Hiccup just stared at Lord MacGuffin, bewildered by his statement. He was so shocked to have the words slip from MacGuffin's lips all of a sudden. He was probably one of the last people he'd expect to be the one to put the blame on him, but after all, everyone knew Hiccup didn't do it.
"Wha— what makes you say that?" asks Hiccup, growing tense from hearing MacGuffin's words. The others, Dingwall and Macintosh, were split. Some of them believed MacGuffin, while some just thought his claim was pure rubbish.
"Who's the one who led dragons to DunBroch?" MacGuffin counters. "Smothering Smokebreath, according to you, is a dragon. You're the one who brought dragons down here to DunBroch. That means you brought Smothering Smokebreath here so DunBroch will fall to its knees. You allowed Dagur to escape because you didn't want him behind bars just yet. You set this up perfectly, drawing every single thing out until there were no inconsistencies left!"
"What?" yells Astrid, outraged that MacGuffin would jump to a conclusion that was completely ludicrous. The reasoning he provided didn't make any sense at all.
MacGuffin was breathing heavily after his rant. It all seemed reasonable to clans Dingwall and Macintosh, both of which were still split between blaming Hiccup and blaming someone else. DunBroch natives already brushed it off, but even Fergus was a little offset. If Hiccup was plotting with Dagur the entire time, then why didn't he just do away with the kingdom the first time he came?
"We should never have trusted you. You Vikings. You're all the same. Greedy, stinking murderers who just want complete control of these lands," adds MacGuffin. He slowly strolled off back to the castle with his entire clan, followed by Dingwall and Macintosh. The only ones left outside were the Vikings, Merida, and Fergus.
Fergus watched in plain shock as the doors to the castle closed behind Clan MacGuffin. "I really don't want to believe he's right," he says out loud.
"Neither do I," mentions Merida.
"Then you guys don't have to," says Hiccup.
"Then you'll need to prove that we don't have to believe in MacGuffin," says Fergus. "Trust me with this one. I'm on your side. I don't want MacGuffin to be right. But I just need to prove to the rest of the kingdom that you're not the one who led Smothering Smokebreaths to DunBroch."
"And so we will," blurts out Astrid.
Hiccup blinked several times, trying to think of how he's going to prove his innocence, but after about a minute, his head became a sea of thoughts—he couldn't stick to one thing long enough to actually think about it. "Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out."
He headed back to the castle, leaving the other Vikings with Merida and Fergus. But they exchanged no glances, no words as they too headed back to the castle.
That night, Jack had arrived back at DunBroch. He hasn't been so lucky with his part in the search for Dagur either. He couldn't see a thing in the dead of night, so once he decided that he had strayed too far from DunBroch, he simply rode the wind back.
He roamed around the castle halls. The torches were still lit, but the place was completely silent. Everyone was fast asleep in their room.
Suddenly, he heard slight footsteps coming down from above. He quickly hid behind a corner as a light appeared at the end of the hallway. He breathed heavily and peeked around the corner to find Lord MacGuffin holding up a lantern as he stepped through a doorway. In his other hand he held a hammer, and he looked like he wanted to take out his anger on something. Jack didn't know what, but he was smart enough to know that the body position MacGuffin was in meant he was going to attack something.
MacGuffin opened the doors to every room and peeked inside before closing them slowly, as to not wake them up. He eventually reached a point where the hallway split to both sides. He headed to the left, and Jack followed him, barely out of sight.
MacGuffin opened one of the doors down the hallway and just stood there for a few seconds, observing what was inside the room. He glanced in both directions, Jack slipping out of sight just in time. Then he set the lantern down and proceeded to enter the room, struggling through the doorway.
Jack promptly followed Lord MacGuffin into the room. Hiccup was asleep inside, and MacGuffin was standing over his body. Still, MacGuffin hasn't noticed Jack was watching him.
Slowly, MacGuffin raised his hammer above Hiccup, Jack now standing less than five feet from him. His eyes widened when we realized what MacGuffin was about to do and aimed his staff at the hammer. He then fired a bolt of ice straight at MacGuffin's hand. It ended up knocking the hammer right into the bed frame with a very loud noise, waking Hiccup.
MacGuffin retrieved his hammer and went on to swing at Jack, who fired a bolt of ice right back. MacGuffin dodged it, and hit Hiccup square in the cheek as he was sitting up. The ice bit at his face, and his cheek began to feel numb after the hit.
If it did anything in Jack's favor, however, it woke up Hiccup. He quickly rolled out of the bed and ducked under the collapsing frame before he realized it was going down. He then cleared the area as the bed collapsed and took cover behind the debris.
Rapunzel, somehow still awake, dashed down the hallways upon hearing all the commotion. She tracked the sound to the very room Hiccup and Jack were in, holding a frying pan.
MacGuffin's back was toward her, so she took the opportunity to swing at his head. With a loud CLANG and a few seconds of silence, MacGuffin collapsed on the floor unconscious.
The sound was what ultimately awoke most people in the castle, including a startled King Fergus. With sleepy eyes that almost seemed shut, he sauntered toward Hiccup's room to find Rapunzel holding the frying pan.
Fergus's eyes glanced at the unconscious MacGuffin, then at Rapunzel, then at MacGuffin again. He then proceeded to drag MacGuffin's body out of the room by the legs. Without saying a word, he was gone with MacGuffin.
Merida also came rushing down the hallway. She passed by her father dragging MacGuffin across the cold stone floor and wondered what he was doing. Once she entered Hiccup's room, that's when the real questions started pouring in.
"What happened?" she demands.
"I don't know," responds Jack. "I get here, I see Lord MacGuffin awake, I follow him, he goes into Hiccup's room, and he tries to kill him!" He sped through the sequence of events so fast it made Merida's head spin as she tried to process it. "And then I—,"
"Hold on. Slow down. MacGuffin tried what?"
"He tried to kill him with a hammer in his sleep. But anyway, I was able to stop him just in time—,"
"Wait! You mean to say MacGuffin tried to kill someone in their sleep?"
Jack was beginning to grow tired of the interruptions. "Yes. Exactly what I mean."
Merida gave Rapunzel a long stare before asking for her side of the story.
Rapunzel's side was a lot shorter. "I hear something going on in this room, I see Jack and MacGuffin fighting, I break up the fight by knocking out MacGuffin. End of story from what I saw."
Hiccup was still covering himself, but once he heard Merida's voice arguing over the other two, he sat up. He was still rubbing his cheek from the blast from Jack. It still hurt, but really, it's only been two minutes since Jack fired that blast and accidentally hit him.
"You okay there?" asks Jack once he noticed that Hiccup was now up.
Hiccup moved his jaw from side to side with his hands. "Yeah, but it hurts. Even for someone who should really be used to this feeling after twenty years up there."
Merida intervened by changing the subject. "Now, MacGuffin just doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would even attempt that. So maybe he accused Hiccup of trying to take over DunBroch with those Smokebreaths. But what does he have to prove it? Because killing the suspect is anything but proving his point."
"I don't know. And I think it's best we don't find out. Just go back to sleep, guys," says Hiccup.
For the rest of the night, nothing interesting happened. The Smothering Smokebreaths did not return to hoard more metal—that feat had been done earlier that night. There was still no sign of Dagur anywhere near the kingdom. Lord MacGuffin was kept locked up for the remainder of the night, separate from the Berserkers.
Back in Berk, several ships could be seen off in the distance. On the sails was the emblem of a Skrill. Berserkers, no doubt. But why are they here? Isn't their target Hiccup and the gang? They all remembered Hiccup saying something among the lines of, "they have Merida and we're going south to find her."
Gobber and Eugene watched from the forest as the ships slowly approached Berk. "Let's get back to the village," says Eugene. They took off straight back, tripping over rocks and swatting tree branches out of the way as they hustled into town. They headed down to the dock, where the ships were already were. For safety, they had several catapults and crossbows aimed at them. Eugene was the first to hop onto the ship. The second his feet landed on the vessel, those on-board pointed spears from all directions at him. Definitely a situation he's been in before.
"State your business," one of them says.
"My business?" questions Eugene. "You're the ones docking at Berk. Surely, you must be here for a reason."
The one Berserker exchanged a few words with the others in the form of a whisper. He turned back to face Eugene with the same menacing look. "Your name?"
"Flynn Rider."
"Well!" interrupts Gobber, shoving Eugene out of the way. "I'm sure old Flynn will have something to say to us later once we're sorted out here." The last few words were directed toward the Berserkers in a more threatening voice. "What exactly do you think you might be doing on Berk?" he says to them.
"Message from Dagur's all we've got here," says one of the Berserkers steadily. His voice did not falter a bit as he spoke on. "I promise there's nothing else on this ship except this." He held out a piece of parchment with some markings scribbled onto it.
He handed it to Gobber, who swiftly snatched it out of his hand. He pored over it about three times, whispering the words beneath his lips. A winter breeze continued to bite at their faces, especially their ears. Everyone shivered, even though this was something they were used to, and they were wearing fur.
"Okay. Well, you can all be on your merry way now. I'll get this delivered to the chief as soon as I possibly can!" Gobber hurried through his sentence as if he was just in a rush to get these men off of Berk. Well, of course it seem reasonable, but it was clear to them that there was nothing dangerous hidden on the ship or on the parchment.
The ship drifted away from the island as the Skrill emblem on the sail caught wind. Gobber turned his back to it and headed back into the village, where he continued to read the parchment. Eugene came rushing up to him, eager to find out what was written on it.
Gobber read out the words to Eugene. "By the way, what's this whole Flynn thing? Name sound so convincing."
"Oh, that?" says Eugene. "Uh… long story. Back when I was a bit more… I would say active, I guess?" His voice cracked multiple times. "Well, to put it in simpler terms it was when everyone hated me, and then—,"
"Whatever!" interrupts Gobber. "If it's something that we'll probably never have to worry about, then I don't want to hear about it." He waved his hook at Eugene and walked off.
As Gobber strolled through the rest of the village, he was greeted by several Vikings who were working at home. He was still poring over the piece of parchment. The literal meaning of the words was easy to interpret, but the literal meaning was something that was completely off–topic concerning the matter between Berk and the Berserkers. Gobber shoved the thing in his bag and headed off toward the academy.
Hiccup sat silently at the table in front of everyone. He took a sip out of a cup before giving a displeased face and washing it down his throat with some water. He bit out of an apple, the crunching grabbing the attention of everyone at his table. Hiccup just shrugged and went on chewing the sweet juicy fruit.
Merida stared at him with a blank face. "Okay. What's bothering you?" she suddenly says. "I know that look anywhere. You know something's not right."
Hiccup shot a glance at her. He swallowed the chunk of the apple that was in his mouth before going on speaking. "It's about MacGuffin last night." He leaned in closer to Merida because he didn't want anyone eavesdropping on their conversation. "You and I both know he doesn't want me here," he whispers to Merida. "He's going to keep blaming everything on me until the entire kingdom is convinced and wants to expel me from the kingdom. Then your father will have no choice but to go with them." His head turned over to a few MacGuffins at the other side of the Great Hall. Their heads seemed to turn away as Hiccup's eyes moved toward the two.
"Yes, but nobody knows what happened last night except us. No one knows where my dad put him," Merida whispers back.
"Still. Who's your kingdom going to trust? Me, a Viking," he emphasized the word Viking, "of whom your kingdom's only know of for a bit over a week, or Lord MacGuffin, an all–powerful leader who's well known throughout the clans? Sure, I'm a chief, but my domain isn't anywhere near here," he says as Rapunzel strolled over toward them. "Hey, Rapunzel." She took a seat across from Hiccup, next to Merida.
Hiccup had already finished his serving. "I'm going to go out. Maybe fly for a bit. Try to catch some fresh air." He stood up, swinging his legs around the table. Then he left and stepped into the sunlight. The door closed behind him.
He left Rapunzel and Merida at the table. A little while later, once most of the chatter around them died down, Merida stood up and left. She found Jack in the stables, tending to Angus and Maximus. "Have you seen Bunny anywhere recently?" she asks Jack.
Jack looked away from Maximus toward Merida. "No. I haven't seen him since that skirmish that cost Dagur his entire tribe."
"I swear that was ridiculous," mutters Merida.
Jack locked up Angus and Maximus. He sat at the bottom of the stairwell, icing the stone a little bit. "What do we do now that Dagur's on the move and nowhere to be found? If he found a way out to the sea, he would probably be nearly halfway back to Berserker Island."
"One problem, we don't know where that is."
Jack grumbled beneath his breath. "Well, we can't just wait here now, can we?"
"Well, maybe we have to." Merida stared at the ground. "MacGuffin's want the entire kingdom—the clans, and all—to turn against Hiccup for whatever reason. I don't know, maybe he's just upset that we're letting a Viking wander around the premises or something."
"And his son?"
"About him, I'm not very sure. Haven't actually seen him since Dagur was here, so whatever he may think is all to himself. No one can really understand what he's saying, anyway."
They stood in silence for a while. People continued milling around on their own business. "Come on," says Merida. "There's something that might have a chance at helping us." She opened the door to Angus's stall and pulled him out. Then she jumped onto him and trusted that Jack would be able to keep up with her.
They rolled out of the main gate to the kingdom, across the bridge and into the forest. Dodging hedges and tree branches, they eventually came up to a clearing. In the clearing was a circle of tall, looming stones. They all stood upright, except for one of them. It was broken around the base, the tower of rock collapsed into the circle. A skeleton lay under it. Whatever thing that must have belonged to was probably killed when the rock collapsed right on top of it. When Merida stared at it, she could imagine a little flicker of a red dot where one of the beast's eyes would have been.
She dismounted Angus right before entering the circle. Jack followed closely behind her. She looked around the place, finding that everything was the exact same as she had left it last time she visited the circle. Jack curiously strolled over to the fallen boulder and poked at the skeleton that lay beneath it.
Merida ignored Jack for the time being, relying on her memory to try and figure out where to go next. Once it had clicked in her mind and she knew exactly which way to go, she started to explain a few things. "A lot has happened here," she says, finding that Jack was actually attempting to find a way to move the boulder. "And that's not possible."
"Well, it was worth a try," says Jack, believing Merida. "What's under here, anyway? Some sort of dead uh… thing?"
Merida pointed at the skeleton. "That's Mor'du. The demon bear. My father lost his leg to the beast. It's what started the whole uh… rivalry thing."
"Really."
"Hold on. There's more."
"No!" exclaims Jack sarcastically.
Merida remounted Angus and headed off in the forest. It was in a different direction from which they came. Jack followed as Merida kept a steady pace, jumping over a felled tree every now and then.
Soon, they came up to a cleared space. It was nothing but rubble as far as Merida and Jack could see. It led up a hillside before the scenery ended abruptly on top of a cliff. The fallen stones were scattered across the entire land, and the fog gave it an even more ominous feeling.
Jack took interest in the place. He started forward while Merida slowly moved through the destroyed kingdom. Of course, she's been here before, so she knew exactly what she was doing.
While Jack was still lurking around the place, Merida spotted a large hole where one of the buildings would have been. A steep pile of rubble was there, serving as an entryway and exit to the building. The structure was still slightly intact at its foundation, but for the most part, it was beyond repair.
Merida took special note of the stone. On it, four princes were carved into the fine rock. It was split right before the last prince on the right; three on one side, the last one on the other side. Merida could envision the same bear from that stone circle here, breaking the relationship with his brothers, killing them off, and then becoming nothing more than a humongous creature that roamed the place, killing off everything it can find. I'm you. You're Mor'du, she thinks to the single prince at the end. She then stared at the three princes. And you three are the rest of the royal family. You all are the ones who fought valiantly to protect your own kingdom. She kneeled down and viewed the entire thing as a whole. And what have I done?
Then she went on to do something she thought she never thought she'd do. She took the two pieces of stone, and then attempted to fit them together as well as she possibly could. The two pieces, surprisingly, still snapped into place like puzzle pieces, but they didn't stay together. There was a chip where the two pieces connected, and although noticeable, it didn't serve as any hindrance to the image carried by the carving.
She set it back down, and the two pieces split apart once again. There's no way all of you are back together as one now, is there? Sighing, she stood up slowly and turned toward the exit and stopped herself.
Jack peered down toward her. "Why exactly are we here, again?" he asks.
"Once, there was an ancient kingdom," starts Merida. What is that supposed to mean? It didn't answer Jack's simple question.
"Uh…"
"Ruled by a fair king, and when he died, he split the kingdom among his four sons." She pointed her bow at each of the princes carved into the stone. "But the oldest wanted to rule the land for himself, following his own path." Using her foot, she pushed the single prince away from the other three. "And the kingdom fell to ruin, and…" she had just repeated a simpler version of the 'tale' Elinor had told her.
It didn't occur to Merida that Jack was listening the entire time. "And what?" he asks. "What is this story all about?"
Merida's head snapped to face Jack. "Oh. You're here. I thought you were still off looking around. So. How's your visit so far?"
"It's good, it's good. So what was that story all about? You seem to know it quite well if you can recite it perfectly." Jack took a seat on a pile of rubble, the dust blowing into the air. With a small huff from Jack, it was gone.
"It's just a story my mum used to tell me. Nothing more important than that."
She's lying. Jack knew it. No one can simply retell a story they've been told and make gestures and correspond perfectly with it. "No, I'm serious. What's it really about?"
Merida sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. It's really just about the tension between my mum and me a while back. This story, I guess you could sort of call it a 'metaphor' judging by how perfectly it lines up. Only problem is, it's true."
"Go on…"
"And that prince would be Mor'du."
Jack stared at Merida expressionlessly. "So why did you come back here? Surely, it's probably a bad memory by now, so why would you want to revisit something you hated."
She stood in silence, staring down at the four princes. "I'm just here because of the stress. All that talk and the developing rivalry between Hiccup and MacGuffin, it's pretty stressful when you're the princess of the kingdom that's in the middle of all that. Besides, there's still Dagur."
"Then I can only imagine it's tougher for your father to have to handle all of this. You're also going to have to pay attention to Macintosh and Dingwall. You all may be allies, but from what I've heard about your histories, they weren't very pretty. And that's very recent, too. Who knows what could cause this conflict with Hiccup and MacGuffin to escalate into a full-blown war?"
"I don't know. But one thing's for sure. We have to make sure nothing like that ever happens for the entire duration of this hunt for Dagur. If Berk and MacGuffin go to war, we and the other two clans will also be forced to get involved, leaving Dagur to play whatever move he feels is best."
But with Dagur at a low point right now, was there really something to worry about? Is it just fear that is driving them to pick every move so cautiously? Is it the fear of losing the kingdom to a player in the slums that's driving them to defend themselves?
Merida stayed there for a moment, thinking everything through. If they focus on one thing, the other thing will be what causes their kingdom to collapse.
"Then maybe it's time we head back," says Merida, mounting Angus and taking off into the woods. Jack followed her, flying above the forest.
When they arrived, it was about mid-afternoon. Hiccup was off arguing with a MacGuffin. No surprise there. And Fergus was in the middle of it.
"What I say is best is best for DunBroch! You have little to no experience roaming these lands! Fergus, I thought you would know better than to let a Viking onto DunBroch property," shouts MacGuffin.
Fergus opened his mouth before he was cut off by Hiccup.
"Oh, I think we can all agree that both of us lead a certain tribe, but why don't you actually open your head and listen to other people for once in a while? The only one you even have the slightest chance of listening to is Fergus!" Hiccup shouts back. "And I think we can both agree that people are trying to keep the peace in the kingdom, and if peace between clans won't work, then I don't know what kingdom I've entered anymore!"
He's never like this. Merida and Jack have come to know Hiccup as a cool, laid back kind of guy who just likes to fly around from time to time. Not as another frustrated person who struggles at leading, who argues all the time.
MacGuffin grumbled. He opened his mouth, and his voice cracked, but he shut it after about a second. Then, out of nowhere, he stormed off, mumbling several words beneath his lips.
Hiccup sighed heavily, blowing his hair up. "Oh, what am I supposed to do about this? Why couldn't I have just ran off when you tried to kill me? It would've been so much better if—,"
"No it wouldn't," Fergus cuts him off. "What's important now is that Dagur is still out there. I know MacGuffin more than anyone else. Just leave the matter to me, lad."
Hiccup walked away silently with his head down. Jack and Merida joined him.
"Still not getting through to MacGuffin, I see," says Jack.
Hiccup sighed. "Oh, I will eventually."
As North continued to spy on Jack, which he honestly thought was rude but necessary, he felt the sudden urge to call all of the Guardians back to the pole. For an unknown reason—neither Pitch nor any supernatural force was on the rise, but it mainly concerned the chief and the two princesses. Christmas has just recently passed, meaning he could finally relax and grab some down time for the next few weeks.
It was something that was on the rise at the moment, something on the rise at the same time as tensions between Berk and MacGuffin continued to rise, waiting for just the right moment to strike.
The Smothering Smokebreaths were a double win for them. It left the kingdom of DunBroch incapacitated and it's what ultimately began the conflict between Berk and MacGuffin.
And now it was on the verge of escalating into total warfare between the two distant cultures, being about a day and a half's boat ride away.
North reached for it, but pulled his hand back. Was there really a reason for him to do this? Bunnymund was already out there helping Jack, and he had found out before North even received the slightest bit of information concerning this uprising.
Yet he was aware that Dagur was presented as a joke to the clans, to the two Guardians, to everyone who attended. It was designed specifically to trick everyone into thinking that these dragon trappers were nothing but a small group of anti-dragon riding Vikings.
But North saw otherwise. He had seen what the trappers have truly become, even after the death of their beloved leader, Drago Bludvist. The group, though now without a Bewilderbeast, had changed their method from using the Bewilderbeast to control dragons to using the same method Drago used to gain control of his Bewilderbeast. Sometimes, if a dragon was too stubborn, they would just kill it off and dispose of the body in the ocean.
And that would involve pain. Not just for the dragons, but for the unlucky few who had to watch over them all the time. The dragons would become irritable and randomly lash out at the nearest person there was. Sometimes it proved to be fatal, others only gave the victim a light scratch or a scar on the arm. They would then go on and make fun of it and show off how tough they were.
North reached for it again. Again, he pulled his hand back. He checked the globe. Obviously, nothing wrong with that. A couple of lights went out, but that was completely normal as children continued to grow.
"Are Tooth and Sandy even aware of this?" he asks himself, staring at the globe. He glanced at the moon and then looked away.
North gripped the handle. "I'm going to regret this." Squeezing his eyes shut and looking away, he turned it and pushed down.
Dagur arrived back at the island. The leader came up to him with a straight face. "Are the Smothering Smokebreaths planted?"
Dagur simply nodded. "And they're chipping away at the kingdom's resources by the minute. Soon, DunBroch will fall, and I can have Berk all for myself. A bit of a pain, it was, trying to hide from them and get to the right spot to plant the Smokebreath, but taking Alvin's ship made it so much easier."
The leader nodded. "Yes, I'm sure it's difficult to hide in the forest with people looking for you. Especially when those people are dragon riders." He placed emphasis on the last two words.
Dagur simply scoffed. "Dragon riders? No problem now that we've actually got people who can aim a catapult. Should be easy from here on out."
After a break for the day, Bunnymund reappeared at DunBroch. He appeared next to Jack and Merida, both of which were trying to help Hiccup calm down.
"What happened here?" he asks.
Jack looked up. "Oh well… uh, it's sort of a long story. You see, there were Smothering Smokebreaths that paid the kingdom a visit last night, and now one of the lords, MacGuffin, is blaming Hiccup for it because Hiccup is the dragon trainer out of all of us."
Bunnymund nodded. "Ah, I see. But what's a 'Smothering Smokebreath' do that makes someone so frustrated?"
Jack laughed lightly. "Uh… well, they sort of—,"
"Take your weapons, shields, anything metal, and they build a nest out of them. Once you lose something to a Smokebreath, chances are you're not getting it back in one piece. I don't think you in particular have to be concerned about it though," interrupts Hiccup.
"Ah, I see," says Bunnymund. "I'd be a bit irritable as well if I lost my sword or axe to a dragon like that."
Suddenly they were interrupted by something in the sky. The lights, visible off in the distance, shone with a brilliant aura. Jack and Bunnymund exchanged glances.
"We got to go," says Jack, flying off toward the northern lights. Bunnymund followed closely after him, soon entering a tunnel to the pole.
END OF PART 1