Life with the Night Furies Chapter 03

"Good morning, Fishlegs."

"Good morning, Chief Night Fury. Can we talk?" Fishlegs seemed a bit agitated. Hiccup turned to the other Night Furies who were sharing the Nest with him that morning and asked them to find something else to do for fifteen or twenty minutes. Night-fury-bi-xi, Bang, Six, Faithful-brother, and Thing Two obliged him and flapped away, followed after a moment by Hiccup's newest hatchling, Youngest-boy, who idolized Bang and followed him everywhere. But Night-fury-mother-of-twins and Thing One balked, and Thing Two swiftly turned and rejoined her twin sister.

"I'm your wife!" Astrid protested. "You always lean on me for good advice. How can I help you if I'm not here?"

"He didn't say he wanted privacy," Thing One added. "He just wants to talk about something."

"Besides, how can we learn how to be Night Furies if we can't watch you in action?" her sister threw in.

Chief Night Fury was irritated. "Did everyone else decide that today is Disobey The Chief Day, and you all forgot to tell me about it?"

Thing One turned to her sister with a mischievous grin. "Ooh, he's getting drunk with power!"

Astrid slapped the floor with her tail and glared at the young twins. "That's enough of that! I don't care what your father says or does; he's your father, he's the chief, and you have to show him respect!"

"Yes, Mother."
"All right, Mother."

Now she turned to Fishlegs. "You want private talk?"

Fishlegs thought for a second. "Maybe good if small Night Furies not hear. Little dragons have big mouths sometimes."

"You heard him, you two," Astrid said. "Go find something useful to do. Preferably something non-destructive!"

"We never get to have any fun," Thing One grumbled as they tensed up to take off.

"The last time you two had 'fun,' you almost sank one of the humans' fishing boats!" Night-fury-mother-of-twins reminded them sharply. "It took you half the day to make your apologies and catch enough fish to make amends, and I'm sure you remember the tail-swats I gave you as well. Do you want a second helping of that? Don't repeat that little trick, or anything like it, if you know what's good for you!"

"It was worth it," Thing Two whispered to her sister as they flapped away.

"Want to do it again?" Thing One whispered back.

Back in the Nest, Chief Night Fury tried to get his mind back on business. "Fishlegs, is there problem?"

"It's Rangi," Fishlegs said, reverting to Norse because he knew his formerly-human friends still understood it perfectly. "He just isn't taking his Forge-language lessons seriously! He's learning the words, I think, but it seems like he takes everything as some kind of joke. If there's a way to say something wrong on purpose, he'll find it. I can never tell if he's making a mistake or trying to be silly. I don't know if this arrangement is going to work."

Hiccup turned to Astrid. "Okay, I'm leaning on you for good advice. What should we do with your brother so he'll take this apprenticeship seriously?"

"I could beat him half-senseless until he begs for mercy," she suggested. "I did that a few times in the past, when I was human; I think I can still do it."

"Did that ever change his behavior for the better?" Hiccup asked.

"No," Astrid admitted, "but it always made me feel better."

"We need a more effective solution," Hiccup said thoughtfully. "I agree that your brother would make a good translator for me; he's sharp, he's not afraid of dragons, and he won't take any nonsense from the Vikings in other tribes. But he's got to buckle down and start acting responsibly, or he'll be of no use to me, or to anyone else." He turned back to Fishlegs. "Maybe another teacher would work better with him?"

"I don't know," the big young man said unhappily. "We get along fine when I'm not giving him language lessons. He doesn't give me a hard time personally; there's no conflict between us at all. I can't think of anyone else who could do a better job of teaching him, except maybe Gobber, and Gobber doesn't speak much Forge yet."

"I think about it," Chief Night Fury nodded. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"I can't think of anything," Fishlegs replied. "If I think of something, I'll tell you for sure." He slumped down the stairs, leaving Hiccup in a situation that he hated: being the possessor of a problem without a solution in sight.

Then his sensitive ears picked up the sounds of two juvenile Night Furies in a dive from high altitude. He looked toward the harbor with rising dread, heard the "pfft" of two simultaneous firebolts, and saw a huge splash rising on each side of a fishing boat that was coming in with a full load. The water splashed down into the boat, making it ride even lower in the water than it had been. The fishermen were desperately bailing out water and throwing the larger fish overboard to keep their little ship from sinking. "Mother-of-twins, we've got two rebellious Things to round up," he sighed as he spread his wings. "Again."

o

Meanwhile, Rangi Hofferson was getting restless. He had arrived for his daily Forge lesson on time, or pretty close to on time, but his teacher was nowhere to be seen. Where was Fishlegs? It wasn't like him to forget things. The young man paced back and forth in front of the Ingerman house, waiting for Fishlegs to come out, and Fishlegs didn't come out. At last, he knocked on the door. Mrs. Ingerman told him that her son had left early that morning and wasn't home. That left Rangi even more puzzled.

Had his little games pushed Fishlegs too far, to the point where his teacher had quit? He didn't think he'd gone that far overboard with his fun. Maybe he should dial it back a little, at least for a while, assuming it wasn't already too late. Of course, his past attempts to "dial it back" hadn't worked out too well. The prospect of fun was just too alluring! Not even a spanking from his father or mother, or an outright thrashing from his sister, had ever quelled his irrepressible attitude for long. But this time, he was messing with an adult outside his family, and with the village chief as well. He didn't know what his limits were. Had he stepped over those limits? He stopped pacing back and forth and tried to think.

He was getting nowhere when he noticed a familiar lumpy shape fluttering out of the enlarged window of Fishlegs' room. "Hello, Meatlug," he called. Saying that much in Forge was easy.

"Hello, Rangi," the Gronckle answered politely as she prepared to fly down to the feeding trays for a lazy breakfast.

"Meatlug, is Fishlegs angry at me?" he asked suddenly.

"Do not think so," the dragon answered. She landed with a thud in front of him. "Fishlegs never gets angry at anyone. Except Snotlout. That one deserves it."

That comment intrigued Rangi. He didn't exactly look up to the son of Spitelout (he didn't look up to anyone, except possibly his father), but he respected that young man's skill with weapons and his take-no-prisoners Viking attitude. "Why he deserve it?" Rangi asked. "He hurt you long ago?"

"No, he big pile of –" and Meatlug used a Forge word that Rangi didn't recognize.

"I not understand."

Meatlug tried to help him understand. For the next half hour, she told him story after story about how badly Snotlout had treated Fishlegs over the years. It took so long because Rangi's Forge vocabulary was still so limited; he kept saying, "I not understand," and Meatlug had to try to say it some other way. They both were getting frustrated when Fishlegs finally returned from the Nest.

"Fishlegs, can you translate what your dragon is trying to tell me?" Rangi nearly begged.

"I thought that was your job," Fishlegs said with a straight face.

"Yeah, well, I'm not doing so well at it," the younger man admitted. "Meatlug is trying to tell me why she doesn't like Snotlout, and I'm missing, like, half the words she's using."

"I can help you there," Fishlegs decided. "She has good reasons for not liking him, and it does take a few special words to tell those tales." He sat down on the ground, leaned back against Meatlug, and, speaking Forge, began repeating the same stories Meatlug had been trying to tell him. The dragon added a detail here and there that Fishlegs had been unaware of. But unlike Meatlug, Fishlegs spoke Norse as well as Forge, and he was able to translate Forge words into Rangi's native tongue when Rangi didn't understand a specific set of grunts and growls. He noticed that Rangi was hanging on his every word, and would often repeat a Forge term that he wasn't familiar with, to be sure he understood it in the context of something cruel or stupid that Snotlout had said or done. By the time they were finished, Rangi no longer admired Snotlout's attitude.

"I have question," he said hesitantly as the stories wound down. "Meatlug said Snotlout was big pile of –" and he repeated the Forge word that Meatlug had used.

Fishlegs turned crimson. "Meatlug! You should not say that word!"

"That is what he is," the dragon retorted, unrepentant. "Great big steaming pile of –"

"She not have to say it," Rangi interrupted. "I understand now, I think. I think I agree, too."

"Good," Fishlegs said in Norse, relieved. "I'd hate to have to translate that. Meatlug, go eat fish. Please do not make more trouble with words." The Gronckle chuckled deeply, fluttered her wings, and buzzed away toward the nearest feeding tray.

"Where were you this morning, Fishlegs?" the boy asked. "I waited forever for you!"

"I was talking to the chief," Fishlegs replied, without saying what he had been talking about.

"Oh. Well... I'm here for our language lesson."

Fishlegs suppressed a grin. "In case you didn't notice, we just had your language lesson! It was probably the best lesson you've had so far, too. You learned some new words –"

"Including one that you probably wish I didn't learn," Rangi cut in.

"Yes, that's unfortunately true, but you didn't just learn the words," Fishlegs went on. "You understood those words and applied them to a real-life situation, and you didn't give me a hard time about any of them! Now I've got some ideas for making the rest of your lessons go better. We're going to focus on how to use Forge in real life, instead of just memorizing all the words. I think you'll learn better that way."

"I'll try it," Rangi said seriously. "But if my lesson is over, does that mean I'm free until the chief wants me in the afternoon?"

"Not quite," Fishlegs said, laboring even harder to keep a straight face. "You're my apprentice for Forge lessons, and that means you have to do whatever I tell you to do. I have one small chore for you, and then you're free to go." He switched to Forge. "Take that shovel and go to my back yard. You clean up Meatlug's great big steaming pile of... uhh..."

"Snotlout!" Rangi finished for him.

"That's not quite the word I had in mind," his teacher said, and he finally smiled a little. "But it'll do."

o

Full-of-surprises and Agnarr were far out over the sea, working on his flying skills, which mostly meant "flying for the fun of it." They always found ways to justify all the time they spent in the air, and there was no question that he was improving rapidly. She sometimes wondered if there were two Agnarrs; one was studiously focused on aerodynamics and the physics of flight, while the other would give himself over to the simple joys of flying at the drop of a scale. Even if there were two of them, they were both happy to make her the center of their attention, so she was happy too.

Today, she had suggested that they fly toward each other and tap wingtips as they passed. He achieved that trick on the third pass and mastered it on the fifth, so he suggested that they try something more challenging.

"Like what?" she asked.

"How about if we fly toward each other, and as soon as our wingtips touch, we each do a quick 180 around each other, holding that wingtip contact until we break and fly back the way we came?"

"That's called a half pair-pivot," Full-of-surprises told him, "and it is not a beginner's move! I'm not sure you're ready for that kind of precision aerobatics."

"I'd like to try it," he said firmly. She nodded, unconvinced, and they separated by a few hundred yards to start flying toward each other.

On their first pass, he misjudged the distance between them and missed his tap. On the second, their wingtips touched, but he turned too broadly and they could not maintain contact. On the third try, he turned too tightly and nearly spun out of control. "I told you this wasn't easy," she called.

"Can we try it once more?" he asked. When she still looked doubtful, he backed off. "No, never mind. Let's check out that ship instead." She turned to look where he was looking. Ten minutes later, they were overflying the Nest at full speed, and Full-of-surprises was shouting, "Dad! There's a strange ship headed for Berk!"

"Why is it strange?" Chief Night Fury asked as he stuck his head over the edge to see his daughter.

"You've taught me the pennants and shield markings of all the local Viking tribes," she answered as they landed, "and this one carries marks that I've never seen before."

"Most of the shields were just plain wood," Agnarr added. "The ones that had markings showed a sword pointed down, then a hammer facing up, then another sword pointing down. I'm not familiar with those marks, either."

"Oh, that's just perfect," Hiccup snapped. "That's a Law-Speaker's ship. He just had to visit Berk before my translator was ready!"

Full-of-surprises looked puzzled, so her boyfriend explained. "The Law-Speakers are the experts in Viking law and custom. They run the annual Thing, and every chief has to submit to their authority if there's a disagreement. He must be here to tell us something about the upcoming Thing."

"Did somebody call us?" exclaimed Thing One and Thing Two, who had been lurking under the platform.

"No, kids, a Thing is a big Viking get-together," Astrid explained to them. "It's when all the chiefs meet to work out their differences, arrange marriages for the children of the chiefs, make war plans for the upcoming year, and do other things that one tribe can't do alone. Your father is going to have to go to the next Thing in a few months, and none of us knows how that's going to work."

Thing One grinned a draconic grin. "Is he going to arrange a marriage for me?" The adults rolled their eyes and ignored her.

Thing Two was more concerned about some of the implications. "Are there dragon slayers at a Thing?"

"Probably," Chief Night Fury nodded. "I'll be bringing my translator with me, of course, so I can talk to the other chiefs. He may have to serve as a bodyguard as well."

"Rangi, a bodyguard?" Thing One scoffed. "I could be a better bodyguard than him!"

Hiccup looked thoughtful. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. No, Astrid, I'm not talking about taking Thing One and Thing Two with me; they're still too young and inexperienced. But maybe I should bring a few of our older children along, as bodyguards and as a show of force."

"If force is involved, then I'm going too," Mother-of-twins said firmly.

"And if you go with me, then who's going to keep the dragons out of trouble?" Hiccup challenged her.

"It's only for a week, and we can fly there in a few hours and save two day's ship travel," she began. "Besides, how much trouble do you think..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced at her juvenile twins. "Never mind. I'll stay."

"Like you said, it's just a few hours away for a Night Fury," the chief reassured her. "If I need help, I can send one of my bodyguards to come and get you. I can summon reinforcements far faster than any of the human tribes!"

"Will you forgive me for being nervous about this?" she asked.

"Definitely. I'm nervous about it, too," he answered. "I'll be going into humans-only territory, without any backup except the ones I bring with me. Most of those Vikings have never seen a Night Fury before, and they all remember the Night Fury attacks on their villages when the war was still going. You and I both know what they'll want to do to me as soon as they see me. But I'm the chief, so I have to go. There's no escape."

"What would happen if you didn't go?" Full-of-surprises asked.

"The worst thing that could happen would be that Berk's Vikings would be labeled 'fight on sight,' like the Outcasts," her father answered. "Our ships couldn't travel anywhere safely. Even if the other chiefs didn't go that far, all of our trade deals and alliances could be canceled. Some ambitious chief might decide to declare war on us, and we'd never know it until their longships appeared on the horizon, full of invaders. I have to be there to speak up for Berk's interests, even though it will probably cost me something."

He turned to Full-of-surprises and Agnarr. "How close is this Law-Speaker ship? How much time do I have to get ready to meet him?"

"There wasn't much wind, so they were rowing," Full-of-surprises answered. "They weren't pushing themselves too hard, either. I'd guess you've got at least four hours, maybe five." Agnarr nodded in agreement.

"Okay, that gives me an hour to think of a plan, and three more hours to make it happen," Hiccup thought out loud. "The problem is that I'm not ready for all the other Vikings to know that a dragon is running things in Berk. They'll find out when I show up at the Thing, but I don't want to give them time to plan anything nasty for me. We've got to fool this Law-Speaker into thinking I'm still human. I'll definitely need a translator for this, and Rangi just isn't ready yet, so I'll have to borrow Varinn from the forge."

"Gobber isn't going to like that," Astrid observed.

"Gobber is going to have to deal with it," he retorted. "I haven't used my authority as the chief very much yet, but today, that's got to change. For the good of the village, the tribe, and the nest, Gobber is going to have to give up his apprentice for a few hours. It's not like I'm going to turn him into a Night Fury or anything like that."

"He's convinced that that's your plan, you know," Agnarr cut in. "I couldn't tell you how many times I walked into the forge and heard him grumbling to himself about those apprentice-stealing Night Furies. He goes on and on about how you got yourself transformed on purpose, just to make his life difficult, and Six followed in your footsteps by taking Faithful-brother away from him."

Hiccup had to smile. "That's funny. He never thought I was that useful when I had opposable thumbs."

Astrid smiled, too. "Who does he blame for your transformation, Agnarr?"

"I think he blames the Night Furies in general, rather than one of us in particular. He watched four of you walk toward the house where I was staying, and five of us came back, so it all plays into his grand conspiracy theory. He doesn't really mean anything by it, of course; it just gives him something new and different to grumble about."

"Let him grumble," Chief Night Fury replied. "I'm going to need Varinn for whatever plan I come up with."

"Couldn't Fishlegs be your translator?" Astrid wondered.

"Fishlegs would do just fine at the translating part," Hiccup decided, "but he isn't the kind of Viking who would impress a Law-Speaker. I haven't decided whether I'm going to ask a human to impersonate me, or if I'm going to try some other way to fool the Law-Speaker, so I need to keep my options open. Varinn looks and sounds more like a classic Viking than Fishlegs does. Whatever plan I come up with, Varinn will play right into it." He stopped and grinned at Agnarr. "And when we're done, you can tell Gobber that Varinn got turned into a Night Fury anyway, just to see his reaction."

"He'd never forgive me for that," Agnarr grinned back. "I don't think he'd ever let me into his forge again! But it's a tempting thought."

"Okay, thanks for the early heads-up about that Law-Speaker ship," Chief Night Fury said. "Now I need to think and make some plans. I'm going flying; come get me if you really need me for something." He bounded into the air and went into a spinning zoom climb that took him straight up into the clouds.

Astrid turned to her daughter. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you two doing so far out over the ocean?"

For half a second, Full-of-surprises looked embarrassed. "Agnarr came up with the idea of doing a half pair-pivot, and we were practicing it."

"A half pair-pivot? Really?" Astrid nodded approvingly. "I guess it won't be long now."

"What do you mean?" Agnarr asked.

Full-of-surprises motioned with her head for him to step aside with her. "I didn't say anything earlier because I didn't want to scare you off," she said quietly. "A pair-pivot, or a half of one, is a move that dragons almost never use, except for one specific occasion. That's when we're doing the aerial dance that leads into a mating flight."

"A mating flight?!" Agnarr exclaimed. "That's not what I was thinking at all!"

"You weren't?" Full-of-surprises sounded disappointed.

"Well... maybe a little," Agnarr admitted. "But I still don't think I'm ready for that. My brother tried it before he was ready, and he almost drowned."

"I don't want that," she nodded. "It would really put a damper on our relationship. But you're flying quite well for a beginner. Honestly, I hope my mother is right, and it won't be long now."

"We'll see," he said, unconvinced. "But while we're waiting for me to be ready, can we work on that half pair-pivot move some more? Mating flight or no mating flight, that kind of stuff is fun."

Full-of-surprises started to answer, then looked past him toward Night-fury-mother-of-twins. "Mom? I've got it! Agnarr's new name, I mean. We should call him Night-fury-flies-for-fun!"

"That's okay with me if it's okay with him," Astrid nodded.

Agnarr thought hard and fast. "I know a lot of Night Furies who fly for the fun of it. In fact, that means almost all of them. Can we make it Night-fury-smith-flies-for-fun, so it's just about me?"

"Done," Astrid said firmly. "I'll spread the word to the rest of the dragons. Of course, that name could apply to my mate, too. But he's pretty well given up on smithing, so the name is all yours. We can always change it later if we have to. The young ones will probably call you' Smith' for short."

"Thank you," Smith-flies-for-fun said, with a lot more emotion than Full-of-surprises expected. "This means a lot to me. Now I feel like I'm really part of the group."

"You've always been part of the group." Full-of-surprises was surprised.

"I've never been part of a group before," he answered heatedly. "Or, at least, I never felt like it. As a human, everyone except my brother thought I was useless. As a dragon, I feel like a Gronckle-come-lately, taking remedial flying lessons when everyone around me can fly circles around me, even the hatchlings. I never, ever thought I'd find a place where I belonged or where I'd fit in. But you've accepted me and welcomed me... and sometimes I don't know what I should do about that. I guess saying 'thank you' is the best I can do."

Full-of-surprises snuggled up against him and wrapped a wing around him. "You're welcome."