How to train your vessel - Book one

The queen of Berk

Astrids eyes were repeatedly stung by gold rays. Every inch of the many walls and pillars reflected pure, shining light in all directions. Apidae seemed unfazed by the never ending honey and guided Astrid while her movement was slowed by the sticky honey and lack of wings, which the two short-wing dragons were happy to rub in her face. They soon came into a room that over looked a massive hole like a balcony over a cliff, after just half a second of Apidae buzzing his wings at the edge the ground shook, a bee the size of the red death climbed to the room from the hole and vibrated its antennae, from which glowed white liquid and flowery particles that formed into a smaller version that hugged the vessel.

"AH! MY LITTLE SWEETHEART! YOU'VE BEEN GONE SO LONG!"

"Bzzzzz! Bzzzz Bzzzz! Bzz bzz bzz!"

"Fantastic! I can tell you've been an excellent pupil to that ancient being, and found yourself many good friends along the way."

"Wait, you can understand him? He just 'speaks' in buzzing, is it like some kind of language to you?"

"Yes human, it's only 'spoken' and understood by us, it's his only means of talking to anyone. Other than perhaps a message cantrip or tongues spell. Speaking of which, I asked him to bring you here, I have something to tell you."

"But you acted like this is the first time you've seen him, how'd you tell him to bring me here?"

"You've met the blue hooded one who could magically dominate creatures, correct? Arcana can bring many great fortunes and woes to the world, which is why I asked for you."

Vespa's avatar lifted her arm and a four pronged white object appeared floating within her hand, she gestured it toward Astrid and the object gentle flew just in front of her chest. She instinctively grabbed the pale object, it was warm to the touch and fit snugly into her palm as she inspected the blank piece of a material she didn't understand. 

"Once you get your ax back from your lover, travel into Hallownest's deepest depths, you can get there through a door labelled 'Ancient basin' in the City of Tears. You'll want to bring a dragon to help traverse the many spikes and trenches."

"Uh... Thank you-WAIT LOVER? WHAT DO YOU MEAN LOVER?!"

"Hmm, a shame, the boy isn't appreciated in return."

"What are you talking about? We appreciate Hiccup! He's our weapon smith and heir!"

"But you take his weapons for granted and he has spoken of not desiring the position of 'your chief' to Apidae."

"He has? NO YOU'RE LYING! THE LAST QUEEN THAT BERK KNEW OF WAS AN EVIL DRAGON!"

"Not only is evil subjective, it is broad, everyone is the protagonist of their own story. The Exiles want to restore Hallownest to its former glory and beyond, claiming they free the Night Furies from knowing the pain of understanding what the world does to and thinks about them. Like it or not; those dragons have free food and water (or their equivalent of them), free shelter, and no need for any kind of therapy or help from others. The dragon you speak of was likely just using the others to get food, correct?"

"Well, yes, BUT IT-"

"But it only took food from the vikings that had joyfully hunted and slaughtered its kin for generations, it could've cared less about expanding its empire or it would've tried to bring even more dragons under its control. But this 'Hiccup' has told the story of how you fought and killed it by riding dragons to Apidae, and how the monster didn't call upon its underlings to simply swarm you. Nor did it try to control the dragons you were on, instead giving you as fair of a fight as it could"

"..."

"Think more about others, human, you are anything but 'forever good and right'. The Exiles blind their dragons to the outside world, but after being given lifeblood and let loose in their village the dragon starts to sympathize with the Exile's cause. Many Night Furies, if cured, would still fight for the Exiles or demand to be put back under the bloods influence. If the dragon is genuinely loyal to the Exiles, do you still have the right to take the lifeblood away from them?"

"... We can't know if they're loyal for sure!"

"But you can, as I said the Exiles allow Night Furies given lifeblood to freely roam their village, they could just fly away at any time. But decide to stay with the mantis's that treat them more like people then the rest of the world, sometimes even more then the dragons own kind, all without any catches. Do not kill Exiles because they are 'wrong' or 'evil', strike because they DIRECTLY GO AGAINST your people and goals, that is the only reasonable time to fight against someone. Even then, be open to new ideas and peace options. I cannot force you to listen to this old queens advice, just encourage you to do so, as you seem to be the one who will rule in your heirs inevitable absence."

"Alright. But they catch and enslave dragons! They wage war against both our kinds! How can you defend them?"

"Attacking our people puts them against us, that makes it justified to attack them from our perspective. They consider it their right and duty to wage war and combat to strengthen the world, making pillaging and killing us justified from their perspective. 

Have you ever wondered about how few Night Furies the Exiles have despite hunting so many? They only complete the lifeblood indoctrination process if the dragon consents to it, all others are released, they just do it away from the vikings they think will try to harm the dragons. They purchase more dragons from arenas and dragon breeders then the do catch them in the wild. Exile pull dragons from objectively harmful conditions and give them the chance to never feel bad again. The depressed, the paranoid, the traumatized, the violated, the betrayed, the lied to, and the hateful. These are the dragons who give their consent to the Exiles offers of a new life, a chance to start over and abandon whatever unspeakable even that happened to them.

Now that you know this, lets go back to what make war justified. Catching and drugging dragons into submission is heretical and twisted to your people, making it justified to attack from your perspective. They offer dragons a chance to see what they can offer them without truly forcing them to obey, making your attacks and war goals to 'save' the Night Furies seem unreasonable and unjustified to them while they respect your approach to training dragons, so they think your people are close minded and cannot allow any ways of training a dragon other than your own to exist.

Of course, wars are fought over resources as well. Fighting over a resource is justified because because both sides need it to thrive. The Exiles stole our honey and land because they needed them to fuel their goals of a reborn Hallownest and sustain their own families, they just happened to find the secrets of Night Fury brainwashing in the process. Even if you didn't ask for it, you would wish to get paid and collect treasure for an act, wouldn't you? That was certainly what crossed the Exiles minds when they found that ancient power."

"...Yes."

"Precisely, there's no such thing as true good or evil, only people being people in  a world that doesn't often treat them as such. So they decide to enact change for what they view as better, which again puts them at odds with those who don't understand them and their goals because they are clouded by their own goals."

"..."

"Travel to the depths of Hallownest, embrace and learn from the abyss below. Become a Void Knight of the same void that birthed the Wanderer and Apidae those many years ago, obtain the means to enact your own change.

And use it wisely, future queen of Berk."