Disclaimer: I am not Cressida Cowell or Dreamworks, therefore I do not own 'How To Train Your Dragon'.
Summary: See previous chapters.
Chapter Four
The best part about being a Bog-Burglar, at least as far as Hiccup was concerned, was that while he was expected to know how to fight in an emergency, the warriors of the Bog-Burglar tribe were traditionally female (Astrid would have loved it here), so no-one expected him to automatically be a champion of all things Viking.
In fact, men more often served as fishermen, blacksmiths, scouts or armourers, although professions such as medicine, priest, farmer or historian could be performed by either gender. Here, Hiccup could be himself, could demonstrate his ideas without the jeers and taunts that punctuated everything about him back on Berk, especially about his size and lack of co-ordination, or his Father's constant disappointment. Here, Criedhe and Nessa practically worshipped him and Toothless, and the only scorn he received was during Camicazi's distracting chatter.
They also had no issue with the fact that Toothless was injured, and needed the makeshift tail-fin that Hiccup had crafted in order to fly. In fact, the only reaction had been one Blacksmith suggesting that he re-make or cover it with shed dragon-skin and –scales to minimalize the risk of the fin catching fire at a crucial moment.
Much like snakes, dragons shed skin and scales all the time. After a flight where Toothless had swept a bit too close to a torch and his fake tail-fin had caught fire, Hiccup had taken them up on the offer.
Sadly, being a dragon rider did not excuse a person from lessons. About two months after Hiccup's arrival, he and Camicazi had just been released from their morning tutors and were leading the others out for practical training, when Thora and Firesong came careening in, splattering everyone with mud as they landed. Despite this, Thora sounded quite cheerful. "There are a couple of Roman ships a few miles off of the coast, but they look like they're trying to give us a berth this time. Can we bash them anyway?"
This last was directed toward Big-Boobied Bertha, who had come over to see what all the commotion was about. A vicious smile spread over the bulky woman's face, "YES! WE ARE BOG-BURGLARS! OF COURSE WE ARE GOING TO ATTACK THEM! Criedhe, Niell, send out your Terrible Terrors as scouts. Thora, take Gundred and look for a good place to launch our attack. THE REST OF YOU, GET YOUR WEAPONS AND PREPARE THE SHIPS!"
Bertha strode away, still shouting orders, Camicazi running beside her, her small face alight with anticipation. Gundred scrambled up behind Thora, who hadn't bothered to dismount, and Firesong soared back into the air. Niell had summoned the flock of Terrible Terrors, and was giving them scouting instructions, with Thorvald acting as translator. This left Nessa and Criedhe to explain things to Hiccup.
The Bog-Burglars had had a few previous encounters with the Romans, culminating in a successful attempt to kidnap the Bog-Burglar Heir as part of a plot three years ago. Camicazi escaped less than a week later after bashing a Roman guard over the head with her food tray and stealing his helmet, which she used to chip a tunnel through the walls over the ensuring two days.
This tunnel emerged in the bathroom of the Roman Consul, who had thankfully been alone at the time. Camicazi had smashed the Fat Consul's snack-bowl over his head and snuck out while he was unconscious. This would have left her with the problem of getting out of Fort Sinister (The Roman fortress), but had found Stormfly on the way out.
Camicazi's capture had been productive in one way, however. The Centurion had decided that if trying to take in one nine-year-old girl took six legionnaires to pull off, and one officer being reduced to tears by the little girl's rudeness, then the Bog-Burglars as a Tribe were probably to be avoided.
Roman ships liked to use foggy mornings as a cover to sneak up on their enemies. The downside of this was that if their enemies knew that the Romans were coming, then they could also use the fog to sneak up on the Romans, and their enemies generally knew the local geography, and ensuring dangers, a lot better than the Romans did.
The Romans knew the area around the Bog-Burglar tribe reasonably well, but this time, they were trying to give them as wide a berth as possible, which took them into slightly shakier waters. This lack of certainty had them moving slower than usual, and focusing more on not running into anything than the fleet of Bog-Burglars that were silently (for once) sneaking up beside them.
The distinctive sound of a Night Fury's approach is actually part high-pitched roar, and part sound-of-something-moving-at-very-high-speeds. When gliding on thermals, however, they were virtually silent until they were right on top of you. Mood-Dragons grew darker as they became angrier, and Stormfly had very unpleasant memories of her first encounter with the Romans.
Hundreds of Bog-Burglars prepared to attack the Roman ships, while above them, three dragons hovered, almost invisible against the pre-dawn sky.
The first that the Roman Flagship knew about the attack was when the Bog-Burglar war cry rang out less than ten feet away. Since the Bog-Burglar war cry sounds like a very rude word being shouted at the top of a person's lungs, the Roman lookout turned to reprimand someone for their language, only to come face-to-face with a small blonde on a dark grey Mood-Dragon, grinning manically.
The lookout was about to draw his sword, when Stormfly set his uniform on fire. His resulting high-pitched shriek was just as effective in warning everyone of the danger, but far less dignified. The Roman ships didn't have much time to react, before Toothless and Firesong decided that they were through with being quiet, and set the sails of two other ships on fire.
To their credit, the Romans managed to regroup quickly, but not before their ships had been boarded and were now swarming with as many Bog-Burglar Vikings as Romans.
Most Vikings were tall, beefy and violent, but everywhere had a few exceptions. Hiccup had a very quick mind, but very little physical power to back it up. Camicazi was lethal with a weapon in her hand, but if you took that weapon away and somehow got her to stand still for five seconds, then you could probably overwhelm her with brute force. On Berk, they tried to pretend that the small or scrawny just didn't exist.
With the Bog-Burglars, they took the light and speedy, and added dragons. The big and strong could take care of themselves on the ground or on the deck of a ship, but in the air, Hiccup's small size was an advantage as he and Toothless were everywhere that they were not supposed to be, disrupting attacks and causing chaos.
One Roman ship was arming its catapults to try and sink as many Bog-Burglar ships as possible, but didn't get past the first stone before a concussive blast from Toothless shattered the war-machine into splinters. Roman soldiers who were not running around chaotically and were trying to form some kind or organized resistance found themselves swept up in the claws of either Stormfly or Firesong, and dropped into the cold ocean.
Romans used archers, but their light bows, while sufficient to pierce fur or skin, did not pack enough force to puncture dragon hide, and dodging arrows was one of the first things Thora had added to the dragon rider training regime. "Hold still! Jupiter take you, bitch!"
"Oh, shut up. Up you go, big-nose!"
"We'll get you for this! Hey, put me dooooooooown!"
SPLASH! "Oops. Come on, Firesong, let's get rid of those annoying arrows."
WOOSH! There followed a great burst of fire and a lot of screaming.
Another downside of archery was that while flaming arrows were commonplace, they didn't shoot very well when the bow itself was on fire.
It took three hours of a pitched hit-and-run battle, but the Roman ships finally managed to limp out of the fight, only to find that the Bog-Burglars were named as such for a reason, and half of them had nicked all of the supplies, treasure, and the gallery sink while the other half were busy fighting the Romans.
Back in the Bog-Burglar village, the Vikings were gloating over their catch. These particular Roman ships had apparently been coming back from a raid of their own, and had been carrying all sorts of things. Sound carried well over water, so it wasn't difficult to miss the wails of dismay from the departing, battered ships when they discovered their loss.
Thora smirked and continued digging through a few chests with Camicazi. Silks were impractical for Viking weather, but could always be traded off to a tribe that lacked the brains to realize this (which was most of them). The coloured bales of wool, cotton and linen, on the other hand, would be very useful. Ooh, weapons!
Camicazi was looking through another chest, which turned out to be jewellery. She didn't really see the appeal of hanging things around your neck or arms, but that belt of silver links was nice, and the pendent with two dragons twining around a broadsword would make a nice gift for Thora's her next birthday. Putting those aside, she joined Hiccup and Thora at a chest full of weapons, where they were debating what was practical. "Sorry, Hiccup, but I doubt that you could lift a large weapon under normal circumstances, let alone wield it one-handed while riding a dragon."
"Maybe not, but daggers are close-range. How do you expect to use them? A sling would work, but it would be hard to aim while rocketing around in mid air."
Camicazi darted over and picked up a light sabre, accidentally poking Thora in the process. Thora yelped, then picked up a pair of jewel-hilted daggers and poked her right back. Hiccup left them to it and continued inspecting the weapons for something he could use at all, then narrowed those down to ones that he could use while riding on Toothless, calmly ignoring the mini-free-for-all behind him.
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A/N: Longer than the first two chapters, but not as long as the third. I don't do fight scenes very often, so suggestions and opinions on that front are more than welcome. Points to anyone who can reference the dialog with the Romans. I couldn't resist.
As always, constructive reviews are very much appreciated, while flames are considered and then laughed at. If you ask a question and want a reply, then either log in so I can reply, or leave an e-mail address or pen-name.
Thanks, Nat