Warnings: none
Word count: 1932
Viggo spotted the young girl on the other side of camp in the middle of doing her usual chores, bucket of fish for the dragons in hand.
"Y/n!" he called to her. She looked over at him. He gestured for her to come and she obeyed, quickly fixing her h/c hair when she noticed he had company.
He introduced her to the strangers, "This is y/n, one of my assistants." Y/n smiled and gave them a slight nod. Three new allies, she thought and studied their appearances. Two of them were men, seemingly complete opposites of one another. One was short and round with a big fluffy beard, his stomach hanging over his thick belt. The other was tall and muscular but bald, reminding her of Viggo's brother and second in command, Ryker.
The third one was a woman dressed in black and leather armor, a scarab attached to her belt. She was probably a general of some kind. She looked y/n up and down, green eyes unimpressed.
"She doesn't look like much of a dragon hunter," she said.
"She's not," Viggo replied. "She's my one and only dragon whisperer."
The woman scowled as the two men looked at each other. As they obviously didn't know what Viggo meant he went on to explain,
"Y/n's job is not to hunt dragons, but to calm them. When a dragon is captured and forced into a cage, it is common they become scared and very aggressive. Y/n here knows how to calm them down and help them relax. It makes her a useful tool when capturing or relocating a dragon, among other things. Handling dragons has become sufficiently easier since she showed up."
Y/n looked down slightly as she felt her face flush. But the woman turned suspicious.
"Makes her sound an awful lot like one of those dragon riders," she sneered. Y/n's eyes widened, but Viggo calmly reassured her otherwise.
"I can assure you she's not, Amira. She enjoys studying them and learning about their behavior, yes, but a dragon rider she is not."
Y/n felt herself relax slightly, but Amira's untrusting gaze made her tense still.
The round man with the fluffy beard spoke with a gruff voice,
"Well, if she's as good as you say, I have a monstrous nightmare on one of my ships down at the docks who's caused an awful lot of trouble for my men. Nearly burnt down the ship this morning."
Amira rested a hand on her hip. "Think you can handle it, kid?" she asked the young girl.
Y/n opened her mouth to respond but Viggo spoke first.
"There is no doubt in my mind that she can, but I believe she was in the middle of taking care of the dragons who are to be shipped to the northern markets tomorrow afternoon." He looked to y/n. "Isn't that right?"
She nodded. "Yes, sir. I was just about to head to their cages with this fish I caught down at the stream." Y/n gestured to the bucket she was carrying.
He gave her a smile of approval. "Then go finish up your work," he told her. He gave her a small nod and she returned the gesture before leaving. Y/n felt Amira's eyes on her as she walked away.
"She seems awfully small to handle dragons as large as they can be, how does she manage, Mr Grimborn?" the tall bald man asked, sounding more curious than suspicious.
"Do not underestimate her for her size, Calder. She has her way with the beasts."
Viggo looked down to the fluffy bearded man. "Felman, is that monstrous nightmare of yours still causing problems?" he asked.
Felman shrugged, uncertain. "He has calmed down a bit, but he's a stubborn bastard. Fights any chance he gets," he explained.
Viggo nodded. "I want all of you to meet me at the docks tomorrow morning. I would like to show you just what y/n is capable of."
