First Contact Chapter 10
The flight from Berk to the Bewilderbeast's nest was mostly spent in silence. Stoick had never tried to learn Forge, so the only member of the group who could talk to him was Agnarr, and the chief didn't have much to say to Agnarr. That young man could speak to the Night Furies in three languages – Norse, Forge, and dragon – with varying levels of fluency, but he didn't want to start a conversation that would exclude his chief. The dragons could talk to each other in their native tongue, of course, but they were afraid of the chief's insistent "What are they saying?" if they started any kind of discussion. So, because one of them couldn't understand the others, none of them spoke.
That changed as they approached their destination. They arrived in the middle of the day's feeding celebration. Hiccup saw what was going on, and felt his spirit soar as he remembered being in the middle of such a feeding. Bang felt a sudden urge to get into the middle of it, not so much for the fish as for the sharing of the experience with other dragons. The Rumblehorn wanted to be a part of it because he'd always been a part of it before. Agnarr watched and thought, "Here's another part of dragon culture I need to learn about. This one looks like fun." Stoick just tried counting all the dragons and thought, If this nest had been the one that used to attack Berk, they'd have wiped us out in one raid. Then he looked down and saw the Alpha, and exclaimed out loud, "What is that?"
"Agnarr, tell him that is king dragon of this nest," Hiccup said. Agnarr translated.
"By the ice mountains of Niflheim!" the chief burst out. "That thing's bigger than the one you killed, Hiccup!"
"Sir, two important points," Agnarr said unbidden. "One, he's not a thing. He's an alpha dragon and the ruler of the nest. Even if he wasn't so big, he'd still have the same rank and position that you have. Two, I have a funny feeling that killing dragons isn't a good thing to talk about in this neighborhood."
"When did you acquire the habit of contradicting your chief, young man?" Stoick demanded with the beginnings of anger. Hiccup interrupted with a short, harsh-sounding monologue.
"I'll translate that, sir," Agnarr said deferentially. "He says I'm not the only one who disagrees with you now and then. He usually defers to you in Berk because it's Viking territory, and because you're his father. This is dragon territory, and the Alpha is in charge. We all need to do things the dragon way while we're here."
Stoick's answer died in his throat. An unusually large dragon was headed their way – not nearly as big as the Alpha below them, but big enough. It had four wings, and it appeared to have a human rider; it was hard to be sure because the rider's costume was so bizarre. His head – her head? – was completely covered. But Hiccup had mentioned only one human in this nest. Could it be her? He stared at the human on the dragon's back, trying to see some clue to her identity.
She saw him and nearly dropped her staff.
After staring at him for a few seconds, the big dragon turned sharply and flew away. Then they were in the middle of the feeding, and Stoick had to hold on for dear life as the Rumblehorn began swooping and banking to catch fish in mid-air. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder; the two Night Furies were also doing aerobatics to grab their lunches, and Agnarr was also holding onto his dragon tightly. It didn't seem to bother him, though. In fact, he acted like he was enjoying the wild ride. Stoick had the uncomfortable, unfamiliar feeling that he was the only one here who didn't fit in.
Is this how Valka felt when she was in the village? he wondered. He didn't have a chance to explore that possibility any further, because the Rumblehorn took a sharp turn to snap at an especially appealing-looking fish, and dragon and rider parted company.
Even though dragons made up one-third of the population of Berk now, the chief of Berk had never been a fan of flying. He now realized he was even less a fan of falling. But before he could begin to think of things like death, the Rumblehorn had dropped like a stone, cut beneath him, and caught him. It all happened so fast, he didn't have a chance to feel fear. One moment, he was on his dragon at a thousand feet; the next, he was back on his dragon at two hundred feet.
The Night Furies had gone into their own frantic dives toward him; one of them would surely have caught him if the big green Rumblehorn hadn't gotten there first. His dragon growled something that Stoick could feel as well as hear. Agnarr translated, "He says he's sorry, and he won't let it happen again."
The chief took a deep breath. "Tell him 'thank you, and that was a good move he made to catch me'." Agnarr made some dragon noises that sounded just like the Rumblehorn's. The big dragon glanced back at his rider with something that looked like astonishment.
"I get the impression that Rumblehorns don't get praised for their aerial maneuvers very often, sir," Agnarr explained. "You may have just made a friend for life."
"If my life can last longer than the next five minutes, I'll accept that," Stoick called back. Now he was beginning to realize how close he'd just come to death. He wasn't afraid – he was too much of a Viking for that – but it was a sobering thought. He bent down and patted the Rumblehorn's frontal armor plate. "Thank you, for saving my life." The dragon rumbled at him again. Maybe that's where they got such an unusual name.
The feeding was over, and all the dragons were flying toward a tiny crevice in the ice wall. That crevice got bigger as they got closer, but it still seemed far too small as they swept into it. The ride through the darkened ice cave was almost as unsettling as the fall in mid-air, because it went on for a lot longer. At last, they burst out into a huge white cavern that was bigger than the village of Berk.
The Night Furies flew alongside him. "Hiccup says the members of the exchange team need to present ourselves to the King when he returns," Agnarr called. "You can wait on one of the ledges, and... do what you came here to do. Hiccup says, 'Go slow, Dad'." The black dragons and their human rider banked away and landed in front of a wide spot in the river, and waited. The Rumblehorn landed on a green ledge and waited for his rider to slide off, then flapped up to a resting place on an icy spire. He perched in a spot where he could keep an eye on Stoick, and half-closed his eyes. The big Viking stretched and worked the stiffness out of his limbs.
Now what?
Stoick looked around. He'd thought of Berk as a dragon's nest, but he realized that his village had a long way to go before it could call itself a nest like this one. It wasn't just the sheer number of dragons (there were, indeed, well over five hundred of them), or the amazing variety of types and colors. It was the fact that this entire place existed for dragons and nothing else. They flew, or landed, or slept, or groomed themselves, or played as they saw fit, and there was absolutely nothing to stop them. This might be the very first time he'd actually seen what the word "freedom" meant. He took a minute to gaze at the huge place and its many colorful residents, just to acclimate himself to the sight.
He was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of someone clearing her throat.
Up on the cliff wall above him hung the big dragon with the four wings. It had an unusual flat face, and it was staring at him. He couldn't read its expression, but then, he'd never been able to read dragon facial expressions very well. It was the dragon's rider who held his attention. She took off her odd-looking helmet...
He felt the same heart-pounding panic he'd felt on his wedding day when he'd met her in front of the altar. They barely even knew each other then, and he felt the same way now. She looked the same, but now she wasn't trying to save the dragons; she was riding one. What other changes had she been through? Did she still have any feelings for him? He smiled nervously and beckoned for her to come down and join him.
She just gazed at him sadly.
Again he waved to her. "Come on down! We've got some catching-up to do!"
The dragon looked back at her, then at him, and it seemed a bit less friendly now. She finally spoke. "Are we just going to pick up where we left off? Do you think it will be that easy?"
"Why not?" he exclaimed. "What's changed?"
"Eighteen years have come and gone, Stoick. I've found a life here that really means something. Something more than being a Viking chief's wife. I'm not an unpopular dragon-lover here. I'm a very popular dragon-lover. Even if I wanted to drop everything and go back to cooking your food and extending your family line, it wouldn't be that easy."
"Valka..." He shook his head in frustration. "I just flew a day and a half on a strange dragon's back, across a frozen, uninhabited wilderness, just to see you again. I nearly fell to my death. I'm the only human for a hundred miles, except for you and that young man who seems to be half dragon already. There hasn't been a day in the last eighteen years that I didn't think of you and miss you! Why are you up on that cliff with that dragon when I'm down here?"
She shook her head slowly. "I told Hiccup that everyone around me has changed, and I'm still the same. Now I see I was wrong. I have changed... and you're still the same. You're only thinking of yourself. You're just assuming that you know what's best for me, without even asking me. You're every bit the boar-headed, stubborn Viking you ever were!"
She spat out the word "Viking" like an insult. Stoick was on the verge of losing his temper. But he held it back. That had never made things better in the past. But what could make things better? What could he say that would make her prefer his company to the company of a dragon?
Maybe, he suddenly thought, I shouldn't try to make her do anything. He remembered a moment, long long ago, when he'd tried to influence her in a different way...
It had been so long. He wasn't even sure if he could still whistle. He took a deep breath and bravely whistled a quiet little melody from their past. He saw her blink hard. She could hear him, and she remembered that melody. He never could sing well, but he'd tried it once, and he'd try again now.
"I'll swim and sail on savage seas
"With ne'er a fear of drowning,
"And gladly ride the waves of life
"If you will marry me.
"No scorching sun, nor freezing cold
"Will stop me on my journey,
"If you will promise me your heart
"And love me for eternity."
She stirred, and sang back to him. But the words she sang weren't the words he remembered.
"Though I'm your wife, your one for life,
"Your attitude astounds me.
"I've lived out here for eighteen years
"With dragons all around me.
"I'm not the bride who took your side
"And called your name so sweetly.
"I'm not the one who bore your son
"And cleaned your house so neatly."
So she was going to change the words, was she? He could think of a few choice words he might use... but he quickly realized that those words would make things worse, not better. How could he win back the heart of this lovely, strong-willed woman who sat up there, out of reach, on a dragon's back?
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw motion. The Alpha dragon had returned to his nest and risen up so he could speak to Hiccup and the other two. He recalled a far-away battlefield with another huge dragon, and another confrontation with a family member who seemed unreachable, thanks to dragons. How had he reconciled with Hiccup? His demands and his blustering had gotten him nowhere that time, either. He'd had to accept the fact that his son had irrevocably changed, and if there was going to be peace between them, he had to accept his son as he was, not as he remembered him to be, or as he wished him to be.
Maybe that was the answer. Of course, it had to be the hard way. Still, the hard way would be better than no way at all.
"Oh, should I bring you rings of gold,
"Or should I sing you poetry?" ("Anything but that!" she laughed nervously.)
"What promise could I make for good
"To bring you back beside me?
"The dragons share our village there;
"The times they are a-changing.
"It hurts a bit, but I'll admit:
"Some things need rearranging."
She stared at him in surprise. The dragon extended a claw, and she rode it down until she could use its lower wing as a slide to bring her to the ground. Very hesitantly, she laid down her staff and stepped up to him. It looked like she was fighting tears. She sang slightly faster.
"So will you have me as your friend,
"A partner in the journey?
"We'll make a life that's yours and mine,
"Together 'til eternity."
He nodded and took her hands. She didn't resist him. He was almost out of words; he hoped this verse would do the trick.
"With dragons in our home as kin,
"And dragons high above me,
"I'll find a way to live each day,
"As long as you will love me."
She took a sudden step to the side; he followed her a moment later. When she stepped back the other way, he was ready. Hesitantly at first, then with more and more enthusiasm, they began to sing and dance to the music they could hear so clearly in their minds.
"To love, to kiss, to sweetly hold
"For the dancing and the dreaming,
"Through all life's sorrows and delights,
"I'll keep your love beside me.
"I'll swim and sail on savage seas
"With ne'er a fear of drowning
"And gladly ride the waves of life
"If you will marry me!"
She laughed and fell into his arms, then closed her eyes and snuggled up against his shoulder. "Oh, Stoick," she murmured. "I really did miss you!"
"You're as beautiful as the day I lost you," he whispered. Then he heard some dragon sounds from very close by, looked up, and saw that they were being watched. Cloudjumper had slid down the cliffside and was gazing at them curiously, but they were also being watched by a Night Fury who had landed nearby.
"Oh, good afternoon, Full-of-surprises," Stoick greeted her.
"You can recognize individual dragons?" Valka was impressed.
"I know them if they're part of the family," he nodded. Then he turned back to Full-of-surprises, who was looking at them quizzically. "That was a song we sang to each other, the night before we got married."
"We'd met each other only once," she added. "We didn't know each other at all. We were both very nervous, maybe even a little scared..."
"...But I wanted to show her that I wasn't just a typical Viking, all muscle and no heart," he went on.
"So he sneaked up to the guest home where I was living before the wedding, and we sang that song to each other through the open window," she continued, and smiled at the memory. "My aunt wanted to throw things at him, but I held her off until the end of the last chorus."
"Then Gobber and his band played the same song at our wedding reception," he chuckled, "and he got so excited, he cut in on my first dance with my wife!"
"And then the two of you got into that ridiculous contest about who could hold out the final note the longest!" she laughed.
"He never misses a chance to remind me who won," he nodded. "Good old Gobber! Now there's a man who hasn't changed, and I hope he never does."
The Night Fury nodded solemnly (she was thinking, These humans are weird), then bounded into the air to greet her father on the other side of the stream. That left the Stormcutter, who still seemed very intrigued by the two of them.
"Hasn't he ever seen two people embracing?" Stoick wondered.
"Probably not," she answered. "We're just as mysterious to them as they are to us. Dragons can be very curious – it's one of their most human-like features."
"Are they going to be that curious about us whenever we're together?" he asked softly. "Even if we want to be alone?"
"Yes, very," she said with a bit of a grin. "They have no concept of privacy. Their entire lives, from hatching to mating to laying eggs to dying, take place entirely in public view. If we try to hide, that will make them even more curious – they'll want to know what we're hiding." She chuckled. "My first attempts at bathing and washing my clothes here were pretty awkward. I had to make some major adjustments before I could live here contentedly."
After a moment, he quietly asked, "You're really content here?"
"I've lived among them for nearly two decades," she answered. "They've accepted me as one of them, which is something the Vikings of Berk never did. Yes, I'd love to change my clothes every day, and eat something other than fish, and wash my hair with soap, and talk to people and hear their voices... but I can't completely leave here. The dragons need me, and they care about me. I'll need to come back here from time to time, no matter what happens."
"We're making the arrangements so you can come home for as long as you want," he whispered. "Whenever you're ready. As for the privacy thing, I've lived without you, and without hope, for eighteen long years. A few more weeks, with hope, won't kill me." He extended his arm, and she took it. "While we're here, will you show me around this home of yours? Maybe introduce me to a few of your friends?"
"We can't go far on foot," she answered lightly. "This nest was made for creatures who can fly."
"Then we'll fly," he said. He looked up at the spire, which was now the nesting place for more dragons than the entire draconic population of Berk, and waved. "Skullcrusher! Come down here, if you would." The green and red Rumblehorn glided down and landed next to them.
"You've made a friend here?" she marveled. "That didn't take long."
"I never had problems making friends in other tribes' Mead Halls," he said jovially. "Dragons aren't exactly like Vikings, but making friends works pretty much the same way."
"Let me guess – you offered this dragon a beer and challenged him to a burping contest?" she smiled.
"No. I thanked him for saving my life," Stoick said, a lot more quietly.
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Never mind that Night Fury. I think you're the one who's full of surprises."
From across the stream, Hiccup noticed his mother and father embracing. That's not what I had in mind when I said, "Go slow, Dad," he thought, but... whatever works.