The Power of Gold Chapter 1

A/N
Welcome to the next story arc in the "Lightning and Death Itself" saga. You need to be aware that, starting with this story arc, I've added the main events of "Snotlout's Bride" into this story's timeline, even though that story was written for the "Hiccup's Bride" timeline. You may want to read "Snotlout's Bride" in order to make sense of certain events in this story, mostly in Chapter 11.

"The Power of Gold" was the working title of a short story I wrote last year, which I ultimately renamed "All the Small Things." It was an okay title for that story, but it's a much better title for this one.

o

"Then we are agreed?"

WE ARE AGREED

The woman put out her hand, and the black dragon extended a paw and shook it, being careful not to injure her with his claws. They had officially approved the new dragons' nest on Bog-Burglar Island.

It was a landmark day for everyone concerned. For the tribe of Berk, it was the beginning of Chief-night-fury's grand plan to spread dragons' nests to all of the surrounding tribes, thus encouraging them to stop hating dragons and bring the wars between the species to a final end. For the Bog-Burglar tribe, it was their first-ever willingness to cooperate with one of the male-centered tribes around them by accepting dragons from them. For Chief-night-fury and Night-fury-mother-of-twins, it was the first time they had to say goodbye to any of their children, as those children moved out of their nest into new lives of their own. For Chief Big-Boobied Bertha, it meant a new day of security for her people – she hoped that no one would dare to raid or attack her island if it meant antagonizing the dragons there. For Night-fury-six-shooter and Night-fury-faithful-brother, it was the beginning of a brand-new dragons' nest, which they would be fully responsible to lead and protect. And for Camicazi, daughter of Bertha, it meant that (hopefully) she could now draw on the fastest, most elusive dragons in existence to multiply her effectiveness as a burglar of other people's valuables.

The dragons for the new nest had been chosen from among those who were willing to go. There weren't that many of those; the majority of the dragons on Berk were close friends with humans on the island and were unwilling to leave them. Nearly all of the volunteers were female, which was how Chief Bertha wanted it. Most of the males who came along were those who were needed to help raise unusually unruly offspring. The shortage of males wouldn't pose any hardship to the females; when mating season came around, they knew where the males were, and flying to another island for a mating flight wasn't a grievous burden. The exception was Faithful-brother, who didn't want to be parted from his mate. This had been a bone of some contention between the two chiefs as they worked out the agreement that exported dragons from Berk to Bog-Burglar Island. Bertha and the women warriors of her tribe strongly preferred female dragons, in keeping with the female-centered nature of their tribe. The negotiations nearly broke down over the refusal of the prospective nest's new leader to part with her partner.

"Which part of 'no males' don't you understand?" Cami had demanded. "Okay, we'll grant you one or two to help keep your babies in line – after all, that's what males are good for. But you Night Furies are supposed to be the leaders of the nest, right? We do not want a male in a leadership position on our island!" Bertha had folded her arms and nodded agreement.

Six had scowled in reply, and had taken a step back from the group of negotiators. Hiccup grunted and growled, which Rangi translated as, "Night Furies are completely monogamous, unlike most other dragons. Splitting up that pair would be like a Viking couple getting a divorce." The Vikings practiced divorce, but it had to be for a good reason, like wife-beating or entering the marriage under false pretenses. Two Vikings couldn't just decide to end their relationship because they felt like it. That gave Bertha pause, but Cami was undeterred.

"We women have an old tradition of running things on Bog-Burglar island, in case you didn't know. Why are you asking us to break our own rules so your dragons can do things your way? If you think that will a prelude to taking over our entire island and doing everything your way, then you'd better think again."

Croon, grumble, grunt. "We don't want your island. Our actions have proven that we're quite happy staying in our own land, not lording it over anybody else. This isn't about takeovers or traditions. It's about my daughter being happy with her chosen partner. If you try to split them up, then I'll withdraw my support for the whole deal."

Six looked at him, surprised. "Dad, are you sure you want to go that far? I know how much this new-nest deal means to you."

Hiccup smiled at her. "It doesn't mean half as much to me as you do. If this deal falls through, then there will be other deals; there will be other new nests on other islands. But I've got only one Night-fury-six-shooter, and she has only one mate. I will stand up for what really matters, even if it costs me something." She nodded gratefully, and they both put their fierce faces back on.

"Fine," Camicazi grunted. "No deal, then." She turned and began to stalk away.

"Hold it, young lady," Bertha ordered. "You aren't the chief yet. This is my decision, and I haven't made up my mind yet." She turned to Hiccup and Rangi. "Just how much of a leadership role is this male dragon likely to play?"

Gurgle, growl-snarl. "Just about none," Rangi interpreted. "Night-fury-faithful-brother doesn't have a forceful personality, and I've never seen him show any signs of wanting to be the boss over anybody. He wants to go because his mate is going, and that's all. If something happened to Six, then I suppose he would step up and lead out of necessity, but he is not the kind of dragon who can't wait to call the shots." He glanced pointedly at Cami's back.

"What about the other female we were talking about?" Bertha asked. "Thing Two? Honestly, is that her real name, or is it short for something?"

"It's the name she chose for herself," Hiccup said, and Rangi translated his words into Norse for Bertha. "She is having a hard time deciding if she wants to join this new nest, or stay here. She's more ambitious than Faithful-brother, and she likes the idea of being the backup Alpha of a brand-new nest. But she doesn't want to be separated from her twin sister. Do you need to know her decision before we reach an agreement?"

"Whether she comes or stays is not a deal-breaker," the Bog-burglar chief said, "but it would set my mind at ease, knowing that the top two-thirds of this nest's leadership were females."

"Then I guess we'd better find out what she thinks," Hiccup said. He looked over his shoulder at Mother-of-twins, who was watching and listening a short distance away. "Can you go find Thing Two and see if she's made up her mind yet?"

"I'm on it," Mother-of-twins nodded and leaped into the air. She didn't know where her daughter might be, so she gained altitude and flew an outward spiral search. A minute later, Thing Two glided in at low altitude and landed neatly next to the negotiators.

"I take it you didn't see your mother?" Hiccup asked.

"I wasn't looking for her," Thing Two replied. "I finished saying goodbye to my sister, and now I'm ready."

"You're going?" a surprised Six queried her.

"I'm going," Thing Two nodded. "I can come back and see Thing One whenever I want to, and if I change my mind about going away, I can always come back to live here again. But if I pass up a chance like this, it will probably never come my way again. There are so many Night Furies on Berk, I'll never get a chance to be somebody special here. But on Bog-Burglar Island, I'll be the Alpha's number-one helper! If we have to do two things at once, I'll be in charge of half the dragons. I want this."

"You're okay with taking orders from your sister?" Hiccup asked firmly.

"I've been taking orders from Full-of-surprises ever since she became our Alpha, and she's my sister," Thing Two answered. "Besides, Six has been bossing me around ever since I was hatched. Now she'll actually have a reason to do it."

"That's because you needed bossing," Six said flatly. "And if you need more bossing once we're in this new nest, then I promise you, I won't hesitate to give you what you need."

Hiccup turned to Bertha and grunted several times. "That's your answer, Chief Bertha," Rangi said. "Thing Two will join the new nest as its second-in-command. There is no foreseeable reason why Faithful-brother might ever have to be in charge of anybody on your island."

"No foreseeable reason?" Bertha challenged him. "What about the unforeseeable reasons?"

"Those are unforeseeable," Rangi shrugged.

Bertha turned back to face Six. "What about your children? Or hatchlings, or whatever you call them? Are any of them male?"

NIGHT-FURY-DAUGHTER-OF-SIX
AND NIGHT-FURY-SIX'S-GIRL
ARE BOTH FEMALE.

"All righty, then," Bertha nodded. "I'll assume, for the moment, that you're setting up your new nest's leadership in good faith and you aren't planning to subvert our way of doing things. Now let's talk about this nest's responsibility to my tribe." That had been an hour ago. The rest of the negotiations had gone reasonably smoothly, they had run out of possible points of contention, and the deal was agreed. Rangi wrote out a copy for Berk's archives, and Cami was persuaded to write one for the Bog-Burglar chief. It was done.

"A week from tomorrow, then?" Bertha asked. Six and Hiccup both nodded. The Bog-Burglar and her daughter waved, turned, and headed for the docks. Their ship would get them home early the next day; due to contrary winds, their rowers would have to do all the work. They spent the trip discussing the changes that might have to be made in their village once the dragons arrived. Camicazi was also mentally mapping out her next burgling escapades. With the help of a Night Fury, they promised to be epic.

The dragons used their week to say their goodbyes and share TrueSights with the dragons they were leaving behind. This was particularly true among the Night Furies. Thing Two wasn't the only one who had trouble with long goodbyes to family members. Six was also leaving her twin sibling, Night-fury-makes-one-heck-of-a-bang, and Faithful-brother was leaving his twin brother Night-fury-smith-flies-for-fun. Six and Thing Two were also leaving their parents and their other siblings. It wasn't a permanent goodbye, of course, but it was a breaking up of the family unit that had spent their formative years flying together, fighting together, enforcing the peace together, and bringing order to dragon society together. Somehow, they all felt like they would spend their entire lives together, even though they knew that was improbable at best. Now, reality had caught up with them, and some of them were excited to start a new life, but reluctant to let go of the old one.

Astrid wasn't the crying type, of course, but it was still a very emotional time for her. Hiccup was also having a hard time coming to terms with the impending departure of two of his daughters. On the day they left, Toothless put Lady-night-fury in charge of their nest for the morning so he could stay with Hiccup.

"How are you doing, my friend?" Toothless asked.

"I keep telling myself this isn't a permanent goodbye," Hiccup replied. "But part of me doesn't believe the other part of me. If something goes wrong, I won't be there for my daughters. That's never happened before. I'm not dealing with it well."

Toothless gestured with a wing toward Cave-flyer, who was chatting with Full-of-surprises. "You're the one who taught me that we fathers can't protect our children from everything that could possibly go wrong. Right?" Hiccup nodded reluctantly; Toothless continued. "Chief-night-fury, you've done a fantastic job of raising your hatchlings into adult dragons. No one could have done better. But the whole point of raising them to adulthood was so that they could be adults, right? It's time for Six and Thing Two to fly solo. They can do it, and do it well, because of you. You've taught them everything you know, as a dragon and as a former human. You've implanted some caution and common sense in them, without diminishing their fighting spirit. Whatever they encounter out there, they can handle it, because you've shown them how it's done."

"That's something else I keep asking myself," Hiccup replied. "What if I forgot to teach them something important?"

Toothless snorted. "Seriously? Between everything you've taught them, everything Mother-of-twins has taught them, all the things I've taught them, and the things they've learned in action… I don't think two Night Furies have ever set out from home with better preparation than that pair." He wrapped a wing around his friend. "I'm not going to say this should be easy for you. You love your hatchlings, just like I love mine, and 'goodbye' is one of the hardest words to say to someone you love. But please, have a little confidence in them! They've spent their entire lives preparing to lead a nest of dragons, like Night Furies are supposed to do. They're ready. There's nothing more that you can do, except to make sure they know you have faith in them. You've prepared them well; now give them that last bit of confidence, and let them fly."

Hiccup closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded.

The other dragons who would make up the new nest were gathering around them. Astrid had shared one more TrueSight with her daughters and with her son-in-law, Faithful-brother. Six stepped toward her father, but when he indicated his willingness for a TrueSight, she turned away. "Dad… I don't want to hurt your feelings, but we've done this already, and if I have to process one more TrueSight from a nervous parent, I'm afraid it'll shake me up so badly, I won't be able to fly."

"Okay," Hiccup said. When she turned back to face him, he leaned forward and rubbed noses with her. "Will that unsettle you?"

She smiled nervously. "No, I'm okay with that."

"Good," he nodded. "You can do this. If you really need help, we aren't far away, but I don't think you'll need that kind of help unless the Vikings' day of Ragnarok comes."

"I'll come back and visit when I can," she said.

"We'll be here," Hiccup said.

She nodded, her mind clearly elsewhere. "Got any final words of wisdom?"

"Just this," he began. "The Vikings of your new island home don't have a dragon for a chief. They're every bit as stubborn as any other Vikings, they don't know how to relate to dragons, and they'll try to work it out the way Vikings always resolve things. They'll push you around, manipulate you at every turn, and use you for their own benefit. Getting them to accept you as equals may take some time. Until that happens, stand up for your rights, protect your dragons, and never forget who you are."

"You already told me that, Dad," she sighed. "Twice."

"I know," he said with the first trace of a smile he'd shown all day. "But take that thought with you as you go. The stuff about protecting the dragons, and leading the nest, and setting a good example… that's all second nature to you. But the Vikings here on Berk got accustomed to dragons on my watch. The Bog-Burglars haven't made that adjustment yet. I can almost guarantee you that your first struggles will be with Chief Bertha and her daughters, not with your dragons."

"You're probably right about that," she admitted.

Hiccup sighed happily. "At last! After all those years of parenthood… after all those struggles and all that teaching… now, at the very end of my job of raising you, you finally admit that I'm right about something! I guess my work here is done. Fly fast, shoot straight, and stay safe, my precious daughter."

"Oh, Dad, don't say that!" she exclaimed, embarrassed. But she rubbed noses with him again anyway. Then she stepped aside to organize the dragons who would soon be under her authority.

Hiccup caught Thing Two's eye and motioned for her to join him. She was willing to share a TrueSight with him, so they did. He saw excitement and anticipation at the new life she was beginning, fully mixed with regret at leaving the rest of her family behind, especially her twin sister.

"I won't ask if you're sure about this," he said. "I can see that you are. Remember, we aren't so far away that you can't visit us now and then."

"I know, Dad," she nodded. "I agonized over this decision, believe me! I really hate to leave. But it's like your Rodd the Stewer says all the time – 'Never wait or hesitate. Get in, kid, before it's too late. You may never get another chance.' This is my chance."

"I think it is," her father said, "but that doesn't make it any easier. Fly fast, shoot straight, and stay safe."

"I will, Dad." She stepped aside; she saw Faithful-brother headed their way.

"Chief, I'm going to miss you," the younger Night Fury said. "You helped a Berserker reject get a new life on your island, and you helped me learn what it means to be a Night Fury. I owe you a lot."

"You can repay that debt by taking good care of my daughter," Hiccup said, trying to sound gruff, but he couldn't make it last and his manner softened. "I know that's exactly what you'll do. Remember, those Bog-Burglars are going to be watching your every move, in case you do anything that looks like you want to be the boss. Staying inconspicuous in the daylight is hard for any Night Fury, but you'll make Six's life a lot easier if you don't cause any of those problems for yourself."

"I don't want to make any trouble, for me or for her," Faithful-brother said earnestly. He was about to say more, but then he saw his twin brother approaching. "I'll take good care of her, I promise," he said quickly, then turned away to talk to Smith-flies-for-fun. Hiccup shrugged and ambled over to where Mother-of-twins was watching the final preparations for departure.

"How are you holding up?" he asked kindly.

"Okay. But once this is over, I think I'm going to need a very long, very crazy flight to unwind," she said with feeling.

"You and me both," he nodded. He looked around. He could see nothing else that needed doing.

"Is everybody ready?" he asked Full-of-surprises.

"They're just waiting for one last official speech from you," she replied.

"From me?" Shouldn't you make the speech and send them out? They're dragons; you're the Alpha."

"But you're our father," she said.

"Fine," he shrugged, then turned to face the cluster of outward-bound dragons and got their attention in his usual way. "Everybody, listen up!" The talking quickly stopped.

"About six years ago, Mother-of-twins and I led a flock of dragons from Toothless' nest to Berk, to start a new nest and see if dragons could learn to live with Vikings. Today, you're going to do the same thing. You're going out to make new homes for yourselves, and to take the first steps in my plan to end the fighting between men and dragons forever. A lot is riding on the success of this new nest. I'm not worried about you, and I know that you can handle the Bog-Burglars. It's the surprises from outside the nest that will challenge you.

"Remember, the Vikings will be watching your every move. They won't admit it, but you're on their island on a trial basis. If you cause more problems than you're worth, then they'll make you leave. If that happens, you'll always have a home here, but they'll never let dragons live on their island again, and neither will any of the other tribes, once they hear about it. That will be bad for everyone.

"Don't let them push you around; you can be sure they'll try it. Don't let them take advantage of you; remember who you are. But if you feel like you need to fight somebody, take it off the island. If your hatchling is acting up, rein him in quickly. And, for Tannin's sake, be careful where you leave your droppings!" That got a laugh; one of the first problems the dragons of Berk had faced was where they were allowed to relieve themselves, and many of them remembered it well.

"Like I said, I'm not worried about you. We dragons know how to live, we know how to start new nests, and you've got three Night Furies going with you to lead the way. When Toothless let us leave his nest, he had some misgivings, but he now thinks that starting the Berk nest is one of the best things he ever did. Right, bud?" Toothless nodded. "Someday, I hope I can be just as proud of you and the Bog-Burglar nest as he is proud of us." He took a breath. "I guess that's it. Night-fury-six-shooter, take charge of your dragons."

Six stepped up next to her father. "Dragons of Bog-Burglar Island! Today, we fly to our new home! For us, it's a new beginning. For the dragon-haters among the humans, it's proof that they're losing. For the Bog-Burglars, it's an experiment. It's mostly up to us to make that experiment succeed. So let's go do it!" With a roar, thirty-seven dragons took flight and formed up into a loose ball-shaped formation. A few looked back as they headed west, but not a one of them changed her mind.

Hiccup and Astrid watched until the flock of dragons passed beyond the horizon. Then she turned to him. "Are you ready for that long, wild flight?"

"You've got it, babe," he nodded. They didn't return until late afternoon.

o

A/N
The quote attributed to Rodd the Stewer is actually lyrics from "The Killing of Georgie" by Rod Stewart.