First Contact Chapter 2
Finding the Bewilderbeast's nest wasn't hard. The other dragons' directions were accurate, and there weren't many places in that wilderness that were big enough to hide a substantial dragon's lair. They had only one incident on the way in. As they glided along at high altitude, they saw a single ship at anchor near the ice floes.
"It's odd to see such a big ship, all by itself in the middle of nowhere," Astrid noted. "Maybe they're in distress?"
"Even if they are, there isn't much we can do about it," Toothless replied. "They probably haven't gotten the word that the dragon wars are over; if we got close enough, they'd probably throw spears first and ask questions later."
"We'll make a quick pass at low altitude," Hiccup decided. "We'll see if they really do need help, and if they do..."
"What will we do about it?" his daughter asked.
"I'll think of something," he said. The others edged away from him imperceptibly; even if his "thinking of something" didn't lead to an old-fashioned Hiccup disaster, it was still likely to lead to complications that none of them wanted, not even him. Once they were spread out, they angled down and flew in a broad circle around the ship, looking for signs of trouble.
They got their answer when something on the ship went "twang," and a weighted net came flying up at them. They climbed fast and the net passed harmlessly under Astrid, and they kept gaining height until they were nearly a mile up.
"Should we mark them down as 'not friendly'?" Full-of-surprises asked innocently.
"That was an anti-dragon weapon," Hiccup exclaimed. "A net that big and strong wasn't meant for anything else. They must get a lot of trouble from the dragons in this nest that we're looking for. I wonder what they're looking for. What would be worth taking such risks?"
"Maybe it's the dragons that they're after," Toothless speculated. "Like you say, they'd be crazy to go sailing in these waters with dragons all around. They could be hunters, or exterminators." The others shivered at the thought.
"If their goal was to kill dragons, their machine would shoot spears, not nets," Astrid replied, with a glance at the ship below them. "A net is a capturing weapon. They wanted to take us alive."
"Whatever their goal is, we'll warn the dragons in the nest when we find them, assuming they don't already know," Hiccup decided. "Shall we move on?"
"Not yet," Astrid growled. "They took a shot at me! I owe them one."
"It looks like they have more than one net-thrower," Toothless cautioned her. "A solo attack is probably not a good idea."
"I agree," she nodded. "Who else is with me?" Full-of-surprises nodded immediately, and Hiccup agreed after a second. Toothless looked dismayed.
"Me and my big mouth," he muttered. "Well, if everyone else is going to the party, I might as well come, too."
They swooped in from four different directions. Full-of-surprises' shot hit one of the sails and blasted a huge hole in it. Astrid and Toothless both fired at the ship's left-hand mast, which pretty well ceased to exist after two full-strength Night Fury firebolts hit it. Hiccup aimed at the right side of the ship where the net-throwers were mounted, and sent two of them somersaulting through the air to land upside-down on the deck nearby. The dragons regained their altitude and flew on, leaving the hostile ship behind as though nothing had happened.
In mid-afternoon, they reached a huge icy plateau, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. "That has the look of a dragon's nest," Toothless commented. "Can anyone see the entrance?"
"If it's like your nest, the entrance will be hidden, won't it?" Full-of-surprises asked. The others had to agree.
"Then I guess we'll just circle until we see some of the locals, then fly down and say 'hello'," Hiccup said. They circled for nearly two hours before they saw motion below them. Five small, colorful dragons had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and were playing tag in the air.
"I don't recognize them," Full-of-surprises said. "What are they?"
"I think they're Scuttleclaws," Toothless said hesitantly. "They used to be very common, but the humans did a number on them. I haven't seen one in years; I thought they'd been wiped out. I'm glad I was wrong. Those don't look like adults, though. Maybe you should lead us in, Night-fury-full-of-surprises."
"You're making me introduce you to a bunch of babies?" Full-of-surprises wasn't happy about the idea.
"Why not? You do a great job looking after your little sisters," her mother commented.
Full-of-surprises snorted. "If they do what I want them to do, it's because I guessed right! They don't listen to me. I don't think they listen to anybody!"
"You've learned Lesson Number One about baby dragons," Toothless said approvingly. "You're as qualified as the rest of us, and if they get nervous at the sight of strange dragons, you won't make them as nervous because you aren't as big as we are. It makes sense. Lead us in." She might have argued with her parents, but Uncle Toothless still commanded respect among the younger dragons. She shrugged her shoulders, which made her hesitate in the air for a moment, then spiraled downwards, with the others in a staggered trail formation behind her. They lost altitude rapidly.
They were down to barely two hundred feet when the young Scuttleclaws noticed them. They instantly broke off their game of tag and closed in on the newcomers. "New dragons!" "Black dragons!" "Will they play with us?" "Maybe they'll squeak if we squeeze their tails!" They mobbed Night-fury-full-of-surprises, poking and pulling at her with wild abandon. She quickly unleashed another surprise and let out a loud roar, a mix of pain and outrage that made them all back off.
"Why did she do that?" the purple Scuttleclaw said in the sudden silence.
"Can you tell us how to get into your nest?" Full-of-surprises asked the yellow one.
"Yes, we can," the baby giggled, "but we don't want to." They resumed their game of tag and ignored anything else the Night Furies said or did.
Fortunately, Full-of-surprises' bellow had gotten someone else's attention. After a minute, a fearsome-looking dragon with an armored front end stuck his blade-like nose out of a crevice in the ice. "What kind of trouble have you babies gotten…" His voice trailed off as he saw the four newcomers. "Night Furies!" he gasped. "A whole family of Night Furies!"
"A Rumblehorn!" Toothless burst out at the same time. "I haven't seen one of you in years! Is this nest filled with all the dragon types that have disappeared off the rest of the earth?"
"All I'll say is, if you're looking for a safe place to live, you've found one," the Rumblehorn answered. "I can't remember the last time any of us saw a Night Fury. We thought you were all gone! And now… four of you? You're going to be mobbed by curious dragons!"
"Thanks for the warning," Hiccup said. "We aren't actually looking for a place to live; we're just trying to learn more about the dragons around us, especially your ruler."
"You want to meet the King? I'd be glad to introduce you – I think he'll be glad to meet you, too. I'm Rumblehorn-green-and-red-walks-into-walls. Follow me, please, and don't worry about the narrow entrance; the actual nest is a lot bigger than that." He turned and disappeared down a winding tunnel in the ice that was barely visible from above.
"This is what we came for," Hiccup called over his shoulder to the others. "Let's go!" They swooped into the crevice and followed the local dragon as he zigzagged through the heart of the icy mountain. They flew straight through a large chamber that was filled with sleeping dragons, mostly Gronckles and other Boulder-class, and went on through ever tighter caves and passages until they burst out into a huge open space, lit by the sun as it shone coolly through the ice overhead.
The four Night Furies landed and stared all around them. The walls and ceiling of this huge cavern were made of ice; the roof was held up by huge, irregular pillars of ice and rock. The ground was green with grass and moss in places, while other areas were bare rock; a small river flowed through the middle of it all, lapping at the edges of a large, odd-shaped white island. Dragons of all kinds and colors rested all over the walls and the pillars; some flew in mixed flocks from landing place to landing place. The chittering and calling of hundreds of dragons echoed in the great cavern. It was like the Dragon Island nest, but it was cold instead of hot, five times more populous, and at least six times as big.
The Rumblehorn landed in front of the white island and bowed before it. "Great One, we have visitors who want to meet you," he called.
The island's eyes opened.
The three adult Night Furies all gasped, went wide-eyed, and stepped back, almost in unison. Full-of-surprises cried out and nearly flew back the way she came, but when she saw the adults standing their ground, she landed and hid behind her father. Hiccup noticed other dragons bowing toward the enormous creature as they walked or flew by, so he did likewise, and the other Night Furies copied him. He was the closest to the huge dragon, so he became the focus of that dragon's attention.
"Rise, small friends," the enormous dragon said in a low, powerful, but friendly voice. "Welcome to my nest. I haven't seen your kind in many, many years. If you're looking for a safe place, you've found one."
"Thank you, uhh, Great One," New-night-fury replied. "Actually, we aren't looking for a safe place to live; we've already got one. We're just trying to learn more about the dragons who live around us. We heard about you, but we knew nothing about you, so we came to visit and learn."
"Indeed?" the Bewilderbeast rumbled. "You arouse my curiosity. How have you found a place that is safe from human attack?"
"We made our place safe, Great One," New-night-fury replied. "We made peace with the humans, and we all live together now."
Wordlessly, the gigantic dragon rose to his feet and leaned toward them. His tusks overhung them, casting shadows across them as he looked down on them. They felt a vague itching inside their heads that they couldn't possibly scratch. Finally, after nearly a minute of frightening silence, he spoke again. "On the surface, that is an impossible tale. If I thought you were lying to me, it would hinder my hospitality. But I can tell that you are being honest. That is the greatest extent to which I will use my Alpha power on you." He lay down in the water again. "Again, welcome. How long would it take for you to tell me your story and explain how you made a lasting peace with our hereditary enemies?"
"It could take days to explain it all, Great One," New-night-fury answered.
"We're willing to spend those days," Night-fury-mother-of-twins added, to her mate's surprise. "We aren't in a hurry."
"Good," the Alpha answered. Something in his expression suggested that he was pleased with this development. "We have already eaten today, so if you need a meal, please fly back the way you came and enjoy the sea's bounty. Once you start telling your story, I wish to hear it without interruption, except for the many questions I will probably ask." They nodded and flew back into the winding caves.
Once they were out over the chilly sea, Hiccup was the first to speak. "Toothless, are you sure that King is benevolent?"
"There wasn't a trace of fear in the entire nest," Toothless replied. "Except maybe from your daughter. It isn't a bit like the way the Mother used to run things. These dragons are completely happy and safe here. They aren't being mistreated."
"That's the impression I got, too," Hiccup nodded, "but… man, he's BIG! I thought I was done with giant dragons forever!"
"If he was hostile, there wouldn't be much we could do about it," Astrid added. "It doesn't look like he can fly, so our shoot-the-wings trick wouldn't work, and I can't think of anything else that would work, either."
"He hasn't taken a single hostile act, so let's start by assuming he's friendly until proven not-so-friendly," Hiccup decided. "Besides, if he wanted to take us prisoner, he wouldn't have let us leave to do our own fishing. He didn't even send a local dragon to keep an eye on us." He turned to his daughter. "Do you want to find us a nice school of fish and stun it for us?"
"No," Full-of-surprises quavered. "I want to fly home as fast as my wings can carry me, and then I want to give up adventuring for the rest of my life. I want to go on a mating flight with Young-teacher, and make eggs, and raise babies, and be a nice little domestic dragon, and do anything that will keep me from ever seeing another dragon like that! Why does he have to be so big?" The others tried not to laugh.
"Please understand, we're not laughing at you, and we aren't laughing with you, either," Hiccup explained. "We're laughing because we're remembering a desperate battle against a dragon that was almost as big as this one and a lot angrier. It's a nervous laugh. We know exactly how you feel, all three of us." She was all out of snarky comebacks, so she said nothing.
"Speaking of big dragons, what did he mean about his 'Alpha power'?" Astrid asked. "Did that have something to do with that weird feeling I felt in my head when he was staring at us?"
"You remember the go-out and come-back signals that the Mother gave us?" Toothless replied. "That was an example of Alpha power. I thought it was just the Mother and her kind that could do it, but apparently, this Bewilderbeast can do it too. I don't know how it works, but it stems from the size of his brain and the fact that he rules over a nest. Apparently, this King was looking in our minds to see if we were lying to him. He says he won't do any more than that, which means he could do more if he wanted to."
"That doesn't make me want to trust him," Astrid said with a head-shake.
"He probably didn't trust us, either," Hiccup suggested. "Now he does. We can't read his mind, so we have to choose whether to trust him or not. Like Toothless said, this nest isn't a bit like the Mother's nest. I have no reason to mistrust him, except that his sheer size scares me, and that's not a good enough reason to judge a stranger." Toothless nodded, and so did Astrid after a few seconds. Full-of-surprises held her peace and scanned the water for signs of fish.
Once they were done eating, they returned to the ice cave and landed in front of the King. They heard scuttling noises behind them, and realized that dozens of curious dragons were trying to get a closer look at the Night Furies. Many of the local species were unfamiliar; even Toothless couldn't identify a few of them. One big fellow in the back particularly intrigued Hiccup. He had four wings, an owl-like face, and eyes that gleamed with intelligence and curiosity. Hiccup resolved to talk to this dragon when his business with the King was done. The four-winged one could probably offer some worthwhile insights about this nest and the dragons who lived here.
In the meantime, it was time to start a friendly dialog with the biggest dragon in existence.