First Contact Chapter 17
The second exchange team happily greeted the third team when they arrived in the frozen nest. The happiest greeting was between Six and Agmundr, to no one's surprise. They shared a TrueSight as soon as Agmundr's riders dismounted, then spent a few minutes gliding together just beneath the roof of the nest. Fishlegs was happy to see his replacements arrive; he was still ecstatic over all the new kinds of dragons, but now he needed someone to talk to about them. Valka also greeted the new arrivals, curious to find out whom Berk had sent this week. When she realized that the new group included a girl, "delighted" was too mild a word. She almost led Fluffernut away for some girl time, but realized that the new team had to present themselves to the Alpha before anything else happened. This presentation would be different, though. This time, she and the King knew enough Forge that she could introduce the new exchange team herself.
Valka and Six led Varinn, Fluff, and Agmundr to the flat rock that had become the semi-official presentation area and demonstrated how to bow to the King. "Great One, new ones here," she called in her best Forge.
"Welcome to my nest," the Bewilderbeast answered in kind. The sheer resonance of his voice vibrated the air. It took courage for the young teens to stand their ground.
"I Varinn son of Gunnarr," the boy began; he thought he should take the lead, even though his knees were almost knocking together. "We here to help."
"I Fluffernut," his friend said in a very subdued voice.
"I am Night-fury-faithful-brother, also called Agmundr," the Night Fury added in dragon language. He was just as awestruck as the humans at the sight of this huge dragon.
"Again, welcome," the Alpha answered. "Your friends do well here. You do well too."
"Does he mean he expects us to do well, or is he ordering us to do well?" Fluff asked quietly.
"Possibly both," Valka replied. They bowed again and retreated to a convenient ledge, where Fishlegs, Meatlug, Six, and Valka explained to Varinn, Fluff, and Agmundr how things were done here. After about an hour, in which the new team gave the returning team messages to take back to Berk, the week-2 team took flight, leaving two young teens and a recently-transformed Night Fury on their own in a nest full of unfamiliar dragons, with only an equally unfamiliar woman to serve as a bridge between them.
"Like the King said, welcome to the nest," Valka began. "We'll have a feeding celebration in a few hours, so you've got some time to stretch your legs and unwind from your trip." She noticed how Fluff tended to stay close to Varinn. "I don't mean to pry, but are the two of you a couple?"
"NO!" they both burst out. "We're friends, and nothing else," Fluff added quickly.
"We're two of a four-person circle of friends who've been together since childhood," Varinn explained. "Fluff is kind of like a sister to me, ever since my real sister got turned into a dragon, and –"
"Does that mean Astrid is your sister?" Valka interrupted.
"Yes," he replied, a bit sharply. "Fluff came along on this trip to give me moral support. I'm a little nervous about this job. It's the first time I've ever been away from home without my family."
"Are you nervous, too?" Valka asked Fluff, who just nodded. "I assume you have your parents' permission to be here together?"
"Yes, we do," Varinn nodded. "I have a great mom and dad. They had to think it over, but they decided it would be good for me to do this, and it was okay for her to come along."
"What about your parents?" Valka said to Fluff. She shrugged.
"My parents died years ago," she explained. "I'm living with relatives who don't care much about me. When I asked if I could go along on this trip, they just said, 'Do what you want, as long as you don't bring any shame to the family.' "
"I'm sorry," Valka exclaimed. "I hope I didn't hit a sore spot."
"It's okay," Fluff replied. "Life is what it is. I have some friends, and they make life better." Fluff didn't know it at the time, but Valka had just made a decision. For the rest of that week, just as Fluff was a substitute sister for Varinn, so Valka became a substitute mother for Fluffernut. The fact that Valka had already found herself in that role for Agnarr made it easier for her to do it again, for a girl this time. The two of them spent a lot of time together.
That left no one for Varinn to spend time with, except Agmundr. They had a lot in common on the surface – they were similar in age, they were both smith-trained and had served under Gobber, and they were both recent converts to believing that dragons were okay. But they just hadn't spent that much time together in the past. Agmundr had his twin brother, Varinn had the Terrors, and while they'd worked together, they hadn't done much together outside the forge.
They found their common ground in the shock of the human-to-dragon transformation. To Agmundr, his transformation was recent history; he'd been a Night Fury for less than half a year. To Varinn, his sister's transformation wasn't new – she'd become a dragon over three years ago – but he still struggled with his own loss. Each found, in the other, someone he could talk to about events that few others could relate to, someone who could actually understand what the other was going through. Their new friendship wasn't demonstrative or openly emotional, but on the inside, each soon thought of the other as a kindred spirit.
The new humans tried to bow out of their first feeding celebration, but Valka wouldn't hear of it. "We can't eat like dragons," Varinn protested. "I don't think I could even catch a slippery fish in mid-air."
"Everyone in the nest shares in the feeding," Valka replied firmly. "The Alpha allows no exceptions. It's one of the things that binds us together as a nest, instead of being a bunch of members of different species who live under the same roof."
"Do we have to eat raw fish like the dragons?" Fluff asked nervously.
"No, our dragons bring a few fish back for us and cook them for us in the nest," Valka answered. "One of my finest achievements when I first got here was explaining to Cloudjumper that I really preferred my fish to be cooked, which was a totally alien concept to him, and explaining it without using any words. Since then, some of the dragons like to take turns cooking my fish for me. Of course, 'cooking' is too fancy a word; all they do is heat up a flat rock for me, I lay the fish on it, and they reheat it now and then until my meal is done. Still, it's kept me alive all these years, and some of the fish are pretty tasty."
"If we have to do it, then we will," Varinn decided. "I'll ride Agmundr. Fluff, would you rather ride with me or with Valka?"
"Is your dragon safe?" Fluff asked the older woman.
"If I'm on his back, he's perfectly safe," Valka nodded. "It might be good if you rode with me the first time or two, until you get used to what's going to happen." Fluff nodded, they mounted their respective dragons, and they all joined the throng that were headed out of the nest. The feeding was uneventful, except that it always took Cloudjumper longer to get his meal than most of the other dragons, because he was one of those who brought fish back to the dragons who could no longer fly due to human-induced injuries. Varinn wasn't used to riding a dragon, especially when that dragon was making wild mid-air maneuvers to catch his daily meal. He hung on for dear life, and wondered if riding Scrubby would be this scary. Fluffernut's ride wasn't that extreme because the Stormcutter didn't swoop and bank with reckless abandon like the Night Fury did, but she still held tightly to Valka.
As they returned to the nest, she pointed to a green patch of ground below them. "Can we land there for a moment?" she asked Valka. "I'd like to see what kinds of herbs grow around here."
"Cloudjumper, land where ground is green," Valka called. The big dragon chuffed and spiraled down to land where she'd indicated. Fluff slid off the dragon, looked around for a few minutes, and picked some leaves and carefully tucked them into a pocket of her vest. "It's lemon balm," she explained to Valka as she got back onto Cloudjumper's back. "It'll give the fish some flavor. You probably knew all about that, though."
"Actually, I never thought of it," Valka admitted. "Sea salt is the only seasoning I've been using all these years. It'll be good to taste something different for a change."
Today, it was the turn of Gruff, the blinded Hobblegrunt, to do the "cooking." Valka coached him into the right place to flame up her preferred cooking rock, while Fluff prepared their fish and wrapped them in the lemon-balm leaves. Once the rock was hot enough, Valka laid the fish on the stone. "How do you know when it's ready?" Varinn wondered.
"I ask Cloudjumper," she replied. "He has a very good nose, like many dragons. After I helped him understand what a perfectly cooked fish smells like, he's become my assistant chef. He'll sniff the fish every few minutes, and when it's done the way I like it, he'll let me know." The big dragon bent down and sniffed, then made a puzzled face at her.
"Smell different but still good," she told him. "He's not used to the lemon balm," she said to the others.
"That's a lot of fish for just the three of us," Fluff noticed.
"We'll store some of it on ice and reheat it for supper tonight," Valka explained. "Sometimes I'll give Cloudjumper a cooked fish. I think he likes to share my food with me, in the same way that the Alpha likes to share food with all of us. It's some kind of dragon bonding thing."
Varinn glanced over at Agmundr, who was watching curiously from a distance. "Hey, if we have enough, would you like a cooked fish for a change?" The dragon bounded over and joined them around the cooking rock with an eager expression.
"I have not had cooked fish since I became dragon. Yes, want!"
"So everybody's been assuming that, because you're a dragon, you don't like anything you used to like?" Varinn said compassionately. "That must stink."
"Raw fish is better than I thought, I get used to it, but cooked would be nice now and then."
About forty minutes later, Cloudjumper sniffed the fish for the tenth time and said, "Is good." They all tore into their lemon-baked fish, and they all agreed with him – it was quite good. Varinn made a point of saying so.
"You never said anything about my cooking back in Berk," Fluff said with a slightly sour expression.
"I don't think I've ever had the chance to eat your cooking before," he answered. He picked up one fish and tossed it to Agmundr, who swallowed it and licked his lips.
"Thank you, friend," he said, and wandered away for a nap. Of course, that made Cloudjumper want a fish of his own, so Valka lobbed one to him. The rest of the meal passed uneventfully.
Varinn and Fluff spent their afternoon in a royal audience, explaining to the Alpha about the Terrible Terrors, Scrubby, and the kidnapped dragon babies, while Agmundr translated from Norse to dragon and back. They thought the King would find it a very boring story, after all the exciting things he'd seen and done, but he hung on their every word and asked many questions.
"I start to think, some humans naturally like dragons," he decided. "Dragons need to find those humans. Bring to nests for visits. Maybe pair off, human and dragon."
"That mean some humans naturally not like dragons?" Fluff asked.
"They can learn," the Alpha said.
"If they want to," Varinn added. "Many not want to. To them, hate be more fun." The King had to nod at that.
"What about you two?" the great dragon wondered. "You pair off?"
"Why is everybody so determined to make a couple out of us?!" Fluff burst out. She looked up at the enormous Alpha and exclaimed, "Do not want, sir."
"We friends only," Varinn added.
The Alpha seemed surprised. "Why not? Be pair, be friends too."
Varinn finally sputtered, "Not know words to explain." He liked Fluff a lot; he always felt better about things when she was around. She seemed to like his company as well, and they worked well as a team. But the idea of kissing her had no appeal for him, and the thought of her having his baby... he squirmed. It wasn't going to happen.
They spread their sleeping rolls on the ledge and lay down long before they were sleepy. That was Valka's suggestion. "You're going to attract a small flock of curious dragons who will want to check you out, because you're new here," she explained. "You won't get any sleep until they're done sniffing you and poking you with their noses, so you might as well lie down early and let them get their curiosity out of their systems. Then, when you're actually tired, they'll leave you alone and you can sleep."
"That sounds like a good idea," Fluff nodded.
"I got the idea that from Agnarr and Fishlegs," Valka smiled. "They learned it the hard way."
"Why don't you use a sleeping roll?" Varinn asked her. "We could have brought you one from Berk if we'd known you didn't have one."
"I don't want one," she replied. "I've been sleeping under Cloudjumper's wing for eighteen years. It's what I'm used to. I sleep just fine that way." She sighed. "When I have to share a bed with my husband again, I'll probably be as nervous as a newlywed, and I'll probably get just as little sleep. There are so many things I'll have to adjust to, all over again..."
"Is it hard to adjust to being married?" Fluff asked suddenly.
Valka leaned on one elbow. "Anything worth doing is hard, or at least it can be hard. Stoick and I are incompatible in a lot of ways, but we started our marriage with the agreement that we were going to make it work, no matter what. For the most part, we did what we set out to do." She gestured at Cloudjumper's nearby frilled head. "This fellow and I have just about nothing in common, but we've learned to work together and play together. We aren't married, of course, but we spend most of each day together, so we've had to work out a relationship together. It's not about how compatible you are, although that helps. It's about how determined you are to make it work."
"Where does love fit into all this?" Fluff wondered.
"With us Vikings, love is the result of being married, not the reason for it," Valka replied. "Your parents are going to pick out a husband for you based on things like money, social standing, and tribal status. Unless that boy has the king of all egos –"
"Like Snotlout," Varinn whispered.
"– he's going to be just as nervous and unsure about things as you are," Valka went on. "Yes, working it out is hard. The personal stuff is awkward, but believe it or not, the really hard adjustments are things like deciding how to handle money, or dealing with it if one of you snores. Every couple has to go through that kind of adjustment, whether they like each other before the wedding or not. If you focus on his bad traits, he'll always be a stranger to you. If you choose to focus on his good side, you'll probably wind up loving the guy before much time has passed. That's how it was with me and Stoick."
"Thank you, Mrs. Haddock," Fluff said softly. "You've given me something to –" She broke off abruptly as a Snafflefang landed next to her and sniffed her from head to toe, with an emphasis on the toes. "Hey, that tickles!" she giggled and pulled away. The dragon snorted and sniffed her some more. Varinn rolled over to put a few feet between him and the dragon, then rolled back when he realized he was closer to the edge of their sleeping ledge than he preferred. As soon as he rolled back, a red baby Scuttleclaw landed on the ledge and began butting him with her head.
"Sleep now, play tomorrow," he tried to explain, but the babies had shown no interest in learning Forge. She couldn't understand him, and probably wouldn't have cared if she did understand. Agmundr raised his head and let out a sharp, bark-like snarl, and the baby turned and fled to parts unknown. "Thanks, Agmundr," Varinn said, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep. He was still quite wound up from the day-and-a-half journey and the experience of meeting that huge Alpha face to face.
After a few minutes, he heard Fluff roll over. "Varinn?" she called quietly.
"Hmm?" he answered.
"What if my foster parents get me engaged to Snotlout?"
"Well... if that happened, then I guess that would make Spamlout your sister-in-law."
"Varinn, if I had a rock, I'd throw it at you! You know what I mean. I'm fourteen; I'm old enough for a Viking marriage, and everyone in that house wants to get rid of me as fast as they can. What would I do if that happened?"
"I'll think about it," he promised. "But you're not going to get engaged tonight, so I'd focus on getting a good night's sleep. Fishlegs said our first full day here is going to be long and nerve-wracking. We don't want to start it off by being tired."
"What if your parents get you engaged to Spamlout?" she asked. "You're old enough to get married, too. Can you see her standing next to you in a wedding dress?"
After a few seconds, he acidly replied, "Thank you very much for that mental picture! So much for me getting a good night's sleep." He thought he heard a muted giggle from Valka's direction, but he must have imagined it.
o
Back in Berk, Stoick had caught Gobber in a rare unoccupied moment. "Gobber, talk to me. My wife is coming home in a few days. It's been eighteen years, Gobber! Eighteen years! No one has ever left Berk for that long and come back again. What does the rest of the village think about all this?"
The old smith scratched his chin. "Everybody remembers how she took the dragons' side in the raids. A few of 'em canna remember anything else. But most of 'em see the dragons in our streets, an' they know she had th' right idea, all those years ago. She'll be welcomed back, no worries."
"Thank you. That was my biggest worry," Stoick nodded.
"But not yer only worry?" Gobber prodded him.
"Eighteen years is a long time," the chief said slowly, looking toward the horizon where the dragons had flown. "You're not a marriage expert, but... how do we pick up where we left off?"
"If I was in yer shoes – which I'm not – I wouldn't try pickin' it up where I left off," Gobber said thoughtfully. "I'd start from the beginnin' instead. It'll be easier fer her, an' probably fer you, too. Both of ye have changed over th' years; ye canna assume things will be just like they used to be."
Stoick nodded slowly. "You're probably right. Going slow won't be an easy thing, though." He glanced at Gobber. "Did you know she still looks exactly the same as she did eighteen years ago?"
Gobber smiled. "Those are th' words of a man who's in love. Don't worry, old friend. The two of ye are gonna be fine."