CHAPTER 27: Mentranian visit

Hiccup, Blavery Borhid, Eret, Valka, Gobber, Alvin, and Zephyr with Nuffink were all inside, situated within the house. Over this week and the previous, the morale of Hiccup had fell significantly. Despite giving a valiant determination verbally to come out on top and conquer his anxiety due to Astrid, and the whole situation with the Mentranian regime on Old Berk, Hiccup had caved in to his feelings.

That was why he hasn't been out on the seas, with the Hooligans, to stop the advancements the Mentranians have made, and are currently making (not known to the Hooligans obviously), on the barbaric archipelago. He just couldn't cope with the anxiety that was running laps in his head.

Whenever Alvin had offered to take his men out to the seas to counter the Mentranians, Hiccup had pleaded with him every time not to do so, again due to the Chieftan's anxiety.

Blavery Borhid, Alvin himself, Valka, and Gobber had all been trying to rally up Hiccup to get back out onto the seas to do battle in this ongoing war against the regime on Old Berk. But it never worked. His anxieties dominated him.

Now if Astrid was safely here, Hiccup wouldn't have a problem at all with going out to the seas to do constant battle with the Mentranians. Whenever he spoke to Zephyr and Nuffink, the idea of them no longer having a mum had came up every time to him, and that also contributed to his anxiety.

Hiccup was no longer wearing his Toothless wing suit, he was that damaged by the anxiety. He could no longer get into the mindset of leading the New Berkians into the war against the Mentranians.

"We've reiterated this on so many occasions to you, Hiccup, they'll be keeping her alive..." Blavery insisted, as he rested both his palms on the table Hiccup was sat at, as the legendary Chieftan held his forehead against his own two palms, his elbows planted onto the table.

"With all due respect buddy, how would you know for sure? it's not as if we've been on Mentra or whatever they're calling the old island nowadays, and because we haven't, we have no concrete knowledge of that?" Eret asked.

"Trust me, I know the Mentranians. They may be unpredictable to everyone in this room, and to everyone on this island of New Berk, but I know them. I used to be in the defence force. They won't rid themselves of the biggest bargaining chip against your tribe that they'll ever have." Blavery insisted, acknowledging that Hiccup's two children vikings were in the room, meaning he kept his tone down to a softer level.

"And something else I've been meaning to ask, why is it called 'Mentra', and why are they called 'Mentranians'? they aren't a different tribe entirely, surely?" Eret asked, as he sat down in the corner of the hut, pretty much out of the way of everyone else.

"I was meant to tell Hiccup here about where the name came from, quite a while ago actually. Basically, when those guys swam to Old Berk after they had rebelled against Grimmel's men after Grimmel was killed, I remember this fairly well...they'd always use the word 'mantra' amongst each other. That word basically meant repeating slogans to keep motivated, and in this case, it was to keep themselves motivated with their task at the time." Blavery said, continuing on.

"Eventually, when they came to the agreement of building up what would become the regime that's there today, they took an awareness of the fact that they used mantras very often to achieve their goals on the island, and one of them slipped and said 'Mentra'. It stuck, and Hawkon's father at the time thought it not only sounded serious and dignified, but that it'd be an island name that'd you instantly be able to recognise as having a similarity to the word of mantra. That's what I remember."

"So that's why they're called Mentranians?" Eret asked.

"Precisely. They're basically the same vikings from within that archipelago, they've just renamed themselves in light of the regime that's on your old island nowadays." Blavery nodded.

"And uh, a whole new ideology and view on outside tribes of course."

"On behalf of my son, I just want to thank you very much for doing this, Blavery.." Valka said, walking up to him, "at this time of crisis we need all the help we can get, and at the moment, Hiccup's struggling to cope...you being here to help us is something we'll never take for granted. If Cloudjumper was here you'd be the first one to get to meet him." Valka nodded, offering her hand out to Blavery to shake it.

Blavery nodded with a smile; it felt good to acknowledge that the Hooligans were emotionally grateful, from what Blavery could tell, of him contributing to their efforts against the regime he was once apart of. Valka and Blavery both shook hands.

"It's nothing, honestly. I just want to destroy it like you guys do. And uh...I dunno who Cloudjumper is, but he sounds very...uh...serious, does he really jump the clouds?"

"Haha.." Valka chuckled, "you'll soon see one day, should he and the other dragons ever come back."

"Oh, he's a dragon? wow...I guess one day I'll feel inclined to do so, then, haha." Blavery chuckled.

"Hiccup..." Alvin the Treacherous said, knelt besides Hiccup as the Chieftan refused to look anywhere else but the table, "we have to do something eventually...otherwise, my boy, they might win...it's like I said, you have the backing of my men, together, those guys don't stand a chance..."

Nuffink and Zephyr gently walked their way through everyone, to get to their dad as he sat down on the chair depressingly, with his forehead held by both hands. Gobber didn't mean to let them go, but it was too late now.

"D-Dad?" Zephyr softly asked, her voice causing Hiccup to ever so slightly lean towards her direction, "please do this..." she pleaded.

Hiccup, for the first time in ages, looked up from the table to face his daughter, and his son, as everyone gave the two children their space to talk to their dad. Alvin stepped back, Blavery stepped back, as did Valka. Basically, everyone stepped back.

"Yeah...we have to get mum back..." Nuffink said, "me and Zephyr really miss her..." he added, in a calm, almost whisper like tone.

Hiccup glared at his two children with affection. Just hearing their voices had given him a reason to respond in some form. But he just couldn't look at them without that same touch of guilt he's felt within his anxiety over these passing weeks. He felt like it was his fault that Astrid wasn't here, leading to him feeling even more guilty for his children.

The whole hut was silent for a moment, as Zephyr and Nuffink both held onto their dad as he remained sat down. His long beard was in the full view of everyone, but he still wasn't talking. He felt incredibly guilty still.

He slowly stood up, moving the chair outwards before doing so, and there wasn't a verbal response from him at all. Instead, he simply made his way towards the door of the hut, and walked out of the front door. The guilt meant he couldn't just sit there any longer and make his kids plead to him to bring their mum back...those poor children, he thought. He couldn't cope.

"Hiccup?!" Alvin said.

"Son?!" Valka said, instantly following Hiccup outside, as did everyone else, including Blavery, Eret, Gobber, and Zephyr and Nuffink.

Where was Hiccup going? as everyone stepped outside to follow Hiccup through the village, it was mildly dark, as the day reached its end.


"There she is." Guddorn said to himself, as he sighted through his wooden telescope the giant, tall structure of New Berk.

"Sir, shall we encourage the men to stay on course with us?" a Mentranian captain asked Guddorn, as Hawkon's right hand viking in Guddorn studied the island's structure.

"Yes. We have to go in as one for this mission. The Hooligans will either notice us and send out their best to waste their efforts on us as we want, or they'll do nothing and they'll allow us to gather some geographical knowledge of their home island."

Guddorn tucked away his telescope, as the armada behind his boat, consisting of Berserkers and Mentranians, sailed slowly and calmly. It had taken them nearly the whole day from Mentra, but at long last, they had arrived at New Berk.

"This is a very wide island, isn't it, sir?" the Mentranian captain said, as he caught a sight of the island as they neared it on the calm, slow seas of the night.

"The wideness won't counter our grand plan in the slightest. The father long ago commissioned the construction of wing suits and catapults for Operation Catafly, with that construction still ongoing. We've arrived at the perfect time as well, just as the sun starts to settle." Guddorn replied.

New Berk looked like a giant floating asteroid in the middle of the seas, it was that large and structured similarly. The Mentranian armada, albeit smaller than the ones used for Outcast Island and the edge, sailed closer and closer to the island. Even if the Hooligans don't send out their efforts tonight, it'll be a win win for the Mentranians, because they'll have a physical knowledge of what they'll be dealing with when the time comes to invade it.


"Son?!" Valka said, as she found Hiccup standing at the edge of New Berk, totally overlooking the ocean and the open seas ahead, which looked tiny due to how high up they were.

Everyone else eventually caught up with Valka and Hiccup. Blavery and Gobber both walked up with Valka towards Hiccup, as did Alvin. The hilly, steep forests of New Berk were plainly behind them all as the sky began turning dark.

"Hiccup?" Blavery asked.

"I think we ought to give him some space...take a step back slowly, guys..." Gobber stated.

Valka walked up to Hiccup and planted a palm over his shoulder. Whilst everyone else stood behind, Valka spoke to Hiccup in the calmest way she could.

"Son...we know it's hard...and Astrid's out there...but you heard Zeph and Nuffink. They don't mind you going out whenever you need to, to bring her back..."

"I...I just...I dunno what to feel, mum...those poor kids are missing Astrid, and I feel like it's all my fault..." Hiccup said, speaking up at long last.

"Don't say that, Hiccup. None of us knew that something had happened on the old island prior. It's absolutely not your fault, and saying it is only damages your self-esteem and your confidence, two things that we'll need above everything else at a time of this calibre."

Hiccup felt physically weak, like liquid.

"Dad?" Zephyr said, as she and Nuffink walked up to their dad from the side.

Hiccup looked at Zephyr besides himself.

"We really...want you to go out and save mum...it's not your fault..." she said.

"Yeah, it's not your fault. You can stay out for a year if you need to, if mum can be saved like that.." Nuffink adorably uttered.

"We love you."

The two of them wanted to assure their dad they absolutely weren't blaming him for all of this happening. They knew their mum was in danger, and they knew that their dad needed to go out onto the seas to battle 'bad vikings' as they saw it, in order to rescue their mum. They walked into their dad and raised their arms out, hugging him, as Hiccup couldn't resist the hug. He knelt down and placed his arms around them as the three engaged in a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry for this..." Hiccup whispered to them.

"Don't be...we'll always love you, dad. Go out and save mum..." Zephyr softly said, as she had her head on her dad's shoulder.

Blavery Borhid placed his hand on his chest at the sight. It touched him emotionally, to see Hiccup hug his children in the current circumstances. What a respectable figure Hiccup was, Blavery thought.

Hiccup's anxiety was still there, but he felt like he finally had the assurance that he needed from his children.

Blavery Borhid casted his eyes to the tiny seas down below, the seas looking tiny due to how high up New Berk was. But the height wasn't what caught his sight. In fact, the more he glared, the more shocked he became, and he made a slow walk towards the edge. It was like he was seeing an otherworldly occurrence. Despite it being semi-dark now, he was able to glance at what he was seeing.

He gasped, and his eyes widened.

"Son-" Valka said, before Blavery interrupted.

"I need a telescope..." Blavery said, "there's a whole bunch of boats over down there..."

Hiccup slowly moved back up as he held his children tight, and he glared over to the boats that Blavery had sighted. Instantly, his eyes widened, and his heart ached.

"Are they Mentran-" Hiccup asked.

"That's what I'm thinking, Hiccup, I need a telescope, pronto..." Blavery insisted.

"I've got one here for ya...take it quick..." Gobber offered, with Blavery briefly thanking Gobber.

Hiccup's engagement levels had just surged significantly at the sight of that armada, which appeared to be sailing to the direction of the island. If it was a Mentranian armada, that meant that they had an opportunity to potentially save Astrid. Even though it looked bad that an armada from the outer seas was sailing this way, for Hiccup personally, if this was a Mentranian armada, it was the light at the end of a seemingly ongoing, dark, depressing tunnel.

Blavery looked through the telescope, and he easily recognised Guddorn at the front boat.

"Hiccup, Guddorn the Glorious at two o'clock, that is indeed a Mentranian armada, they must be checking your island out for something..."

"Guddorn? that's one of the prominent four of that regime on Old Berk, right?" Hiccup asked.

"It is. One out of the four we'll need to capture if we want to bring down that regime, but also to get a clear lead on your wife's location." Blavery revealed.

"Hiccup, shall we?-" Eret asked, as he too caught a sight of the armada ahead on the small looking seas.

"Get me my wing suit. We're going down there right now to counter them." Hiccup declared.

At that, Zephyr and Nuffink gave an applaud at their dad's determination.

"You can do it dad!" they both chanted, as Valka smiled at her son's new found energy.

"Alvin, we'll need your men out on the boats, I've a plan in mind for us to get down to their armada." Hiccup said, pointing to Alvin like a leader.

"You've got it, my boy." Alvin replied.

"And Blavery, we'll go and gather Fishlegs, Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut and the others. We need to be quick. Plan in small, guys, get rid of the armada, but capture Guddorn, his defeat will not only hopefully weaken Hawkon's power, it'll also give us a clear lead on Astrid. Let's go, go go." Hiccup semi-yelled, as he began sprinting into the village.

"That's the spirit, Hiccup." Blavery proudly uttered back.

As Hiccup, Alvin, Eret and Blavery sprinted back into the village to get geared up, Zephyr, Nuffink, Valka and Gobber had all applauded Hiccup. They were proud.