โโ chapter nine
a trader's tales!
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โโThere are many upsides in living far north in an Archipelago; their foes had to travel far ways to reach the island of Berk, they could see them oncoming days beforehand at least, and it made for a large territory. The downsides, however, were the lack of recourses from the South. Berkโin a wordโhad always been traditional; the Viking way, or off the cliff-way. (That was until Hiccup changed their minds on dragons forever). However, the one thing that did excite the Vikings of the Hooligan Tribe that wasn't traditional, was Trader Johann's stories and product.
No one knew where he came from, not really. Some said he was a prince, exiled from his lands far south. Others said he was an ex-pirate. Valkyrie's mother liked to think he came from everywhere, and nowhere, and with the tales to prove it. Snotlout once heard that he had survived the grasp of a Skrill to the deep West, the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut were told of a story that he had escaped the claws of a tribe of Cannibals in the East. Needless to say, Trader Johann's stories beat even Gobber's in the ridiculous endeavours and description.
But seeing his ship in the port was still excitingโwhether it was for the stories or the goods nestled on his deckโ, and all those in Berk rushed to meet Johann the morning he arrived, ready to trade their own goods for his.
Astrid was gleeful (for once), grinning as she dragged Valkyrie towards the ship with Stormfly's help to shove them all out of the way. "Hey!" she'd shout. "Deadly Nadder coming through! Dragon Ridersโthank you!"
Valkyrie herself was much the same, though she hid it, keeping her usual scowl as they jumped over the edge of the boat and landed both boots down onto the wood. "Ah! Hello!" greeted Johann. His voice was soft and smooth, but greasy and thinโslipping through crevices to get what he wanted; a true salesman's voice. He was dressed in robes of fine silk; colourful and brightโsomething not seen here at Berk with hair dark and shiny, wrapped up in twists together by his braid hanging over his embroidered tunic.
Val and Astrid didn't pay him much attention, heading straight for the weapons stacked to the left. Fingers picking at a double-bladed axe, Valkyrie spun it around, testing the weight. Seeing Snotlout walk past, she smirked mischeviously to herself, and swung it towards him. Snotlout shrieked and barely ducked the blade.
"Valkyrie!" he shouted at her, alarmed and she and Astrid laughed.
Val chucked the handle of the axe between her hands. "Hmm, yeah, good swing, good weight."
Snotlout narrowed his eyes. "You think you're so funny."
"She's not," Astrid crossed her arms, smirking. "She's hilarious."
The girls shared a high-five as he grumbled, continuing on his way through the tradepost goods. Valkyrie passed over the axe to Astrid, who tested it out herself, frowning in concentration.
Moving along, Valkyrie looked through the botany, smelling the flowers. When Johann wasn't looking, she picked some away, hiding them in her pouch to weave into crowns later. (She wasn't trading her food for flowers! Overpriced!).
"Where have you been this time, Trader Johann?" asked Bucket, shuffing on the tips of his toes like a child on Snoggletog Eve.
"Oh, Bucket," Johann's voice ran like smooth honey, luring him onto his boat to sell whatever he could, "the things I've seen, the people I've met! I'd need a week to regale you, but alas, we have limited time to conduct our business together. Whatever it is you're looking for I can assure you you'll find it here!"
"It's all mine!" Snotlout shoved past Fishlegs, and the latter frowned. "I call dibs on everything!"
"I've got foods of all sorts, spices, exotic animals..."
"Ooh! Oh!" Tuffnut pointed to squirming bag. He hit his sister to gain her attention. "Is that moving? Does that one moveโ?" out of the sack, expanded out spikes like a Deadly Nadders, and Tuff stepped back, absolutely in awe. "Whoa...!"
"Works of art, jewellery, not to mentionโknowledge."
Valkyrie picked up a botany book, and went to gaze through it before Snotlout bounded past, making her drop it back down. "Snotlout!" she seethed.
He ignored her, holding up the silver plate with a pucker of his lips. "Ooh, I'm even better looking than I thought."
"A yak is better looking than you," quipped Astrid, chucking up the axe once again. She caught it, giving him a glare as he winked her way.
Picking up another flower and tucking it away, Valkyrie continued on, examining the old shields and treasures. Hiccup walked up to her, holding a small clay pot of ink. "Are you buying those flowers?"
Valkyrie met his gaze innocently. "They're of the wild, they belong to nobody."
She smiled at his chuckle.
Behind them, the sharp, feriocious yell of a Viking brought their attention. Spinning around, Valkyrie watched, quite impressed as Stoick the Vast handled the sword in his hand; testing it's weight and balance. Hiccup looked the far oppsoite.
"Wow," he let out. "Another sword. Just what we need."
His father sent him a quick look, balancing the hilt on the tip of one, meaty finger. "If you must know, it's not for me. I'm heading off to my yearly meeting with the Chief af of the Shivering Shores. The last man who showed up without a giftโ" he swung it at the mast, and the blade went right through. Val gasped, amazed, "โleft without a head."
Hiccup winced, watching the mast fall down, revealing a startled Johhan behind it. Stoick turned to him, bellowing his name in a heafty laugh. "Johann! What will you take in trade?"
"Stoick!" he threw his arms out with a nervous smile. "It is but your good graces I desire when my amble ship passes through Berk."
Valkyrie gaped. "That's unfair!" she whispered to Hiccup.
He frowned at her, "He's the chief of Berk."
"So? I'm the friend of the son of the chief of Berk, and I don't get free things."
"Val, you stole the flowers instead."
"That's not the point."
Having finished trade, Stoick walked past the two teens and back onto the docks where his Thunderdrum sat waiting. Blue and mighty, it most certainly matched the chief in stubborness (that was for sure). "I'll be back in five days," Stoick told his son, before chuckling. "What am I saying? I'll be back in two, thanks to Thornado!" he hopped onto his saddle, and Hiccup arched a brow.
"Oh, you finally named him?" he asked. "Thornado, huh?"
"That's right," said the chief. "Because he has the power of Thor and the forecoity of a tornadoโ" the Thunderdrum growled as Stoick tried to fix the reigns to launch into flight, much rather staying on the ground where he had been napping than to take a two-day-long flight. "And besides, it's the only thing he'll answer to! Turns out he can be quite stubbornโ" he finally managed a proper grip.
Hiccup muttered under his breath, "Can't imagine where he gets that from."
Valkyrie hid her chuckles behind her palm as his father and Thornado shot up towards the skies.
โฟโผ:*๏พ:เผ
๏ฝก.๏ฝกเผ
:*๏ฝฅ๏พ๏พ๏ฝฅโญ
โโ"Wow! How does that look?"
Valkyrie glanced up from where she sat on Zephyr's back, tieing the new flowers she stole from Johann's boat to the saddle. She had a stem in between her teeth, frowning at the statue Tuffnut finally had managed to drag into the Academy. He pushed it in front of his sister, who took a deep breath and let it all out in one, awestruck, "Beautiful."
Hiccup looked over, taken aback, "You got them just for the Academy?"
"Yeah!" said Tuffnut, placing a hand on the stonework proudly as Hiccup walked up to him. "We got them from Trader Johann. We had to give him our great-grandfather's skull." (Valkyrie didn't think the statues were worth a family's skull, but it was the Twins, so she didn't take the time to question it). "We got to keep his clavicle."
"Wow!" Hiccup sounded pleasantly surprised. "You know, it's about time you guys started taking some pride in this place."
Tuff wasn't listening. "Duck!" he told the chief's son and shoved him down. Over their heads Barf and Belch fired at the statue, lighting it with a spark that sent it stumbling backwards.
Why is Valkyrie not even surprised?
Snotlout gaped, "That was awesome!" He ran for Hookfang, jumping onto his back. "I wanna take a shotโfire!"
Hiccupโwho only just got upโhad to dive back down again to avoid the magma amongst Hookfang's fire that encased the stone of the statue. Snotlout whooped! in his victory, and that sound immediately made Astrid and Valkyrie glance at each other: challenge accepted.
"Please," said Astrid with a scoff. "That was nothingโStormfly, spine-shot!"
The son of the chief ducked again, yelping in alarm and covering his head with his arms as a volley of Nadder spikes flew over him and imbedded into the stone. "Guys!" He shouted. "Not a competition! Stop!"
"Oh come on, Astrid," Val put away her flowers for now, cracking her knuckles. "You can do better than that. Butโalasโyou didn't, so I win."
Snotlout glared at her, "You haven't even taken a shot!"
"Yeah!" agreed Ruffnut. "How do you know you've won?"
"Because I always win."
Astrid made a face, "No you don't."
"Stop it, please," Hiccup rubbed his eyes, tired of their antics.
But Valkyrie just spun Zephyr onto the statue, "Hiccupโduckโ!"
He didn't even get up from the ground this time, just hiding down next to Tuffnut who cheered at each fire. After Zephyr (and Snotlout's statement that that had been nothing compared to Hookfang), came Mealtug, and finally, even Toothless joined in on the fun, aiming at the stoneโhe sneezed, and he missed. There was a moment of confusion, and Hiccup looked up at his dragon, frowning with concern. The Night Fury sneezed again, and Snotlout barely avoided a plasma blast to the face.
Hiccup pushed himself to his feet, "Well, that's strange..."
"Hey!" Snotlout barked. "Could your dragon cover his mouth when he sneezes?"
"IโI'm sorry," said Hiccup, holding out a tender hand to his dragon, who murmured a whine. He placed it onto his snout, raising his other hand as if to check his temperature. Valkyrie hopped off Zephyr, stepping forward in her own worry. "But that's ... that's never happened before."
Toothless sneezed yet again, and Hiccup moved his hand away, jumping back to avoid the blast that scorched the stone ground at their feet.
Astrid shared an anxious glance with Valkyrie, "Maybe he just needs some rest?"
"Yeah," murmured Hiccup, but he didn't sound convinced, still watching his dragon shake his head as if something was up his nose. "Maybe..."
Leaving the Academy, Valkyrie, Astrid and Hiccup soared their way home. Diving down towards the chief's house, they decided that Astrid was probably right, maybe some rest was what Toothless needed. She told them that whenever she felt under the weather, a good sleep always got her up and ready to go like nothing had happened. But Val found it hard to focus on her when she had trouble steering her own dragon.
Zephyr was usually agile in the open air; as all Windstiker's were. But today, he seemed a bit off. Valkyrie had to pull them out of a dive that almost sent them straight into a cliff face; they nearly crashed head on into Silent Sven's farm, the sheep into an all-out scurry!
"What's going on with Zeph?" asked Astrid, frowning.
"I dunno," Val glanced down at her dragon in worry. "We've flown through here dozens of times without any problems."
The group of them took a turn towards the plaza, neither Valkyrie nor Astrid taking much notice to Hiccup struggling with Toothless behind them. Something caught the blonde's eye, and she gasped, "GodsโValkyrie, look. What flowers are those? They're beautiful?"
She pointed down to a shrub of purple flowers, and Valkyrie titled her head. She hasn't seen those flowers in Berk before; she believed she would remember and know such a pretty flower. "Huh," she let out. "I have no ideaโwhoa, hey!" Valkyrie ducked as a plasma blast flew over her head. Behind them, Hiccup and Toothless spiralled out of control, heading straight for the ground. "Hiccup?!"
Astrid gasped and dived down after them. Valkyrie tried to follow, but Zephyr sneezed, blowing them back with a gust of hot hair that would have seared Valkyrie's eyes if she hadn't covered her face in time. "Zeph, watch outโwhat theโwhoa!" They plummeted towards the ground. Valkyrie cried out in alarm, keeping close to her saddle as the ground got closer and closer. She tried to pull her dragon up, but it seemed like he had lost control, and together, he and his rider hit the ground. Valkyrie was flung from her saddle, rolling along the grass.
When she stopped, she ignored the pain in her side to get up onto her feet and rush to her dragon. "Zephyr?" she cried. "Zephyr, are you okay? What happened, boy?" Valkyrie knelt at his side, feeling her stomach twist as he went to raise his head to look at her, but couldn't. "Zeph?!" she whimpered.
"Val!" Hearing Mak's voice, she looked over. Running towards her, he held Fleecy the Terrible Terror in his arms with Astrid at his side. The little Terrible Terror coughed and sneezed, hanging her head over Mak's arms. "It's Fleecy! I think she's sick!"
Astrid's eyes widened as she saw what had happened. "Oh, gods! Val!" She ran over. "Is Zeph okay?"
"I don't know!" said Valkyrie. "He was fine and then he just fell out of the sky!"
"That's what happened to Hiccup and Toothless," Astrid looked terrified. "Val, something's happening to the dragonsโthey're all getting sick."
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โโValkyrie's mother frowned at the set of dragons and their owners appearing at the doorstep of the Frode Clan home. The dragon sanctuary they've started was going really well, but in coming back home, Val could see that they weren't the only ones feeling under the weather. The Sanctuary was almost full of dragons already, all coughing and sneezing and lying helpless on the floor by the fire. The worst part about it, was that Spikemoth, Boulder and Erik's Terrible Terror Meecy were amongst them.
"Oh, gods," muttered Astrid.
"They're allergic to something, but I don't know what," sighed Valkyrie's mother who opened up Toothless's mouth to peer inside. When she closed it, he smacked his gums sadly. He had grown even worse in the past few minutes. So had Zephyr, who leant his head on Valkyrie's shoulder, and she was doing her best to hold his humongous weight that felt like it was crushing her. "Gothi tells me the same thing, but neither of us know how to stop it, or what to get rid of."
Astridโin seeing Spikemothโwalked over and placed her hand on the dragon's snout, feeling connected to another Deadly Nadder. Valkyrie wondered whether she was seeing Stormfly sick instead. She was yet to have any symptoms, but Valkyrie knew Astrid was worried. Hott slumped next to his dragon, watching sadly.
"You can fix them, right, Mum?" asked Mak, still cuddling Fleecy. Their mother turned to Zephyr, and sighed to find the symptoms all similar. "They'll get better, right?"
They all waited anxiously for an answer, but at the look on Fira Frode's face, their hopes were crushed. "Our best hope is to get rid of whatever is causing this allergy."
"Well," Astrid squeezed Hott's shoulder at his sniffle. "It would have to be something new to the island, right? None of the dragons got this before."
Toothless sneezed, and the plasma blast narrowly missed Astrid. She gasped and ducked in time. Stormfly gave a warning growl to the Night Fury, but her rider held a hand up. "It's okay, girl, it's not his fault."
"But that's nearly everything," said Valkyrie, exasperated. She hugged Zephyr's head closer, upset she didn't know how to make him feel better. "Johann brought in a whole ship worth, and we all bought a whole ship worth."
"We have to get rid of all of it," said Asrifth, standing up from beside Boulder who huffed, sagging into his spot by the fire. "Whatever's causing this will surely go away with it."
"Can we throw Mildew away while we're at it?" mumbled Hott off-handedly before shuffling in closer to Spikemoth, wrapping his arms around her neck as she whined and titled her head towards him.
"Fira!" The call for Valkyrie's mother came from outside, and the group of them all rushed to see what was happening. Up above, riders and their dragons were flying out of control. Snotlout and Hookfang barrelled into Barf and Belch, sending the lot of them down near the forge. Meatlug was spinning, shrieking in alarm within Fishlegs holding on for dear life.
"Help her, Hiccup!" he shouted down, seeing the chief's son. "She's sick! Whoaโ" he held a hand to his mouth, turning green. "And I'm about to beโ!" They landed at the walk to the docks in the grass.
Hiccup was pale, glancing back at Toothless who managed enough strength to poke his head out of the Frode Dragon Sanctuary. "It's spreading to all the dragons," he said, meeting Valkyrie's gaze. "We have to get rid of anything new, and quick."
They rallied up the entire village to the cliffs, setting up a long line to throw everything they had bought from Johann overboard. Valkyrie frowned at the flower crowns she had made for her and Zephyr, and angrily threw them away. She didn't know what was doing this to her dragon, but she will do anything to stop it, and to save him. No one was happy giving away the items they had boughtโsome with items that they'd never see again (you know, like the Twins' grandfather's skull)โbut they did it anyway. Anyone who refused was met with a glare and a threat to have Astrid's axe in the back of their head.
"I know this is hard, guys," Hiccup said, hearing a few Vikings grumble on their way back from the cliff. "But I promise you, you're doing a good thing! You're helping the dragons."
"It's the least we can do for them!" added Valkyrie from beside him, trying to stay strong. If this didn't work...
Some threw away valuable things; like fine silks and weapons, others (like Snotlout) cried over throwing meaningless things, such as a silver plate that served no other purpose than to see their own reflection. Fishlegs was so torn to be apart from his botany book to the point
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