Chapter two

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The Chief of Berk

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It was the early morning on Berk. The sun was just barely over the horizon. The Hairy Hooligans had been awake for several hours already due to the Dragon raid that occurred late last night. The after effects of which were still present. The smell of charred wood and spilled blood made the air reek of rust and smoke. Billowing towers of gray smoke wafted into the air where fire smoldered under ash and wood.

The raid had been repelled quite well. The food stores were mostly unscathed and standing and only a few homes needed extensive repair. The demons had managed to make off with a few chickens and a sheep but that was all that been reported in the initial report from the villagers. Stoic wasn't really listening though. He was in an unseeing daze. He had th-his daughter in the crook of his arm as villagers gave him damage reports, and reported who was and who wasn't injured.

Stoick was stoic… at least on the outside. His mind was a typhoon of chaotic feelings. He wanted to be angry and kill a few more dragons but especially the damned one that had taken his Val. Val…she was so beautiful and kind. And if he was perfectly honest her mean left hook made her perfect. She was gone but all he wanted to do was have his arms wrapped around her. Stoic was scared, he didn't know how he was supposed to live in a world without her. He could not even recall what it was like to live before he met her. He doesn't think it was the same as what he was feeling now because that was just too terrible a life.

Soft crying from his arm grabbed his attention. His dear Val had given birth to their small babe several months ago. The babe had the same green eyes as himself but he could already see Val's own features appearing behind the layers baby fat. The short soft auburn hair was probably his but Hicca was so small…

And the world was so big. And the dangers were all around. Hicca was all he had left of Val and his memories with her. Hicca will never get to experience anything like that with her mother.

Stoic soothed Hicca, she was probably cranky from being awake for so long. He would need to put her down soon for a nap. It was then that Stoick's best friend, partner treasure hunter and the village black smith approached.

Gobber had a jovial smile with his false metal tooth poking out from his lips. He approached with a swinging gait due to his primitive leg prosthesis. Gobber was and is one of the most skilled warriors of the tribe and losing an arm or leg didn't slow him down in a fight and was a skilled black smith to boot. He made his very own arm prosthetics of which he had many.

"Oi, Stoick!" Gobber the belch greeted," Quite the raid 'e 'ad las' nigh. Eh?" He took a moment to scan the scene around him. The village was in a state of slight disarray but nothing a bit of hard work wouldn't fix. Hairy Hooligans easily bounced back from such simple setbacks.

"Aye…" Stoick agreed but more in the opposite direction of Gobber's assessment." One of the worst we have had in a long while." Only through sheer force of will and habit did Stoick's words seem to come out matter of fact and completely disjointed from the events. He owned his name like no other Viking could ever.

But friendships are a strange thing. A bond between two people like the one between Stoick and Gobber was one of the strongest. They had fought side by side for years. They knew each other strengths which were many and each other's weakness which were few. They tore through herds of dragons with ease together. They crushed invading peoples with ruthless abandon. They knew each other very well and a friendship built on hard times and the need to survive was indomitable. Gobbber was one of the few who could sometimes see past the massive man who could command the very nature of the sea and mountains to his will. And right now Gobber saw a broken man detached from reality begging for what had happened to have not have happen.

"Stoick?" Gobber asked warily," Wha' happened?" For a moment a sliver of unfeeling granite of which Stocik's face was sculpted cracked. A tiny amount of moisture appeared at the corner of his left eye but in a second it seemed as if the water had retreated back inside. There was a long silence between the two men and Hicca continued to whine pitifully in discomfort. Stoick turned away from Gobber trying to Soothe Hicca.

The small cut horizontal cut along the left side of her chin was already black from exposure sealing the wound. Stoick thought it would probably scar. Her skin was so young and soft it was not ready to loose blood so early. Stoick never wanted Hicca to bleed.

Stoick sighed heavily from the strain of his world. He looked back at Gobber over his shoulder to see Gobber's face riddled with concern for his chief and friend. Gobber was just about to ask again when Stoick responded.

"Valhal- Val is…" Stoick took a breath and continued," Val is gone."

It took a moment for Gobber to process what Stoick had said. So Stoick stared forward resolutely into the distance away from Gobber while soothing Hicca.

"No. Not Valhallrama. You must be mistaken Stoick. Ave ye checked the healers hut? Maybe she is helping the Hofferson family down the lane." Gobber continued trying to find a valid explanation for Val's absence until Stoick raised his right arm with his palm open. Gobber stopped talking.

"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard." Stoick hated saying those words. Being a Viking didn't mean you get crippled by dragons, or killed, or even having the love of your life kidnapped. But it did happen but it was because of those accursed demons. The monsters and that was what they were. With their evil reptilian eyes, venomous saliva and the fire brought from Hel itself.

Stoick face morphed into a frightening sneer that seemed to radiate danger even through his thick facial hair. A Viking a stone's throw away actually flinched from the display. Stoick the Vast was not a man but a force of nature no mortal could contain. Stoick turned around and took several steps forward. Gobber stepped out of the way in reflex. Gobber felt like a bear had just passed him by and only through Stoick's whims that he wasn't a bloodied mess dead on the ground.

"Stock! Where are you goin?" Gobber called after him," What are yeh doin?"

Without breaking stride Stoick said," I am going to put Hicca down for a nap. Maybe with the Hoffersn family. They had a child recently." With a grunt Stoick continued forward towards the Hoffersn home while looking to the northwest, towards the demon's home." And then I am going to end this war."

Stoick approached Gunmar and Ingrid Hofferson who were in front of their home. They were removing debris around their home. Stoick could see a bundle strapped to Ingrid's back. A small head was poking out looking curiously at her surroundings. Astrid Hofferson, the youngest member of the clan. She had been born a few weeks prior to Hicca. When Stoick had given that girl her name he knew she didn't need one that could scare away gnomes and other things. This girl was going to be strong she didn't need a scary name to hide behind.

The Hofferson family was whole and unbroken something Stoick hadn't felt for a few hours and he already missed it dearly. He hoped Astrid for all her potential would never feel the loss of her own kin.

He approached Ingrid already proffering Hicca to her. Ingrid took Hicca into her arms automatically. It was something she had done the very same with Astrid towards Val. They had been dear friends in their youth and bonded over their pregnancy together.

"She is a little cranky I think she needs a nap." Stoick informed and began walking away before the Hoffersons could ask what was going on. Hicca quieted down curious at the change of arms that were cradling her. Astrid peeked out over her mother shoulder and looked down at the baby. The two babes giggled in mirth at each other loving each other's company.

It was much later in the day when the news finally reached the Hofferson home. Hicca and Astrid had shared a cradle for their nap and were now playing on a fur rug in front of the fire place. Ingrid wept when she heard the news of her friend's demise. She held her child and Hicca close to her as she cried. Hicca patted at Ingrid's face where tears rolled down her cheeks. Gunmar knelt at her side. holding his wife by the side consoling her.

Meanwhile in the mead hall there was meeting being held. The Vikings stood around a large round table discussing the issue of the dragon raids.

"This bloody conflict has gone on long enough!"

"We need a solution to these menace!"

"There has to be something we can do!"

Similar things were said all around the table. The noise reverberated through the Hall. Stoick stood at the head of the table. Now strictly speaking there is no head of a round table but this didn't stop someone from seeing it. Stoick stood quietly listening to his people shout and bicker amongst each other not achieving much of anything. Stoick took a slow steady breath of air and shouted.

"QUIET!" one word. That was all it took to silence the room. Just one of the tremendous feats Stoick the Vast had collected. All the attention was on him now.

"We are Vikings! We stand here as warriors through and through. We know nothing as well as a battle field. Spilling blood is a task we know well and for the last three hundred long years. Dragons have tasted our steel. They are monsters, they are cruel, but they are also stupid. A sane creature would have left the first chance it got after meeting us on the battle field!" Stoick boasted" But these beasts aren't sane. They continue to come and we slaughter them!" Stoick took a quieter tone," but we are not gods. We are only the children of men and we grow tired of this fight. One of these days our people will be wiped out. It will not happen tomorrow or even next year or even by the end of my life time! IT is however inevitable. With or without the support of the other tribes we will end this war! We will find the nest and we will break it!" Stoick let a quiet moment to pass as he looked at each of the heads of families in the hall. He took another steady breath in and shouted," ARE YOU WITH ME!"

A roar of erupted from the men spilling out of the mead hall. Vikings in the village stopped their work to look towards the mountain shelter. They knew something had changed.