luxury of simply being able to fly away from a conflict with their mortal enemies. This invention of his would take away that sort of security. It would take away a measure of safety all dragons enjoy, and that alone is probably enough to unsettle the man who thinks himself a dragon.
Alekt knows he can promise without waver that he would never resort to such thing, nor would his direct clan, but he can't speak for all of humankind, and he can't speak for those of generations yet to come were they to get ahold of wings like the ones he is making, and that is a lot to distrust. He wonders idly if (click)-phuh is one to see things that far ahead. He's probably smart enough, but Alekt has no idea about the patterns of internal thoughts that don't get communicated or where his greatest concerns of attention lie. He isn't a mind-reader or a clairvoyant, and there is so much lost with the language barriers that are present.
Alekt himself is a patient person, but to anyone else he knows this would be a highly frustrating scenario to work with. He does wonder just a bit the story behind the man raised dragon. Off the top of his head, he can think up a good dozen or so explanations behind how he got to where he is and what might have become of his family, and he doesn't know if a single one of his theories is even close to the mark. Raised as a normal human, not a creature fascinated by the things humans do, he probably would have been a brilliant craftsman and tactician for whichever village had the honor of having him. In his own right, he already is, but there's still a lack of understanding about many things that he would otherwise not miss out on among people.
Still, there must certainly be things he has learned from dragons that no other human ever will the way he has, and that has its own countless value. Unfortunately for Alekt, he has also learned a healthy amount of distrust, and that can't be undone easily, nor, Alekt believes, should it be entirely taught out. Distrust most often comes from a valid source, and humans are too often no friend to either dragons nor each other.
On the other side of the coin, (click)-phuh probably won't help him if he distrusts, and that will cause problems.
Massaging the pits of his eyes with calloused fingertips, he went about getting drink and food for himself, choosing only a light breakfast of fruits, warmed bread, and cheese and continuing to think about the problem. It wasn't long before others were up, stretching and grumbling to themselves, getting washed and then asking for tasks to do for the day. Most were routine and didn't need to be given, but he doled out orders all the same, telling everyone where to go, what to do, when to do it, and waved them off with a careless flick of his wrist.
Arvaken, his trusty little crow, shook ruffled feathers against the side of his neck where she was perched resting, becoming more alert with the presence of food and croaking in his ear for it. He tore off some pieces of food and held it up for her, otherwise looking around more deliberately now. By the empty cages where they'd kept the captured dragons, most of those that they rescued appeared to be gone. The Thunderdrum, Timberjack, and Gronkle were all gone, and for one reason or another, Alekt didn't suspect he would find them hanging out just outside.
Now only the Snaptrapper and Fury pair remained. If the other dragons had recovered and left already, then that might mean he was running out of time to earn cooperation from the dragon-rider. He had to find a motivation to keep him around, at least for a little while longer.
Finishing his meal, he stood and dusted any crumbs off himself, walking over. Tt-th-ss was perched up on top of one of the cages, stretched out and looking almost-asleep with only his head held up, but upon Alekt's approach, the Fury's light green eyes flicked open and observed him approaching. It was sometimes difficult to gauge the sharpness in those eyes, scrutinizing and assessing and re-assessing where their boundaries of distance lay. For now, the dragon snorted and disregarded him, yawning a toothless jaw wide open that he could have sworn had been lined in fangs before.
Huh... toothless. That thought rang a chord somewhere, the young man pondering it in his mind for a moment, until it suddenly sounded a lot more familiar. Tt-th-ss. Toothless? So that's where it came from. Not a dragon sound, as he'd first assumed, or at least not fully, but broken norse. If he explored the thought long enough, would (click)-phuh's name also be made up of broken norse sounds? He wondered about that. It wasn't important right now though. He shook the thought away, following Tt-th-ss's gaze to the dragon-man.
Unlike the Night Fury, (click)-phuh was down off of the cages and on the stone floor, crouched against the flank of the resting Snaptrapper, crooning and humming quiet sounds with hunched shoulders and a down-turned gaze. Alekt stopped a respectful enough distance away and whistled curious at the dragon man to draw his attention.
(click)-phuh glances up at him, and its easily readable that there is a great deal of worry and sorrow on his face and in his posture, the dragon man chattering sounds and moving in small motions that are easy enough to interpret as worry anxious sad sad dragon not good mourning tired upset and some other chatters and clicks and hums that are lost on him.
Alekt's first thought is that the pale Snaptrapper is dead, but watching it and listening, he sees a rattling breath shake its side, the slightest shudder of a muscle and an antenna on its head twitch slightly. It isn't dead, but that might change left alone much longer. Since bringing them back, he had tried to give the dragons their space and let them recover undisturbed, and (click)-phuh had shown some knowledge of treating wounds when they had first arrived back, but he knew all too well that sometimes whatever was done to save something wasn't enough.
Keeping his stance low and unthreatening, Alekt drew closer and shooed (click)-phuh away from the Snaptrapper's side, motioning for a bit of distance. The look he received was not a happy one, and the dragon-man didn't move away too far, but Alekt chose his movements carefully so as not to set the distressed dragon-pair off on him.
Moving with a deliberate slowness and being especially careful to keep his hands visibly away from the sickle weapons at his belt, he pressed an ear against the dragon's side, listening for its vitals. He wasn't entirely sure about what would be considered 'normal' from a dragon, as he'd never been quite this close to one like this, but in guessing from his work with horses, he thought that its heartbeat sounded fluttery and breathing too shallow and irregular for something so big.
Straightening up a bit, he lightly pressed fingertips along its sides, as much feeling for something that might not be right as he was looking for a reaction to his probing from the Snaptrapper itself. When he didn't receive one, he grew a little more confident with harder presses, traveling down along its sides. There were new scars forming where wounds had once been, and stitches still around the edges of the healing wounds that were undoubtedly (click)-phuh's handiwork, but nothing unusual about the wounds themselves.
He moved on to the other side, where the dragon was curled more tightly in on itself. When he managed to probe the dragon into moving just a little bit, he noticed a slight difference on the color of a rear leg, probing it with his fingers. Reaching higher towards its hip, the Snaptrapper jolted and hissed in sharp protest, but fell still again, lacking the energy to fight.
Likewise, (click)-phuh hissed a sound of indignation at the apparent pain Alekt caused the dragon, but he chose to ignore it and motioned the dragon man closer to see. The glare he received was unforgiving, but inquisitive all the same. Alekt showed him by pressing the same spot, the Snaptrapper groaning and shuddering under the touch, which was not rough at all.
Below it, much of the leg was discolored, and Alekt could already guess what was so wrong with it by now. He knows quite well what will have to be done about it, and knows even more that (click)-phuh won't like it. He doesn't explain for now, straightening up and circling around the dragon to return to the other half of the cave with brisk steps, feeling the eyes of both man and dragon on his back.
He called for the attention of all still within the caves going about tasks and immediately launched in.
"You, get an axe. Make sure its well-sharpened and clean. You, get a good fire going, good and hot. I need you to gather bandages, cloth, and twine. And you, go fetch clean water and bring it back here, as much as you're able to carry. I need all of this done as quickly as you can. Get to it."
Luckily, no one stalled to follow his commands any longer than to give him questioning looks. As they went about gathering what he had asked, only he and Hartvig remained.
"Something happen?" Hartvig asked, lips set into a wondering pucker.
Alekt turned to look back at the dragons. "The Snaptrapper has a dead leg. If it stays, the dragon won't last many days longer."
The older man nodded grimly, eyes flicking from Alekt to (click)-phuh, who was watching them warily and prowling around the dragon with clear uneasiness.
"And have ye' explained what that means to him yet?"
"No, but I'll make sure he knows. Simply focus on making sure things get done as I commanded. I'll worry about them."
Hartvig nodded, casting a last glance before he walked away to manage the rest of the Viking crew.
Alekt turned his sights for his desk first, going through it to find some containers of dried herbs he had gotten off a trader some weeks before, picking out the amounts of each he would need and quickly grinding them up into a mix. With that done, he returned towards the dragons, motioning for the men who were all just about done save for the one fetching water to come with him.
In approaching, Alekt saw Toothless rise slightly from where the dragon had been laying on top of the cages, shoulders squared and eyes focused sharply, while (click)-phuh paced in front of the Snaptrapper and bared his teeth in a snarl at them. Alekt motioned for his men to stop and continued on his own towards them, seeing the distrust of intentions in both the Fury's and dragon-man's eyes, which kept shifting to Alekt's own group of men behind him more than to Alekt himself.
Still leaving a few bounds of space between them, Alekt purposefully sat down and crossed his legs, figuring it the best position of visibly not being able to leap and attack, and putting them more at the same level, motioning for (click)-phuh to come over to him. The dragon man snorted and spat in distaste, but crept closer all the same as Alekt started to draw a rough picture of the Snaptrapper on paper in front of him. Still, (click)-phuh's eyes continued to watch Alekt's small crowd of men, the dragon-man tense and ready to bolt away at a moment's notice like a hunted hare. It was less of his and more of Toothless's gaze and low warning growl that unsettled the men into taking a few steps further back.
(click)-phuh chattered sounds that were roughly something like agitation wary alert wary not-like bad pfikingr no no here dragon no pfikingr anxious no no bad and others that he couldn't nail down the meaning of. Most of the sounds are raw feelings vocalized and a few that are broken norse that he's heard at least a handful of times before, but some are too foreign to interpret very well.
Once he had drawn a suitable enough depiction of the Snaptrapper, he shaded the one leg darker than the rest, pointing with the end of his charcoal stick.
"The leg - this part here - on the dragon is dead. It won't get better." That part he thought (click)-phuh looked as if he already knew without being told. He decided to be blunt, taking a dagger out and slicing through the drawing near the top of the leg. "It has to be cut away."
"Nuh!" (click)-phuh hissed, leaping back into an agitated pacing. His eyes still were more focused on the other Vikings than on Alekt. "Nuh dead drakkkn pfikingr do!" Some garbled sounds that he couldn't make sense of. "Pfikingr bad! Nuh! Oooo-mn kkko!". With his stance and threatening sounds, even without the spoken language of it, Alekt could see (click)-phuh communicating in body language defending protecting threat enemies-humans will-fight fierce as clear as day, the movements and intentions mirrored equally by the far more imposing Fury pouncing down from on top of the cage.
Alekt warbled and chirred peace calm you-angry peace friendly no-harm. The dragon man snarled defiantly and shook his ears as if the sounds were annoying flies buzzing around his head.
Ever patient, Alekt motioned for him to come over again, continuing to try and reassure calm no-threat easy you come here calm friendly. It didn't have much better effect than the first time, and by now Toothless had moved to block the view of the Snaptrapper, standing directly behind his dragon-human partner. He had to think of a different way to communicate his intentions that they would trust. If they could ensure that last dragon survived, it would probably help gain even more of the Fury-pair's trust, but the trick was in convincing them it was for the better first.
"Listen to me. The dragon's leg is already dead. It happens sometimes to humans too. Vikings do to Vikings when it happens to them." He emphasized with a motion to his picture that he cut through, and then he quickly drew rough pictures of people, some with missing hands, others with missing legs, and then he drew the Snaptrapper again, this time with only three of its legs, but standing tall and proud and alive. "Vikings cut away dead parts so that the rest can live. If humans do not cut the dead part off, all of the dragon will be dead. If humans do cut the dead part off, the dragon itself might not die. You understand?"
(click)-phuh isn't pacing anymore, but he's hunched and growling, chattering dislike at the idea the same as before. He doesn't, or perhaps can't, trust what Alekt is telling him. He doesn't blame the other for it, but he isn't going to simply let it go.
"Humans helped dragons before," he reminded, motioning to the men behind him. "The other dragons were saved from death. Humans did that. Humans are trying to help again. The dragon will die anyway with no help. Allow humans to help, so that the dragon will not die."
Both (click)-phuh and Toothless eyed him appraisingly, not quite trusting, but appearing to at least understand his reasoning without needing to elaborate further. Uncertainty passed between the two, grumbling and chirping in contemplation without yet relenting.
With some hesitation and visible reluctance, (click)-phuh clamored onto the Fury's shoulders and they stepped aside with leery gazes, snorting something much akin to a testy Fine! if ever a dragon had the words for it. A last look warns that they will be watching and ready to lunge and attack if their shakily given trust is betrayed.
With a last subtle dip meant to show respect, and a last word of "Humans help" to reaffirm their intent, Alekt stood and immediately launched into giving his orders.
"Make sure to get those coals nice and hot. We're going to need it to heat the axe and cauterize the cut. Get those Snaptrapper's eyes covered and all four of its heads pinned down, be careful not to hurt it. I need at least two of you to straighten it out so the leg is easily accessible and ready to hold the rest of this beast down. You, get a slab of wood for under the leg. The faster we get this done, the more likely the dragon is to survive."
One thing he will definitely say for those from the village at the foot of his home's mountain is that they know to leap when told to do so. The activity is enough to make the Fury-pair visibly paranoid about all that is happening, but Alekt keeps them placated with small glances and nods that everything is as it should be.
Off to one side, one of the men is stoking the burning coals and wedging the head of an axe in amongst them to soak up the heat. Another is wrapping each of the dragon's heads individually with strips of cloth and tying them off close together, holding them down with firm hands just behind the necks. Two more are cooperatively trying to straighten the dragon out from its curled-up position and holding it down. Once they've managed to wrestle it straight, another man comes over with a wood board to line up with the dragon's leg, tying the limb to the piece of wood securely. It's quick, practiced efficiency, but they've learned to respond to treating wounds quickly on account of all their raids to neighbors both near and far.
Alekt double-checks that everyone is where they need to be, emphasizing the necessity of keeping the dragon pinned. The hot axe is going to hurt, and the beast is going to thrash much as its able to when it happens. Vikings prepare themselves, but the dragon isn't going to know what's going on other than the pain of it. It's not so much the Snaptrapper he's worried about injuring any of them though, casting a glance at the Night Fury and rider perched up on a cage watching all of the preparation work.
He gets a poultice ready with some water mixed in with the ground herbs from before and Hartvig standing by with cloth and bandages near him, and hopes that nothing is going to go wrong. He isn't fearful of either (click)-phuh or Toothless, but far from foolish enough not to respect that they are a force to be reckoned with, and the last thing he would want to deal with right now is an angry, highly intelligent Night Fury on a rampage along with it's equally wild, witty rider. He doesn't think they'd avoid casualties were that to happen.
With a deep breath, he leveled his gaze on the men waiting for the task to be done.
"Get ready."
He didn't think he needed to tell them the many different things they should be ready for under these circumstances. He took the handle of the heating axe, gauging the angle and swing a few seconds before removing it from the coals, and struck quickly just above where the sickly discoloration ended.
The Snaptrapper shrieked and struggled. He expected that.
The axe, sharpened and hot as it was, took more than one swing to finish the job. He expected that also.
(click)-phuh and Toothless both shrieked throaty sounds of fury at the display, lingering on the edge of the cage as if ready to leap on and slaughter them all and pacing slightly, but the pounce never comes, or at least they haven't yet decided if they're going to go through with it or not.
The leg comes off though, and he and Hartvig are ready to cover it with wet cloth and herbal poultice immediately, putting pressure on the wound to stem it from bleeding.
"Get that metal good and hot again," he barked. The Snaptrapper, groaning and whimpering, at least had already lost its energy to fight against them, but no one was willing to let go of it just yet in case that changed. The first of the cloths were stained in no time at all, but held out long enough for the axe to get hot again and land back in Alekt's hands. He used the flat sides of it to burn the open ends of the wound shut and cauterize it before placing a fresh round of cloth and poultice on the wound, wrapping it more permanently this time around so that the bandages stayed.
When he was certain that all of it was finished, he stood and motioned for all of his men to let go and step away from the dragon, shooing them. He could still feel two pairs of eyes burning at him, but ignored them and knelt near the Snaptrapper's flank, pressing his ear to its ribs and listening. Its breathing and heart beat were still there, albeit weaker, but it would take time to recover.
Straightening up, he motioned and ordered, "Go, fetch clean water and fish. You, go fetch my dried herbs, quickly. The rest of you, clean all of this up and move it elsewhere."
They were quick to scatter, leaving only Alekt, and the Fury-pair as they came prowling back down from atop the cages. They still looked as if they didn't really believe in what Alekt had tried to convince them of. It was still a gamble that the dragon would survive, but if it did, perhaps then they would think to thank him. Until then, he didn't expect to get anything but bristling suspicion, especially if the Snaptrapper turned out to be too weakened to pull through.
He was brought the water, fish, and herbs he'd asked for and started slicing and tearing the fish into smaller pieces and mashing it up with herbs until it was more of a paste, pointedly keeping his eyes on his task and away from the dragon-pair. He found that they tended to feel more comfortable near him if he ignored them, and the same could most likely be said now, though he did think he noticed that there was a few extra yards between them that weren't there the last time.
With an audible note of unhappiness, (click)-phuh whistled in question, voicing "Drakkkn nuh die?"
Alekt shrugged, trying to communicate with his motions don't-know-yet. "Maybe. We wait. We see." Finishing his food mix, he slid it a little ways towards them, indicating "For the dragon. It should help."
(click)-phuh hummed skeptically, eyes watching the bowl of fish bits and sliding again to the disconnected leg. He growled a low sound of disgust and loathing, at the same time shaking away a revolted shudder. Clearly, what Alekt and his men had done was unthinkable to a dragon, but Alekt hoped it would pay off in the end.
"You hate what we did. I know." The words were the closest to any real sympathy he could give. "It had to be done. Perhaps you can at least take comfort in not having had to do it yourself. It is a Viking thing to do, but you do not consider yourself a Viking. At least then, you don't need to betray your dragon nature."
He wasn't sure by the look he received if (click)-phuh understood what he was saying, but decided then that it probably didn't matter. He shrugged it off and stood, giving them back their own space and hoping that their measures would help save the dragon rather than doom it, and that what they did was in the interest of doing good by the dragons rather than bad.