Chapter 4
"Dagger, where is your Father," Stoick asked in confusion as Dagger got off the ship.
"My father has been… Retired, he lost his taste for blood, I, on the other hand, am starving," Dagger said, seeming to sing the last word.
"Retired?" Gobber said looking slightly concerned.
"Yes," Dagger said chuckling lightly.
Stoick glared at Dagger, hard and moved to draw his sword. Stoick had dealt with idiots like this before, and to be honest he already knew he hated what Dagger done to take his place as Chief of the tribe. Gobber noticing put his hand on Stoick's on and stopped him from drawing his blade. Now was not the time for this.
"So let's just get to the treaty," Stoick said after a few moments trying to keep himself calm, war was not needed.
"Yes, let's. According to the treaty, my visit begins with a tour of Berk, the feast in the Great Hall, then finally to the Killing area were we sign the treaty it in dragon's blood," Dagger said grinning.
"Your father all that necessary," Stoick commented.
"Well as you can see, I am not my father. AM I!" Dagger said glaring as he began walking towards the ramps leading up into the village.
Stoick hung back a little bit as the other Berserkers got off and followed their leader up to Berk. He needed to talk with Hiccup and Gobber for just a few moments as things had changed greatly now.
"So, this is just great," Hiccup said.
"That better be sarcasm I hear," Stoick said.
"It is," Hiccup said.
"Good. Gobber you are coming with me, I am going to need someone else to help me keep a level head. He has already getting on my nerves," Stoick said, looking over at Gobber.
"Can do," Goober said.
"And Hiccup I need you to go out with Toothless and get a count on how many ships and men Dagger has brought," Stoick said, surprising his son.
"Why, I thought we were to sign a peace treaty with them, not start a war," Hiccup said confused.
"I don't plan on it, but with Dagger acting like this, that might just be impossible to avoid," Stoick said, for once truly glad that their village was hard to get to.
"Should I plan on being at Great Hall, in time for the feast," Hiccup asked.
"Yes, and make sure that the Arena is cleared of all dragon equipment. It would be best appear as if we have run out of dragons to kill," Stoick said.
"Okay I will do what I can," Hiccup said.
"Good, now remember to slip away once we are in the Village," Stoick said as the moved to follow Daggers group.
Hiccup nodded as the group moved forward and was soon able to slip away. He quickly made his way towards the cove hoping that nothing would happen while he was away. It was not that he was worried about his father or Gobber, they could handle themselves against Dagger and the few men he had with him. It was the other ships that worried him. Not far the cove he spotted Astrid, who was watching the dragons till the day was over.
"Hiccup what are you doing here," Astrid asked, once Hiccup was close enough to talk.
"Bad news, Dagger is the new Chief of the Berserker tribe," Hiccup said.
"Your right that is not good, what does he want," Astrid asked.
"Well nothing currently, but he already has my father on edge. So I was asked to get on Toothless and get a count on just how many men, and ships there are," Hiccup said.
"Wait, are we going to war?" Astrid asked confused, as they began making their way down into the cove.
"In a word, maybe. It depends as Dagger is a little deranged," Hiccup said.
"Great, I am gone for one day and you're already in trouble again," Astrid said.
"If I remember correctly, dear lady it is you, not I, who needs help," Hiccups said, which earned him a punch in the arm.
"Right, and that is why you work with Toothless so much," Astrid said.
"Detail," Hiccup said, rubbing his arm as they reached base of the cove.
"A very important one," Astrid said as the dragons came from their different locations in the cove to greet them.
Hiccup smiled, looking each of them over before moving over to Toothless and getting into the saddle. Astrid debated for a few moments before climbing into the saddle as well.
"What are you doing," Hiccup asked.
"Providing you with some support, in short, you and Toothless doing the flying; I will do the counting," Astrid said, pulling a spy glass out of Toothless's riding bag.
"You are needed here to keep the other dragons here still. We cannot allow them out and seen by other tribes yet," Hiccup countered.
"Yet you are going on a Night Fury during the middle of the day," Astrid pointed out.
"Well he is my dragon, and I am his rider," Hiccup pointed out, getting a small growl of agreement out of Toothless.
"True. But he is also a big black dragon in an otherwise blue sky. So I am going with you, unless you want to pick a dragon that is less likely to be shot out for just being seen," Astrid said with a small smirk.
"And which one do you think would be best," Hiccup asked, noticing Astrid was getting a lot better with her logic.
"Personally Stormfly is the best, her blue scales would offer better chances of not being seen. Besides that means I am the coming with you either way," Astrid pointed out, as Hiccup groaned.
"You're not letting me do this without you are you?" Hiccup asked.
"Nope," Astrid said.
"Fine, get Stormfly ready to go," Hiccup said getting off Toothless.
"Okay," Astrid said before tossing Hiccup his spy glace.
Toothless nudged Hiccup confused, causing Hiccup to look at him, "Sorry boy, but I am not going to be able to take you this time. I need to travel with Astrid and Stormfly."
Toothless let out a growl of annoyance at this, and looked away, as Hiccup spoke again, "Here I will make it up to you. Once this is all done, and we don't have to deal with the other tribe we can go anywhere you want. Deal?"
Hiccup was not quite sure Toothless understood everything he said, but the dragon seemed to agree to what Hiccup suggested after a few moments thought. Hiccup smiled and rubbed Toothless's head lightly causing the dragon to settle down. Once this was done Hiccup hurried over to Astrid and soon they were in the air.
They did not right away head towards the coast though. Rather they kept climbing in height wanting a better view of the coast, and the fleet that Dagger had brought with him. Soon they were among the clouds as Astrid directed Stormfly to head towards the coast. Hiccup began counting best he could, and it soon became apparent that the entire Berserker fleet was there.
Nearly a sixty ships were moored in Berks port, not including Berk's own fleet. Hiccup carefully began counting out and checking which ships were Berserker and which belonged to Berk. Once this was done he pulled out his spy glass and began carefully counting out the members of crew on each ship. This was not the best way to go about it, but he only needed to get an average for a few of the ships.
Once he was sure on the amount he had Astrid head back towards the cove, while he began tallying up numbers. When they had touched down Hiccup grabbed a stick and began going over the numbers again, very sure he had miss calculated. But after a few moments his fears were confirmed.
"Nine Hundred," Hiccup said, staring at the number.
"Nine Hundred, are you sure?" Astrid asked in surprise.
"Yes, the ships seems to be carrying about fifteen berserkers each, and at sixty ships to that fleet that is nine hundred Berserkers sitting on our door step," Hiccup said.
"Well, how big is the Berk Fleet and Army?" Astrid asked.
"About four hundred men and women currently, as most of our village is out getting food. Otherwise it would be equal numbers," Hiccup said after a few moments of thought.
"So we are outnumbered two to one, that is not as bad as it could have been," Astrid said with a knowing smirk.
"If it came to a fight yes, but we have the advantage right now. A siege against Berk is impossible, if you wish to win against our tribe, you need to take us in a week or not at all. The area around the island cannot maintain a large military for long, and we can live off the Berk's natural resources, plus we now have dragons," Hiccup said.
"Well in that case we could just let Dagger start the war he wants, then kill him," Astrid said.
"As nice as that sounds, I think it would be best just tell me father what we have found out," Hiccup said.
"And let me guess that means I am stuck here keeping an eyes on the dragons," Astrid said, giving Hiccup a small glare.
"Yes, for now at least," Hiccup said, looking around at the dragons and realized something seemed to be missing, "Astrid, do you see Meatlug?"
"What do you mean he is right… over there," Astrid said noticing that Meatlug was indeed missing.
Astrid and Hiccup began running about the cove looking for Meatlug. But within moments they knew that Meatlug had left. Hiccup did a quick check and made sure all the other dragons were still there before heading back to the entrance. His dad needed to be warned, being outnumbered was one thing, a surprise attack because someone saw something they shouldn't, was something else entirely.
Hiccup's only hope, as he moved along through the forest, was that Fishlegs had not taken Meatlug. If Meatlug had just left by himself, then the risk was more manageable, outside the fact that meant Meatlug could still be killed if he got too close to the Village. Hiccup also knew that any chance of looking or finding Meatlug right now would be near impossible, well outside his whistle, but more than a few people would hear that.
Hiccup stopped outside the Village and saw Dagger, a few of his men, his own Father, and Gobber headed up to the Great Hall. He did not have a lot of time if he wanted to let his dad know what was going on. Sighing Hiccup moved quickly towards the group and was able to get in behind them into the Great Hall.
Once inside Hiccup was able to get his day off to one side and tell him just what was going on currently. Stoick, was less than happy to hear this, but he knew he had to play this cool, and just get the treaty signed. Then send Dagger on his way.
The feast thankfully went as planned. Dagger and his men enjoyed the food that had been prepared, and laughed and joked with the few people Stoick had asked to join them. After a toast or two, which Dagger found rather annoying, Gobber brought the subject back around to the treaty.
"So you both ready to sign the treaty," Gobber asked.
"Yes, I think it would be a good idea," Stoick said.
"Yes, lets. Bring out the dragon's blood," Dagger said.
"Come now, your father and I have not signed a treat in dragon's blood for years," Stoick said.
"Why is that a problem," Dagger asked.
"We currently have no dragons on Berk, unless it is a raid and those stopped a while ago. So we have not dragon's blood to use as ink," Stoick explained.
"Come now you don't expect me to believe that do you? We both know Berk is the center of all dragon activity," Dagger said.
"It was, till recently, but we cannot use what we don't have," Stoick said.
"Well, if that is the way things are going to be, then I will ask something in compensation for this small insult," Dagger said, grinning dangerously.
"And what might that be?" Stoick asked in a surprisingly level tone.
"A girl of my choice to be my wife. You see most girls at home are too weak for me, but I know the girls here are tough and worthy of being the wife of the berserker chief," Dagger said, in a rather bored tone of voice.
"I see, the answer is no," Stoick said.
"And why not, it is a simple price to pay, or would you rather start a war with my tribe," Dagger asked.
"I am not looking for war, but I am not about to give someone over to you, just because we lack something," Stoick said slowly standing up.
The room was growing increasingly tense. Both sides were moving away from each other, and then behind their own leader. It was at this point that Dagger's men realized they were actually outnumbered three to one in this place. And while they knew Dagger was very skilled he was no match for Stoick, nor were they a match for the people of Berk.
"You seem to think you can win if we started a war," Dagger said, "But you have forgotten about my armada, fill with fifty thousand brave berserkers. You harm me and they will wipe Berk from the map!"
"That I where you are wrong Dagger, I have seen your fleet, you barely boast a thousand men. Plus what can your army do right now to save you. Now I will give you two choices if you wish to leave here alive, sign the treaty and leave Berk in peace. Or, you can leave, and our tribe is now enemies with your own," Stoick said, taking the paper from Gobber and putting down on the table between him and Dagger.
