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

Chapter 5

It was the morning after their encounter with the Scauldron, but the dragon riders had been busy all night. The sheep and other livestock had all been moved to the largest paddock, right in the middle of Berk. The dragons were still roosting, as they were given to sleep late in the brisk, winter mornings. Even so, a sleepy Toothless was keeping a watchful eye out in case an early riser decided it wanted breakfast. 

Despite the risks, Gobber had brought his prized sheep, Phil, for the great eel experiment. Hiccup stood with him in the centre of the paddock, calming the nervous sheep.

“Ai’ve brought my sledgehammer hand,” Gobber said, looking around furtively. “If any dragon so much as looks at my Phil, I’ll bang it on the snout. Even if it’s that greedy dragon of yours!”

Hiccup winced, remembering how he had arrived home yesterday, empty handed. Gobber had not been pleased, although when he saw the burn marks on Toothless’s wing he forgave them instantly. Luckily, the wily old blacksmith had whipped up a poultice of mint and moss, relieving much of the dragon’s pain. It had practically healed overnight.

“Ye know, you're supposed tae be protecting the sheep, not serving them up to the dragons a platter!” Gobber grumbled.

Hiccup ignored him. He wondered if he had put too much at risk in Scauldron cave. Astrid was still angry with him, although he knew it was more out of worry than anything else. Still, it would be worth it now. Fixing the livestock problem would go a long way towards placating the village.

“All done, Hiccup!” Fishlegs panted, returning from the fence of the field’s edge. “We’ve tied eels on the corners and halfway points of the paddock’s fence. I just don’t understand why we need the yellow and black paint.”

“Never you mind that now, Fishlegs,” Hiccup said with a smile. “Just get painting as much of the fence as you can in yellow and black stripes. The dragons will be up any minute now!” 

Fishlegs returned to the others, who were halfheartedly decorating the wooden posts already. Hiccup turned back to Gobber. 

“Do you think you can get Phil to stand still for long enough so that I can paint his legs too?” Hiccup asked, eyeing the trembling sheep. 

Phil had his eyes fixed on the heavens. He jumped in fright every time Toothless swooped overhead.

“Let’s see how this little idea of yours goes first before I let ye give old Phil a makeover,” Gobber said, laying a calming hand on Phil’s head. 

“Look, the dragons are wakin’ up,” Gobber noticed, pointing his hammerhand at the rafters of the nearest hut. A Terrible Terror was scampering down the wall, his eyes widening as he saw so many sheep together at once. 

The dragon was small, as all Terrible Terrors were, with bright scales, bulbous eyes and a turtle-like beak. This one was lime green, allowing it to blend in as it prowled along the grass.

“Right guys, that will have to do!” Hiccup yelled to the others. “Let’s see if this works!”

Around them, other dragons had noticed the herd of sheep, eyes lighting up and tongues flickering. Still, they were hesitant. Years of fighting the vikings had made them wary of such easy prey. Back in the day, it had been known as sheepbaiting, tempting the dragons in with livestock, then tangling them with nets as they swooped in for the kill.

 “I don’t think my sledgehammer’s going tae be much good if this doesn’t work Hiccup,” Gobber whispered out of the side of his mouth. “Not even Toothless can fight off a hundred hungry dragons.”

“It’s going to work,” Hiccup stated with confidence he did not feel. “It has to!”

The Terrible Terror had finally come within ten feet of the fence. It eyed it suspiciously, then took a deep sniff through its nostrils.

It screeched, then sprinted away with its tail between its legs. As if on cue, the other dragons took off, ducking and diving around the paddock, yet veering away as soon as they came too close. It was a swirling maelstrom of wings as they swooped and soared, screeching in disgust every time they came in close.

“It’s working!” Hiccup cheered, punching the air.

“What’s working?!” Snotlout groused, watching as even Hookfang swerved away from the paddock. “I don’t understand.”

“Don’t you see? They can smell the eels!” Astrid exclaimed, pointing at the fenceposts. “And since the fences are painted in the same colours, they think the sheep are surrounded by hundreds of them. It must put them right off their food.” 

“That was the idea,” Hiccup laughed, patting Phil on the head. “They won’t be eating any sheep here for a while! Eventually we won’t even need eels, they will associate the yellow and black stripes as a no go area. We can’t use it all over the village, or they will get suspicious, but it will work for grazing the sheep! Maybe in a few years we won’t even need the stripes, they will just learn that sheep aren’t to be eaten from memory.”

“Thank god, I don’t think I could ever go into that cave again,” Astrid said softly, flashing Hiccup a quick glance.

“Me neither,” Hiccup replied, trying to catch her eye. She ignored him and walked away, her arms crossed in annoyance.

The morning sky was cold and grey, but Hiccup revelled in the fresh air. The refreshing breeze gave him a second wind. Above them, the dragons circled, rumbling their displeasure at being denied their breakfast. 

“Ye’ve done a good job laddie,” Gobber said proudly, patting Hiccup on the back. Unfortunately, it was with his sledgehammer hand. Hiccup went flying, landing face first into a pile of steaming dragon dung.

“Woopsie daisy, up ye come,” Gobber laughed, pulling Hiccup out of the dirt. “Now ye just need tae sort out this dragon poo problem out and ye’ll be almost halfway there!”

“I forget, what were the other three things, after protecting the sheep and the toilet training?” Hiccup said wearily, brushing off the dragon poo with his sleeves. 

“Well, we need tae rebuild our fishin’ ships with some extra wood, thats problem number one. All the wood we currently have is being used tae fix our homes when they get burned down, which is problem number two! Even if ye do stop all the fires or get enough extra wood tae rebuild our fleet, all the fish have been scared miles away from Berk. That’s problem number three.”

Hiccup blanched, the euphoria of his recent success draining from him. All of his remaining tasks were daunting to say the least. Preventing the fires and providing enough wood to rebuild the ships were challenge enough. As for bringing all the fish back to Berk, it seemed practically impossible!

“Alright, well lets take one task at a time. How about this dragon poo thing, that sounds like so much fun. You mentioned something about fertilising your vegetable patch with it. Let’s go have a look, maybe it will give us some ideas,” Hiccup said with as much cheer as he could muster. “Toothless, you stay here and keep an eyes on things. Guys, let’s go back to Gobber’s.”

“Huh, why do we always have to do what you say?” Snotlout muttered.

“If you’ve got any better ideas, I’d love to hear them dung-for-brains,” Astrid snapped back at him. “After running away and leaving Hiccup last night, I don’t want to hear another word from you unless it’s to help. Call yourself a viking…” 

Snotlout hung his head in shame and followed behind them meekly. Hiccup was glad to have Astrid come to his defence, but she was clearly still angry. Still, he was pretty sure that toilet training the dragons would probably be the safest task. 

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