Omphalos (Hiccelsa)

Chapter 27

"A bewilderbeast?" Thuggury slammed his fist down, "This is dangerous, Hiccup!"

"We hardly know anything about them." Wolfen agreed, glaring angrily. If Hiccup had his way, Hogsag, Gnaw, and Wolfen wouldn't be at these meetings. He still was sure that, if it came down to it, they'd side with Unn. Although he hadn't been seen in awhie, it didn't mean those flames of loyalty had died out. But it was all the tribes, and he couldn't deny them entry.

"Well, if you, one second-," Fishlegs began but Wolfen spun, as if noticing the bulky man in the meeting for the first time.

"What's he doing here? He's not even a leader, nor is he a second at all!" He said, and there were grumbles of agreement throughout the room.

"Because I knew someone would say what you said." Hiccup said, nodding to his friend with reassurance.

"Well, it's a Tidal class. Habitat, great oceans. Trainable, although with difficulty. 304 meteres high, at least. Attack 50, Speed 6, Armor 38-,"

"See, we know plenty." Hiccup said, cutting Fishlegs off, glaring around the room.

"I can't believe you're just okay with this, Hiccup." Asgar said from across the room, rubbing his chin.

"Why wouldn't I?" Hiccup asked, tilting his head.

"Well, it's a natural Alpha. Toothless is currently the Alpha but he's not normally an alpha."

"That thing is a baby." Elsa broke in, "It won't be leading anyone anywhere." She pointed out.

"One day, perhaps, though." Hiccup did admit, "But we'll figure that out when we come to it." He finished quickly, although he sent Elsa a tense look, meaning he had thought of this, and was a bit unsettled. Under the table, Elsa squeezed his leg reassuringly.

"Can we talk about the elephant in the room?" Gnaw said, and Hiccup narrowed his eyes at him with distrust. Elsa gave him a quick look of apology across the room, but Gnaw seemed to hardly see it.

"Which is?"

"Are, actually." Gnaw corrected himself. He stood, pushing his chair back to pace. The whole group of men and the occasional women watched him with careful curiosity.

"So, well," Gnaw began, seemingly working through his thoughts out loud, "Those things are...more than dangerous. We all know what happens in the hands of a trainer like Drago. Should they be trainable at all?" Gnaw said, looking everyone in the eye, "But now it's in the hands of Calder. Who is the son of Unn- a man who makes even Drago's crimes seem like amateur hour." He said.

Elsa glanced at Hiccup and saw his whole body tense and shake. However, indirectly, Drago had killed his father. Dismissing his crimes as 'amateur', that an 'amateur' killed someone as great as Stoick the Vast was not only disrespectful, but could land Gnaw in the hands of a man who, even after all these years, was still trying to cope.

"That's ridiculous!" Elsa gave a deep sigh of relief at Camacazi's objection, "We all know Calder. Most, at least. He is nothing like his father!"

"Or he's a good actor!" Someone called out from the back of the room.

"I can vouch for him, since he's under my care." Hiccup said, his voice pointed, "He is not his father. He will not wreak the havoc that Unn did, and he will only treat this dragon with love." He said.

"If you have no misgivings," Gnaw said, leaning into the table, "Why did you bring this up to us?"

"Because imagine what you'd do if you saw it with Calder outside now. Shoot it down? Probably. Maybe worse." Hiccup pointed out, and Elsa was shocked to see a few guilty faces look down at the thought. Even people she had considered friends. Then again, she'd only heard of such devastation of the last bewilderbeast, and she did remember Unn all too well.