Johan's Wandering Trade Boat...and Ice House
Astrid shielded her face the best she could against the burning embers of ash that whipped past her face as she and Stormfly flew through the orange-red skies above the large landmass that was now what had become of the Barbaric Archipelago. Hiccup's panic, whether he'd realised it or not, had spread further than the reaches of Berk's shores and territories to cover the entire ocean in a mass of rock that ranged from polished granite to rough and jagged basalt. Volcanic spouts were dotted across this new land, under which the sea boiled furiously and shot upwards in scalding geysers every now and then and both were as dangerous as each other.
"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted above the sound of rock creaking beneath her. "Hiccup! It's me! Astrid – your best friend who didn't mean to make you cause a massive heat-wave..." she trailed off, unsure of how she was actually supposed to put things right. She hadn't really thought about how she was going to make Hiccup put things right again – she'd just felt obligated as the one who'd pushed him to losing control to help him fix things again. Astrid had other stuff on her mind as well, namely how hot her dress was making her. The gown had been made for winter festivities and was far from suitable for flying, let alone in heat that was higher than it usually was in the summer.
"Of course none of this would have happened if the idiot had just told me his secret," Astrid muttered jokingly to Stormfly as she rolled her sleeve up in an attempt to cool down. "Heh...for the smartest Viking on Berk he can be really thick..." she added when a large geyser shot up straight in front of them, spooking Stormfly and sending her spiralling out of the sky. Astrid shrieked as she clung onto Stormfly's saddle for dear life but her grip was so sweaty that she slipped out of her seat and tumbled to the ground – luckily she was low enough to only sustain a few bruises and the ground was, by some miracle, cool enough for her to land without getting roasted although her dress did singe ever so slightly.
The upside – Astrid was alive and relatively unhurt after the geyser spooked her dragon. The downside – said dragon had now flown off in fright back towards Berk.
"No, no, no! Stormfly!" Astrid yelled, her voice cracking from a dry throat...she hadn't realised until now how much she needed water. "Come back! Wait!" she called desperately but the Nadder was already out of hearing range. "Dammit..." Astrid cussed quietly, getting to her feet when out of nowhere, a flame flared through the air in front of her, catching her dress and burning a large hole in it.
Damn this magic of yours, Hiccup, Astrid thought. Well, there was hardly anything else to explain it.
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Astrid stumbled over the heated ground as she tried to regain her bearings as night began to fall. The night brought cooler air, if ever so slightly but the heat rising from beneath the ground meant that it made little difference to the grumbling and sweating Nordic Blonde woman trying to find her best friend on the ground.
"Fire...it had to be fire..." Astrid muttered to herself as she tried to keep her dress from getting scorched any further. The thing was already burnt pretty much beyond repair so she knew that she'd have to be saving up tradable goods to replace it when she next got a chance. "Hiccup...couldn't have had...Spring powers or anything like that?" she added in a huff. "You know, nice...pleasant warm weather that still has the nice cool breeze...and lovely cool, running..." Astrid trailed off as her ears picked up something over the creaking of volcanic rock – the sound of waves. Astrid looked over her shoulder and saw that she'd come pretty much to the edge of the Archipelago without realising it – right to the boundary of Hiccup's magic. She could see the ocean and, not far off, icebergs. And just docked on the edge of the crusted ocean was a ship which could possibly have on board...
"Water..." Astrid breathed in relief when a flare threatened to set her dress on fire again, only it wasn't just a threat because it actually burnt the skirt right off. In her panic, Astrid stumbled over a lump of basalt and lost a boot as well as getting very hot hands. Shakily and thankful that her palms and foot had only gone pink rather than burnt, Astrid stumbled to her feet and began hopping over the heated rock towards the salvation of the waiting boat, all the while muttering "Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot..." under her breath.
It felt like forever but it only took Astrid about a minute or so to half-jog-half-hop over the crust covering the ocean to the ship. Once she was there, she clambered on board and slumped against the rigging to catch her breath – the wood may have been warm but it was still cool in comparison to travelling across that inferno. Astrid squinted against embers flitting around the air to read a sign above the cabin – she smiled when she recognised the name.
"Johan's Wandering Trade Boat," she read when her eyes drifted to another sign nearby. "Ooh! And ice house!" she added gleefully. An ice house sounded good right now. Astrid quickly ducked into the cabin and was instantly grateful for the cool air coming off some ice blocks that had somehow not melted despite being right next to an area of semi-molten rock (when Astrid double checked she saw that the cabin was lined with old dragon scales which were surprisingly insulating). Once inside, Astrid began looking around for anyone who might be able to provide her with supplies when from just behind a pile of barrels...
"Good day to you!" the familiar tones of Trader Johan piped up. Astrid turned her head and couldn't suppress a smile – the man may be getting on in years with his once dark-brown beard turning greyer by the day, but he was still the ever enthusiastic trader Berk had always known him as. Astrid could hardly believe it had been so long since she'd seen him last. "My, my!" Johan remarked when he recognised his customer. "If it isn't Miss Astrid?" Astrid's smiled widened – it was nice to be called that rather than Lady Astrid, as her technical title was now.
"Can't tell you how glad I am to have found you out here, Johan," she greeted, fiddling with her singed dress.
"Happy to help," Johan grinned. "You came at a good time – I'm having a big winter blowout!" Astrid's smiled turned into a grimace – yeah, winter gear wasn't exactly what she was after right now. "Furs, ice boots, pick-axes – all cheap...oh! And I'm also throwing in a stove of my own invention."
"Uh...great," Astrid grimaced, her eyes darting around the cabin for anything that could help in the conditions Hiccup had set off. "For now, how about...umm...let's say anything for working in really hot climates? Maybe fireproof as well, if possible?" she asked, wondering if it was too much. Johan shrugged as his eyes flickered to the back of the cabin.
"That would be in the Rock Havesting Department," he indicated. Astrid turned around gleefully but her face fell when she saw only one outfit there. It was an outfit suitable for hotter climates with a loose feel to it – far different to Astrid's usual get-up – and looked to be made of dragon hide which, of course, was fireproof. There was also a pair of leather boots treated with what looked like an oil of some kind – a quick sniff told Astrid that it was scale-oil, made from powdered dragon scales: again, fireproof. As Johan had said, Rock-Harvesters usually wore this kind of gear seeing as they spent a lot of time on volcanic islands sourcing the best granite to use for weapons and housing. Luckily, it appeared that this one was Astrid's size although she couldn't say much for the colour – the main outfit (a top and matching leggings) was an ugly brown-green-yellow and the rest (a loose skirt that draped around the waist accompanied by a short elbow length cape with a hood and mask) was a pale beige.
"Say, Johan," Astrid asked, picking the outfit and the boots up and carrying it over to Johan. She was doubtful about her next question but there was no harm in checking. "By any chance, has a...young man...Chief of the Hooligan tribe, maybe...passed through here?"
"Can't say I've seen Hiccup in years, Miss Astrid," Johan replied. "Only one crazy enough to be out in that madness in the Archipelago is you, I'm afraid..."
"AH!" Astrid yelped as a scorching gust of hot air burned the back of her neck as the cabin door opened. Both Astrid and Johan turned their heads to see who the new customer was – it was a Rock Harvester, that much was clear from the loose dragon-hide clothing with leather protection pads, and was a young woman no older than Astrid. Now, it had been at least five years since Astrid had seen her but once the mask and hood were off, there was no mistaking the thin face, pale skin, raven hair and pale green eyes.
"Heather?" Astrid spluttered.
"Uh...you and this lady," Johan corrected. "Hello!" he greeted. "Big Winter Blowout!" Heather ignored the man and walked straight over to Astrid who cringed back slightly as she caught the whiff of sweat coming from the woman's body. Granted, Astrid knew that she probably wasn't much better.
"Scallops," Heather grunted.
"Sorry? What?" Astrid frowned. Well, a simple 'hello' would have been nice...
"Behind you," Heather huffed. Astrid looked behind her and saw a bag of the shellfish just behind her badly singed skirt. Muttering a quick apology and seeing that Heather was clearly in a rush (not to mention Astrid wanted to stay in the cool shade of Johan's boat for as long as she could), Astrid shuffled out of the way to let Heather grab the bag and fling it onto the makeshift counter Johan had made out of barrels before walking over to the Summer-Fire area where Astrid spotted a rope and a chisel, one that Rock-Harvesters used..
"Right heat-wave for February, eh?" Johan noted cheerily, trying to make conversation with the very-quiet Heather. "Wherever could it be coming from?" Astrid was about to answer when Heather spoke up as she walked back over to the trader.
"Helheim's Gate," she replied. "Nix and I had to make a retreat from there – the volcanoes have become active again," she added but that wasn't the part Astrid was interested in.
"Helheim's Gate? You mean...Dragon Island? The Dragon's Nest?" she asked. Heather nodded wordlessly and Astrid cussed under her breath – great. She'd been going to wrong way this whole time and had completely overshot where Hiccup was! She didn't get a chance to ask anything else as Heather put her chosen goods on the counter and Johan examined them.
"That'll be forty-gold worth in tradable goods or coins," he said simply. Heather's pale green eyes widened in shock before narrowing in confusion.
"What? No, ten!" she snapped. Johan grimaced.
"Ah, sorry, Miss Heather," he apologised quickly. "But these are from the Rock Harvester department and I'm afraid to say we've got a bit of a supply and demand problem there at the moment...in this weather everyone thinks they're a..."
"You want to talk about a 'supply and demand' problem, Mister?" Heather growled, cutting across the man. "I sell volcanic rocks for a living!" Astrid poked her head out of a porthole and spotted a cart filled with polished granite. The rock would be used to make furniture for those whole could afford it as granite was usually so dangerous to collect seeing as the finest was found in areas full of slightly active volcanoes, but given that the entire ocean was no covered in volcanic rock, Astrid could understand why Heather was annoyed – people literally had granite at their doorstep! Why would they want it imported?
"Wow, that's a seriously rough business to be in right now," she noted jokingly. Heather replied with a silent glare that shut even Astrid up. Okay, not the best time – Astrid remembered how Heather could be handy in a fight if she wanted to be. "I mean...that's really...*ahem*, that's unfortunate," Astrid grimaced.
"Still forty," Johan insisted. "But I will throw in a free load of fresh ice imported from the Southern Mountains." Astrid shrugged – the ice would provide water and if put in a dragon hide bag could stay solid for a while even in this heat – the lining had clearly worked for Johan's cabin. It wasn't a bad deal. Heather, on the other hand, was looking desperate.
"Please, Johan – I've only got ten-gold worth of rock fragments to trade," she pleaded indicating a meagre pouch on her belt – Astrid couldn't assume that it had a lot in there. "Help me out here." Johan sighed.
"Okay, fine," he relented and pushed the scallops to the front whilst brushing the rest of the equipment Heather had picked out aside. Astrid winced – if anything, that chisel and rope would be more important – judging by the rope loped on Heather's belt which was burnt and frayed, never mind having a supply and demand problem this girl wouldn't be able to continue her business without them! "That'll get you the shellfish and nothing more," he explained. Heather was about to argue back but Astrid cut in.
"Uh, Heather, you said the heat-wave is coming from Helheim's Gate?" she asked. "What exactly was happening there? Did it seem...I don't know...magical?" Heather finally snapped and whirled around to face her old friend, her slightly damp raven hair clinging to her face so that she had to wipe it out of her eyes which Astrid was surprised to see so full of frustration. True she'd seen anger in those piercing circles of pale green but frustration was somehow even more terrifying, probably because Astrid wasn't pumped full of adrenaline and trying to beat the heck out of her this time round.
"Yes," Heather snarled slightly. Astrid couldn't remember seeing Heather like this. The pretty-face-actress had completely changed...it seemed like everyone had over the last five years. "It did seem magical."
"Okay, Miss Innocent," Astrid huffed in an equally frustrated tone. "I was just asking a question." Heather's glare deepened if anything else.
"I thought we'd dropped that," she hissed. "Now step aside whilst I deal with this crook here." Johan suddenly stiffened and seemed to grow in size although he was still a head or so shorter than Astrid. His face grew dark with thunder and the glare coming from his dark eyes sent both women taking a few steps back although the old man was focused on Heather who suddenly lost her cold angry look - she now looked terrified.
"What did you call me?" Johan growled.
Seconds later Heather was sent kicking and screaming in apology over the side of the boat into the warm sea water at the edge of the crusted over Archipelago. The woman came spluttering to the surface to be greeted by a Changewing who, unlike most of its species which were naturally red, was emerald-green in colour with purple markings up and down its back. This was Nix, Heather's Changewing who had gone into Heather's rock-harvesting business with her as her main mode of transport and also helped out in areas where a hammer and chisel weren't enough to get the best granite – Changewing acid was remarkably good at removing impurities, Heather had discovered. Nix snorted happily as Heather pulled herself onto dry land and squeezed her plait out – Heather sighed. She knew what her pal was asking for.
"No, Nix," she huffed. "I didn't get your scallops." Nix's face, complete with yellow eyes the size of plates, fell in disappointment. Heather's eyes flickered to a drawbridge on the side of the boat which led to a small hull. Well, it was better than a night on the coals, she supposed. "But I did find a place for us to sleep, and it's free," she smiled. Nix wasn't impressed.
Back inside the main Shop Cabin, as it were, Johan had regained his friendly composure and walked back over to Astrid, shutting the door as he went to keep the hot air out (Astrid was standing as close to the ice as possible – she didn't know when she'd get another chance to be this cool).
"Sorry about that, Miss Astrid," Johan apologised. Astrid smiled slightly in an 'it's okay' fashion although she was worried about Heather. Not to mention that girl might be the only chance she had at finding Hiccup...now how to persuade her to help? "But everything's good – next time I see Heather I'll throw in a free bottle of my finest mead when she purchases her usual equipment," Johan added, moving Astrid's outfit to the front of the counter. "Just the clothes and the boots, yes?"
Astrid frowned and thought for a moment, her eyes darting to the porthole nearby. Maybe...
Come on, how could I not have Johan in this? And so it turns out that Heather is the 'Kristoff' character - weren't expecting that, were ya? Okay, maybe you were...if so, that's fine. Well, see you guys on Sunday for the next update (maybe also Saturday but again...no idea)!
