I ran to where I left grainne and I found her right where I left her. I pet her for a few moments before I said "Let's take a look at your wing." I looked at it and said "Sorry about this girl, but I'm gonna have to stitch it myself after I get rid of the scabs." she pulled her wing away from me and hissed at me and bared her teeth. I put my hands on my hips and asked "Do you want to not be able to fly anymore?" she just looked away from me. "If you let me do this and not fight me or make a huge fuss, once I'm done, I'll take you to a nice big patch of dragon nip and I'll make you your favourite. Smoked Salmon and chicken glazed with honey. She still didn't look at me. She just slowly stretched out her wing. I easily got rid of the scabs and I began stitching it shut with a needle and thread from her saddle bag.
As I was stitching her wing, hiccup walked up and asked "What happened to her" "she took a bullet through the mesh of her wing. I know the dragon healers already are slammed and I don't want to trouble them with such a small injury that can easily be treated by the rider." I then finished stitching her wing, and I tied it and cut the thread I turned to Hiccup and he said "We can't thank you enough for what you did for us. One more day, and we would have run out of water. I have a personal medical team ready to treat any injuries you or your crew have." "No. I have a hospital ship with more than enough room for my wounded soldiers with medical supplies to spare. Take care of your people. I can handle mine."
He nodded and grabbed his side and winced. I got concerned and asked "What happened?" he said "I've already had it checked out. The healer figures I took a dagger to the side." "Let me take a look." He nodded and lifted his tunic and what I saw wasn't a stab wound or a slash. The wound wasn't a line. It was a circular hole, one that can only be made by a bullet. "Hiccup, you definitely weren't stabbed or cut or slashed. You got shot."
He seethed and said "Lucky me." "Hiccup, I can get that bullet out of you, but we must get you to my medical ship. Grainne can't fly. Is toothless okay?" he nodded and called for him. He ran up through the bushes and we got on and I quickly turned to grain and I said "I'm sorry girl, but I promise you when I get back, I will make you smoked salmon, chicken glazed with honey, and a good belly rub with dragon nip after you eat." she chirped and I steered toothless as hiccup did the gear shifting. When we got to the legendary ship, I said as I held hiccup under my arm "Get my personal surgeon! He is needed for someone more important than myself." I began heading to my quarters where my surgeon would meet us.
"Amber, am I gonna die?" "No. You'll live. With the gods as my witnesses you will live." just then the surgeon walked in and I said "He has a bullet in his side. Give him the finest pain medication on board and treat him as though he were your child and you had to save their lives." He nodded and said "You have my word."
With that, I got on toothless and we managed to make it back to land where I found Astrid calling for hiccup. "Astrid, you see my legendary ship out there, it is a hospital. Hiccup got shot in the side. He is in my Captains quarters with my personal surgeon. He will be just fine." she nodded, got on toothless and took off like a bullet for the legendary ship.
I went to where grainne was, and found her and I led her to the nearest big patch of dragon nip where she immediately began rolling in it as I cooked dinner. I whistled when it was done and she happily happily ate it before rolling onto her back and looking at me. I giggled and got a couple handfuls of dragon nip and said "as promised girl." I then began giving her a belly rub and she was always moaning and groaning, loving every second of it.
After she had her play time, she let out a yawn and I led her over to where a few other dragons were sleeping and she curled up with them.
I then began walking through the remains of the village, buildings were burnt, body parts were everywhere, the air was thick with smoke, the smell of gunpowder, blood, guts, death, and rotting flesh. Snotlout came up to me with a bucket of water and said "Here, at the very least, take a drink of water, and wash some of the blood off your mouth." I nodded and took a drink and wiped my mouth "Thank you snotlout." "No problem." He then walked off.
Blackbeard walked up with Kidd and grandma and said "Damn… I know I've caused a lot of damage, but… fuck. You take the cake for this." "This isn't something I'm proud of Thatch." "Amber, it is impossible to wage war without having to pay the price sooner or later. Let's face it; most of the battles we have fought, we're on the sea where we don't have to look at the damage for very long." Grandma piped up and said "Dear, what he is trying to tell you is that you have run away from the damage you have caused. We all know that what we do will catch up with us somehow. This is how it's catching up with you."
Kidd said "I don't know if this helps or not, but we need to get ready for another attack. Let's face it. Spain is gonna come looking for its armada, wondering why the fuck they haven't been sending letters. If anything, they managed to get one last letter out, saying that they need backup just before we sink them."
I said "I may not have started this war, but by gods, if I don't finish it, then forevermark me a coward. For now, start using the diving bells. Go through the wreckage of the ships and pull up the cannons and cannonballs. We will melt them down to make new cannons and cannonballs. We all know the formula for gunpowder, start making it. Everyone else, start scavenging medical supplies and start unloading medical supplies we brought and have to spare. I don't want to see one member of my armada sitting still for no reason."
With that, I began moving dead bodies and limbs to large fires. The body count was so high, it would be impossible for a proper funeral to be held for them without months of rotting away as they waited so all we could do was burn them.
The smell was horrible. I'll never forget it as long as I live. Some of the bodies we found were still alive, but their wounds were too great. They wouldn't survive, so I had to put them out of their misery. I won't ever forget the life leaving their eyes as I pushed my dagger into the base of their skulls, killing them instantly. The look on their faces will haunt me forever as I listened to the air final words through blood in their mouths before the light in their eyes faded away.
Eventually, I stopped and said "I can't do it any more!" Blackbeard Walked up and asked "Can't do what any more?" "Kill wounded soldiers. I can't do it anymore! It's one thing when I'm being attacked, but to do it in cold blood as they lay there slowly and painfully dying, I can't do it anymore!"
I then did something I haven't done in years. I began to cry my eyes out. I always made sure that when in the presence of my crew, to put on a very tough display to show as though I feel no pain, but this was too much.
Blackbeard sighed and said "I know the feeling. Your grandma knows it and so does your dad. Every true pirate knows the feeling. Let me tell you something though, there are only two things you can do with that feeling. You can one, let it destroy who you are and spend the rest of your life miserable, or you can remember this feeling and do everything in your power to keep from feeling feeling it ever again. It's not easy to get past it, but it is possible. Sit and take take a break for a bit. Do you want me to give the orders for the night while you try and get some rest?"
I sniffed a and nodded and he then told me something that I never thought the great Blackbeard would ever say or do. He leaned in close, kissed my cheek and said "the first time I felt that feeling, I had just put my own mummy out of of her suffering. Her arm was missing and bleeding everywhere. Her final words to me were 'I love you Edward.' that is my true name. Edward. Ed is just short for Edward." He then let a few tears roll down his cheek.
I looked up at him in shock. This demon of a man, whose name sent haunting chills down the spines of everyone who heard or spoke his name, a man so evil that when he was decapitated, the devil himself spat him back to to the world of the living, his decapitated body swam around his ship three times before climbing back abound and re attaching his own head; showed love and sorrow.
I got up and walked over to snotlout and asked "Can you give me mea ride out to my hospital ship please?" he nodded and said "Sure hop on." as we were flying, he asked "What's wrong?" "I've got innocent blood on my hands that won't come off." "I've know how you feel. We have all had to kill innocents before to do the humane thing of ending their pain instead of letting them slowly slowly and painfully die." "That was the first time I've ever killed killed in cold blood. I killed your friends, your family. You should hate me." "Amber, I've had to do the exact same thing as you. I've had to kill my own friends and family because of horrible injuries. I don't hate you. You were doing the merciful thing. You ended their suffering."
I replied "I know, and I keep trying to tell myself that, but my mind won't accept that." "Just keep trying. Eventually your mind will listen." I nodded and said "Thank you snotlout." He nodded and said "Not a problem amber."
We landed on the deck and he said "anything you want me to do while you rest?" I replied "Yes. Search the forest with several others, look for any Spaniards who ran from the fight and are hiding. Make them clean up the bodies, show them what they caused. Don't listen to any excuses they come up with. If they are of a high rank such as as captain, or commander, keep them alive for me. I have plans." He nodded and said "Will do."
I knocked on my Captains quarters doors and I got a reply from Astrid "Come in." I walked in and I saw hiccup in bed with and bandage around his midsection, and he was clearly heavily medicated. "How do you feel?" he replied "I don't feel anything." I poked him in the side he wasn't shot shot and he started laughing.
Astrid turned to me and said "Meet Ragnar Odin Haddock." I smiled and said "Congratulations." They both smiled and Astrid said "We both have something very important we want to ask you to do for Ragnar." I replied "What is it?" They looked at each other and looked at me and Hiccup said "as of this moment, you are part of this village, this island, and the people who live here, but you are also family family to us, which is why astrid and I are asking if you would be his godmother?" I smiled and happily said "Yes."
But tell moment was interrupted interrupted by shouts on the deck. I got up and walked walked out and closed the door behind me. "What in the name of Davy Jones locker s going on?!" The crowd stepped aside as I came through. When I got to the center of the crowd, I saw four commanders there on their knees, snotlout behind them with his axe, a few cuts on him, but nothing major. "We searched the forests as you asked, and we found four commanders along with a few privates." "where are the privates?" "they attacked us, we reacted in self defense, they are dead. We kept these ones alive for you." I kneeled down and asked "speak english?"
One commander nodded and said with a heavy accent "I do." I smiled and said "Tell your friends that as of this moment, you four are our prisoners." He replied "Please repeat?" I got up "Oh for fuck sake." I then spoke in a loud and slow voice "you four are prisoners. Don't worry. As of right now, no harm will come to any of you as long as you follow our orders." I said to snotlout "if they try to fight back, or if they attack one of us or or do anything violent, tell me immediately." He nodded and and said "will do."
Just as I turned, I heard a gunshot go off, and I felt the ball go whizzing by my ear. I turned with my gun pointed at the youngest commander. He dropped the gun and put his hands up. "Okay who's the lazy fucker who didn't do a through check for weapons?!" no one said anything. "Don't make me have everyone start doing a ridiculous amount of pushups."
one guy shyly stepped forward and said "It was me captain." I wound back and punched him across the face, sending him sprawling. "Get your dumbass up!" he scrambled to his feet and stood in front of me with his lip busted wide open and a tooth missing. I pistol whipped him across the face, making him go flying and landing on the deck, he coughed and spat out a few teeth and slowly got to his feet. When he turned to me, he had a large gash on his nose, he was bleeding from his eyebrow, and he was shakey on his feet. "Next time, I won't stop! You nearly got one of us killed. Now get get your ass up, stop bleeding on the deck of my fucking ship, get your ass patched up and get into into the water with a diving bell and start hauling up fucking cannons!" he stumbled but took off running below deck.
I drew another pistol from my waist belt and cocked it and pointed it at a more ones head and said "check them thoroughly for weapons." several crew members stepped forward and started patting them down. As it turned out, each of them had a small pistol on them. When the guy who didn't do do a thorough check for weapons came back on deck, I grabbed him and said "look and this sailor. What are these?!" he replied in a frightened voice "Three pistols." "Yes one found on each of them. You had one job… ONE FUCKING JOB!" he shrunk back and said "I'm sorry captain." I replied "Report to Blackbeard now." He nodded and two men stepped forward to bring him to black beard.
I said to myself as I walked toward the Captain's quarters "I need rest"
When u walked in, hiccup asked "Everything alright out there?" I nodded and said "Yeah. Is there an island nearby where I can extract information from the commanders using methods methods I know you don't permit on berk?" Hiccup nodded and said "One of our former enemies turned most trusted allies is chief of Berserker island. His name is dagur." I smiled and nodded and asked "Dagur as in Dagur the deranged? Son of Oswald the agreeable?" They both nodded and said "The one and only." I smiled evilly and asked "Astrid, do you think you would be able to write me a letter, granting granting me safe passage to berserker island and an audience with Dagur?"
She nodded and said "Way ahead of you. I already sent the message and dagur has already responded with a letter granting you see passage." I smiled and asked what's the fastest way there?" "fly straight straight out of the pier. You can't miss their island" "Thanks. Do you think snotlout would be able to fly myself and the four commanders to berserker island?" Astrid replied "I wouldn't ride hook dang for that long. He has a bad habit now of catching fire. Storm fly and I can easily make make the trip."
I smiled and asked "Shall we leave at first light tomorrow?" she nodded and I said "Perfect."
I then got out a large pile of furs furs and said "Here astrid, you can sleep on this or my hammock. I'm sorry it's not a large, comfy bed, but it's the best I can do." Astrid smirked and replied "I've been sleeping in a chair the past four months, you really think I'm gonna be fussy on whether I sleep in a hammock or on a pile of furs?" I giggled and said "Sorry, I just know your not leaving hiccups side tonight, and I'm gonna go sleep with my dragon."
With that, I walked out the door, went back to the island, and found grainne awake, but not with the other dragons. "What's wrong girl? Your wing hurting?" she shook her head and asked "Just miss me?" she chirped and I said "Let's try and get some sleep.
