Exodus and Return-us

Chapter 9

Eret (Son of Eret)'s POV

Well, I never expected to be in this situation, that's for sure. I currently have a maniac grinning ear to ear because his strategy was successful. How did I get here? Great question…

You see, working for Drago was considered distasteful by many people, but willingly switching to Drago's side was seen as dishonorable. Not that I care about honor all that much, but when Drago's armies crush the Archipelago, by spot right next to him will bring me more honor and glory than any fisherman like my father could hope for. I mean, the guy is trying to break the wills of dragons, and its working. Or it was, that is…

You see, Drago is the one feared by all of the dragons. That's why of the few dragons we have, we don't have many escapees. Drago scares them into submission. But without him here, they began to get restless and much less cooperative. To the point that they were no longer safe to use as weapons for fear of burning our own ships down.

Why isn't Drago Bludvist here? That's a great question; one that I would like to know also. They said he went to personally oversee the capture of a few ships and scare the nearby tribes. Nothing we haven't done before, he goes and takes the ships, sends the ships he brought with him back, and uses the new ships to attack the nearby tribes. He then floats back whatever ships survived, victorious to have caused so much damage to a threatening fleet nearby. It's quite genius, actually; another reason to serve Dragon, he is no idiot.

I had just come back from a smalltime dragon trapping excursion, and came back with the fear of the gods in me; I didn't have a single dragon to show for a week's worth of work. When I got here, Drago was supposed to either be back or arrive very soon after me. It has been two weeks, and there has been no word.

Many of the men started to become reckless, but the fear of upsetting Drago (while he was gone!) kept most men in line for a while. He's been known to leave for bits of time and leave spies among the men, so he would know who the weakest links are. Even with that reputation, after two weeks some of the men became nervous. The men began to whisper about holding a summit of Drago's war council and leaders among the men, in order to designate someone to run things smoothly till Drago's return, and I took the opportunity to officially call the meeting. It was a power play, to get my name out there and show a little bit of power, but I also hoped that I could use this meeting to restore order. If I did that, I could likely impress Drago and get myself a better position (possibly one of the reserved positions on the flagship).

As the meeting began, everyone shared their thoughts. What if Drago is dead? What if he is testing us? What if he wants to see who tries to claim his rule? All around, we believed it necessary to appoint a de facto leader or at least a defensive coordinator in the event of another dragon flock attack. That's when I began to speak up more, and others began to back away.

In the end, it was decided that since I was still within a year of having joined the crew, that I would co-lead with one of the veterans until Drago returned. It was great news for me! A position of power, even if nothing came of it. It gave me a good reputation among the men and allowed me freedom about the fleet.

We announced the terms to the crew, and just as we three arrows flew out from the top of a large rock formation. Two of them struck my co-leader, killing him in a matter of seconds, and the other one landed between my feet. I yelled out to everyone to get into battle positions, and ordered the lookouts to mount the nests.

It wasn't long before the lookouts spotted a fleet just barely larger than our own; the flagship's mast had some nearby tribe's crest, some sort of spiked dragon curled into a ball. It didn't matter, what matter now was that we were headed into a large naval battle, and I was calling the shots. At age 17, I was captaining a fleet into battle. If it wasn't the most terrifying thing ever, then it would have been extremely terrified. If I lose this but survive, Drago will rip my head off with his bare hands I thought.

I ordered the ships to move forward, and engage the enemy in between a long row of rock stacks. This would constrict the sailing area, as only three ships at most could fit between the largest gaps in the stacks, and usually just two would fit. This would allow us to force them onto our ships where we would have the upper hand. I yelled out the orders, and everyone followed them. It was awesome, no one even skipped a beat, and they just did as I told them. The other ships were told the strategy, and followed suit.

We met at the rock stacks, and the two ships that we had dragons on released whatever they had. They would have likely broken free during the struggle, but releasing them now gave the chance that the enemies would be burned by the dragons, or the enemies would help us kill the dragons. Either way, it helped us out more than it would hurt us.

Everything proceeded well for us. The ships rammed into each other directly between the stacks, with a few of our ships hanging back in case of a flank from the enemy. I over watched the battles, then remembered the archers on the stacks. I yelled to our archers to keep a keen eye out, and instructed them to watch the rocks. With our back archers watching the rock stacks, and the enemy beginning to board our ships, it looked like we had everything going well. The back enemy ships even looked empty, so they were likely undermanned or everyone piled up front for the frontal assault. It was possible they had a fleet too big for their army in order to intimidate local tribes.

Everything was going well, until the enemy gradually slowed their assault to a stop and their leader stepped forward. Even though there was no fighting on my ship, and therefore the leader was not on my ship, I heard him clearly. He had a booming voice, and a craziness about him that very distinctly set him apart as a Viking with more bloodlust than normal.

"I would like to speak with whoever you call your 'leader' during Bludvist's little time away…" Oh yea, that would be me. I cupped my hands and yelled back, "What do you want?" Great negotiation skills, if I do say so myself.

"Well, to start with, your full and unconditional surrender. Oh, and your fleet and men are now mine…"

I had begun walking down to the deck of my ship in order to be closer to the front line. I stood at the very front of my flagship, and the ship where the fighting was perpendicular to the bow of my ship. I was easily close enough for negotiations but far away not to be in harm's way.

"And why would we join a snobby brat when he is outmatched?" My men snickered at the comment, but the man looked undeterred.

He let loose a maniacal laugh at my comment. "And who are you to call me a brat? Does your mommy know you are here?"

His men laughed, and even a few of my own men laughed… That's never good.

"Now, I will make you an offer. Since Drago is dead…" he paused here, to let the emphasis settle in, "I will absorb your crew and respect your honor and the positions of your leaders…"

"That's a nice try, but you can't scare us. How do we know that Drago is even dead?" I retorted. It helped some of my men to visibly relax; we don't have the brightest men, so thinking for them sometimes is required. Something tells me that that is what Drago wanted: thoughtless drones.

"Oh really? What do you call this?" he said, as someone brought forward a large piece of metal…covered in spikes and built with a hollow top to go onto Drago's stump. Beard of Thor I thought, they really did kill him. Drago would never be caught without that. If my face went white, then everyone must have noticed it; all of my men became increasingly nervous and this man just grinned ear to ear.

"A-and if we re-refuse?"

His grin grew, and he twirled his finger to let me know to turn around…and when I did, there was one of his soldiers with a sword held really close to my neck. He was dripping wet, and looked really angry…as if he was forced to swim through the water to—son of Loki, they swam around the stacks! He was STALLING!

"I think it unwise to refuse now, boy."

It didn't seem like much of a choice to me, because it wasn't one. I took a quick glance and noticed that my reserved ships were being held by the enemy and all of my soldiers were on their knees with their hands behind their heads. They must have been extremely effective if I never heard a thing…

"I think that we will take you on your offer. Who is it that we serve now, if I may ask?" I don't care what anyone says about me having the 'loyalty of an Outcast' or being as 'boneless as that ginger stick from the Hooligans' (whatever that means), but I made the best choice. With Drago gone, there was no reason to die now.

He laughed in that creepily maniacal way (that I assume I was about to get used to), and whistled to his men. They dropped their weapons, and someone was sent to relay the news to all of the other ships.

"YOU ARE ALL NOW UNDER THE COMMAND OF DAGUR, CHIEF OF THE BERSERKERS. I EXPECT THE SAME FEROCITY THAT YOU WERE KNOWN FOR UNDER DRAGO BLUDVIST, OR ELSE YOU WILL RECEIVE THE SAME PUNISHMENTS!"

Great, we are serving a crazier version of Drago. Just PERFECT…

(Toothless' POV)

I have been extremely reasonable so far. I mean, I let Hiccup go up to a Dirt-Eater and try to speak with it. That wasn't easy! I should have killed that thing! Then it goes on and says that all Dirt-Eaters need Hiccup's help…and it wants us to help save their KING!

And I was still reasonable. I even didn't even say some things the hatchlings shouldn't hear. I wanted to, but I was reasonable when I opposed helping the Dirt-Eaters. If Hiccup thought I was 'overreacting' and 'unreasonable' when we decided to help, then he was in for a surprise when he suggested summoning as many Dirt-Eaters as possible to help us attack the Outcasts. I thought he had lost his mind.

And that's where I find myself now, using every trick in the book to say "NO" to gathering the Dirt-Eaters. I am throwing a hissy fit for the ages, and I seem to be LOSING.

*No. It is NOT happening. You are lucky you got me to come this far, you would not be wise to push your luck.*

We are currently stopped on a rock outcropping in the middle of the sea, but one that is large enough to support a small grass field. Currently, Cami, Thuggory, Hookfang, Skullcrusher, Stormfly, and the Dirt-Eater that we already met were sitting on the grass, watching us argue. I am sure that Hiccup looked insane to the humans here, seeing as he is talking out loud and gesturing with his hands with most every word.

"I don't get it! What do you have against Whispering Death's? This could be HUGE for us; having this rare dragon-leader on our side? Who knows what this could do!"

*I told you, it's a matter of honor! WE are the masters of the sky, and every species acknowledges that WE are the greatest flyers. But they fly underground; it's a disgrace…*

He did not look impressed at all.

"That's it? Some stupid thing about pride? Have you forgotten that you are the Night Fury who was shot down by a wimp?"

Oh, so he wants to bring that up?

*That is NOT cool, dude.*

"Get over yourself! We have a chance to build something that the world has never seen before, and we don't need to be our own enemies!"

Why, how dare he? Insulting my honor, and then trying to manipulate my pride? I should be furious!...but he's right. I had lost sight of it, but we are trying to accomplish something…

*Okay, okay fine. But I still don't like this…*

^It's fine. We are going to let the Whispering Deaths do all of the fighting, so they don't feel like they are useless, and we are going to sneak in and secure the egg.^

Oh. Okay, let them fight it out. Fine with me.

Hiccup walked over and mounted up, before turning to the group that had watched the spectacle with wide eyes.

"Alright, we will join the others. Where are they?"

^*They have surrounded the Outcast village and have waited for the opportune time. We will meet with them when we arrive.*^

"Then let's go."

(Alvin the Treacherous' POV)

I was already having a bad day, but it is just starting to look up. Someone yelled about a dragon raid, and if anything brightens my mood its blood trickling off of the end of my sword. However, as I ran out to join the fight, something seemed off; specifically, the fact that I didn't notice any dragons flying about or fire spewing anywhere.

"WHERE ARE THEY?" I yelled to the first man I saw.

"I-it's a pack of Whispering Deaths, Alvin. We told you stealing those eggs were a bad idea!"

If he hadn't reminded me about the eggs, I would have killed him on the spot for speaking like that to me. However, I realized the dragons' plan.

"GUARD THE STRONGHOLD! DON'T LET THEM GET THE EGGS!"

I led my men into a ring guarding the door, and one by one the Whispering Death's surrounded us. It was a good ole' fashioned stand-off, and we waited for the beasts to make their move. We waited for almost a minute, before suddenly the door behind me blew open from the inside. The force of the explosion and the pieces of door knocked down myself and all of my men, and I looked up to see what the heck happened. Out strode a dragon as black as night, being ridden by a man in a matching mask. The man had all of the eggs in sack on the dragon's saddle, and held the large white egg in his hands.

"You would be WISE… not to meddle in the affairs of dragons. I would hate to have to come back here; you people already smell bad, I don't want the smell of burning flesh assaulting my nose also…"

I got to my feet and charged the dragon, sword held high.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" I cried out. The man calmly tossed the large egg up in the air (where it was caught by a Deadly Nadder, of all things) and stood up in his saddle. When I was 10 feet at out and still charging, he jumped forward and flipped over me. He drew what looked like a sword or a staff, and swung at my back. I had anticipated this, and stopped charging to put my sword behind me and block the attack. I spun and sliced diagonally, using all of my momentum. I caught him going to block my attack with a staff, and knew that I had him beat: no one would be able to withstand such a block without losing their balance, especially with a staff.

In a flash, his staff turned into short swords and he swung in the exact opposite direction as my swing. I braced myself to force through a powerful contact, but the force of the blow was not nearly as colossal as I expected. He switched his weapons into half staffs somehow and began to assault me; it was then that I realized that his swords had cut clean through my broadsword. Without my full sword, he quickly disarmed me and held a blade to my chest.

"I will NOT say this again: you WILL stay out of this or I WILL come back. And I won't be so nice next time…"

"Who do you think you are, you son of a bi-" I was cut off and he smacked me across the head with his staff. By the time I recovered, he had hopped onto his dragon. The dragon growled at me, then roared in an eerie, screeching manner. When he was finished, the rider gave a final comment before taking off:

"It is not wise to mess with a Night Fury or its Rider; you oughta 'hide and pray we do not find you.'"

(Stormfly's POV)

^But-but, do I have to?^

I swear, I would have thought that teenagers would always jump all over an opportunity to get a date. Especially one that should be this easy. Humans and dragons both would usually go head over heels for that.

Yet here I am, trying to convince Hiccup to ask Cami out. It's perfect; Hiccup is confidant and powerful enough as Rider to impress anyone and everyone, and is super sweet and cute as himself. He's just adorable, and I know that those looks Cami has been throwing aren't meaningless…

^*Yes, you have to. Trust me, it will work. You need to relax and try this, it will be good for you.*^

^Oh yes, because that is reassuring…^

^*Come on, what's wrong with this? Is it Cami?*^

^What? No! It's just…I don't…I…But…^

^*How cute, you even stutter in your thoughts…*^

^Hey! That's not funny!^

^*I know why you don't want to, Hiccup. You are fearless enough to cane-slap Alvin the Treacherous, but can't find the courage to ask Cami out…*^

^THANK YOU for seeing my point!^

^*You are going to try this, or else I am going to tell Toothless that you were too scared to ask a girl out!*^

If nothing else convinces his to do this, then black mail it is! If only he would understand the good this would do him, even (and especially) if she declines.

As I told him that last part, his eyes widened slightly.

^You wouldn't DARE!^

I starred him straight in the eye while bending over slightly into a threatening position to show that I was challenging him.

^*Try me, little one!*^

He kept the stare for a few seconds, before finally caving in.

^…fine, I guess. Just never speak of this, EVER. Got it?^

I preened, and gave him an acknowledging squawk before flying off to a hiding place to watch Hiccup's first pick up attempt.

Seeing as we were overseeing the construction going on at the Sanctuary a la the Whispering Deaths, Hiccup only had to make a short climb up the stairs before reaching the grassy field where Cami had just dismounted Hookfang. I could almost hear Hiccup groan about the timing of events that would leave him no time to run for it. Oh course, Hiccup would complain right about now, she would land and be perfectly free RIGHT NOW.

Hiccup walked up to her, and I gracefully landed on one of the sills to the hole of the side wall, close to the conversation but out of sight. I called out to Hookfang to give Hiccup and Cami some privacy. When I told him why, he just snorted and said well it's about time someone acknowledged it. Hookfang flew into a large tree across the lake, and I flew over to join him. From here, I would have a bird's eye view of the meeting and be able to hear it if Hookfang kept quiet, which he will so he can hear it also.

Hiccup walked up to Cami, who had not let Hookfang's sudden departure go unnoticed, and tried not to choke on his own words.

"H-hey, uh, Cami…do you wanna-…would you like to, um, get some food?"

Cami arched her eyebrow (yes, I can see her eyebrows from here. I am that good) but seemed to wave the strangeness off.

"Yea, I'm starving. Do you guys have anything stocked around here?"

Oh, she took it the wrong way! Hiccup may have a stroke trying to explain what he actually meant!

"Uh, well, actually, I kinda meant more, you know, together…"

Cami looked completely dumbfounded for half a second, but recovered quickly.

"Are you asking me on a date, Hiccup?"

Oh, that's not good. She is either deflecting or she is playing him, and either way that probably won't end well…but it will be funny.

"Uh, well…Yea, actually. I am."

"Do you like me or did Toothless put you up to this?" Cami asked this with a sly look of disbelief, but also revealed a tiny bit of humor in her eyes (yes, I can even see the humor in her eyes. #EyesOfAHawk thank you).

"WHAT!? No! Well, I guess…I mean, he didn't put me up to this but-that doesn't mean I don't-" Hiccup dropped the ball hard. And he was doing so good, too. Well, as good as any mortal can do on Cami, that is.

"Ok, I get it. I do kinda like you too…but nope, not going out with you."

Ouch. OUCH. She just shot him down nonchalantly, as if she were asked if she liked light or dark blue more. Like it didn't matter

Hiccup must have thought the same thing, and was stunned enough to actually stick up for himself (even without his mask, which is not something normal).

"Wait, what? Why not!? You just SAID you liked me!"

"I said I kinda like you, but I don't think I would fall in love with you. The Rider is someone that I could be with…"

"…but that's me, Cami. See? I have the mask and everything…" Dear gods, you won't win over a girl by bombarding her with sarcasm… haven't I taught you anything?

"No, it's not. You are a different person under that mask; someone that you aren't normally, like some sort of ruse that comes naturally."

"But then why can't you have both?"

"Because I wouldn't want to compare you to you. It wouldn't be fair. Hiccup, who put you up to this? Stormfly?"

"Yea, actually. Why does it matter?"

Oh crap, she isn't going to actually tell him that I am looking out for him? He hasn't figured that out?

"Why do you think she is doing this? To get you a date?"

There was an awkward pause until Hiccup finally replied.

"…actually, yes."

If I had a hand, I would have face-palmed hard enough to give me a headache right here.

"I bet she did it for the same reason I can't date you: you're too reserved when you aren't Rider, and you are too brash when you are Rider. It works, because 'Hiccup' is one of the best people around, and 'Rider' is one of the most threatening people around. You just haven't found your balance yet."
"So I am too different because of my mask?"

"In short, yes. But that's what makes you special. It will probably take you a while to achieve the best balance. By then, I bet you wouldn't settle for so little…"

"What do you mean 'settle for so little'? What's wrong with you?"

Good question, Hiccup.

"Not a damn thing! I'm just not right for you, either. Right now I'm the hottest girl around who also happens to like you. However, once you are truly ready, you'll have any girl you want…and I think I know who that would be!"

Hiccup groaned. Loudly.

"Will you people ever let me forget that stupid crush?!"

Author's Note: Nothing Fancy Here. Leave your comments as always, I have read them all. Oh, last chapter broke my longest chapter record by ONE WORD, and that was completely on accident. Pretty cool though.