First I want to thank closetnightmares for helping me rewrite the chapters to make a much better story. Check their stories if you can and want.
Bloodcurdling screams, the heat of the fires, dragons and the stench of death. That was all Hiccup could recall of the final battle between Berk and Drago Bludvist. It often bothered him, as the more he thought back on it, he realized how war was truly unusual in it's capacity to change people for the better or even the worse.
Hiccup's only real wish in life had always been peace and prosperity for the people and dragons of the Archipelago nothing more. Was such a thing too much to ask? But it was never that easy just wishing for peace. Those were wishes of a child. Hiccup believed that if someone truly wanted it, then sometimes they must take it. Even if meant that their image would be forever tarnished and people would never see them the same again. Even if it meant becoming a devil in the eyes of those they wanted to help, Hiccup still thought that such a thing was justified. After all, war always had a price.
Hiccup sat up with a yawn, rubbing at his bleary eyes. The birds' songs are so nice in the morning. Even so I still HATE mornings! he thought to himself. I'm a night person, for Thor's sake!
The blanket that covered his legs began to move as the other person in the bed shifted. Hiccup smiled and shook his head as he marveled at the beautiful woman beside him. Well, I guess the only thing that's nice in the morning is to wake up next to my wife.
"Good morning, my lady." He murmured while affectionately stroking her blonde hair that glowed so brightly in the morning light. Blessed by such a sight, he could only wish for that moment to go on forever.
"Mmm, good morning, dragon boy," Astrid said with her eyes still closed. A small smile tugged at her lips, and upon noticing Hiccup grinned.
"Did you sleep well?" He questioned his wife as he removed his hand from her hair.
"Yeah, but I really don't want to get up," Astrid grumbled, turning onto her side to face away from Hiccup.
"My apologies, my lady, but we have a meeting today." Hiccup pulled her back toward him.
"Ugh, do we have to? Can't we just sleep?" Astrid questioned as she popped an eye open to stare up at her husband.
"Sorry, my lady part of the job as Queen of Greater Berk," Hiccup said with his goofy grin. Before he could say anything else, Astrid took him by the collar and kissed him fervently.
"I love you hiccup," she said breathlessly when she pulled back.
"Love you too my lady." Hiccup said while staring into her deep blue eyes, already half-lost in them...but a knock on the door startled the two out of their little moment.
"Come in!" Hiccup shouted, reluctantly turning away from his wife.
"My king and queen, it's time for the meeting. " Nobu stated while looking down, feeling guilty for disturbing their moment.
"Thanks, Nobu, Astrid and I will be there shortly. Can you stall them for a couple minutes?" Hiccup asked the man with a wink.
"Of-Of course, my king," Nobu said and hastily closed the door of the room. Hiccup waited until the sound of footsteps had vanished to turn back to Astrid, who was now gazing up at him with a smirk.
"So...where were we?" Hiccup asked with a mischievous grin.
"Land in sight, Captain!"
"Where is Chief Asvard"? The captain asked.
"Talking to his son, sir!"
"Go get him for me. We are nearing the capital of Greater Berk and we'll be docking in an hour."
"Yes, sir!" Asvard shouted before departing with a salute. No one ever said no to Captain Oglin. The man is insane on the same level of Dagur the Deranged. Once, Captain Oglin attacked ten ships with only his own. It was a complete suicide mission. As a result, the enemy captured him, and in return for their troubles they cut one of his eyes out. Later, when he was released from his prison, he took revenge on them in the most unspeakable ways. But that would be a story for another time.
"Son, please listen to me. He is our king, we can't show disrespect towards him. You know this!" The Chief pleaded. "We will deliver the tribute and then we will go back home, Bjorn."
"Why do I need to show respect to a hiccup of all people?" Bjorn scoffed in disgust.
"Because he is our king, Bjorn! You would do well to do as you are told!" The Chief of The Misty Skull Tribe shouted, his face red with anger.
"But Dad! If we fought him we could regain our freedom!" Bjorn matched his father's tone, not wanting to stand down.
"And after that? War? Poverty? Will you condemn your people to a war they can't win? Do you want to be the last Chief of The Misty Skulls Bjorn?" The Chief asked angrily.
But before Bjorn started to reply his dad interrupted him. "Son… King Hiccup is a good king- I know it's hard for you to understand, but Hiccup has made peace for the whole of the Barbaric Archipelago. We have known lasting peace for 8 years under his rule. You were only six when king Hiccup became High King of Greater Berk. You never knew dragon raids, any war, any hunger. The times are changing son and The Misty Skull Tribe will support the High King." The Chief explained with a more calm tone than before.
"Bu-t da-" Bjorn started to disagree again.
"Enough, Bjorn! My decision is final!" The chief shouted one final time as he finally exited the room and slammed the door shut. Bjorn gritted his teeth in anger.
Why can't he understand that we must stop him before we can't go back, Bjorn thought to himself.
Line break.
"Ugh, that hurts…" Asvard groaned while rubbing his back. Apparently, he had run into something, and that something, or rather a someone, was clearing their throat urgently. Asvard looked up and saw his chief.
"Sorry Chief, I thought I hit a tree. Hehehehe." Asvard rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Tell me what's wrong Asvard and be quick about it. I'm not In the mood for jokes."
The man in question straightened up. "S-Sir the captain sent to me that the capital is in sight. W-We will dock in an hour," Asvard said, fumbling through his words.
"Great to hear my friend make the tribute and gift ready for The King and the envoy."
"R-Right awa-y, sir…" Asvard mumbled, still stumbling over his words.
"Men, listen to me!" The Chief shouted to the entire crew of the ship. "I know that for many this will be the first time to see the capital of our fine nation of Greater Berk. It is quite different in comparison to our humble village or to the even great fortress city of Dragon Edge. It is much more extravagant. So, men, feast your eyes on the capital of Greater Berk!"
A lot had changed for Berk in 15 years, seeing as how it became the biggest city in the Barbaric Archipelago. When Berk was only a village it had at most 300 people living there and it was a small village in comparison to The Berserker Tribe, but that was in the past.
Now, Berk was the center of the Barbaric Archipelago in trade, politics, and war. 7000 people lived in Berk, people who ranged from commoners to nobles. It really was the center of the empire. It's also the second most fortified place in the Archipelago, with walls that dwarfed any other Viking city. If the last chief of Berk would have been alive to see Berk now, he would not believe how far it had come in only 15 years. The first thing you would see when coming to the capital was the port. To say it's big would be minimizing it. It was huge! Trade ships go in and out of Berk's ports, countless warships patrol the sea around the island and move to lands still unknown in order to promote expansion. But before one could get to the port, they would need to get past two huge towers that flank the port on the sides. These were the first defenses of Berk. Mighty towers with great siege engines on them. Rumors go that even if a whole armada would attack only one tower, it would not succumb to any threat no matter how great.
Berk was believed to be invincible.
An hour later, the ship docked at the port of the capital.
"Welcome to the capital, Chief Skuldron of The Misty Skull Tribe!" Four guards shouted in complete unison, all with an arm folded across their chest in a common salute.
"Not these guys…" The Chief muttered in annoyance as he stepped from the ship ramp onto the dock. Suddenly all the guards got down to one knee and bowed.
"Long live the High King." They recited in matched tones.
Between the men, Bjorn saw another man walking toward them. He was not as big as his dad but who was? His dad was as big as a tree. But the air of this person was different, not a good kind of different, but more that kind of different where you wanted to run away from the person and never see them again. It was intimidating.
"Lord Snotlout great to see you again!" The Chief said while bowing to the man.
Wait Lord Snotlout like the Lord of Dragon Edge? The place where no ship or army can pass without being seen and sunk to the bottom of the ocean? Bjorn thought to himself in a combination of awe and fear.
"On a knee Bjorn! Now!" His dad said in an urgent whisper. Bjorn reluctantly got on one knee and looked at the ruler of Dragon Edge.
Snotlout was wearing incredible armor. The shoulders were fairly rounded and wide, decorated with a metal bat wing on each side, and elegantly curved towards the sides that supported a black cloak. His breastplate was made from one large piece of metal—covering almost every part of him, and in the middle it sported the crest of Greater Berk.
Next to him there were two other people of Dragon Edge. The only difference was that they have a helmet on with a face guard shaped like a skull. Attached to their forehead is a dragon-head-shaped ornament to represent to Jorgenson crest.
"Welcome to Berk, Chief Skuldron." Snotlout greeted the newcomers formally while looking at the ship of the Misty Skulls. "What a nice ship you've got there Skuldron… but, if I might ask, why are there so many men on your ship? Expecting some trouble here?" Snotlout asked, eyeing the chief suspiciously.
"Ah, never my lord! Most of the people that are with me are still young and have never seen Berk."
"That's Greater Berk to you, Skuldron!" Snotlout snapped. "Never forget, Skuldron, we are the first defense and sword of High King Hiccup. If you dare to make so much as one other offense to the empire, I will personally lead the Sentinels of Loyalty to your little shit hole of a village and burn it like we did the Berserker's tribe."
"My lord forgive me I was out of line!" The Chief pleaded with Snotlout. The only thing Bjorn felt was humiliation in the presence of his groveling father.
"Very well, I will give you a small tour of Berk and then take you to the high king." Snotlout said while sending the four guards away to help the crew unload the ship.
"I can't thank you enough for the warm welcome Lord Snotlout," The Chief gratefully thanked their escort while giving a sign to Asvard.
AH! Damn the gift for the representative nearly forgot it, Asvard thought while going through the tribute chests. Ah, here it is! Asvard grabbed the gift hastily and quickly presented it to Lord Snotlout.
The gift was a weapon with a long, thick, smooth blade made of Gronkle steel that was held by a grip wrapped in gold-colored scaled leather. Because it was sharp on just one edge, the weapon would protect you from incoming blows. The blade had a jagged, curved crossguard on it, upon which rested the crest of Greater Berk. The blade itself was engraved and read:
þinn sem berjast munu rísa til Valhallar og borða við borð guðanna
"Thanks, Chief Skuldron," Snotlout gave the sword an experimental swing. "It's a great sword and I will surely use it when the next war starts." Snotlout says while looking at Bjorn.
"Hahaha you are joking my Lord, the empire has known peace for the last 8 years," The Chief said while laughing nervously. "Who would dare to go to war against this great empire?"
"Chief, as you know times are changing again… And the continent of Europe is on the move… War will come to us. Whether you want to or not, my two sons and I can't wait to bash some skulls in for King Hiccup." Snotlout said while putting his hands on the respective shoulders of the two men next to him. "Now come we will start with the tour for the young ones."
"Okay, everyone follow me, but please stay with us, it's a large city and I don't want you to get lost!" The chief declared to his crew as they began to walk toward the heart of Greater Berk.
When the travelers from the Misty Skull Tribe passed through the docks they got washed over with a feeling of wonder… The dock was the center of trade in Berk and the surrounding regions. It has everything from food to weapons to jewelry. Every trader needed to be registered at the Nordic Trade League, which was led by the biggest trader in Greater Berk, Johann the Trader. After the league building, they saw the first wall of Berk. It was not as big as the main wall but it still dwarfed most walls from other cities. After that, it's a long walk for about 10 minutes to the top of Berk. When they got to the top, they were met with the second wall, and that wall is the main defense of Berk— standing at 20 meters high and completely made out of smooth stone. Four great towers have a good sight on the only place you can reach Berk on foot. It was certainly a sight to see…
After passing the gate, they would finally enter the city of Berk.
"Lord Snotlout why are there so many people here? Is there going to be a celebration or something?" Bjorn asked while looking at the people on the street in amazement.
"Hahaha, no my boy this is a normal day on Berk now." Snotlout said while laughing at the look on Bjorn's face.
"Now guys, go explore the capital and enjoy your hard earned money on something you like!" The Chief shouted to his crew.
"Wait! Before you go, stay away from the East District! If you dare go there, I will personally flog you to death." Snotlout said with no room to argue to the crew that was about to leave. Five seconds later only Skuldron, Bjorn, Snotlout and his two sons and the guards that were carrying the tribute were left at the plaza.
"Great, now we can go on." Snotlout said with a grin that was charming, yet lethal.
After walking for half an hour, they reached the keep. It's a lot farther from the city than one would think… but it looks amazing since it was made completely of polished white marble. Around the castle, there were only open plains, and the castle itself stood on a large hill. On the walls, lodged in small alcoves, were siege engines like ballistas and catapults. The only thing that looked remotely strange was the second wall sticking out of the castle.
"Um Lord Snotlout, why is there a second wall sticking out of the side of the castle?" Bjorn asked curiously, pointing to the strange anomaly.
"Hahaha, that is a secret, my boy, only a couple of people in the whole empire know why… now stop asking questions or I will think that you are trying to spy on us, and you know what happens with spies here in the empire." Snotlout said with a sadistic grin directed towards the tall boy.
"Don't worry my Lord, The Misty Skulls are a loyal clan!" The chief butted in proudly while giving a penetrating look to his son to be quiet.
"Skuldron relax, it was a joke." Snotlout said with a sly grin.
A pale looking Bjorn swallowed and muttered to himself, "A bad one."
When they approached the castle, the massive drawbridge was lowered and trumpets began playing to announce their arrival. "Chief Skuldron! Welcome to the heart of The Empire, Runestone Castle," Lord Snotlout said as the group was saluted by the castle guards.
End of chapter one