The New Nest Chapter 2
"Stay low," Bang reminded them as they approached Meathead Island. "We don't want to be seen."
"I thought all the Vikings lived on the other side of this island," Drama-queen said. "How could they see us?"
"They do live there," the Night Fury answered, "but if we fly too high, they'll be able to see us from anywhere on the island. The whole plan hinges on them not knowing we're here."
Raincutter-gray-with-blue-stripes still wasn't happy about this. "All this sneaking around... it makes me feel like we're doing something that we shouldn't be doing."
"We've been officially invited by the son of their Alpha," Cave-flyer reminded her. "We have every right to be here. We just don't want the majority of them to know about it yet."
They passed over a tiny, uninhabited islet and made landfall almost exactly where Bang had wanted them to. Just inland, the ground dipped into a broad rocky depression surrounded by tall trees. A few sandy patches were scattered around the perimeter, with a larger patch in the center where the rock dipped down. The thorny barrier was visible on the ground just beyond the trees.
"It's bedrock!" exclaimed Gronckle-beige-with-small-bumps. "What a perfect place to sleep!"
"You really did pick out a good place, Bang," Cave-flyer said approvingly.
"I'm glad you like it," Bang replied. "Okay, everyone start choosing your sleeping places! No fighting! If you can't reach an agreement, then call for one of the Night Furies to sort it out. There's plenty of room for all of us." The dragons quickly landed, and after the most desirable sleeping spots had been claimed, counterclaimed, argued over, and finally assigned by Bang and Cave-flyer, everyone had found an acceptable place to rest in less than fifteen minutes. The babies were soon playing games in the patches of sand on the outskirts of the nest, while everyone else closed their eyes and rested in the cold northern sun.
"You might as well catch some sleep, Cave-flyer," Bang told her. "I'm still on a day schedule, and you're on a night schedule, so I'll stand watch for now. You can take over after the sun goes down."
"Okay, I'll – wait!" Cave-flyer tensed up. "Someone is coming!"
"I hear him too," Bang nodded. "It sounds like one Viking on foot, coming through the thorns... right over there!"
"I'll alert the others," Cave-flyer hissed.
"No, don't!" he cut her off. "One solitary Viking wouldn't just happen to be here in this remote spot on this very day unless he knew we were coming. I think it's Thuggory, the son of their Alpha, the one who invited us here."
"I hope you're right," she said nervously. The two Night Furies padded silently over to the part of the perimeter where they heard the noises. Someone was hacking through the thorns with a sword or something similar. When he finally emerged, Bang recognized him immediately.
"Thuggory!" he exclaimed, then remembered that Vikings can't understand dragon speech. He called Thuggory's name in Forge, then remembered that Thuggory didn't know Forge yet. He tried to write Viking runes on the ground, but most of the ground was solid rock. He looked around and finally found a sandy patch that was big enough to write a complete sentence.
GREETINGS, THUGGORY
"Greetings, and welcome to my tribe's island," Thuggory said formally. He looked around at the huge sleeping forms. "You really did it! We've got dragons now! And two Night Furies!" He looked at them narrowly. "Is either of you the one who stole my boots?"
The Night Fury swept away his runes in the sand with a sweep of his tail and wrote,
NO, THING ONE IS
STILL IN BERK
Thuggory sighed in relief. "Good. I admit, I'm still learning to tell you apart. If there aren't any boot thieves here, then I've got no problems with you being here. When are you going to start patrolling?"
TONIGHT
"That sounds good," the big young Viking nodded. "Nothing in our deal has changed. I just wanted to welcome you officially." He glanced over his shoulder at the way he had come. "Man, those thorns are nasty! If it wasn't for that special sword that Berk gave me, I'd still be cutting my way through."
That was good to know. Even if the Vikings did discover this nest, they couldn't attack it with a surprise charge because the thorns would stop them. If they tried to come through anyway, the sound of them laboriously hacking through the thorns with conventional weapons would be an effective alarm. Thuggory and his father, Mogadon, were the only Meatheads who owned the super-sharp Night-Fury-forged swords that could make short work of thorns like these. Thuggory was friendly, and Mogadon was just one man who couldn't clear a tribe-sized path with a single blade. Their location appeared to be secure. Dragons, like most intelligent beings, like to sleep in secure places.
"Well, I'm glad you made it. Before I go, is there anything you need?" Thuggory asked.
ALL A DRAGON NEEDS
IS FISH TO EAT AND A
SAFE PLACE TO SLEEP.
WE'RE ALL SET.
"Great! Then enjoy, umm, doing whatever dragons do. I'll stop by once a week to make sure nothing has changed." He waved airily at all of them, then returned through the gap he'd cut with his sword.
"What if some other Viking finds that gap and comes through?" Drama-queen asked nervously.
"He went through at an angle," Bang responded. "It made more work for him, but it made the gap just about invisible unless you know where to look for it."
"That was very thoughtful of him," Cave-flyer remarked.
"I think he's a good human," her mate-to-be nodded. "It's too bad his father has so little in common with him."
"Do you think his father will ever change his mind about dragons, the way Hiccup's father did?" Drama-queen wondered.
"From what I've heard," Bang replied, "he's the kind of man who wouldn't change even if his son got transformed into a Night Fury. No, we have to resign ourselves to the fact that our new nest is on hostile territory for now, and we'll have to patrol against intruders from the tribe we're protecting, just as much as against intruders from other tribes. We're in a strange position here."
Drama-queen yawned. "Well, I'm going to assume a prone position, if nobody minds. The sun is high in the sky and I'm still used to a night schedule."
"Go right ahead," Bang told her. "We'll all be on a night schedule soon enough." The dragons who were already on a night schedule were already fast asleep, while the others were lulled by the Northern sun into extending their nap.
"I hope there aren't any more Vikings trying to sneak up on us," Bang thought as he surveyed his small crowd of sleeping dragons. "All this snoring would drown out any human-based sound I can imagine. We would never hear them coming."
One of them stirred. It was Nadder-green-the-drama-queen, feeling rested after a short nap. She looked all around for another dragon to talk to, and Bang seemed to be the only other dragon who was awake. She glided easily over to where he was resting.
"I'm bored," she said.
Bang started to try to talk her out of feeling that way, but decided against it. Maybe letting her take ownership of her own problem would be better than trying to solve it for her. "If you were back in Night-fury's nest, and you were bored, what would you do?"
"I'd go flying," she said immediately. "That always makes me feel better."
"Then go flying," he told her.
"But I don't know where the Vikings are," she protested. "I'd probably fly right into their village by accident and start a fight without meaning to."
There was some logic in that statement. "Okay, then we'll go for a flight together," he said. "I'll show you where the Vikings live, and where they often go, so you can fly safely."
"Can I go too?" asked Gronckle-beige-with-small-bumps suddenly. "Knowing where the Vikings are sounds like a very good idea."
"Aren't you afraid to leave your little ones behind?" Drama-queen asked.
"They've played themselves into exhaustion," the Gronckle said dismissively. "They'll sleep for at least four hours. That should be plenty of time to fly all the way around this island and see everything that's worth seeing."
"I'll bring you back in plenty of time," Bang told her.
Drama-queen wasn't convinced. "But what if something happens to the nest while you're away? Who will take control and fix the problem?"
"Night-fury-cave-flyer will do a fine job of taking control," Bang said. "She's a Night Fury and she's no idiot. She isn't officially my second-in-command because we aren't... I mean, the two of us haven't... well, we..."
"You haven't mated yet?" the Gronckle finished for him.
"Yeah, like you said," he answered. "But I still have full confidence in her. Now, if we're going to take a flight, let's do it before all this talk wakes somebody up." He sprang into the air and glided out to sea, with Drama-queen beside him and Gronckle-beige-with-small-bumps fluttering just behind them. They set out to follow their island's shoreline, going counter-clockwise.
As they flew, he considered his situation. He was among the youngest of the dragons in his nest. The pair who were flying with him today were old enough to have taken part in the wars against the humans, while he'd been hatched after the wars were over. Why were they willing to follow his lead and obey his orders? Because he was a Night Fury. For them, that was enough. Was it enough for him? For a moment, he felt unworthy of that kind of respect. He'd been in battle several times, always victorious, but usually with a high price to pay. He had earned his adult name in one of those battles... and it had nearly killed him.
Well, this was a poor time to start second-guessing himself. He was in charge of a nest of dragons now, and for better or worse, all the others looked up to him as their leader. Even Cave-flyer accepted him as her commander. So, if he was a leader now, then he had to start leading.
"That little beach looks like a good place for a Viking ship to beach itself for emergency repairs," he commented as they overflew a sandy patch. "But it's far from their village, so they probably won't use it unless they get caught in a storm. In fair weather, we have nothing to fear from that place."
"I don't like beaches very much," Drama-queen announced. "The sand gets between my scales and the itching drives me crazy!" The other two nodded without comment.
They rounded one headland, followed the curve of a shallow bay, and came to the end of a short, rocky peninsula. "Okay, hover for a minute," he told them. "On the other side of this peninsula is the main Meathead village. Most of the Vikings on this island live here, and all their boats come and go from here. Pop your heads above the rocks just far enough to see what's on the other side, and then drop down again before they see you."
Both females did as he ordered. "All I see is trees and rocks," Drama-queen complained, and the Gronckle nodded.
"Really? That's strange. Let me look." Bang took a quick peek and shook his head. "My mistake. The Viking village is behind the next peninsula, not this one. Let's keep flying." They did so until they came to a second peninsula. "Okay, this is the one. I recognize the rocks on the end of this peninsula. Take a quick peek, like last time." They did so.
"I see a bunch of ships against the shore in the distance, and one ship that's very close. It's headed our way," the Gronckle said nervously.
"No, it's headed away from us," Drama-queen objected.
"I'll take a look," Bang said. He peered above the rocks and saw the sail of a ship, so close it was in stone-throwing range for the Viking crew. He ducked down and said, "Sail ho!"
Drama-queen was indignant. "Are you calling me a ho? I didn't fly all the way out here to be insulted!" Before he could explain, she had turned on a wingtip and headed back the way they had come.
The Gronckle stared after her, her mouth hanging open. At last, she said, "What's her problem? That was totally uncalled-for."
Bang shrugged. "A drama queen has gotta do what a drama queen has gotta do, I guess. I wasn't trying to be insulting. 'Sail ho' is what the Vikings say when they see a ship."
"We aren't Vikings," Gronckle-beige-with-small-bumps pointed out.
"Yeah, I noticed that, too," he answered, "but I learned that phrase from the Vikings of my father's village. I can't think of anything better to say when we see a ship, so we'll use their terminology. If I say 'Sail ho,' the correct response is 'Where away?' which means, 'Where is it?'"
"All right," the Gronckle nodded. "I'll play along. Where away?"
"Right on the other side of those rocks," he said. "They can't see us, but they're very, very close."
"Are they close enough to hear us talking?"
The Night Fury's eyes went wide. "I didn't think of that. Let's get out of here before they raise an alarm of some kind." They quickly retraced their path to their nest and landed. Nadder-green-the-drama-queen was already resting on the ground; she saw them arrive and pointedly turned her back on them.
"Well, it wasn't a wasted trip," the Gronckle said, loud enough for the Nadder to hear her. "Now we know where the Vikings keep their ships. That's important to know." Drama-queen huffed and said nothing.
They rested. The sun dipped and finally sank below the horizon. That was the sleeping dragons' cue to awaken and stretch. Bang didn't have to call them to order; they all knew what was going to happen next. It was mealtime.
For some of them, the appeal of waters that hadn't already been overfished by flocks of dragons was the main reason they had joined this nest. The waters off Meathead Island did not disappoint them. Some wondered if these Vikings had overfished their local waters, but they forgot – the Meatheads lived primarily on red meat, not on fish like Berk did. To be sure, they sent out fishing boats every night, and those boats returned with their decks covered in wrigging fish of many kinds, but they didn't try to catch as many as some Viking villages did. There were multiple schools of fish, easily found and easily caught, to the point where the picky eaters among the dragons could pick and choose what kind of fish they ate, instead of taking whatever they could find.
No one went home hungry that night. Some of them filled their bellies so quickly that they had time for a leisurely pleasure flight before the sun came up. Two couples, a young Scuttleclaw pair and a middle-aged Nadder pair, took the opportunity to take their mating flights. Cave-flyer watched them with mixed emotions as they twisted and danced in the sky.
Bang flew up next to her. "It's not hard to guess what you're thinking," he began. "I don't want to be too forward with you, but... uhh..."
"You? Too forward?" she scoffed. "That'll be the day! Okay, what am I thinking?"
"You're thinking that you're not ready for... you and me... yet, and it's bothering you," he replied.
"You're right. And no, I'm still not ready yet," she said, and looked away. "Maybe something's wrong with me."
"I've never heard of a Night Fury having problems like that," he tried to encourage her.
"Leave it to me," she sighed. "I'll be the first."
"I can't accept that," he replied. "You're too much like your father, and he sure didn't have any problems of that kind! It just isn't your time yet."
"But when?" she burst out. "I want to dance in the sky with you! I want to make eggs with you! I want us to be a mated pair and be together all the time! What in Tannin's name is my body waiting for? Those Scuttleclaws up there are younger than I am!"
"Those Scuttleclaws aren't Night Furies," he reminded her.
"But your younger sister Full-of-surprises has laid three eggs already, and she's a Night Fury!" Cave-flyer protested. She didn't mention that those eggs' father was her late older brother, Night-fury-young-teacher.
"Two of those were a set of twins, so don't be so hard on yourself," he said. "Your time will come! No, don't ask me when, because I don't know. But I'm willing to wait and be patient. You're worth it."
His words encouraged her a little. "It's not like you have any choice," she muttered. "I'm the only female Night Fury in this neighborhood who isn't a relative of yours."
"Your parents aren't done making eggs," he replied. "If you weren't the one for me, then I'd wait until they laid another female, and set my hopes on her. But, even if they do lay another female, it's too late for her. I've already made up my mind. I'm waiting for you, and that's that."
"What if my time never comes?" she asked, wide-eyed.
"I'll burn that bridge when I come to it," he answered. "It's my nest. If I want to make a rule that says two dragons can be a couple even if they aren't mated, who's going to tell me I can't?"
"You're sweet," she said, "but that's no substitute for an egg."
"Just give it time," he said softly. Then he came fully alert. "Those juvenile Nightmares to our right are about to get into a fight. I need to go break it up."
"Let me handle it," she urged him. "I've dealt with one of them before." She was off like a shot, her distress forgotten... for now.