Chapter 7
Blades
Hi everyone! Thanks for the reviews, I'm sorry it took longer than usual, but I think this chapter is a bit longer than usual. Some people have been quite harsh with Hiccup because he wouldn't reveal his identity, I'm aware it's indeed not the best thing to do, and that's one of the things he'll have to try to overcome.
Enjoy!
After Astrid left, Hiccup departed as well, and went in the Council's room in order to find his friends and counsellors. Toothless followed him, although Hiccup would never force him to come for councils, his friend would often follow him, as if he felt Hiccup needed him. People greeted him warmly as he passed by them. He greeted them too in return and stroked Toothless many times on the way.
"You don't know how lucky you are with your Lady, bud."
The dragon cooed in response. Though he wished to spend time with Atsrid and try to bond with her, he had an urgent matter to think of for now, and this matter had a name: Drago Bludvist. If Endris always had advantage on a lot of tribes thanks to the dragons, it wasn't the same with Drago, who enslaved some of those animals. It was because of him that Hiccup had to go back to Endris so hastily, his enemy had launched an attack on his island, and though they were defeated, a lot of buildings had been burned and this attack had been only a distraction. Spies had been sent on the island. Three had been found, one had been killed and the two others taken as prisoners.
When he came back, his heart clenched as he saw the burned buildings, he had doubts at time about his role as a chief, but he loved his tribe and no one could question that. He could feel that the population was scared, they started to gather around him, but Camicazi was the first to reach him, and she took him in her house to explain him everything that happened. His hatred against Drago was more vivid after hearing that.
"I wanted you to come back not only because of this but because the people need to see you. Some were still slaves not long ago, and they are afraid to be sold again. You're the one who make them feels safe."
"You were right…We'll do our best, how are the people dealing with it?"
"Some of our inhabitants offered shelter, others are sleeping in stables with the dragons."
"We'll have to take care of that, but for now, we should take care of our prisoners."
"They are already frigging scared and ready to break, but I think you could add a personal touch."
"Fine. Let's see how much Fury scares people."
The first spie was in a cold cell, bruises and dried blood on his face. Hiccup still had his mask on, and he could see terror in the man's eyes when he came in. The chief ordered guards to tie him on chair, then Hiccup went to him and leaned toward him, the man was trembling already.
"So Drago was eager to have some news from us…Maybe I should send him some letters…With a piece of their spies as a present."
He took out his knife and allowed it to run on the man's cheek. He didn't like to do that, he never felt pleasure in other peoples' pain (except maybe Alvin) but it would have been foolish not to take advantage of Fury's reputation. The man was scared, and winced at this sight. Hiccup made the knife slide to his nose which looked broken.
"This looks pretty bad," he murmured in fake concern, "maybe a quick surgery would do."
"F…Fuck you!"
"Oh, you hear that Cami!"
"Yeah, he is not even afraid to loose his nose! I would be, I'm not ashamed to say it, after all it must be very painful…"
"Same…Feeling a cold blade slowly skin and bones, especially since the nose is such a sensitive part…Then the blood would stream inside and out, would leak into my throat and on my face… oh the pain and the taste of the blood would be nauseous!"
The man winced even more, and Hiccup leaned a little closer, his blade going just beneath the nose.
"I already took away someone's lips, but it was during a battle, I did that quickly, and since then, I wonder what would happen if I did it slowly…What do you think? Would it be more painful than the nose? Such a tender flesh…And slowly inflicting pain is often the worse…What would be worse, the nose or the lips?"
"Maybe you could do both?" Cami suggested with a creepy smile. "Our prisoner could tell us the difference by himself. If he doesn't die from the blood loss of course."
"Now that's an idea!"
"Please, don't do that!" The man screamed.
"What? No 'Fuck you' anymore?"
"No, please!" The man begged.
"If you talk, I won't. You'll be free to leave, we'll even tell Drago you got killed, so he won't pursue you, after all I pride myself of being grateful to those who helps me. You'll keep your face intact except for those bruises and you'll be allowed to start a new life somewhere else, maybe with your friend who is in the other cell. Tell me, do you really care so much about Drago? Do you have so much loyalty that you would actually lose your life in a gruesome way for him?"
He could see it, that's what decided the spy, he let his knife down as a sign of good faith, and the man just nodded before speaking:
"Drago is preparing another attack."
"Not really surprising, but it's a start, go ahead."
"He wanted to know more about your weapons, your dragons, your warriors, your stocks…He especially wanted to know how well you control the beasts."
This confused Hiccup a little, Drago already had his ways to submit dragons to his will and Hiccup doubted that the man would want to discover friendship between humans and dragons.
"What else? Why does he want to know that?"
"He didn't tell me his plans but I heard him say that he has a new weapon."
"What kind of weapon?"
"I don't know…"
"Are you sure?"
The knife went under his nose again.
"Yes! I swear I don't know! Drago tells us only what we need to know and do."
This could be true, Drago wouldn't think much of his warriors, the only one he had esteem for was Viggo. his He wouldn't have told this guy something that important. Hiccup himself wouldn't tell his warriors all his schemes even though he respected them.
"We'll ask your friend too, if Cami and I decide that you're trustworthy, you'll go."
They left the cell and did pretty much the same to the other man who told them pretty much the same things. It could have been a lie they put together, but Hiccup wouldn't believe it, the weapon thing seemed strange for a lie made to avoid torture. The two spies were freed and Fury only had a few last words with the two men:
"You got out of that mess in a good way, considering you were spies. Just out of curiosity: what would Drago do if he learned someone betrayed him? Would he treat you like I did, or worse?"
The two men looked terrified once more. Hiccup ordered one of his spy mounted on a changewing to follow them and report them what they did.
"We could have killed them immediately," one of the jailers pointed out.
"They hardly know anything. If they go back to their island, they could lead our own spy to something interesting," Camicazi explained before Hiccup could. "And if they run away, it will be one more proof that Drago is really not liked by his own men."
Immediately after that, Hiccup went to the marketplace and the people gathered around him, asking questions or begging him to help them with their homes. He did succeed well to calm them down, and it was in those moments he realized how much they relied on him.
It was the day of his return that he announced his marriage with Astrid Hofferson, and the reactions had been various. Some were against it, saying a better alliance could be made and better girls were already living on the island. Others were simply doubtful about a Hooligan bride, others were curious, and some were positive about it, happy to know that their chief would finally get married. Fury had made his proofs already, but now he needed a wife and heirs to ensure the future of the tribe. Camicazi had been surprised, and soon showed herself very curious to meet Astrid.
He entered the council's room where only Heather, Eret and Camicazi were sitting. The latter looked exhausted. He remembered that though she was a tough person, she wasn't the best to handle some daily problems the village could face and she had to deal with a lot of mess while he, Heather and Eret were gone. Heather smiled to him:
"Our spy sent a report, the two men we released went south, as far as possible from Drago."
"Good for them, it was the smartest decision they could take," he turned to Eret, "do you know what the weapon Drago is preparing could be?"
"No, when I was still working for him, he would hardly treat us as men, and we only had to obey his orders without asking questions. I doubt he changed, so the spy probably didn't know anything. And I never heard rumors about a weapon back then."
"Maybe it's that, maybe he found a very dangerous kind of dragons and wants to know how we could handle an eventual attack," Heather suggested.
"I want more sentinels and regular patrols around the island, if Drago comes I want the fight to happen on the sea as far as possible from Endris. Cami, you told me that Ryker and Viggo weren't here during the attack?"
"No, they weren't, but maybe they were on the island handling the tribe while Drago wasn't here."
"I'm pretty sure they are around, trying something or hunting the dragons."
"Then we need to watch out for any sign of them."
"I'll need to recruit more people," Camicazi sighed.
Hiccup put her in charge of the security a while ago, and the work was hard, Hiccup got her partners at time to handle that work, but none of them ever held long with her. Camicazi was demanding when it came to people's abilities, and though Hiccup couldn't deny it was a good thing when it came to important responsibility, he wished she could just work with someone instead of handling that on her own. Instead, Hiccup, Eret and Heather would help her as much as possible but they had their own jobs.
"It will recquire more money," Heather murmured, "we already had to buy more materials to build back the houses, now if we have to add the salary of more soldiers…We could rise the price of honey and hydromel a bit, not too much but just enough for a better income."
"We could also send some young warriors attack pirate ships," Eret suggested. "Some are already begging for adventures with their dragons. We could charge them to come back with gold for the tribe."
"That's an idea, we could also send them to attack the new outcasts," Hiccup added.
"Maybe once our war against Drago is done, we can't have another tribe after us," Heather murmured.
"Outcasts island doesn't have many people, they are a weak tribe, we don't risk and it would show them not to mess with us," Cami said.
"I think they found enough skeletons on their island to know that."
Although they massacred Alvin's tribe, the island was still the place were banished people would be sent. Now a new tribe was arising, and though they weren't the ones who killed his father, Hiccup wouldn't mind stealing from them. He knew it wasn't the rightest thing to do, but every Viking tribe would have their share of raids and pirates. Plus, outcasts were mostly traitors, murderers or rapists who escaped the death they should have been given, and pirates weren't very different either. In fact, he had recently heard that they were starting to participate to the slave trade. The chief of Endris couldn't let that happen.
"Let them attack the pirates and the Outcasts. They'll have to bring back gold, tell us about the Outcasts forces and also free any slaves they see," Hiccup decided. "We'll also do as you suggested, Heather, we will sell honey and hydromel a bit higher. We'll also need to train the warriors who'll be in the expedition, I don't want them to mess it because they didn't receive proper instructions."
"Well, I could leave that to Belda," Cami suggested, "she isn't good to organize patrols or anything, but she knows how to train beginners."
"Fine. Now we have to go back to Drago, we can't attack as long as we don't know what this weapon is, maybe we should send a spy?" Heather proposed.
The idea wasn't greeted well. Yesterday, they received a letter from Mala, their most precious ally, telling them that some spies of hers had been sent back in pieces to her. Hiccup had felt almost guilty for sending one of his men after the two he released, if he had come back in pieces too…
"We can say whatever we want about Drago, he knows how to smell spies and attacks," Eret said.
"Approaching Drago would be way too difficult, maybe we could try to capture some men who could tell us more?" Heather suggested.
"Who? Drago hardly tell his warriors anything."
"Some of them surely knows."
"Viggo," Hiccup declared, "Viggo will know, and maybe Ryker.'
The two brothers were dragon hunters and close to Drago, Viggo more especially, his intelligence had made Drago notice and esteem him more than others. As for Ryker, he was efficient and obedient, something Drago probably appreciated a lot.
"Yeah! Those two will know."
"We need to send some people to search for them," Heather said.
"We could do it ourselves," Eret declared.
"No, we need to be here for the tribe," Hiccup decided, "we need to show the people we're here. Once we know where they are, we'll lead something ourselves, but not before."
They prepared their plans and once they were over, Cami looked at Hiccup.
"So, now that we are done with this, tell me: how did it go with your future wife?"
"Well…Astrid isn't exactly happy to be here."
He explained him what happened in the house, not giving the details but the big lines. Heather seemed a little satisfied, Eret concerned and Cami angered. Heather had sent her a letter via a Terrible Terror while on the boat, and told her how furious Astrid had been. Although a part of her could understand, Camicazi still wouldn't tolerate someone to insult her friend and chief like that. She had decided to give him her loyalty and trust, so whoever insulted him insulted her as well.
"I told you it would happen," Heather sneered.
"Come on, Heather. Things will get better eventually," Eret said. "But yeah, I guess that was to be expected."
"She is not in her home with her stupid chief. You should remind her of that," Cami declared.
The girl left, and Heather's eyes darkened. She would have to tell Hiccup about the way Cami acted toward Astrid when they met. However, the young man went outside to fly with Toothless. She and Eret decided they would also fly with their dragons and join Astrid and Fishlegs a little later.
Meanwhile, Astrid had found Fishlegs at the training grounds and they started to discuss together. She told him what happened with Fury.
"Well, I guess we can be glad you didn't kill him."
"And what about you?"
"Well, I live with one of the sailors who I met on the boat. It's not as comfortable as the chief's house however."
"We can switch if you want."
"I guess you're the queen of whining," a voice suddenly declared.
The two Hooligans turned to see two women coming and Astrid recognized that Camicazi, the girl from the harbor. She was with a brown-haired girl who had a sword.
"It's her indeed, I must say it's one thing to have a foreign chieffess, but a whinner!" Sneered Camicazi.
"I guess the poor little thing is frightened…"
"Well, Fishlegs, seems that Fury doesn't have dragons only, he has loyal dogs as well. Now he should teach them how to behave."
"Are you calling us dogs?!"
"Didn't you hear me?"
"What do you want?" Asked Fishlegs
"We want to see if the whinner has some worth, if she doesn't, she'll be taught a lesson," Camicazi said, putting her axe before herself.
"You planned to attack someone alone?" Spat Fishlegs
"She can fight us one by one, we, Bog-Burglars have some honor, but if she needs you so much to protect her, be it. Want to go first, Hillevi?"
The brown-haired girl nodded. Astrid took her axe and put her arm before Fishlegs, silently telling him she wanted to do that alone. She threw the first blow which was countered by Hillevi's sword and her foot went right into the girl's knee. A yelp of pain was heard, and their weapons meet again and again. That Hillevi was good, but she lacked Astrid's swiftness and precision. Every time she tried to make Astrid lose her balance, the Hooligan would just parry the attacks and even manage to make her stumble at a time. She dodged or parried every attack with address and soon some people gathered around them to see what was happening. Camicazi explained some people why they were challenging the newcomer already. With a swing of her axe, she disarmed her adversary and made her fall with a kick in the stomach. Hillevi found herself on the ground with an axe at her throat.
"Want a rematch?"
"Don't boast, you didn't fight me yet," Cami declared icily.
Astrid was actually impatient, this woman had already enraged her on the docks, and her hatred had worsened. She had beat the other one easily, it wouldn't be that difficult with her either. They both had axes, the first blows were violent and quick, and soon Astrid realized she was wrong. Camicazi was better than Hillevi and stronger, and this only made her even angrier! She managed to punch Astrid in the face and almost disarmed her, Astrid parried and sent her forehead in Cami's head. Although she made the Bog-Burglar yelp and back away, she didn't manage to break her nose or knock her out. Boiling with rage, she retaliated once more and almost disarmed Camicazi, the girl was losing balance and Astrid managed to kick her in the stomach. She lunged at her once but the Bog-Burglar swiftly dodged and attacked with so much strength Astrid stumbled. Two other strong blows followed and though Astrid blocked both, she got kicked in the stomach as well. Under the shock, her hold on the axe lessened. She had hardly recovered balance when Camicazi's axe struck hers and she got disarmed. She tried to get her axe back but Cami's blade was soon under her neck. She had lost.
It took her all her will-power not to burst out at this. Not only this woman just beat her in front of many people, but she had been unable to beat the one who insulted her in so many ways. At least she was still standing. With a satisfied smirk, Cami put her axe back on her belt. Hillevi smirked and sneered:
"Not so strong anymore, huh?"
This was just such a stupid remark from someone who got beaten that even Camicazi who was on her side raised an eyebrow at her. Fishlegs grabbed Astrid's axe, and gave it back to her while she replied to the idiot:
"Shut up, I have other things to do than hear a sore looser whining. At least I confront my problems myself, unlike your Fury who send his dogs to beat down whoever upset him!"
Hillevi snorted at her, who did she think she was? Okay, she just beat her, yet there was no way she would let anyone insult her or her chief that way! Just like Cami, he had given him her loyalty, her trust, and even her affection at a point (even though he never returned anything).
"Okay, you beat me, but that doesn't change anything concerning Fury. You're here only as a present because your tribe couldn't give anything else, so don't think you have the right to spit on our chief's face!"
Astrid's blood boiled at this. She didn't notice, but Camicazi's eyes widened in indignation at this: it was one thing to test that girl, it was another to call a woman a present. Yet she didn't say a word, she saved that for later, she would see how the 'chieffess' would defend herself. Astrid didn't see Cami's reaction, she was too angry at Hillevi to pay attention to anyone else. Yet it was Fishlegs who spoke first:
"You speak just like the merchants who takes slaves and sold them like objects! And you dare to say you're better than them..."
"Don't you dare compare me to..."
"Oh, he can dare, since you compare me to a present! Who else thinks of people like that?! If I'm nothing but an object, don't expect me to feel more respect for your Fury than an object would!"
"You've got no idea of what it is to be a slave, you bitch! Fury could be mistreating you..."
"If Fury consider it as his right to mistreat me, then he is nothing but a savage, and no better than men who whore out poor girls! Fuck, is that how Bog-burglar really are?! I thought of them as strong women, but here you forbid me to speak ill of a man I'm forced to marry! Odin, if they all think that women are presents and should be thankful toward men for not being abusive, then this reputation is a fucking joke!"
Hillevi looked startled and she paled while hearing this. Astrid went on, still so angry:
"Tell me now, how should I feel? I'm being sold by an incompetent chief I despise, to someone who ruined my tribe, and I should be thankful?! Did you feel thankful for your masters because they didn't maim or kill you?! I'm not one to be a submissive wife, and I'm not one to be mistreated! If I have to get called a bitch for that, be it! If your Fury ever tried to be abusive toward me, I would make him pay the price, no matter the consequences!"
"And I personally couldn't blame you," said a low, tight voice behind her.
She and Fishlegs turned around to see Heather standing, looking at Hillevi with angry and icy eyes. Camicazi dropped her mask and looked suddenly concerned. Heather went to Astrid, put a hand on her arm and started to lead her away. Astrid allowed her to do so while Fishlegs was following, though she would have liked to yell at her enemy a little more, Heather's expression just stunned her.
"Heather, what..."
"Please...Not now..."
Though she wasn't crying, she looked like she was about to do so, and her voice sounded tearful and trembling. Heather told her she didn't want to speak of her past on the boat.
"I'll find you both later, okay?"
She left in a hurry, and though Astrid's first move was to follow her and ask her to explain, she felt Fishlegs's hand on her shoulder.
"Wait, I don't think she'll talk to us."
He was right, she would have to wait. They walked away and the rage which had been briefly cooled down burned again in her. They were close to the forest now and they were alone.
"Those freaking bitches! I don't care what they say, I won't let anyone treat me like that!"
"You're right, I wished you had let me help you."
"I had to do this myself Fishlegs, I had to prove my worth! But I…I let that one beat me!"
"Hey, what are you two doing here?"
They saw Eret landing with his dragon and a smile on his face which faltered when he saw their expressions. The two explained him what happened, knowing he would eventually learn anyway.
"They wanted to test you it seems, but they went a too far in what they said," Eret declared. "Hillevi is not like that usually, and neither is Cami, I don't get what's wrong with them."
"The simple fact she exists is wrong to begin with!"
"Anyway, I think you did prove your worth, don't worry that much."
This afternoon, she trained like crazy, it had been a close match with Camicazi but loosing honorably wasn't enough for her. The respect she used to feel for Bog-Burglars disappeared: whores, that was all they were! Anger didn't leave her, especially not once she came back to that wretched home after training. Hiccup went back home after her, when he found her she was sitting and sharpening her axe, he saw immediately that she was angry and blessed Thor that Toothless was with him!
"Astrid..."
"Leave me alone."
He sat at her side, even if she looked at him with murderous eyes. She wasn't really thinking that he send those two, but she still had doubts.
"You really shouldn't taunt me when I'm sharpening my axe."
"I'm not, even if my presence can seem taunting to you."
"You're right on that!"
"I heard there was a fight..."
She sighed in pure exasperation, but surprisingly she found no sharp reply for him. Maybe because she was tired, but also because she had some questions for him, and she needed him to stay conscious to answer her.
"What did you tell your tribe about me, exactly?"
"...Pretty much the big lines, that a marriage had been arranged between us, I told them your name and that was all. Why? I don't know what happened exactly..."
"If you think I'm gonna complain to you like some scared little girl you're wrong!"
"No, it's not that, I just wanted to understand..."
"I just needed you to answer me. I can defend myself otherwise."
She was turning her back to him, and he couldn't help but admire the way her slim, curved waist ended on hips which were not too small but not too large either. He also looked at a part of her neck which wasn't hidden by her braid, it was finely shaped, it looked almost fragile, and the skin soft...He left the house without a word, in order to find Eret or Heather to get some explanations. Astrid was glad to be alone, and she soon left for her own room. She hardly had any sleep that night, she was still so angry. She hated that place, she hated all those dragons and those women! She would show them, she promised herself, she would show them she wasn't one to be messed with. Camicazi won a fight, but they would get even!
Fight scenes are still difficult to write, it's easier than before, but it's still my weak point. Don't worry for Astrid, she won't see only the bad sides of Endris. Don't hesitate to review and to point out phrasing or grammar mistakes.