For reference, 'rjóðr' sounds like "yaug" when spoken and means 'red' in Norse according to a few different sources (Vikings of Bjornstad, and English - Old Norse dictionary compiled by R Arthur). Also yey, I'm on time!
Guest
I'm glad to hear you look forward to my updates!
Maerk Andrew
Yeah, I'm getting a war scar alright, I mean how can I not with a half shaved down finger? The united tribes are smaller than Arendelle / Corona, and is made of all Viking tribes, except one no namer tribe, and a few slave colonies the Vikings have freed. In total, I think the population number is going to be somewhere in the 100-200K people, im still trying to work it out in my head if I was honest.
Noctus Fury
Yeah, I must admit I appreciate a story that isn't doing everything in its power to get the main couple to become a thing (Within reason), and where life does happen. And I enjoy a story far more if it has a foot firmly planted in reality, I mean for a Frozen / HTTYD story trying to keep a foot in reality is hard thing to do, but I'm trying.
Inspector me
The finger is slowly but surely getting better, at least now it's starting to heal and doesn't knack as much when I catch it, making typing so much easier.
Warorpeace
The more I use this grammarly the more I'm wondering how the hell I used to write these things before it, I'm even debating getting the paid upgrade. It's certainly a massive help and tells you why something is wrong which is incredibly useful, I've learned a bunch of new things about writing in no time all thanks to it. Only 'con' I can think of is it requires chrome.If you do get it make sure to click on the icon and set it up though, i forgot to do this and now I've done it it's 10x better. (Not sure if it has extensions for other browsers). Also once more, thank you for the correction for the error that has managed to make it through!
Kuma Dzurui
Thanks for the comment!
Darth Codi
Back in the early chapters I put alot of easter eggs and things like that in, I think the hardest one to spot is a Lord of the Rings egg. Anyone finds that one and I'll give them a cookie or something.
/.../
Cami leant against the thick trunk of an ancient looking spruce tree with her arms crossed, her unamused facial expressions told of her disgust, everybody loves Toothless from the second they lay their eyes upon him, whereas her Changewing? Usually, there is an extended warm up period where her dragon may or may not be forced to spit some face-melting acid.
After watching the interaction between one black dragon and some southern royals for what felt like a small eternity she raised a hand to her mouth and whistled loudly, gaining herself the attention of everyone in attendance. "Now you've had a warm up time for you to see a real dragon." She stated before seemingly patting the tree beside her, of course, Cami did not actually pat the tree, instead, she patted her most loyal cold-blooded friend who had been constantly by her side through the thick and the thin of the last few years.
Anna squeaked a small 'whoa' when an almost luminous red dragon seemingly spawned from thin air beside the bog, she had seen animals that could change colour to match their environment and had read books on how some animals could blend in with their environment and be almost impossible to distinguish in their habitat such as a stick insect, but this dragon which is numerous meters long had managed to hide on a tree no more than 20 meters from her and she would never have noticed. As Cami had expected there was a period of silence, her dragon had obviously blown their minds with its unique abilities. "Well?" She prompted them in an effort to get a bit more of a response.
"Well..." Eugene rubbed his jaw as his mind tried to conceive of what it had just witnessed. "It is truly impressive, with..."
"It!?" Questioned Cami hotly. "'It' has a name you know, and feelings." She reached a hand blindly to rub the changewings ears as if to consolidate it for the insult, however, unlike Toothless who could understand human words and acknowledge their meaning her dragon was not so knowledgeable in words, this does not mean however that it could not derive emotions conveyed by voice.
"Well... what is the name?" Asked Kristoff, a little surprised that the Bog reacted so hotly to her dragon being called an 'it'.
"She is called Rjóðr" There was yet another silence till Cami asked. "Well, do you want to touch her?" And just like that Toothless was left wanting as the affection of Anna, Kristoff, Rapunzel and Eugene was directed towards the new dragon.
Elsa however, did not approach the other dragon as she did not want to overcrowd it all at once and besides, she had seen Rjóðr momentarily before, although she had not seen the dragon exhibit such a skill. Looking to Toothless she noticed that the dragon was almost scowling at Rjóðr, but not in a menacing or predator like the way she would expect from other violent beasts, it was almost a jealous type of warble. Reaching up she scratched the dragon under its jaw and this gained Toothless's attention. "Don't worry, you still have me." She spoke when the dragon looked down towards her, but from the dragons demeanour, she got the feeling that she was not enough for the jealous dragon as after all, five sets of hands scratching behind the ears were better than just one.
/.../
After a small display of jealousy between the two showboating dragon's, and when Hiccup was sure no delicate royals were going to be eaten or given a harsh lesson regarding how dangerous dragons could be through some stupid action of their own, he decided he wanted to scout out a small area that he had seen when flying overhead on his arrival to Arendelle. Standing up from his log next to a now fully skinned bear he made his intentions known, and while most were happy to stay with the dragons one decided to join him.
After getting a hundred yards or so from the others Elsa spoke for the first time since they were alone. "You have been quiet."
"Yes." The Viking agreed with her before stepping over a fallen tree that is heavily rotten and covered in moss and fungi, indicating it's ancient age. "Cami told me of a battle waged soon after I left for this place."
"I hope she has delivered good news then?"
Hiccup laughed at this comment's absurdity before turning and helping the queen over the fallen tree, her dress was proving to be rather unpractical in these dense woods. "News of battle is never good news Queen Elsa, win or loss."
The Queen thought on this for a minute, the man was right, a battle waged is never good news. "Then I hope the news was of victory."
"It was." He informed her as they started to walk towards the area he wanted to explore. "But at what cost and resources I can only guess at this time."
This statement alarmed the Queen and prompted her to ask, "Do you need to go and assess the situation?" Is it selfish for the Queen to hope not?
"Probably." The Viking sighed heavily, he was tired of how the war never seemed to have a break. "For now though I trust Heather can deal with it, she's a smart lass and can handle her own." As she had proven to Hiccup many times now.
After this comment, the duo fell into an almost peaceful lull between them as they ventured ever deeper into the thick woods that appeared to have been undisturbed for centuries, but the more they walked the more Elsa noticed something unusual, Hiccup seemed incredibly alert and his eyes were surveying their area as if he was expecting a surprise attack. "Are you looking for something?" She asked him.
"Yes and no," Hiccup replied. "I will tell you if it becomes important."
It did not take them much longer to arrive at the spot that Hiccup had wanted to explore, it was a small opening near a river not much larger than a stream. The spot was a rather scenic one considering the river was still enough to act as a mirror and many of the flowers and plants nearby were in bloom, but something else had Hiccups attention. "Come here." He instructed while gesturing to Elsa with a beckoning of his fingers, and when she arrived he directed her to kneel with him in some long wild grass that grew along the river bank. The tall grass effectively made them invisible to any creature on the same level as themselves, even with Hiccups pitch black armour that usually made him stick out like a sore thumb.
"Keep watching that jagged rock." He informed Elsa while pointing upstream and near some large rocks though a slight thinning in the grass.
After a while of seeing nothing, Elsa was forced to ask, "What exactly am I looking for?"
"Just wait for it." He told her.
After a few minutes of nothing Elsa started to get a little bored and maybe a little irritated, and then all of a sudden she was amazed by what she witnessed, a trio of small gray creatures that is the same colour as the rock Hiccup pointed to jumped from the rock and began playing with one another, their skin colours changed rapidly and almost hypnotically as they moved onto different terrains. Elsa was flabbergasted by the creatures, they looked like miniature changewings. "How did you know?" She asked amazed.
"A few things'," Hiccup replied as he watched the animals play. "Remember when I stopped at the tree?" Elsa nodded her head. "The claw marks were reminiscent of a changewings, and the lack of trackings only helped confirm it wasn't from a bear, then can you recall how Kristoff told that no animals can be found in this part of the woods? Changewings manage the woods they live in in a similar fashion, with the hopes of keeping predators away."
"Oh." Was all Elsa could say as a slightly larger dragon than the first three came to the waterfront and took a sip from the river. As she watched the scene unfold in front of herself she wondered how these creatures had managed to stay hidden for centuries of Arendelle History, since surely someone would have noticed them by chance?
Elsa did not know how long they sat watching the creatures, she was simply too amazed by them to have an accurate perception of time. After a while, she stated, "They almost look harmless."
Hiccup smirked at her, with dragons looks could certainly be deceptive, while small and playful looking these little dragons could, in reality, be incredibly defensive of their territory and act accordingly should an intruder they believe to be hostile come along, but that did not dampen Hiccups desire to meet the little creatures. "Should we find out?"
Elsa was not certain. "Is this a new species?"
"They are new to me." Hiccup smiled to her, it was obvious he was chuffed at finding the dragons. "Come on, I'll let you name them."
Elsa was uncertain but with the man who befriended the Night Fury of all species with her then what could go wrong? "Alright then," She agreed to go, "But I'll let you take the lead."
"Fine by me." Hiccup agreed to the condition that he was to go first. "But before we go put a dab of this on." He fumbled with his armour before finding a small clay vase and handing it to her.
Elsa looked at the vase curiously before removing the wooden stop that acted as a seal at the top and sniffing its contents. "What is in this?" She asked him when the scent emanating from the vase failed to inform her of its contents.
"You don't want to know." He replied.
Elsa grimaced at the thought of what the vases contents could be before dabbing some on her wrists and neck. When she handed the vase back to Hiccup she expected him to do the same but was amazed when he simply put it back in a hidden pouch. "Don't you need some?" She asked incredulously.
"No," Hiccup replied. "I've lived with a dragon for years now, to most dragons I smell like a dragon through and through. Now come."
Hiccup led Elsa back through the woods and slowly approached the rocks where the dragons played, he knew that these dragons could be dangerous so he went slowly and at a leisurely pace, so if they were watching him they could see he was not trying to sneak up on them. Eventually, they arrived at the rocks where the dragons played, only to find they were all alone. "Well, we can't say we didn't try." Hiccup sighed, while he was disappointed he did not get closer to the dragons, he was still too happy that he found a new species of dragon to start with.
"So, what now?" Asked Elsa as she looked around cautiously, fearful that the dragons could attack at any moment.
"Now..." Hiccup started as he bent down to pick up some muck. "We note what we know."
"Which is?" Asked Elsa.
"Well, what do we know?" He in return asked her.
"They can grow to at least 3 meters in length..." Elsa started to recite what she had observed. "And they can change colours much like a changewing."
"Yes." Hiccup agreed with her initial analysis. "But what else do we know."
"I would not know." The queen replied, not truly knowing what Hiccup was wanting from her.
"Then what do the surroundings tell us?" He asked her and Elsa looked around, her eyes looking for anything that could give her even the slightest clue about the dragons. Eventually, with a bit of detective work, she managed to find a single footprint in a small patch of soft sand like grit on the river bank. "They have 3 long toes facing forward and one shorter toe on the back of the heel." She observed.
"Yes, the long straight toes are an indicator that this species spends a lot of their times in trees, and the digit on the back of the foot tells me that the species are likely to perch or sleep on branches. What else does this footprint say?"
Elsa shook her head. "I do not know."
"Okay, first of all, notice the lack of a claw mark by each toe, secondly, the foot is not webbed and finally where are the other footprints?" He asked and Elsa had to admit there were none. "The lack of claw mark means this dragon either has retractable claws or none at all. If I stayed in this area a little longer and did a thorough investigation I could probably infer from the claw marks on the tree that they have retractable claws, but I don't have that time right now. The fact the foot isn't webbed means the dragon spends most of its time on land, or in this case trees, and the lack of footprints probably means the dragon is too light to leave them, which resonates with other dragons that live in trees." Changewings were the exception to this rule since they were too large and heavy not to leave footprints. "What else can we find?"
The queen was at a loss. "I can see nothing else."
"There is two other things." He informed her as he led her to some more dirt. Kneeling down he picked the dirt up and offered it to her. "Roll it in your fingers and crush it." He instructed her and she did so. "See how its solid and almost firm?" Elsa nodded and remained silent so Hiccup could continue, although she was not certain she wanted to know what was in her hands. "These droppings are common of herbivore dragons that enjoy fruit. Now sniff it."
The Queen wrinkled her nose at the instruction to sniff the droppings. "I don't think I want to."
"That's fine." Hiccup replied before crushing some more 'dirt' and sniffing the droppings. "These droppings smell normal to me, if it smelled sour or particuarly pungent then I should be worried for infectious diseases that could be passed onto our dragons, which would not be ideal when I'm an ocean away from my homeland. Now for the last thing." He spoke as he stood and started to take off his armour. "I think they were eating something in this river."
With the bulk of his armour off, he jumped into the river and emerged soon after, a small plant in hand. "Thought so." He said when he climbed out of the water. "This plant is common around Bog island, and some dragons we believe search it out, why we can only guess but it is my belief that they eat it to get intoxicated."
"Intoxicated?" Asked Elsa.
"They cause some wild hallucinations."
"And you know this how?" The Queen asked him with a bit of an accusation.
"We eat these in traditions and ceremonies." Hiccup shrugged as if was nothing, which to him it wasn't since the whole taboo on drugs in his society was far less condemning. "Now come on, we have been a while and the others are bound to be wondering where we are."
After agreeing to return to the others Elsa noticed that a smile had not left Hiccups face since first discovering the new dragon. "You really do enjoy discovering new dragon species don't you?"
Hiccup turned to her, a brow was raised. "Did you really just ask me that?" Elsa could only sheepishly nod her head. "Yes." Hiccup then stated. "I've told you before, if I could give up my position to explore unhindered and with no far reaching consequences, I would do so in a moment's notice."
Elsa could remember him talking about doing so. "Yes, I can remember you saying, and if I was honest I did not fully believe you since all the royals I know cling to power as if their very lives depend on it, but now, seeing your enthusiasm for meeting those dragons and looking at your face now, I believe you."
"Well, thanks, I guess."
"You're welcome, now can I request something of you?" Hiccup nodded his head, allowing her to proceed with her request. "Can you not disclose the discovery of these dragons to my sister? I do not wish for her to be running off to find these hydrae without someone with adequate experience there to guide her."
"That is a reasonable request," Hiccup stated after a moment of thought. "But I believe they will be harder to hide than said."
"How so?"
Hiccup smirked at her. "You will find out, I simply don't want to ruin the surprise."
"Surprise?" Asked Elsa curiously. "What surprise?"
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you."
"I don't like surprises." The queen moped.
"Well..." Hiccup started. "You might like this one."
As they continued to walk neither Hiccup or Elsa noticed a set of large angry eyes staring at them, the eyes belonging to a huge creature far older than Arendelle its self and far more dangerous than either leader could imagine. Fortunately for them, however, the giant creature decided to remain hidden and return to its world of slumber, and wait for dragons to once more be welcome in this hostile world.
/.../
It did not take long after getting back to the others for Elsa to find out what her surprise was. "Why are they sniffing me so?" She asked Hiccup and Cami simultaneously.
Cami crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she watched her dragon smell Elsa like she was dragon nip. "Hiccup?" She then called suspiciously. "Why is she wearing deathsong pheromones?"
"Deathsong pheromones?" Elsa squeaked at the name. "You asked me to put deathsong pheromones on?"
"Yes," Hiccup replied to Elsa with a shrug as if it was nothing, then he turned to Cami. "But it's a long story that..." He started to reply while taking a seat.
The Bog saw straight through him, Hiccup used deathsong pheromones in two situations, the first was if he wanted to lure a dragon somewhere, the second was if he wanted to mask the 'human' scent of someone so they could get close to wary dragons. "You discovered a new species, didn't you?"
"No, that idea is preposterous, almost..."
"Yes you did!" The Bog accused. "And you didn't invite us along? You short sighted..." Hiccup could only brace himself for the long barrage of verbal abuse that is inbound with his name on it.
Eventually, after Cami called him everything under the sun Anna managed to get her voice heard. "We have a species of dragon in Arendelle?"
Hiccup looked to Elsa, forcing her to respond as the dragons continued to smell her. "Yes." She was forced to respond, the truth already out. "And no we can't go see them, they are very skittish and fled before even Hiccup of all people could get close."
"Bah." Cami laughed. "I'm not surprised, even I was forced to run when I first saw that face... or was it his breath? Maybe both."
/.../
Getting back into town many hours later Cami noticed as their horses trotted through the town that many people were staring at her as if she supported two heads upon her shoulders. "Do I look funny or something?" She asked Anna who's horse was travelling alongside her own.
"Actually yes." Replied Anna almost instantly. "You are a woman yet you are supporting armour and weapons, for a woman to do so in my society is virtually unheard of."
"And why not?" Asked Cami in an almost hostile way.
"Well, we girls do not fight," Anna informed her.
"Pft." Cami snorted. "Well, this one does."
"Yes." Agreed Anna. "And that is why you are being gawked at."
The bog stared down a middle-aged woman before turning to Anna and giving her response. "Well, let them stare then."
Getting into the castle's courtyard the group dismounted their horses, and once more Cami found herself under the intense gaze of a stranger. "Yes?" She barked in the man's face.
The man seemed to be at a loss for words, and Elsa was forced to intervene. "Kai, please take Camicazzi to a guest suite, please, and bring her some clothes for later." With Cami being taken to a guest suite Elsa turned to Hiccup who was measuring his horse up and muttering under his breath. "I hope you are not serious about eating this fine horse." Hiccup turned to her with a look and Elsa realised that the man was seriously contemplating eating the horse. "Because if you do you shall miss the fine food at the ball tonight."
"Ball?" Asked Hiccup, the word new to him.
"Yes." The Queen responded before quickly realising the man probably didn't know what a ball is. "There shall be food, a formal dance, and many other people of significant importance in attendance."
"Hmm." Hiccup pondered. "Then this horse may live another day yet. When is this ball?"
"In a few hours." The Queen replied. "There should be plenty of time to bathe and prepare oneself."
"How long do you think it will take me to clean up?" Asked Hiccup a little bewildered. "All I have to do is take the leg off, jump in the bath and..."
"I do not need to know the intricate details." The Queen stopped him before he could say 'shake the fleas off'. "But I have asked a servant to prepare some more... appropriate wear for yourself, it is your choice to don them instead of your trademark armour but I would suggest you at least try them before making a decision. Now I must go as I am already late." And with nothing more to say the queen left, allowing Hiccup to make his way to his own room.
Arriving at his room he found a bath tub had been dragged in and prepared for him, and with a shrug of his shoulders he ditched his clothes and sat on the edge of the tub. Then after removing his prosthetic he fell backwards into the tub, causing water to slosh over the sides and soak the carpet below. He spent a good few minutes in the tub just soaking since the warm water was relaxing and then after building up the will power he reluctantly begun cleaning his body, and just as he begun to do so he heard the door to his room open and turning he found a servant that looked to be in her mid 20's entering. "Err, what you want?" He asked with a curious frown.
The servant looked like she had been caught a little off guard. "I am to help you bathe."
"Help me bathe?" Asked Hiccup amused as he watched the girl walk around his room, gathering a few things in her arms as she did so. "Does your queen question my ability to wash myself?"
The question despite being asked in a mocking tone was taken by the servant to be serious and caused her to become a little flustered. "No sir, it is..."
"Relax." Hiccup cut her off. "I can clean myself, now bugger off."
With the girl gone Hiccup finished cleaning himself before climbing out the tub and finding a mirror in the room. Then grabbing a small knife from his armour he began slowly but surely shaving his facial hair into something somewhat respectable, with the longest hairs on his face being only a cm long, giving him a 'long stubble' appearance.
Looking at the rest of his hair he decided to pull the longest of his locks into a tail that hung a few inches down his back and secure it in place with a few leather bands. As he secured a few bands around his hair the door to his room crashed open and Cami came thundering in. "Hiccup, have you seen this?" She asked with a loud voice. "This is what they are expecting me to wear!"
Hiccup looked her up and down, Cami was wearing a dress that had obviously been provided for her. "Wow." Hiccup then stated. "I never knew you could clean up."
Cami clenched her fists and paced back and forth across the floor, "I'm not wearing this. I mean I can barely breathe and look..." She tried bending over only for the dress to restrict her movement, and then she tried swinging her arms around only for the same thing to happen. "I'm not."
"Then don't." Hiccup shrugged casually. "Now do you mind? I'm sort of naked here."
"Bah, not like there is anything to see" Retorted Cami as she continued to pace. "And I mean it Hiccup, I'm not wearing this."
"I've already said you don't have to." Hiccup replied with some irritation in his voice, he was a little annoyed that he had to repeat himself.
"Fine, I won't." And with that said the girl started to leave his room.
"Just one quick question," Hiccup called after her. "How did you know this is my room?"
"I didn't." She replied as she opened the door. "I think I must have barged down 4 doors before this one."
Hiccup raised a hand to cover his eyes and shook his head. "So, just who have you pissed off?"
"I dunno, some King and Queen of wherever, a randomer or two who rabbited on in some crazy tongue and a Duke of some other unimportant place, so nobody serious." And then Cami disappeared, leaving Hiccup to wonder just what mess that girl was going to get him in.
After pulling on the rest of his clothes Hiccup remembered that Elsa left some clothes for him, and he found them neatly laid out on the bed. Approaching the clothes he took one look at them before shaking his head, he would try them since Elsa asked him to, but he knew what he was going to wear already.
Just as he pulled the dinner jacket on of the clothes provided he heard a light knock on his door. "Yeah?" He shouted as he moved to a mirror.
When the door opened he saw in the mirror that the Queen had entered, she was wearing similar attire as Cami was earlier. The queen moved to stand behind Hiccup as he tested his new look out before the body length mirror. "Apparently there is a... raging beast of a ruffian in this castle."
"Yeah, complements of Cami," Hiccup replied as he shook his head as he looked himself over, he had never looked so ridiculous in his entire life.
"Yes," Elsa responded before approaching and turning the Viking around so he was facing her, then Elsa took a step back and inspected the Viking before shaking her head. "No, wear your armour and weaponry, this look isn't you."
"Tell me about it." The Viking agreed as he started to remove the dinner jacket. "So, you just here to tell me about Cami and inspect my clothes?"
"Yes." The Queen nodded her head. "Regarding Cami though, It would be wise to bring her under control, you do not want to make enemies of these people."
"No, that I don't. I will tell her to pack it in."
"Thank-you." The Queen responded before turning and approaching the rooms door, she had a few things to do before the ball commenced and not a lot of time to do them.