I neither own nor claim any rights to "How To Train Your Dragon"

Jarin and the Legacy of Nartara
Chapter Ten – To Reap the Whirlwind

After two days of thunder and lightning and waves that threatened to tear the ships apart, the weather finally settled down and the third day of their journey was dawning gray. Stoick and Tarina stood at the bow of the ship and looked out across the water. It would not be long now before the shores of Nartara would be visible on the horizon. It also would not be long before the Riders of Berk would arrive to begin their air raid on the island, once Stoick and his warriors had set foot on the beach.

It would make for a very impressive display of dragon air superiority. The people of Nartara were used to dealing with dragon raids, but they had never faced dragons carrying Viking riders on their backs, with coordination between instinct and training. Stoick was no fool. He knew that he could not expect the people of Nartara to break and run just because they would be facing the destructive force of dragons driven by human intelligence.

There... Land on the horizon... Nartara. Tarina shuddered as she beheld her home from afar. What if she was wrong? What if the people, out of fear, sided with her father? She had been gone too long. What if Gelbrun's poisonous tongue had named her traitor and stripped away any credibility she might have when making her challenge. The death of her mother and brother might have driven her father mad, and he might have become the worst leader Nartara had ever known, but he was still her father. She did not want to see him killed. Stoick, knowing full well how personal loss could threaten one's sanity, was willing to give her plan a chance before he acted on his right of vengeance.

"Now we come to it," she said to herself.

"Aye," Stoick responded. "We're about to find out if all of our preparations were enough. I just want you to know that whatever happens, I-"

"Stoick!" The shout came from behind and Stoick turned his attention to one of his warriors who was looking off to the side and pointing, his face ashen at what he was seeing. "SHIPS!"

Stoick saw them. A fleet twice the size of his. "I thought you said that Nartara didn't have a navy!" he said to Tarina.

"We haven't, ever since my father sent the entire fleet looking for the dragon's nest before the raids stopped. Only three ships returned. I have no idea whose ships those are."

Stoick nodded. This was one of those unexpected variables he had been concerned about. Since his escape from Gelbrun's dungeon, a lot of time had passed. Enough for the mad chief to make preparations. It wasn't enough time to build a flee, so these must be allies Gelbrun had managed to secure. Berk had enough enemies scattered throughout the islands who would jump at an opportunity to side against him.

The captain of the ship stepped forward. "Sir, at the rate they are moving, they will intercept us before we reach Nartara."

"About the time Hiccup and his Riders are set to arrive?" Stoick was hopeful.

The captain considered the question. "Possibly. Those ships have a favorable wind. It will be close."

A short time later, the ships had come close enough that, through the captain's spyglass, Stoick could make out some of the details. And what he saw made his throat clinch. "It's Alvin's outcasts!"

O O O

Toram watched the two fleets converging towards each other, one on course for Nartara and the other with clear intent to put itself in front of the first. "Outcasts! When did Gelbrun open a dialogue with them?"

Baelir shook his head. "Who can say? You yourself said that since Stoick the Vast escaped Gelbrun began sending out messages by every means possible. And you know he received many envoys from different places. Alvin the Treacherous would not have come personally, Nartara would not have suffered his presence."

Toram nodded. "Alvin must have done his negotiating by proxy. Someone posing as a mercenary or a pirate. What concerns me more is what did Gelbrun offer the outcasts in return for their support?"

Baelir nodded, "Indeed. Outcast island has no real export capabilities. They are isolated. No respectable tribe would trade with them. It wouldn't surprise me if the mad chief offered to be an exception. Of course, that would turn the other tribes against Nartara, hurting Gelbrun's interests in the long term."

Toram stroked his beard thoughtfully. "As if Gelbrun would care. He stopped thinking ahead a long time ago. It's all about what he can get now. And right now, he needs to be able to keep Stoick off his back."

"Barr!" he said, turning to one the other soldiers. "Get word to the others. Berk's dragons have not arrived with the ships, but I have no doubt they will be here soon. They need to begin making their move to sabbotage those dragon-killing machines."

"Yes, sir!" Barr shouted as he turned away to carry out his instructions.

"It's no secret that Alvin the Treacherous and Stoick the Vast have a history," Toram said. And now that the outcasts are here, it's a pretty good bet that Gelbrun got the plans for those infernal weapons from them."

O O O

Riding Toothless, Hiccup led the Riders of Berk over the ocean. Astrid on Stormfly followed immediately behind him, flanked on both sides by Snoutlout on Hookfang and Jarin on Shadowhorn. Immediately behind and in formation were Ruffnut and Tuffnut on Barf and Belch. Fishlegs and Meatlug were not to be seen. They had taken off at the same time, but had since fallen behind. A Gronckle could not keep up with a Zippleback, Nadder, two Flamescales and a Night Fury. Not when speed was of the essence. Of course, none of the dragons in formation could fly faster than a Night Fury, but the fastest pace of the slowest of these was sufficient for their needs. Fishlegs would arrive late, but he would not be missing the party.

The twins looked at each other with a wild grin on their faces. For the first time in a long time, they were not arguing with each other. They were saving their energy for the real fun. Once they were over Nartara, it would be time for them to make some mayhem. And making mayhem was what they did best. They knew it. Hiccup knew it. All of Berk knew it, and soon all of Nartara would know it as well.

They had been flying since dawn, and they would not be too far behind the raid fleet from Berk as it would reach Nartara. Hiccup had a feeling that something was wrong, and that feeling was growing. He had had feelings like this before and had learned not to ignore them.

"Astrid!" he called over his shoulder. "Move up!"

Astrid did as instructed, lighly nudging Stormfly faster to catch up. "What's wrong, Hiccup?"

"I'm not sure. I've got a bad feeling and I want to check it out. Slide back between Snotlout and Jarin and tell them to stay on course, then follow me as quickly as possible."

"Got it!" She fell back into formation to let the others know what was going on.

"Alright, bud," Hiccup said, patting Toothless on the shoulder. "Let's push it!" Toothless let out an excited screach and gathered himkself for maximum speed.

Hiccup and Toothless were almost out of sight before Astrid had had finished instructing the others to hold course and speed. She kicked Stormfly into maximum speed, leaving the Flamescale and Zippleback riders behind.

O O O

The Outcast ships were now three quarters of the way between Stoick's fleet and where they were first sighted. It would not be long before they would intercept. This was going to get ugly really fast. Stoick was about to open his mouth to say so, when he heard a distant whistling which abruptly grew to a scream.

"Night Fury!" someone shouted.

"Get down!" someone else groaned.

A blur of black streaked overhead and swung around, slowing as it did. A moment later Toothless touched down gently on the deck, and Hiccup dismounted.

"What are you doing here, son?" Asked Stoick.

Hiccup patted Toothless on the shoulder and turned to face his father. "I had a really bad feeling that something might be wrong. And it looks like I was right," he said looking out towards the outcast ships. He motioned Stoick over to him and then spoke in hushed tones so as not to be overheard by anyone else. "Dad, I know that you wanted to make a traditional landing on Nartara, but the Outcast fleet changes everything. I strongly recommend that you get on Thornado. I'll fly Tarina over to the other ship so she can get on Brokenclaw. There won't be any landing on Nartara unless we can turn that fleet back."

At that moment, Astrid arrived on Stormfly and they set down next to Toothless.

Stoick looked at his son, then at Astrid, then back. "I think I'll follow your recommendation, son," he said quietly. Then he turned his attention to the warriors on deck. "Alright! I am taking Thornado up with Hiccup, Astrid and Tarina. We will do as much damage as we can to the Outcast fleet. The ships will continue on to Nartara!"

The Viking yelled their acknowledgment, and Stoick turned towards the stern, where Thornado was sheltered. "Time to go to work, boy," he said as he climbed on the Thunderdrum's back.

Hiccup gave Tarina a quick ride across to one of the other ships, and she made her way to the back where Brokenclaw was hunkered down, clearly not pleased with sea travel. When he saw her, he perked up. He spread his wings and some rays that made their way through the overcast made the metallic orange streaks on his sides seem to blaze like fire. Tarina never got tired of seeing that. She climbed up into the saddle and signaled the old Flamescale to take to the air...

"Hiccup," called Stoick. "What is the status of the rest of the dragon force?"

"Sticking to the plan. We can begin the assault on the fleet. Snotlout, Jarin and the twins will be joining us shortly. Once they see what we are doing, they'll know what to do."

"And Fishlegs?" Stoick asked.

"He'll be here right on time for the main event," Hiccup responded.

"Good. I have lead!"

"Dad, I'm not sure that's-"

Stoick cut him off. "I HAVE LEAD!"

Hiccup did not feel slighted. This mission was mainly to maintain his father's honor and dignity. Already, the chief had to forgo traditional raiding tactics. He was not about to allow any part of this to be led by anyone else. "I've got your back, Dad," he said.

"Listen up!" Stoick shouted. "The Outcast sail with the wind. Blast the sails to ash. They will be forced to use oars. If you see any dragon-killing weapons on their decks, do what you can to take them out. Do NOT let yourselved get taken down. Understand?"

"Yo!" they all shouted at once.

"LET'S DO THIS!"

Stoick took point, with Hiccup immediately behind him, with Tarina on the left and Astrid on the right. They turned towards the Outcast fleet. "BREAK AND ENGAGE!" Stoick roared.

Four dragons split off and engaged a unique lead ship. Fire burning the sails of three and a Thunderdrum's sonic blast shattering the main mast of the fourth.

"Hey Alvin!" Stoick yelled at the outcast leader as he swept by "You should have minded your own business!"

O O O

Alvin the Treacherous stomped in fury and shook his fist at Stoick. His spy in Berk said that the Dragons were not going to be coming until later. Yet here they were now. At least some of them. The most dangerous among them. They were not in position to use the dragon-killing devices properly. If things went the way he was assured they would, the idea was to position the fleet between Nartara and Berk's vessels, with the dragon-killing machines positioned for best effect so they could take down at least some of the dragons.

The irony of it was that those machines were based on the schematics made by Hiccup himself. The spy had managed to smuggle them off Berk months ago, and they were surprisingly easy to make.

He realized that several of them were now either burning or obliterated. That's alright, he thought. There's more on Nartara.

O O O

Tarina swung around for another pass, and began a dive towards an outcast ship. At the last second, she became aware of a spear launcher on the deck of another ship discharging a sharp-pointed projectile right at her, She tried to pull up, but wasn't fast enough, it ripped through Brokenclaw's wing and the dragon roard in pain. What altitude that was gained began to be lost. She could not turn around and go back to one of the Berk ships. A Flamescale could not land gracefully with a wound like this. Nartara or the ocean before it would be saver.

"Try to stay with it, Brokencalw," she said, patting the Flamescale on the neck. "I know it hurts, but we need to try to make it."

The dragon did his best to maintain, and it helped. They were going down, but they had left the sea battle behind and that meant they at least wouldn't be killed by Alvin's Outcasts.

O O O

Tynimon baker discovered that he was far better at warfare than he ever was at baking, and he was really good at baking. He led a group of rebels straight to the nearest Dragon-Killer and had subdued the lad who was manning it before he could even react. Had it been battle-hardened warriors assigned to the weapons, there would have been a challenge. But the army had turned its back on Gelbrun. So he was forced to intimidate the average citizen into doing what he wanted done. And with an outcast presence on Nartara, he had muscle to back up his threats. He looked to his right at the next dragon-killer over and saw a green pennant waved. To his left, he saw the same thing. He looked back to his right, and saw another green pennant. To his left, a red pennant flashed. A second green Pennant indicated that the next weapon over had also been secured. A red pennant meant that it was still held by the enemy.

He and all but one of his group headed over to the machine on the left. The rebels there left one of their group and they all went to the machine that had not been secured yet. There were outcasts manning this one, and they were on the lookout for trouble. But they were not prepared for thirtteen rebels to spring out of the bushes at the same time and overpower them. These were outcasts, so simply tying them up and gagging them was not enough. Tynimon had no qualms about slitting their throats. His father had died to an Outcast's sword when he was a lad. Gelbrun might welcome these killers in with open arms, but then he was insane. Tynimon would have none of it.

They had to repeat the process with three of the machines before they were all secured. If anyone came by, they would see them manned, but when the time would come to fire them against Berk's dragons, not a single one would launch.

O O O

Toram was watching the battle at sea, marveling at the precision of the dragon riders as they slowly proceeded to put Alvin's fleet out of commission. Because the lead ships had been disabled first, Berks ships would be able to reach Nartara. He held a spyglass to his eye and watched with satisfaction as the rebels took the dragon-killing machine by force, succeeding even against outcasts who were manning some of them.

Then a motion caught his eye... A dragon had broken off from the air raid group and seemed to be fighting wildly to stay airborne. It would be going down in the water not too far from the beach at the base of the hilltop he was on.

"Baelir. Barr," he called. "Follow me. Gurdy, you're in charge until I get back!"

Gurdy nodded as Toram, Bailir and Barr headed down the slope.

"What's up, Toram?" Asked Bailir.

"A dragon is about to go down in the water not far from here. We're going to help the rider out. Outcasts are patrolling the beaches, and I am not about to let one of them take someone from Berk hostage. We hold the dragon-killers so they won't be a problem when Berk's dragon riders approach the shore."

Baelir and Barr nodded in understanding. They did not have to wait long before the Monstrous Nightmare and its rider slammed into the water. The dragon was conscious and began swimming towards shore. Once reaching the beach, it collapsed with a huff and lay there breathing heavily.

Its rider lay hugging the beast's neck and thanking it for doing so well.

"Rider of Berk," Toram began. "As representative of the people's rebellion against Gelbrun, I welcome you to Nartara." The rider looked up and Toram's jaw nearly fell to the sand. "Lady Tarina!" he said, kneeling.

"Toram," she said. "Stand up, please. It's good to see you. I am home, and justice will be done this day. I intend to challenge my father's suitability to lead."

"That was my plan, m'lady," Toram responded.

Tarina arched an eyebrow. "Indeed?" she asked. "Will I have need to challenge you as well?"

Toram's eyes widened. "Of course not. I yield my authority to you, m'Lady."

"Very good. I appoint you as Captian of the Guard. See to it that this dragon is cared for. His wing is injured and he is likely hungry. He'll be wanting fish."

"A Monstrous Nightmare?" he asked in amazement.

"Not anymore," Tarina said. "On Berk, the species has been renamed. They are now called Majestic Flamescales."

"And you rode it. That's awesome!" he responded.

"Indeed it is, Captain. Now please, see to it that he is made comfortable and is fed. Then I need you to fill me in on the sate of affairs here. Once Stoick lands on the beach, I want an honor guard ready to receive him, under my authority. And then I have a war to end."

Toram saluted Tarina and went back up the slope to where the rest of his division of soldiers were. Things had just taken a turn for the better. Tarina was home, and she was on the right side. Now there was a matter of driving these outcasts off the island and then it would be time for Gelbrun to reap the whirlwind.