How to train your vessel - Book one

Disarmed

"No mind to think, no will to break, no voice to cry suffering, right?"

"Yes Tuffnut."

"Welp, now I'm depressed. That's the only reason the vessels were created? To be a mindless container for a toxic orange goop?"

"Not quite, the former kings most well known experiments on void constructs were with the 'toxic orange goop', but he created and experimented with void long before then, that's why we have honey vessels and many others. Such as water vessels and lifeblood vessels, in fact, the kings palace guards were a specialized type of vessel. He treated all void creations as his children."

"So what happened to him?"

"...Nobody knows for sure; some say he killed himself out of guilt for destroying so many vessels to contain the infection, others that he reincarnated into another form to start his life over, even more try to connect the kings fate with an old tale about an ancient civilization from a time before Hallownest. I think the offered his soul to the void, becoming one with the shadows that would one day destroy the infection once and for all while his body was left behind. Sort of like he ascended to a new king of existence with his children."

"Wait, so you're just going to skip over that ancient civilization thing?"

"Ha ha ha! Well, if you speak with relic seeker Lemm in the City of Tears, he'll be willing to show you some arcane eggs the Wanderer sold to him. Lemm couldn't read them, but I could with the help of the void itself. Each egg is a chapter in the morbid story of an old people who worshiped the void, calling Night Furies dark angels and giving them many altars and offerings, but they disrespected any and all other dragons. It was that which lead the void to bless the other dragons with its dark power; turning their bodies Night Fury black, switching their power to that of shadows, and tainting their fire into a necrotic black flame, not unlike the flames that burned Toothless."

"Don't remind me."

"Sorry Toothless, but nevertheless, the ancient civilization was consumed by the very shadows they deified. All because they thought they were above someone else."

"I suddenly feel like Toothless, Platinum, and Apidae are staring me down."

"They are."

"Good to know."

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The riders soon arrived at Dirtmouth/New Berk. Seeming to be a self-employed ambassador, Quirrel asked Stoick and Valka to gather as many humans into the great hall as they could, stating there was something they needed to know now that Berk had settled in. Spitelout started:

"Alright three-limbs, what do you have to say that needed all of Berk's attention?"

"Good to see you to, and nice to hear you've settled in well. How many of you still possess dragons killing tools and experience?"

The hall fell silent. Vikings and dragons alike silently daring Quirrel to speak another sentence.

"'Why would you say that?' I hear you asking. It's about the Night Furies that attacked you when you first got here. The exiles have dozens of them, Night Furies drugged into submission with lifeblood."

He pulled a glowing blue vial from his mantle. The pink, blue, and orange eyed Night Furies immediately backed behind the yellow-eyed Night Fury, who moved to protect them.

"The ancient healers and doctors of Hallownest would tell you the former king forbade the use of lifeblood because it was native to a god other than him, the real reason the Pale King banned it was for the effects of repeated use. Small doses will heal people beyond the limits of their own bodies, but the voids absorbing properties meant only Night Furies felt the consequences of lifeblood's power enough for the king to notice."

He waved the vial at the Night furies in the corner, the yellow one snarling with teeth unsheathed as he did.

"Stage one: The exiles welcome captured and visiting Night Furies. Using needles and pipes to directly fill its body with only lifeblood for nourishment. 

Stage two: The dragons eagerly accept the lifeblood as if it were their favorite food, drinking it willingly rather than being poked with needles. The dragon's blood takes on a light blue tint and are allowed to eat normal food again, mostly special meats seasoned with herbs meant to make them physically stronger, since it will become to mindless to cast spells in time. This is the point some Night Furies are released and some aren't, some very powerful individuals are let go, we don't know why or what makes the Exiles release them.

Stage three: The eyes become slightly bloodshot with the dragons blood replaced entirely by lifeblood. It becomes a drug to them, it puts them in a sort of 'happy trance', and withdrawal symptoms and other erratic behavior occur if they don't get it. Lifeblood cocoons form in their chest and their wings glow. They still eat normal food.

Stage four: You saw this when the exiles attacked. The Night Fury makes its final decent onto insanity, eyes entirely bloodshot and blood is completely replaced with lifeblood, their muscles and skeletons turn cyan. Food and water become obsolete, they can only survive on lifeblood.

Stage five only occurs if the stage-four Night Fury is denied lifeblood; it dies after a three days of dehydration.

In theory, this can happen to anyone who takes lifeblood with enough use, but that wasn't a chance the king was willing to let his people take. He took notes on lifeblood's effects on the Night Furies who were already in various stages of corruption and trusted the hive with all of the research. An attempt to prevent anyone from ever learning they can pump a Night Fury's body full of it to get a forever mindless and loyal slave, despite the hate and criticism he received for banning what his people thought was a miracle substance. Since the exiles raided the hive and stole the kings only existing notes on the subject, they now have the means to copy the journals and irreversibly enslave innocent Night Furies."

Quirrel opened the vial and burned away the lifeblood inside, the Night Furies calmed down and Hiccup spoke up.

"But if lifeblood is like a drug to them, shouldn't it be possible make a cure or give therapy? What makes it irreversible?"

"If we rescue them at or before stage three, they can be treated, stage four is when the dragon's too far gone. I have tried many times using many methods to sever the many corrupted dragon's connection to lifeblood, it's not possible. Far to much of what's left of the Night Fury's body operates on lifeblood by then, we must rescue as many early-stage Night Furies as we can and kill the rest. No matter how much I hate it, it's for their own good."

He gestured to his magical prosthetic arm.

"This is the most conclusive result my years of research have yielded."