Hello again. Here is the bonus chapter for the fifth anniversary of Another Nightmare first chapter of which came out on 4th of January 2015. Yes I know it is already a day late for most time zones, but I hope you don't mind.

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Comments:

Wolf : Wait no longer.

erikatyusharon: It is getting stronger, and that is while Hiccup is still avoiding using it. ;)

Dragonrider's Fury: What do you mean about Berk? The power was pretty useful in freeing dragons from the queen as seen by them still following Hiccup. Or did you mean Fjoll and being knocked out by separation?

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

"I'm going out," Ivar told his parents who were still eating breakfast.

"Don't wander off anywhere too far, and remember to get more bandages before coming to work," his mother called back.

"I will mom." Ivar stepped out, squinting his eyes in the bright summer sunlight. At least something in the world looked bright as he walked across the top of the village. It lasted all the way until he reached the arena. Ivar kept his head down to not see the Nightmare head that Hakon had hung on the outside of the audience benches, visible to all below it. Even dad refused to have it taken down. Too many people had celebrated the pointless slaughter. Sometimes Ivar felt like people hadn't learned anything over the winter Hiccup spent shoving reality into their faces.

On top of that, Hakon was declaring his greatness somewhere nearby. Ivar tried to walk past inconspicuously without raising his eyes, but that only ended with him colliding with someone's armoured back. Ivar bounced back a bit and raised his hand to rub his forehead that took most of the impact.

"Watch where you are going fishbone," the man Ivar hit jeered. It was one of the younger village warriors. Ivar couldn't quite remember his name, but the man didn't care either way. He had already turned away to keep watching Hakon speak.

"Real honour hangs in front of you. It does not come from disarming ourselves in front of our ancient enemy because some runt from another village feels bad when the beasts are killed. It does not come from leaving ourselves at their mercy, hoping they feel bad for us. Only a hopeless weakling would even consider seeking the dragons' help to replace their own lack of strength." Hakon looked straight at Ivar when saying that. "Fjoll can be an island of Vikings or island of dragons and only strength decides which one. Anything or anyone that makes us weaker must be pushed aside or they will rot our strength from inside."

Ivar turned, trying to get around the cheering crowd. Hakon continued as soon as people quieted down a bit.

"Because that is already happening. We should be focused on protecting our people from the beasts and supporting those who share our enemy, but nooo. People the Chief accepted as our guests, and even some of our own, have angered the Dragon Hunters. These are people who dedicate their lives to fighting and hunting even the most dangerous beasts and have one of the larger armadas in the entire archipelago, and now they think we are their enemies. Now the one who we are depending on to avoid war with the Hunters is the same Chief that allowed the attack against them to happen in the first place."

A chill ran through Ivar's spine. Hakon had never talked about dad that way before, not even during the months Hiccup and Fishlegs had stayed in the village with dragons. He had tormented Ivar for a long time, but never openly opposed dad. Was it because he finally killed a Nightmare?

"They will come for us soon. Our future now depends on how the Grimborns are received on Fjoll," Hakon finished his speech and walked away. There were no cheers, only worried muttering and quiet discussions.

"Hey, didn't you spend a lot of time with that dragon brat?" Ivar spun around towards the nearby speaker, but the words weren't directed at him. Heather was standing nearby with some young men from her combat training group surrounding her.

"Yea, I did. What about it?"

"You some weakling dragon lover?" The youngest one of the men asked and pushed Heather.

"Nah," Heather responded. He regretted pushing her three seconds later when his back hit the ground. "If you have to know I was ordered to treat that kid, you know, some of us have work beyond acting tough in front of the villagers. And keeping a good relationship with the current Chief and his kid didn't hurt either.

"So, you don't support those dragon lovers?"

Heather shrugged her shoulders.

"No. I'm relieved they left. Things were getting really strange. Now if you excuse me boys, I've got work to do." She looked at the young man still laying on the ground. "Come stop by if you start feeling nauseous or lightheaded."

She walked in the other direction without noticing Ivar, who stared after her for a long time. Eventually he had to step out of the way of a rowdy bunch of villagers that seemed exited from Hakon's speech. Ivar headed straight to the storehouse where they kept bandages, the little joy of a sunny day forgotten. He got to the healers' house early with them. Mom and grandmother hadn't even come yet and only Heather was there cleaning some bloody tools. Apparently, the previous evening had been ugly.

"You're early," Heather said after checking who came.

"I wanted to talk. I heard you speaking with some people by the arena."

"Yea, I went to listen to your brother. I want to know what is going on in the village I live in… especially when things aren't going well."

"That isn't what you told them," Ivar said, looking away from the girl. "About just wanting to keep a good relationship with the Chief's, the current Chief's kid. Are you actually relieved that Hiccup and Fishlegs left with the dragons, even after everything they taught us?"

"Not really. Things were pretty interesting with them around and there has been a lot more to worry about since they left."

"That still isn't what you told them."

"That isn't what they wanted to hear." Heather turned to properly face Ivar. "Telling them what they did want, was easier than trying to deal with those brutes."

"So, you lied?"

"It worked in that situation." Heather shrugged. "Didn't really have better options. Sending them all here might have been a bit too much for me."

"Or you could have talked to them and stood up for your friends, for the whole village before Hakon ruins everything."

"Oh, I'm not getting under that battle-axe. If things keep going like this there will be conflict soon, and I don't want to be caught up in it."

"Really? You don't care what is going to happen to rest of the village?"

"I do, but if you are going to have a war about how to deal with dragons, I'm not going to risk my life in it. I thought that would be obvious by now." Heather turned back around to continue her work.

"I guess it wasn't," Ivar said. They stood in a silence for a moment.

"Oh, you are early," Ivar's mom said as she entered. "I guess it had to happen eventually. I'm happy to see you are learning some responsibility now that the beasts aren't here anymore."

Ivar didn't answer her and focused on sorting things on a shelve on the other side of the room. He tried to work alone and without talking with Heather for rest of the morning. Only a few patients passed through, relatively minor cuts from working with sharp things. Then Ivar's dad showed up, searching for mom.

"What are you doing here?" Mom asked, worried.

"Just wanted to warn you. Several Dragon Hunter ships were just spotted approaching the island. I'll try to negotiate with them, but you should be prepared in case they want to fight."

"We will be… This wouldn't have happened if you listened to me. Those foreigners and their dragons have caused us nothing but trouble."

"You saw yourself how everything they taught us was true. Our son rode on a Monstrous Nightmare, and Changewing… and a Night Fury."

"Which came back covered in blood, human blood, and now the Dragon Hunters might be after our heads."

"They are just afraid of truth and want to protect the source of their money."

"Yes, and your guest attacked them, even got our own son involved with that." Mom looked at Ivar, angrier than he had remembered seeing her in a long time. "If the Grimborns know that, they might hold us personally responsible."

"If they know it." Dad sighed. "I'll try to negotiate to solve this situation. Grimborns are all about business. Starting a war with a major village wouldn't be profitable. There aren't even dragons around anymore."

"I pray to Odin that you are right."

Dad nodded and left. Mom turned around to point at Ivar. Her narrowed eyes and wrinkles on her forehead told there was not going to be any talking back.

"Make sure all of the sickbeds are ready and go get more bandages… and herbs."

All of a sudden, they were all very busy. Mom kept ordering more things to do, especially to Ivar. Then she started asking why he still hadn't gotten more supplies. Ivar bit his teeth together and left to get them. It took him several trips to get everything mom demanded and every time he got outside, he could see three Hunter ships approaching ever closer. Lots of warriors rushed to prepare around the village, but everyone else was staying inside. On the last trip the ships were already almost at the harbour.

After that he could only wait. When mom looked to the other direction, he sneaked outside to look towards the harbour. The ships had docked. There were no sounds of battle. A couple of warriors ran up the hill and turned towards the Chief's house.

"Hey!" Ivar shouted and the warriors slowed down, a bit. "What is going on?"

"Your father is coming up to negotiate with the Grimborns. We were told to get your mother."

"You on the other hand should stay out of sight," other one of them said with a low dark tone. "They know what you did."

They ran past Ivar, who stood still for a moment. There was no battle. That was good, but how did they know about him? For a moment he tried to remember back to the battle at the Hunter base, but that thought was lost when he realised that dad and the Grimborns were coming up the village right at that moment. He turned around and ran home before anyone else could see him. He climbed to the second floor and crouched behind an ajar door there. He stayed as quiet as humanly possible, barely breathing. A moment later he could hear muffled speech from outside. When a door downstairs was pushed open he could finally properly hear his father.

"Please, make yourselves at home."

"You first," Ivar recognised Ryker Grimborn's voice and forgot to breathe for a few seconds. He knew what this man could do. Wood creaked as the group of people entered downstairs.

"Now... Chief. Could you explain why some people from this village were involved in attacking our base?" Another voice started. It was much softer than Ryker's but caused shivers to run down Ivar's spine. He had only seen Viggo a couple of times before. The man continued. "More specifically your own son, who appears to have been part of this… act of war."

"If there has been an act of war, as you put it, it was when your brother kidnapped someone from my village. By law and tradition, I can and should have imprisoned him the moment you stepped on this island. If some people chose to help that person you can blame your brother for the consequences. Fjoll has no interest in starting a conflict." There was an indistinguishable sound following dad's words, probably Ryker not being happy.

"I am afraid you are mistaken," Viggo continued, his voice still soft but with an unmistakable threatening undertone. "It is true that Ryker captured a person from this village, in a way that was rushed. However, to call his actions a kidnapping, a crime, is very much exaggerated. Part of our job, and the job of every Chief worth of his position, is to protect our people, and to an extent all Vikings, from the dragons. Based on Ryker's report, and how he was rescued, that person, that Hiccup boy is traitor to every Viking."

"He isn't wrong," Hakon said. Was he invited to this negotiation, while Ivar could only listen by hiding? "The way things are going we are betraying every Viking and village who have sacrificed defending against the beasts."

"Hakon, stop. Learning new things isn't betraying anyone," dad said. "If anything, it could help avoid battles and sacrifice. Of course, you wouldn't care about that. To you dragon Hunting is just a business, a way to get rich. So, don't pretend you and your brother were acting on for some just cause. You thought you could use Hiccup's knowledge of dragons to help your business, so you kidnapped him, and got a bloody nose for it."

"So that is how you want to do this. May everyone know I gave you a way out, a chance to honour proper Viking tradition. Clearly you are planning to sabotage our way of living. The attack last year was only the beginning."

"We have no interest in attacking you, and we live in the way we choose," dad responded. "It is in both our advantage to keep things that way."

"Not if you start turning people against our business. You are going to make a choice." A chair clanged against the floor. "Be a Viking or be the enemy of every Viking that has suffered because of the beasts. You have a day to think about it. Ask what your people want. I'll come to hear your choice tomorrow morning. What happens after that depends on you."

Multiple pairs of steps walked across the room below ending, with slamming of the door.

"See where you've gotten us?" Mom said.

"I was hoping they would be more reasonable and agree to leave each other alone. Would you rather live in ignorance and bow down to whoever demands you remain so, or really see the world for what it is?" Dad said so quietly Ivar could barely make it out. Mom didn't immediately answer him. Steps crossed the room and the door opened.

"I am going to find our son before he finds a way to make things worse."

"Are you sure you are worried for the right son?"

The door slammed shut.