First Contact Chapter 19

A/N
Welcome to chapter 100 of "Lightning and Death Itself." This is my second story to reach three digits, but the first one ("Snart's Saga") is stalled in an incomplete state, while this one will definitely reach its conclusion.

o

The week had gone by quickly. There weren't any more emergencies. Maybe it was because the trappers were confined to their island and couldn't set any more traps to replace the ones that the free dragons and their riders were eliminating, but regardless of the reason, everyone in the nest was thankful for the time of peace. Fluff's leg still hurt terribly; she couldn't get around without her crutches. She was surprised to find that everyone around her, humans and dragons alike, was very patient with her. That level of kindness was something new to her.

Now it was time for the exchange team to go home, along with Rumblehorn-green-and-red, who'd gotten permission from the Alpha to spend every other week in Berk with his human friend, Human-alpha-quite-big. It was time for Valka to prepare to face her past and try to knit it into her future. She was nervous; even her dragon friend picked up on it.

"You be fine," Cloudjumper tried to assure her.

"What about you?" she asked him. "That place very different from this one. You not live in human nest before."

"If I see you happy, then I happy," he answered firmly. His expression was one she'd come to associate with the idea of "the discussion is over." Like many residents of the town she was returning to, she'd learned that it was no use arguing with a dragon.

She looked around, wondering what she was supposed to be doing to prepare for this. She had nothing to pack for the journey; her only possessions were the clothes she wore and the staff she used to give non-verbal instructions to the dragons. When she came back at the end of the third week, the nest would be the same as when she left it. That wasn't the case with the last place Cloudjumper had taken her away from, the place she came from and was returning to, the place she could barely even remember...

She made sure the tool kit was securely hidden where the dragon babies wouldn't find it. Someone, probably Agnarr, would need it in a week. She said a respectful farewell to the Alpha, with a renewal of the promise that she'd be back in three weeks. She helped Fluff, who was still having trouble walking, onto Agmundr's back behind Varinn, and prepared to climb onto Cloudjumper's back. That was when her keen-eyed dragon noticed something headed their way though the entrance tunnel.

"Night Fury!" he called.

"We get down?" Fluff asked innocently. Cloudjumper snorted. All dragons had a sense of humor, but they tended to laugh at physical humor, like a powerful warrior throwing a weapon and completely missing his target. Finding humor in words was something only the most intelligent types, like Night Furies and Stormcutters, could do. They watched as the unknown Night Fury glided through the entry tunnel and landed neatly in front of them.

"Aunt Guana!" Agmundr exclaimed, using the same name for her that Bang and Six used, even though she wasn't a relative of his. "We weren't expecting you."

"We heard that the Alpha wanted a Night Fury here for the time when Hiccup's mother is back in Berk," she explained. "I haven't been here yet, so I talked it over with my mate and he agreed I could give it a try for a week. Besides, my son wants to take a turn at helping here, and I won't give him the okay until I know what's involved." The three humans had no idea what the dragons were saying, so Agmundr did a quick Forge translation, with some written runes thrown in for clarity.

"Then I should introduce you to the Alpha," Valka decided. She led Guana to the flat rock and made the introductions.

"You are the first human ever to choose to become a dragon?" the Bewilderbeast asked. "I definitely want to hear your story! Make yourself at home, meet the dragons, and then we will talk."

"As you wish, Great One," she nodded. She doubted she'd have trouble meeting the dragons; dozens of them were circling at a distance, waiting until the newest Night Fury's royal introduction was over so they could surround her and hear her story. She was still somewhat shy, but she'd learned first-hand how all the dragons loved Night Furies, so she wasn't worried about rejection in a place like this.

Valka returned to the ledge and mounted up on Cloudjumper. She nodded at Agmundr and the Rumblehorn, and the three dragons bounded into the air. They didn't have a lot to say to each other for most of the flight home. But as they headed out across a long stretch of open sea, Agmundr edged over toward Cloudjumper. "Can I ask you something? There's one part of this whole story that doesn't make sense."

"What part is that, Night Fury?" the Stormcutter asked.

"You carried Hiccup's mother away from Berk in the middle of a raid," the young Night Fury said. "Those raids all came from the Dragon Island nest, when the Mother was in charge. But you serve the Bewilderbeast. What were you doing in that raid?"

"That's a long story," Cloudjumper replied.

"We've got miles of ocean to cross," Agmundr said. "I don't mind hearing a long story, and my curiosity is killing me."

"Very well," the big dragon began. "One of the ways I serve the Bewilderbeast is to be his long-range explorer and scout, because I'm the strongest flier and the most self-reliant dragon in the nest. Once every year or two, he will send me out alone on a long flight to see what I can see, especially if I can find any new dragons who need a safe place to live. I've brought several dozen of the Alpha's subjects back to our nest on those fact-finding missions.

"One of those flights took me to the place you call Dragon Island. When I found that nest, I assumed that the queen would be as benevolent as our King. I quickly found out otherwise. The queen there, the Mother as you call her, used her Alpha power to capture and control me, but only in a weak way. I played dumb when I saw her intentions, and she didn't know how strong-willed a Stormcutter can be. I had to obey her go-out and come-back calls, but I knew I could break free if I had a really good reason to do it. Just wanting to get away wasn't a good enough reason. I was stuck in that nest for months!

"One of the first things I learned there was the queen's "bring food or be food" rule – and that was a shock to a civilized dragon! But I had no desire to fight the Vikings or steal their food. When she sent all the dragons out on raids, I would avoid the human villages; I'd fly out to sea and catch a big tuna fish or something like that, and she'd be content with my offering. I got to know the other dragons in the nest, and they were a pleasant lot, for the most part. I made a few friends there."

"What about Toothless?" Agmundr asked.

"There were no Night Furies when I was there," Cloudjumper replied. "The queen must have captured and controlled him after my time there was done. Anyway, one night, I decided to go along with the rest of the dragons, just because I was getting curious about the Vikings. I hadn't seen them or faced off against them in years, and I wanted to know if this nest of them was any different from the others I'd seen. I didn't plan to hurt anyone; I just wanted to see what they were like. Then I'd catch a fish on the way home. I figured it was part of the fact-finding mission my Alpha had sent me out on.

"When I noticed one big house, well apart from the others, I thought that would be a perfect chance to see how Vikings live. I had no idea what I'd find when I broke through the roof. I certainly wasn't expecting to find a human hatchling! For all I knew, I was the first dragon ever to see such a sight. I expected him to run away when he saw me, but he just stared at me and made strange noises. The idea that he couldn't run or talk never occurred to me; dragon babies can walk and speak some simple words from the moment they hatch, so I assumed that human babies would function the same way. When I realized he was completely helpless, and also completely fearless... I was fascinated.

"Then his mother burst in with her weapon raised, and I thought I was going to have to fight a Viking after all. But she stared into my eyes instead of attacking, so I didn't attack either, and we just kept staring at each other. I tried to do a TrueSight with her, but I found out that TrueSight doesn't work well with human minds. I got only vague pictures of fear, amazement, and curiosity, mixed with a strong protective urge toward her hatchling. That part didn't surprise me – any mother will protect her hatchling! Still, she was different from every other Viking I'd ever heard of. She had a weapon, but she didn't use it. She was willing to make eye contact with me; that was something new. I thought I might have found a human who could help form a bridge between her race and ours.

"But then her mate charged in and attacked like a typical Viking. I knew I had to get out of there in a hurry – in a close-quarters fight, a Viking has all the advantages over a big dragon – but I didn't want to lose that moment of understanding between the woman and me. So I took her with me, back to the Dragon Island nest. She was still terrified, hanging beneath me by my claws; I was wishing there was some way I could talk to her and reassure her. Some of the other dragons asked me why I was bringing back a Viking instead of food. I told them she was part of a special project, which was true, although I hadn't worked out any of the details yet.

"The queen wanted no part of any special projects. She didn't even let me explain what I hoped might happen. She just demanded to be fed. 'I don't usually eat Vikings,' she said, 'but since you've brought her this far, I guess I'll take her.' I was horrified! At that moment, I think I became the first dragon in history who wouldn't kill a human.

"I took off with that human and fled as fast as I could. The queen sent her come-back signal at me. If she'd taken full control of me at the beginning, I couldn't have resisted her. But her control over me was only partial, and I was motivated by the urge to protect that helpless, precious human I was carrying. She became my reason for fighting off the queen's control. Breaking away from that come-back signal might have been the hardest thing I've ever done; I'm still not sure how I did it. But I did it. Eventually, I got so far away from the queen that I couldn't feel her call anymore. I took my unwilling passenger straight home after that; I'd done all the fact-finding I could handle for one trip.

"The Alpha was puzzled why I'd brought a Viking into our nest, but he was willing to let me keep her, as long as she didn't attack anyone. She tried to hide from me for almost a week; she wouldn't even let me feed her. I hadn't counted on her being so afraid – I'd convinced myself that, as soon as I got her into my home, everything would be wonderful. But I guess she finally got hungry enough to try and trust me. The next time I brought her some fish, she came out and ate one. We made eye contact again, and I think that's when she realized I didn't want to harm her.

"So that's how it all started, Faithful-brother. Are you sorry you asked?"

"Not a bit," Agmundr replied. "I have a strong feeling that Hiccup is going to want to hear that story too. Thank you for telling it to me."

When the island of Berk came into view, the dragons parted company. They'd agreed on this in advance. Valka wanted to circle the island once or twice at high altitude and re-familiarize herself with her old home town, which she'd never seen from the air anyway. The Rumblehorn and the Night Fury with the two young people would land first, dissipate the Vikings' initial curiosity, and warn everyone that their returning citizen was nervous and didn't want a mob scene when she landed. They'd also make sure Stoick had a few minutes to finish whatever chiefing he was doing, so he'd be ready to welcome his wife home.

That was the plan for dealing with the Vikings. Dealing with the dragons was another story. They all saw the Night Fury, Rumblehorn, and Stormcutter when they were nearly a mile away. They were all glad to see Night-fury-faithful-brother return, and they knew their friend Varinn was riding him, but the sight of the Stormcutter, a big dragon that many of them had never even seen before, took precedence over everything. Every dragon in Berk took flight – there were nearly a hundred of them now – and at least eighty of them climbed to meet Cloudjumper.

Valka looked down, looking for some buildings she could identify. All she could see was a cloud of colorful dragons rising to meet her and her dragon, totally blocking her view of the town. She noticed two young Night Furies among them; she didn't recognize them. "Cloudjumper, call those Night Furies!" she asked her big friend. He let out a honking roar. The black dragons put on a burst of speed and took station on either side of her.

"You speak Forge?" she asked them.

"Yes," the one on the right answered. "I Night-fury-pu-lao. She Night-fury-bi-xi. We never see dragon like this one before."

"I Valka, mother of New-night-fury," she called back. They blinked hard and looked startled at that. "My dragon speak for himself. All these dragons obey you?"

"Yes," Bi-xi replied.

"Please ask them not fly under us," she asked. "I want see town, first time in eighteen years. I see dragons later."

The Night Furies went to work. With a combination of bellowed commands and sheepdog tactics in mid-air, they rounded up the dozens of curious dragons and got them into something like a ring formation. Cloudjumper flew around the outside of the ring, giving Valka an unbroken view of the village and the dragons a clear view of himself at the same time.

"Thank you," she called when she passed the Night Furies. "You do good work, for young ones."

"We Night Furies," Pu-lao answered, as though that explained it all. To a Night Fury, that probably did explain it all, she realized. They were a proud breed, and they had good reasons to feel that way.

She looked down. Based on Hiccup's descriptions, she thought she could identify the Night-fury home he called the Nest, and she was pretty sure she could pick out the open-framed ex-warehouse that had been turned into dragon perches, with tubes for the Gronckles on the bottom and a communal Terrible Terror nest-box on the roof. The Mead Hall was impossible to miss; that huge building probably hadn't changed since she'd left. Everything else looked strange. Was that her house? It was in the right place, but it looked unfamiliar. She had to remind herself that she'd never seen her own house from the air before. She'd hoped to see dragons perching peacefully on all the houses, but that didn't happen – all those dragons were up here, staring at her.

Meanwhile, Agmundr and Rumblehorn-red-and-green had been intercepted by the rest of the Night Furies, along with Scrubby, Nadder-blue-flies-in-the-storm, a few other dragons who were friends of Varinn's, and the teens who rode dragons. Agnarr was riding Hiccup so he could greet his twin brother first. They formed a quick circle, and Agmundr quickly described what they wanted to see happen. Hiccup whipped around and raced back to the village to find his father. The others formed a wedge formation, putting Agmundr in the point, and followed him as he headed for the Nest.

One dragon broke the formation and caught up to him. It was Barf and Belch, with Ruffnut and Tuffnut on board. "Welcome back, lover-girl!" Tuff taunted Fluff.

"Forget your lies and your gossip! We're not listening," Varinn shouted back, irritated.

"It might be gossip, but lies? No way!" Ruff called. "Congratulations, cousin! While you were away, you got engaged!"

"I did not!" she retorted, but a chill went up her spine anyway.

"Sure you did!" Tuff answered her. "Our dad got a really low bride-price offer for you, but he can't wait to get rid of you, so he took it. As soon as you land and say 'hi' to Dad, he's going to give you the good news, and then go clasp hands with your future father-in-law. The deal will be sealed! There's nothing you can do about it!"

"Who's the father-in-law?" Varinn demanded. "You don't mean Spitelout, do you?"

"Oooh, he's a smart one! He guessed it!" Ruff answered maliciously, then sang –

"Snotlout and Fluff'nut, sittin' in a tree,
"M-A-R-R-I-E-D!"

Fluff gasped and clutched Varinn tightly. If her cousins were telling the truth, then her worst nightmare was moments away from coming true.