How to Tame Wild Dragons (How to Train Your Dragon Fan Fiction)

Chapter 7

Astrid and Hiccup arrived at the forest edge, towing a stretcher full of vegetation behind them. They were surprised to find that the structure Hiccup had asked for was nearly completed. It was simple enough, one long platform that was twenty feet high and twenty feet across. The twins were still ploughing the field below, although Barf and Belch were helping by dragging their claws through the soil.

Snotlout was standing with his hands on his hips, surveying his handiwork proudly. Gobber was nowhere to be seen.

“Woah, that’s a lot of garlic grass!” he exclaimed as he turned to greet them. “Why are you so dirty?”

“We needed to pull up the bulbs as well as the stalks, so that we can replant them,” Astrid said, examining her dirt encrusted nails.  “The part underground smells twice as strong as the rest of it!

Hiccup dropped the stretcher with a groan and stretched his aching arms. 

“I hope its enough, I don’t think I can dig anymore,” he moaned, sniffing at his hands. “I won’t look at wild garlic the same way again. I’ll stink of it for weeks! Still, at least Toothless will be happy,”

“I bet it’s more than enough! Looks like we have our first customers,” Astrid said, pointing behind them. “They must smell the garlic all the way from the village!”

In the distance, Hiccup could see the silhouettes of dragons in the sky, their wings slowly beating. But they were not the only ones heading to the fields on the forest edge. Gobber was limping towards them, followed by Stoick and what looked like most of the clan. Even Gothi was there, carried on Phlegma’s strong shoulders.

“What’s this then, Hiccup?” Stoick boomed, giving one of the platform’s posts a thump with his fist. “Sturdy workmanship, whatever it is.”

“It’s the new latrine for the dragons,” Hiccup said nervously. “The platform is made of a wood they like, so they can sit comfortably. Not to mention the peaceful view of the forest. There’s garlic grass to be planted below which serves the dual purpose of covering the smell as well as relaxing and attracting them here. We can use the dung as fertiliser for the fields so we can grow vegetables for the whole village.”

“Vegetables, eh. Well, Hiccup, this helps with two problems in one go! That’s a bit of extra food for us and it makes our village dragon dung free. Even if we kick the dragons out of the village, this will still be useful!” He beamed at Hiccup and clapped him heavily on the shoulder. “Your mother would have been proud.” 

“Thanks dad,” Hiccup said shyly, looking at his feet in embarrassment. He was still not used to their new relationship. Sometimes they could talk freely, as if they had been close their entire lives. Other times, they lapsed into how it was before. At that moment, it was somewhere in between. 

The first dragon landed on the platform with a thud. It was Hookfang, the enormous monstrous nightmare. He shuffled on the platform and rumbled with pleasure, then gave a deep snort through his nostrils. A few moments later there was a plop, immediately followed by a collective groan of disgust from the other vikings. Barf and Belch were next, and soon dozens of dragons were alighting on the platform. It bent slightly under the weight, but held firm. The plopping became a splatter and Hiccup reddened with embarrassment. Gobber beckoned them away from the platform.

“Well it works!” Gobber said cheerily, holding his nose. “It’s not quite as fun tae watch as the last one though, Hiccup! Well done Snotlout, you're a fine carpenter.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re not such an idiot after all,” Ruffnut said, patting him on the back. Snotlout grinned and flexed his muscles. 

“Brains as well as brawn,” he announced proudly. Ruffnut rolled her eyes and walked away.

“Let’s give it a few hours before we plant anything,” Astrid said, holding a sleeve up to her face. “I need a break. I don’t know what’s worse, the dung or the garlic!”

“Definitely the dung,” Tuffnut said, his face tinging with green.

Stoick was also looking a little ill, although he acted like it wasn’t affecting him. The other vikings were already backing away, pleased but disgusted by Hiccup’s oddball solution. 

“Well Hiccup, we’ll leave you to it! Looks like you’re well on your way to getting us more wood, it’s amazing how you gathered so much for your platform already.”

“Yeah…about that,” Hiccup stuttered, looking guiltily at the structure. “We might have…borrowed a bit from the stores. Well, probably more than a bit. We needed all of it.”

“All of it?!” Stoick asked, turning on them. Gone was the pride in his eyes, instead they were filled with anger and worry. “We’ve spent weeks gathering all that wood. Next time there’s a fire, there will be nothing to rebuild with. We can use the firewood we have left to fix whatever damage happens tonight, but that is it Hiccup! I don’t know how you’re going to do it, but we’re going to need the stocks replenished by tomorrow morning, even if you have to chop it down yourselves.”

He stomped off, muttering to himself. Hiccup sat down with a heavy heart and clenched his fists. They were running on empty, with no sleep and all of their energy spent solving the dung problem. Yet somehow, they needed to collect enough wood for the entire village by tomorrow. Gobber gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Ye’ve done a good job, Hiccup. Why, he was sayin’ on the way over here how proud he was of ye, after he saw what ye did with the sheep. He’s just worried, that’s all. It’s not easy being chief. Ye’ll understand one day.” 

Hiccup looked around at the dishevelled, filthy band of dragon riders, swaying on their feet with exhaustion. Somehow, he had to inspire them to get back to work again that night. 

“I understand more than you know, Gobber,” Hiccup murmured, feeling the heavy weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

“Guys, let’s all get some sleep. We’ll meet here again before sunset. We can plant the garlic grass, sow some vegetable seeds and plan how we’re going to fix problem number three.”

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