AN: Okay, two things! 1) Last Week I did post a new chapter, but I think there was an error and FF didn't recognize that I updated my story?... I don't know what happened there, but I did post Chapter 5 last week, and I'm sorry to anyone who missed it! So if you can't see Chapter 5, please let me know as soon as possible because this next chapter isn't gonna make any sense until you read chapter five! 2) I am aware that this chapter is super late, late, late! And I am so sorry about that! I had a crazy week, followed by a crazy weekend and a crazy mother's day, and there was a lot going on! I made up for it though, because this chapter is literally double the normal size, so you're really getting two chapters in one. Thank you all for understanding, please let me know if there's any problems, and as always I hope you enjoy the new chapter! :)
REVIEWER!:
BrawlerGamer: Thank you for your review, you assured me that I wasn't going crazy! As for Hiccup's training, there's a lot more to cover than just his sword shape and size, but we start to cover all that in this chapter! Yes, the summer after Third Year is when the events of Talia's movie took place with all of my own twists added in, and she hasn't been able to return to school since then. As for relationships, Talia's not really looking for anything, but who knows what I'll pull out of my hat for this one. She's a wild card in the love life department right now! ;)
Music: "One Last Hope" from Hercules (1997)
NOTES: To be a True Hero, kid, is a Dying Art. Like painting a masterpiece, it's a work of Heart.
Chapter 6: One Last Hope
The day was bright and the ocean was blue. A tiny, scrawny, green-eyed kid stood a few feet in front of her with a small smile, his black as night dragon standing beside him with a similar expression of child-like excitement.
Talia wasn't really sure how she ended up in this situation. Then again, she assumed being accidentally kidnapped by a boy and his pet dragon wasn't really something that happened to normal people, so maybe this situation made a bit more sense than she was willing to admit. But, for the life of her, she couldn't understand why the universe had decided that she, of all people, deserved to have such a bizarre circumstance take place in her life. Hadn't she been through enough already? And Talia was convinced she must be going completely insane because last night she'd actually agreed to train Hiccup, or Cat, or whatever his name was!
Of course, that thought was quickly followed with the idea that this could be her last chance. He may be small and scrawny, but he was... Different. Which was more than she could say about half the people who claimed the title of Hero nowadays.
The truth was, she had no idea if the little pirate standing in front of her even had what it took to be a Hero. A True one, that is. All she knew was that after Justin's betrayal, she was out of luck. The Knights were being welcomed back into the Kingdom, and every eligible warrior would flock to them for training. If she wanted to follow in her Grandfather's footsteps and become a Trainer of Heroes, she couldn't be picky. This was her last shot, and something about the skinny boy gave her hope. Not much else, but, hope. That had to count for something... Right?
"So where do we start?" Cat asked eagerly, wriggling under her assessing gaze. Talia inhaled deeply, steeling her patience.
"We start there." She told him, pointing out over the water. A few yards away was the dock of the port city, which was originally going to be where the pirates dropped her, but now it was going to serve as their starting training grounds. "We both need to get properly outfitted before we can start training. You with a properly sized and weighted sword. Me with some sensible clothes. This stupid dress was my old work uniform, and I need something I can move in."
They started by finding Talia a shirt, vest, and trousers, all simple and plain, but functional, and then they returned to the ship, but kept docked as Talia laid out weapon after weapon for Cat to try out. Eventually they settled on a plain short-sword, contrasting the short-broadsword Eret carried and had allowed Cat to use during their bout two days earlier. Talia hoped once he'd built up some strength in his arms, Cat would be able to trade out for a common Arming sword, maybe an Estoc if he was still struggling with the weight.
Dusting off her own Arming felt good, though. After Justin, she'd given up hope that someone would come along. That fella who'd ring the bell for once, not the gong. That kind who'd win trophies, not settle for low fees as a simple guard. At least semi-pro fees as a roaming Knight. But no! She got the Green-Horn; the only pirate without a clue of how to fight!
So, she started him with cleaning. She shoved two buckets fulls of soapy water and rags into Cat's arms and sent him to work, swabbing the deck. The Terrible Terror dragon climbed around on his shoulders while he scrubbed the wooden deck, and Cat would smile at the small dragon whenever he paused to wipe the sweat from his brow. The Night Fury watched curiously from the side.
Meanwhile, Talia polished her own sword and made sure Cat's was in top condition, remembering when she'd gone back to work at the Broken Eagle Inn. She'd felt like a horse being let out to pasture, too worn down to do her proper job anymore, all of her ambition gone. She'd been content to spend lazy days on her Grandfather's property and let the animals out to graze the lawn.
But Cat needed an advisor. An Eret, but wiser, she'd thought with amusement, and when Cat had finished cleaning, she decided the best place to start would be with what he already knew. Talia asked him to show her what he'd picked up, and he proved himself fairly capable with a dagger, only needing a few adjustments to his stance and posture at times. Then he and Toothless showed her their flying maneuvers, and she had a near heart attack with her jaw dropping open when Hiccup jumped out of the saddle and flipped into a free fall. Eret stood beside her on the boat, smiling.
Later that day, she was able to fully admit that she was down to one last hope, and she was really hoping it was Cat. She started running him through drills, and his weaknesses weren't very surprising. His abnormally small size put him at an extreme disadvantage already, but he was probably the scrawniest kid she'd ever met. He could barely pick up a sword, and he struggled through all of the strength building exercises. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly a dream come true.
But he excelled with the obstacles she set up on the decks, and in balancing along railings and ropes. He was strong with speed, agility, and balance, which calmed her rising nerves a little bit. This kid was smart and quick, and she'd trained enough turkeys who'd never came through. He was her one last hope, so he'd have to do.
"Rule Number Four!" Talia lectured one day, backing away as Cat hurried after her with an attack during one of their first sparring matches. Talia stuck her foot between both of Cat's and quickly flipped him over her shoulder, dumping him over the side of the boat and into the freezing ocean water. "Watch your footwork!" Talia finished, leaning out to look down at Cat. Toothless stood beside her and snickered.
"Rule Number Twenty-Eight: Concentrate!" Talia called out another day, standing next to three targets they'd set up and pointing to her temples as Cat picked up three daggers in one hand and threw them at the targets. Only problem was, his eyes snapped shut while he was throwing. Cat and Toothless, who was standing next to him, winced. "Rule Number Thirty-Two!" Talia shouted, her back arched awkwardly to avoid two of the daggers at her left side and one up on the right of her head, impaling the mast she'd been standing in front of and no where near the targets. "Aim!"
Throughout training sessions, Talia would try to remind Cat that plenty of warriors have faced the odds, and ended up a mockery. Grimbeard the Ghastly was a fantastic example because everyone ended up thinking he was crazy.
"Don't believe the stories that you read on all the crockery." She'd told him, explaining how con artists made people believe they were Heroes. Sir Clorex, The Monkey King, and many others.
Another day saw them sparring with their swords again. Cat was stumbling away, trying to defend and avoid her attacks, but he kept slipping and tripping, which would cost him the round. After falling on his ass for the thirteenth time, Cat sighed heavily and his shoulders drooped in defeat, but Talia held out her hand to him, and after looking up from under his lashes, Cat took her hand, and she pulled him to his feet. They took their stances at guard and started again. This time Talia started talking to him.
"To be a true Hero, kid, is a dying art." Talia lunged forward, and Cat blocked and stumbled back. Talia lunged again. "Like painting a masterpiece." He jumped back, this time, and almost lost his footing, but managed to get his feet under him just long enough to push up into a back aerial stunt that he'd only pulled off in the air with the dragons. He landed in a crouch, facing her with excited wide eyes, and Talia grinned. "It's a work of heart!"
Throughout the days of training, Talia drilled Cat with every lesson her Grandfather passed on to her. She constantly reminded him; It takes more then sinew; bulging muscles and endless strength. It comes down to what's in you. A Hero has to continue to grow.
And Cat took it all in, pushing himself to meet her demands. He trained harder than anyone she'd ever worked with, he asked questions and practiced on his own during his free moments. But what really impressed her was during one of their sparring matches, when he finally managed to block her attack and deter it off to the side, forcing her to stumble back. They had both stood, completely stunned for a moment, and then Talia grinned. "Now that's more like it!"
She lunged at him with a new excitement building in her gut. She had a good feeling about this. Yeah, she was down to her one last shot, and her last high note, before she had to admit defeat and hang up her sword forever, and she didn't have a doubt that would kill her. But none of that managed to bother her.
Cat's training with the sword was painfully slow, but it was working, and he had other skills that were getting finely tuned with each lesson. Talia didn't know what it was, but there was something different about Cat. Something she'd never seen before. And she was convinced that he was, not only her last shot, but also her best shot.
Her dreams were on Cat, and she somehow knew he'd make them come true one day. And until that 'one day' came, she'd make sure he kept climbing that uphill slope and pushing that envelope because he had the makings to be something great, and she wanted to see him do it. Cat was her one last hope, and it was all up to him.
The days passed by, and soon enough they'd passed through the Archipelago once again, crossing it's Northern border out into the unmarked territory that belonged to pirates and world travelers. Hiccup trained with Talia every single day, and still kept up with the lessons in sailing and navigating from Eret. Toothless found it all to be quite interesting and amusing most of the time.
The other dragons were much happier since they'd left the Archipelago, free to be out in the open whenever they please instead of cooped up in the belly of the ship. Toothless and Sharpshot, who were given more freedom due to advanced stealth capabilities, stayed closer to Hiccup, allowing the other dragons to enjoy their long flights without worrying too much.
The barrier fog bank of the Archipelago was still visible on the horizon behind them, and large fluffy clouds drifted across the sky, but Hiccup could still see large chunks of blue and feel the warmth of the sun as it shone bright in the sky. The wind wasn't very strong, and their sails hung mostly limp, making them slow and almost unmoving at some times.
Despite the seemingly peaceful and relaxing day, sweat dripped down Hiccup's face and his lungs burned as they screamed for him to stop training long enough to catch a breath. Talia didn't let up for a second, though, coming straight at him with a righteous battle cry. Her sword gracefully twisted around his, knocking it to the side, and then Talia rammed him in the chest with her shoulder. Hiccup hit the deck hard on his back and laid there for a moment, stunned. When he managed to move, he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, rubbing his throbbing head.
"You okay?" Talia asked, and Hiccup felt a bit better seeing that she, too, was panting, if only slightly. It still meant he was getting better.
"Yeah! I'm good! Just give me a minute." Hiccup laughed weakly, and then winced and gently rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe an hour."
Talia straightened, sheathed her sword, and then held out her hand with a smile. "Let's take a break."
Hiccup's entire body screamed wit joyous relief and he slumped back, spread-eagle on the deck of the ship. Talia laughed, and Toothless chose that moment to walk over and nuzzle Hiccup's cheek. Hiccup reached up and hugged Toothless's neck, and the dragon wrapped paws and tail around until he was curled about Hiccup who was tucked between the Night Fury's front paws. They nuzzled each other's heads, an then Hiccup curled up, using one of Toothless's paws as a pillow. Toothless rested the opposite paw on top of Hiccup's legs and his chin over Hiccup's entire side.
"The kid sneak away for a nap while you were lecturing?" Eret chuckled, walking up to stand beside Talia. Hiccup opened his eyes to watch the exchange.
It wasn't that they weren't friendly with each other, it's just that Eret and Talia didn't spend much time together. They seemed indifferent for the most part, but they both had very strong opinions about similar things, and, more often than not, they were at odds with each other.
"No, I let him go. He's earned it." Talia said with a shrug and Eret nodded.
"For once we agree on something." Eret smirked, and Talia rolled her eyes. "What about you? No rest for the teacher?"
"I've barely started. Cat's still trying to learn the basics, but I want to work on my own techniques." Talia told him.
"You need a sparring partner?" Eret offered, raising an eyebrow and resting his hand on his sword hilt at his hip. Talia snorted.
"Please, you wouldn't be able to keep up, old man." Talia's grin widened wickedly, and Eret's jaw dropped open with an incredulous expression.
"Old Man?" He repeated, obviously not fond of the title. "How old do you think I am?" He demanded.
"I don't know, thirty?" Talia guessed with a shrug, and Hiccup strained to keep in his laughter.
"I'm, twenty." Eret deadpanned, "I'm only five years older than you!"
"Five and a half years old than Cat." Talia replied smugly, and that got some surprise out of Eret.
"Really?" Eret asked, looking over at Hiccup who wasn't exactly fond of being half a year behind his peers when he was in school.
"Yes! Okay, fine! I was born in February! What's the big deal? Age is a social construct, anyways!" Hiccup could feel his cheeks getting a little warm and huffed with annoyance. Talia and Eret stared at him for a moment, seemingly lost, and then turned back to each other and shrugged.
"My point is that I'm not Old!" Eret clarified, crossing his arms over his chest, and Talia snickered. "Alright, if you need more convincing, how about a duel, then? A little friendly competition."
Talia considered this for a moment. "Alright, why not? Should be interesting to say the least."
They moved away from each other, putting about five feet between them and then drawing their swords. The commotion caught the attention of the other crew members, and murmurs floated through the air as they started to gather around. Hiccup shifted onto Toothless's back, able to see better from the higher vantage point while Toothless sat up to see better himself.
For a moment everything was still and quiet, neither warrior even blinking, and then it started all at once. Talia lunged forward with a battle cry, but Eret quickly brought up his sword to block the attack. Metal hissed against metal as they slid to a stalemate, eye-to-eye for a moment, and then they pushed off each other and began circling on the deck.
Talia and Eret both lunged at the same time. Talia's sword was angled towards Eret's, but Eret slipped to the side at the last moment, moving passed her, and used the hilt of his sword to hit Talia in the back, right between the shoulder blades. The hit threw her off balance, and Talia started to fall towards the floor, but she managed to tuck her head and move the momentum into a roll. She ended in a crouch and jumped up to face Eret again just after Eret turned around as well.
"You're not so bad at this." Talia admitted with a smile.
"You don't live this kind of life without picking up a few things." Eret told her. "I'm more impressed by your skill. You're very talented for someone so young."
"You haven't seen anything yet!" Talia promised him, rushing forward again. Their swords cracked and shrieked as they moved in a knot of constant action, neither of them willing to be the first to pull away this time. Hiccup stared in utter amazement with the crew as Talia used Eret's arm to swing herself up and over his back and then whirl her sword straight towards his neck, but Eret blocked the attack, throwing her sword arm off to the side and using her free arm to wrap around her own neck in a choke hold. Talia kicked back, nailing Eret in the stomach, and broke free, but both skidded to a stop on the wooden deck and lunged right back into the fight.
They were both breathing hard, and sweat was starting to gather on their brows, but neither of them was letting up. Eret was backing up with each step, moving them closer and closer to one of the large nets that they had laid out on the deck to untangle all of the knots. Hiccup had a flash of memory of No-Name dangling from the main mast, caught in a net like a wild boar trap, and Hiccup suddenly had an idea of what the Captain might be planning.
But still, Hiccup couldn't help noticing that Eret and Talia were both smiling brightly. Eret's eyes were awed and impress; sparkling with mischievous thoughtfulness. Talia shone with happiness and fun, her eyes bright and fiery with life. Hiccup wondered, briefly, what each of them were thinking.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Eret stopped moving back, and Talia's sword snaked around his, yanking the opposing blade out of Eret's hand and throwing it across the deck. Instead of ducking out of the way when Talia raised her arm to hold him at sword-point, Eret simply raised his hands in an open-palmed gesture of submission.
"I yield." He smiled, and Talia's sword drooped a bit in her surprise. The crew applauded, and a couple cheered, but after the initial shock, Talia eyed Eret suspiciously.
"...You let me win." She stated slowly, her brow furrowing in confusion and wariness, but Eret only grinned.
"And what makes you say that?" He asked, opening his arms wider in an innocent expression. Hiccup snorted as he slid off of Toothless and slipped closer to the arguing pair.
"Because you're too good. You could've fended me off for at least a short time. Long enough to get your sword back if you really wanted to." Talia said with more confidence and certainty as she slid her sword back into it's sheath at her hip.
"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." Eret smiled, placing his right hand over his heart in a slight bow, his left arm still out to his side. "Why would I do a thing like that? I have nothing to gain from you winning this match."
Talia still looked unconvinced, and opened her mouth to argue, but before she could make a sound, Ug called from the crows nest.
"Captain! Something's comin' in off the Port Bow!"
A murmur went through the men, and everyone moved to look over the left edge of the ship. Hiccup and Toothless fell in beside Talia as Eret hopped up onto the railing and held onto a rope as he leaned out for a better look.
Something seven feet long and three feet wide was bobbing in the water, slowly making it's way toward the ship. For a moment, Hiccup thought it might be an abnormally large piece of driftwood, indicating land near by, but when he looked closer, he saw that the wood was too flat and shaped to be natural.
"Cast the ropes, lads, pull it aboard!" Eret called out, and several men darted off to get the heavy ropes.
After getting a noose around the thing, and a lot of pulling and struggling, they finally managed to get the wooden thing onto the ship. Everyone stepped back, surrounding the thing in a large half circle, but no one dared to move forward after realizing what it was.
"It's a coffin, sir." One of the crew members muttered, inching away from the burdened object.
"Yes, I see it." Eret nodded, patting the man on the should and stepping closer to eye the coffin.
"What should we do with it, Captain?" No-Name asked, cowering back with the rest of the crew. "Disrespecting the dead is bad luck."
"Easy, lads. We'll get to the bottom of this." Eret assured steadily, and Hiccup decided to ease forward, eying the casket and sniffing the air around it. Toothless hurried after him and pressed close to Hiccup's side. "Something feel off?" Eret asked, raising an eyebrow at Hiccup.
"I don't know." Hiccup replied honestly, inching closer and closer to the coffin despite the Caution that was rolling off of Toothless in waves. "I can't explain it, but it feels weird." Hiccup said, passing Eret and reaching out to touch the coffin.
There was a sharp intake of breath throughout the entire crew when Hiccup touched it, but nothing happened. Assured that touching the casket was probably fine, Hiccup raised his hand and brushed away the barnacles and crusted sand from the coffin, revealing an inscription on the lid.
"Beware! Do not open this coffin!" Hiccup read aloud, and instantly the crowd of pirates rushed forward to get a look at the words. Hiccup looked up, shared a curious look with Eret, and then started to brush away more of the grime that had collected on the very old coffin. Beneath the inscription was another message, in letters scratched out with some kind of dagger, and stained with something that might once have been blood. "Cursed be he who disturbs the remains of Grimbeard the Ghastly, the Greatest Pirate who ever struck terror into the Inner Isles."
Hiccup felt a cold, clammy shiver run down his back, and he suddenly knew that something Really Bad was going to happen.
Grimbeard the Ghastly had been Hiccup's own great-great-grandfather. The Lost Treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly was a popular Hooligan Saga. It told of how Grimbeard had won a glorious treasure through his brilliance at piracy and sword-fighting, a treasure that included his famous sword, the Stormblade. But after twenty years of glorious rule, Grimbeard had disappeared on a mysterious quest, and neither he nor the treasure were ever seen again.
And now here, out of the blue, one hundred years later, his coffin had appeared at sea and ended up on their ship... It was spooky, to say the least.
The crew burst into excited and terrified talking, shouting back and forth about what they should do, but Hiccup stayed silent. Hiccup knew that Grimbeard the Ghastly had been the Ultimate Pirate. The Greediest, Grisliest, Goriest Viking who had ever sailed and slew his way across the Northern Seas. Treasure or no treasure, if a man like Grimbeard the Ghastly was telling you not to mess with his coffin, it was Hiccup's personal opinion that you ought to listen.
Even if he had been dead for a hundred years.
"Oh, honestly! It's just a coffin, and who even says if this is the Real coffin of Grimbeard the Ghastly? I thought you were all Fearsome Pirates who laughed in the face of Death! It's on the ship now, so we may as well open it!" Talia said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"But what about the curse?" Teeny asked, his finger fiddling in front of him as his shoulders curled forward in fright.
"No one ever got a curse from opening a coffin, and the lass has a point." Eret said thoughtfully.
"Or we could not! We could throw it back overboard and keep on sailing! Why risk a terrible curse from the deadliest pirate who ever lived, am I right?" Hiccup spewed out in rapid fire, moving away from the coffin very quickly, and Toothless stood over him protectively while he stayed crouched low to the deck.
"But what if Grimbeard's treasure really is in there?" Ug questioned, and several men around him murmured in curious agreement. "We could be rich!"
"Alright, we'll vote!" Eret finally decided. "All those in favor of opening the box say Aye!"
"AYE!" Bellowed up from everyone except Eret and Hiccup, and Eret shrugged.
"Open the coffin it is!" The Captain announced, pulling his second sword from his back sheath.
"This is a terrible idea." Toothless growled low in his chest.
"You're telling me? This is not a good idea." Hiccup muttered back as Eret used his sword to break the rusted iron clasps. "Not a good idea, NOT a good idea, NOT A GOOD IDEA!" Hiccup repeated under his breath as Eret finally pushed up the lid with a loud CREAK!
The coffin lid dropped open with a loud bang, and seawater splashed out of it from all sides. Everyone was trying hard not to look nervous, and Eret peered into the coffin. A confused expression came over the Captain's face, and then it turned thoughtful.
"I never would've thought Grimbeard the Ghastly was a blonde..." He said, and a murmur went through everyone as they inched closer and stretched to try and sneak a peek. Hiccup moved forward again, looking into the casket with Eret and Talia on either side, and Toothless over his head.
There was a man inside the coffin, in a state of green and yellow decay. It wasn't so bad really. The face was all slimy and drippy, but it wasn't crawling with maggots or anything disgusting. Rather peaceful actually, lying there so still... And then Hiccup was sure he saw one of the paper-white fingers twitch slightly. He blinked and stared hard at it, and nothing happened for a second.
And then there it was again, a definite quivering.
"The c-c-corpse!" Hiccup stuttered out. "It's m-m-moving!"
"What?!" They all yelled, snapping to look at him, but at the same time the corpse snapped straight upright, yellow eyes popping open and dribbly green face contorted in a half-drowned grimace. The corpse looked at all of them, and they all looked at the corpse, and then Hiccup, Eret, Talia, the crew, the dragons, and the corpse all started screaming. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Seawater poured out of the coffin as the corpse choked on it's scream and started making disgusting gurgling noises. The veins on it's popping yellow eyes stood out, it's grey mouth quivered horribly.
"Wait!" Hiccup called out, noticing a distinct lacking of familiarity in the corpse. "Don't panic! This isn't the corpse of Grimbeard the Ghastly!" He shouted, and that managed to catch their attentions. As he yelled, Hiccup moved forward and patted the back of the corpse. Seawater sputtered out of it in all directions, coming out of it's nose, ears, and mouth.
It clearly wasn't the corpse of Grimbeard the Ghastly. Now that it had recovered from it's coughing fit, and was climbing out of the casket on very shaky legs, they could all see it was a man. He was seven feet tall, and had probably been very cramped in the coffin. He had long blonde hair that reached down to the backs of his knees in glorious waves, his yellow eyes were fading to a more natural blue, and the green of his skin was turning to the bright pink of someone who'd spent the past few days in a nearly-drowned state. His muscles bulged everywhere, his chin was sharp and strong, and his clothes would be nice had they not been torn apart by seawater.
Eret stepped forward cautiously, Talia a step behind with a hand on her sword hilt, and Hiccup scampered off to the side using all fours to stay closer to the deck. A defensive and stealth measure he picked up from the dragons.
"Who are you? And what on earth were you doing in that casket?" Eret wanted to know, glaring suspiciously at the handsome man who was dusting himself off as best he could.
Being addressed by Eret, the man straightened and gave an elegant bow that had Eret raising his eyebrow, unimpressed. "I am terribly sorry for the intrusion!" The man apologized. "I'm afraid I was in a bit of a tight spot, and I must thank you for pulling me out of the water and opening the coffin!"
Eret didn't reply. He simply stared at the blonde man with a hardened, blank expression. The man coughed and chuckled awkwardly, his smile more of a grimace as things became more awkward. "Well," The man continued. "I suppose there's no sense in hiding anything sense you've seen the coffin! My name is Humongous the Hotshot Hero!" He introduced himself grandly, taking a deep bow as everyone exchanged confused or curious looks. Eret looked slightly disgusted by all the grandeur. "And you see, fine gentlemen," Talia snorted. "I was stuffed into that coffin by some very rude people who wanted the treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly for themselves. I was out adventuring, as I always do, and I happened upon this port where I met a merchant with a peculiar map. Well, naturally I bought it, thinking it a treasure map, and that when I found the treasure, I could donate the money to the poor orphanage of the port city."
"Of course what I didn't know was that the map I bought was in fact a map which led to the exact burial place of Grimbeard the Ghastly. I joined with a crew for the voyage, and once we discovered the coffin, they immediately betrayed me, stuffing me in the box and throwing me overboard to drown!" Humongous told them.
"So you found the treasure and got dumped, not the first time that's happened to someone, pal." Talia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest in exasperation.
"Oh, but you don't understand! When we opened the coffin, going through several deadly booby-traps of course, we didn't find any treasure, nor the corpse of Grimbeard the Ghastly, the only thing we found was... This map, and this riddle!" Humongous produced two pieces of parchment from the folds of his clothing. "The traitors that cast me out to sea thought they stole the map and riddle from me, but I managed to get it back just before I was shoved into the coffin! You see, I believe these can lead us to the treasure!"
"Us?" Eret growled questioningly. "What makes you think we're interested in your bedtime stories? And if you have the riddle and the map, why not just go after the treasure yourself?"
"Why, you must know the Saga of The Lost Treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly! Not just anyone can go find the treasure, it's said that only someone with a mind such as Grimbeard's could find it! And there's the matter of the riddle." Humongous explained, unfolding one of the papers he held and reading aloud from it. "'Dare you brave the watery grave? The Death's Head prick of fire and sleep? If you dare, you are my Heir. For my Heir's Beast shall sniff it there. And he shall tell me underground. Am I lost, or am I found?'... So you see, I haven't the foggiest clue as to what all this might mean, but I was hoping to find the Heir of Grimbeard the Ghastly. I'm told the Chief of the Isle of Berk is his great-grandson."
Talia's eyes snapped over to Hiccup, and he smiled weakly, unable to deny the conclusion she'd no-doubt just come to.
"If you'll allow us a moment." Eret told Humongous and then turned to the crew. Hiccup hurried over, avoiding Talia's questioning stare. "What do you all think?"
"I think the Treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly could make us all richer than our wildest dreams!" Teeny said, and there were murmurs of agreement.
"Could be the death of us, too. Grimbeard was known for his tricks and strange mind. He had a vicious sense of humor." Ug added, and there were more murmurs of agreement.
"There's no way we'll get anything if we bring the map to the Vikings." No-Name pointed out, and there were several disheartened grumbles.
"Maybe we can solve the riddle ourselves." Talia suggested, catching their attention. "You're pirates, aren't you? Put your heads together and you might be tricky enough to find Grimbeard's treasure. And I happen to know someone who is excellent at solving riddles." Talia finished by looking directly at Hiccup who, again, smiled weakly as all eyes fell on him.
"I thought you didn't want to be a pirate." Hiccup grumbled at Talia.
"Pirate? No. But I'd have to be dead to not be interested in that treasure. That's the stuff of legends!" Talia retorted.
"We're agreed then?" Eret asked, and a chorus of Aye's went up from the crew. Eret looked down at Hiccup who sighed in defeat and nodded, so Eret turned back to Humongous. "We'll help you find the treasure, but we each want our own cut."
"Of course!" Humongous assured, feeling relieved and lucky. "I wouldn't dream of it being any other way! But what about the riddle?"
"We have someone who might be able to help with that." The Captain said, looking to the side.
A black as night dragon had swooped over and wrapped it's front paws around a small boy, keeping it's head low to cover the boy protectively. The boy had fluffy brown hair that fell over his forehead, big green eyes that seemed to sparkle, and was covered in freckles. The only word Humongous could think of was 'cute', and he felt himself blushing at the tiny boy who looked up at him with his head tilted to the side just slightly.
The dragon growled loudly, and Humongous almost choked on his own tongue when he looked up and saw the beast's deathly glare, it's lips pulled back in a snarl. And then a chill went up his spine, and he turned to see the Captain of the ship and the random girl standing behind him, their figures decidedly darker, and they seemed to loom over him threateningly. Swallowing thickly, Humongous turned back to the boy and saw only slight curiosity on his face.
"A-and who might you be, lad?" Humongous said, giving the boy a friendly smile.
"I'm Cat, and despite the fact that this is a horrible idea, I'll try and solve the riddle for you." Cat sighed, sticking out his open hand. Humongous gave him the map and riddle, and Cat quickly scanned them over.
Hiccup pursed his lips in thought, eying the drawings on the map, and the words from the riddle, and within a moment he knew what the first answer to the riddle was.
"Death's Head is a skull." He announced, to the crew who had given him their full attention. "It want's us to go to the Isle of the Skullions."
"The Isle of the Skullions?" Humongous asked excitedly. "That's where we'll find the treasure?"
"If I'm right, then there's no question of finding the treasure." Hiccup told them plainly. "No one has ever returned from the Isle of the Skullions alive."