Chapter 252
Hiccups POV:
It's been a week since I got back from collecting the night fury's and in that time a lot has happened, starting with me turning Toothless' stable into the night fury stable. I did this by knocking the walls down to expand the entire room to make it a whole lot bigger than it originally was, since it was originally only a large room the size of my home entrance hall but now it was a little bigger as the other stables where multiple fully-grown dragons sleep. This new stable was a bit like the boulder classes stable with a few large boulders for the night fury's to sleep on along with a couple of rock slabs like the one Toothless sleeps on. At the back though I brought in some tall boulders where I placed the slab that Toothless sleeps on along with one for Odin and Frigg while the one slab on a boulder that was a little shorter than the others where Moonlight slept. In the center of the room was a large pool of water where the night fury's could enjoy a drink of water and take a dip if they wanted to cool their scales.
Then there's how they took to the various realm fury's and although they were hesitant to approach each other at first, they seemed to get along fine now. I think Twilight running up to play with them when the night fury's were busy examining them helped since they may have been strangers to the night fury's, they were playmates and mother figures to Twilight. I had to say it was pretty adorable to see how Twilight tried to show them that the girls were friendly and now it wasn't unusual for the realm fury's to spend their nights with the night fury's. I had to say, it was nice to see Toothless flying in the sky and spend time laying in his stable with his own kind while Twilight played with the other hatchlings. Besides that, I'd also been pretty busy running all the night fury through various tactics, training methods, target shots and various other things to make them more capable if problems popped up.
Along with this I'd also spent a lot of time at their former island with Tephra to loot the sunken ships while also using it as an opportunity for some family bonding time. Me and my family had spent two whole days beneath the oceans around the island, sending out my automatons to collect from the shipwrecks around the island. Turns out some of those ships didn't just belong to trappers but also many traders who got too close to the island and met their end on its rocks. We came back with a large fortune in gold, jewels and various artifacts which were actually able to make a large sizeable contribution to the various sections of my treasury. The crown jewel of the items gathered though was the dragon eye lens which had a little more information on dragon poisons and burns from their flames along with various medicines to tend to them. This is information the healers of Berk were overjoyed to have since despite the fact that we're at peace with the dragons, there was still the occasional problem among the trained dragons getting angry and breathing flames and these medicines were more effective.
I'd also been busy in the forge working on new weapons, tools and other such things just to help pass the time, keep my skills sharp and make some new items to help in the future. Speaking of keeping my skills sharp, I'd been training a lot with my ninja, learning new forms, new attacks and other things that would be helpful in future fights and missions. I wasn't the only one undergoing strict training under my ninja though as both Brant and Chara had been training pretty hard under both Fire and Wind respectively. Brant has become quite good using pole weapons while Chara had been making good progress in throwing kunai and duel wielding them as close combat weapons. I figure in the future I'd be making Brant a spear or bladed pole for a weapon while Chara would get a belt for Kunai or twin daggers to fight with in the future but I hoped it would still be a long time before their time to fight came.
Now I was enjoying a quiet day on my island and taking a stroll through the savannah with Mfalme at my side and I had to say, it has been a long time since I just took a stroll around the island to see how everyone's doing. Mfalme for example had grown up to my waist in height and now had a short main growing around his head that looked good on him and I knew showed he had the makings of a strong lion. It was because of this, the next time I go back to Africa to explore the savannah I fully intended to take him with me so he could really gain some experience as a true lion and maybe find a mate. It was then we came to the baobab tree and I smiled since this would be a good chance to visit my Savannah wings and check out how they're doing.
I made my way up with Mfalme following me until we reached the top and I smiled, looking around at the familiar set up of the baobab trees set up. I walked up to the familiar images, painted on the wall that depicted my adventures from my very first trip to Africa and all the adventures I had there, dealing with queen Shara and the mystic beasts of the savannah. It's been so long since I did these accomplishments and although so much time had passed, I still remember every detail of those adventures and how I felt during the fights. The grootslang and Queen Shara aren't that hard to remember since with the grootslang, I literally wear its skin nearly everywhere I go while I can always see Queen Shara's grace in Astrid when she practices her acrobatics in training. It was then I heard to familiar growls and turned to see none other than Davu and Boitumelo, my savannah wings who had lowered their heads and were looking at me in concern. I smiled at them and gently rubbed their heads as I said.
"I'm fine, just thinking back on past adventures."
I looked at the images and smiled knowing that even if I didn't get the gifts from the gods for my deeds, I would still be happy since I was able to help out the local tribes. Speaking of gifts from the gods, I needed to go and open the arch in the Arabian desert in order to let traders in to prepare a bazaar for Berk and our allies who live on nearby islands along with some traders who might want to trade and then resell. I could understand where these traders were coming from since if they bought exotic items from the bazaar, they could make a great profit by selling them to other tribes who are farther away from Berk but it's because of this and years of haggling that they often cause trouble. This resulted in me needing to come in and break it up but if things got serious, I call in either Mirage or Dugout to give them a good scare which was more than enough to get them to knock it off. Fortunately, this was something that I rarely had to do since my presence was often more than enough to get them to calm down and act like normal people. With this in mind I headed down the baobab tree and began heading towards the Arabian desert section of my island so I could open the arch and begin setting things up.
10 minutes later
I was making my way across the Arabian desert towards the arch where I would open up a portal to its sibling in Arabia where I knew there were a few traders waiting thanks to my golden falcons. It wasn't surprising though since I knew things from the archipelago were considered exotic in Arabia and sold for a good price in the open bazaar. Along with this I'd left a scouter automaton in the royal palace which would alert the royals a day before the bazaar opened so word could spread to the traders about the arch opening so those who were interested could come to the arch and prepare. It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of sand shifting and turned to see Dugout crawling out from his place beneath the sands. I smiled and walked up to him before gently rubbing his muzzle as I said.
"Get ready pal, the arch opens today and through it comes a ton of chaos that is the merchants who make up the bazaar." He growled and looked down. "Yeah, I know you don't like all the noise ruining your peaceful time down below the sands but this helps out a lot of people both on Berk and in Arabia and also gives me a chance to pick up some of my favorite sugared dates." He just growled and nodded. "Mind giving me a lift to the arch pal?" He growled and lowered his body allowing me to mount him, making me smile and mount up. "Thanks pal."
With that said, we took off towards the arch and thanks to him being a desert dragon, getting there didn't even take five minutes and once we arrived, I dismounted him before giving him one last head rub and a salmon I had for treating my dragons. When that was done, I turned to the arch and took a breath knowing that I was about to get a large headache since whenever I opened the arch, people come rushing in hoping to rent out a room or a full house for their stay here. I took a breath and pressed my prosthetic into the arch, opening the arch as I said.
"Let the craziness begin and let the headaches come."
The arch opened and within seconds, camels were being led through it by traders and I knew the headaches were going to start soon as I recognized some of the traders as ones who had practically shoved their products down my throat. Along with this, it looks like some had brought their daughters with them both my age and Brants age, so things were going to be a bigger headache than usual with them here. Furthermore, I might have to not only band Brant from coming to the bazaar because of the trader's daughters but also Chara since I also saw a few kids who were Chara's age and they might try to get to me through her. This would make things all the more difficult since they both love the bazaar and all the different things it offered from the culture to the products offered. I sighed knowing I shouldn't deprive my kids of what they love when they've done nothing wrong and I suppose it'd be alright as long as either me or their mothers were with them at all times. It was then I noticed some of the traders approaching me and knew it best I take the challenges as they come since for now, I had other challenges to deal with.
Nightfall
Night had fallen over my island and to say I was grateful would be an understatement since today had been one headache after another after I opened the arch. The reason for these headaches comes down to one thing and that's the traders but for different reasons but I was able to put them into groups depending on the cause of the headaches they cause. There were those who wanted bigger rooms for them or stables for their camels, some wanted a certain spot in the bazaar that someone else wanted, some were eager to unload their goods and asked if they could open early, some wanted to book spots for future use, some who arrived later than the others demanding a room when they were all taken and there were a lot of other problems I had to deal with.
The worst ones though were the ones who were focused on me for one reason or another and because of these reasons, they didn't leave me alone no matter how busy I was. There were those who were eager to unload some of their items and weren't willing to wait for the bazaar to open up so they tried to push their items onto me, claiming they saved their best deals for me but it was easy to tell they were overcharging me on items since they knew I was wealthy. Next up were those who tried to bribe me into giving their groups exclusive rights to the houses, exclusive rights to selling things on the island and tried to bribe me into letting them stay after the arch is closed to continue doing business until the next bazaar giving them more time to sell their items for higher prices.
Finally, there were the traders who I considered the biggest headache to deal with and these ones who were practically shoving their daughters in my face, bragging about their various talents and how they'd birth strong offspring. Their daughters were no better with their constant flirting, wearing outfits that you'd expect women to wear in an Arabian brothel and pretending to take an interest in my kids by asking how they're doing and other things. Then there were the daughters with kids but no husbands for one reason or another and weren't just flirting with me under their fathers orders and looking for a way to a life of luxury but looking for a new husband who could provide for them, serve as a good father figure for their kids and ensure a good life for the little ones. Speaking of the kids, some of the traders had been trying to get to me through them by having the kids come by and ask me to tell them stories of my adventures and if they could play with my own kids.
I was grateful when things had settled down and I was finally able to go home to enjoy a nice hot bath to melt away the stress of the day from my muscles. Following this I found my wives had prepared my favorite meal for dinner, yak butter parfait with a side of fruit and cream cakes for dessert. When I asked them what the occasion was, they just told me that they'd seen how crazy those traders were this time and figured I deserved a pleasant evening for all my hard work. It was once the kids were tucked in that my evening truly became pleasurable and the girls promised me a lot more of it when the bazaar was done and it is with these thoughts I allowed sleep to embrace me with my wives pressing their bodies against me.
5 days later
It's been ten days since the arch was opened and nine day since the bazaar was opened and to describe those days, all I could say was I wanted to scream to Valhalla. The traders had been driving me crazy whenever I entered the bazaar, doing whatever they could to try and draw attention to their stall, going so far as to having their daughters use their feminine wiles to try and get my attention. Sadly, I wasn't the only one they employed these methods on and used them on multiple men who were visiting the bazaar and with Viking men being the way they are, fell for it easily. Now some may think this wouldn't cause much trouble, but it caused a lot of trouble since the majority of the men this method of gaining attention worked on were married and had wives who weren't too thrilled about their husbands looking at other women.
Most of the time it wasn't so bad since the worst that happened were the men getting an earful from their wives and occasionally a few lumps and extra chores. The times it was bad is when the wives took their anger out on the women for as they put it 'trying to seduce their wives with their brothel outfits' and the daughters of the traders didn't take too kindly to that insult. Long story short Dugout and Mirage along with the Anubis and Bastet warriors I had posted around the bazaar were kept busy breaking up the fights with me needing to come in and smooth things over with both women and the traders.
What made this bazaar worse was how there were traders who also brought their sons who were like the daughters and used their charm to catch the interest of the women who like the men were mostly married. As one could expect the husbands were as thrilled about this as the women were when it came to the daughters of the traders using their charm to pull in their husbands. The only difference was, the women were better at controlling their emotion so those on patrol had to work fast to hold the men back from strangling the men. What's worse is I had to get rough with some of the men, using my combat skills to slam the angered husbands into the ground just to get them to shut up and listen to what I had to say so I could smooth things over.
I couldn't blame these men for being angry though as some of the sons went onto flirt with my wives and it was only thanks to my ninja training to hide my emotions and kung fu training to keep control under stress that I was able to hold myself back. There was this one guy though who did the unthinkable and delivered a hard pinch to Astrid's backside but I didn't get the chance to punish him as Astrid beat me to it by grabbing his arm and slamming the guy into the ground while giving a feral growl like that of a leopard. To be honest with you, I didn't know what was scarier for me, the look of unrelenting anger on her face or the fact that there were few times when I'd found her to be more attractive. Anyway, besides that I had to keep my kids close to me or their mothers since the traders with kids that were close to their age took every opportunity to try and push the kids together. In other words, these past few days had been one headache after another, and I was grateful the bazaar would only be open for two more days and the arch would close in three days.
Now I was standing on a dune overlooking the bazaar while using the scouters I set up around it to keep an eye out for any trouble and I am happy to say things have calmed down a little. It was then the sound of someone coming up from behind me caught my attention and I sighed in relief, after I used the eye of the dragon to look at who it was and saw Gobber hobbling over with his peg leg making it hard to walk in the sand. When he reached me he smiled and asked.
"Don't suppose you could make me a new leg for these sandy areas lad?" I chuckled.
"Maybe another day when I have the time." He smiled and sat down next to me.
"So, how's this bazaar been for you lad?"
"Don't ask!"
"Oh, you been dealing with people trying to buy your dragons or beasts again?"
"I wish it were that simple." I sighed and looked down while shaking my head. "They've decided to take a different approach and instead have started shoving their daughters down my throat and squeezing my kids between their kids and if that's not bad enough their also having their daughters with kids come up to me constantly to try and have me tell their kids my stories." I growled in annoyance. "It's so obvious that they're trying to have me grow close to their kids so they can get closer to me so they can get a better chance of marrying me and gaining access to my island for their fathers while also getting a better life and a father figure for their kids."
"Well you can't deny that your wives do have a nice life thanks to you, and you do make a good role model for the wee ones." I nodded.
"It's both a blessing and a curse." I raised my hands. "And I wish those women didn't know about it." I then dropped them to my sides. "I'm just grateful none of them have heard about my mystic forges." I groaned and ran a hand through my hair while shaking my head. "If they heard about that then I'd never get rid of them."
"Oh yes, the forge that you won't even let the man who taught you to be a blacksmith enter." It was easy to hear the annoyance in his voice.
"It's not personal Gobber, it's just if one of the items I choose you to wield them then it's going to be trouble for the both of us with people bugging you to see what the forge gave you and what it can do before they come bugging me to let them into my forge to get their own."
"You raise a good point lad, but I'd still like to see what's in that forge of yours to see what my former apprentice made." I sighed.
"Alright, when the bazaar is over, I'll take you to the forge to see what I've been able to make and who knows, you might find something that picks you as its wielder." He smiled.
"I hope so." We then turned our attention back to the bazaar and enjoyed the silence.
4 days later
The day before last the bazaar finally ended and yesterday the arch was closed and for that I was grateful since it meant I was finally able to get some peace on my island again. As an added benefit, on the night of the day that the arch finally closed my wives made their joy and pleasure clear to me in the evening but this time it was when I was taking a bath to relax a bit so it was definitely a good bath. Still despite all this, I hadn't forgotten my chat with Gobber about giving him a tour of my forge to see all the items I'd built and with Gobber being as loose lipped as he was, let it slip to my parents who wanted to join in the tour. Sadly, as much as Berk had grown since my mom came home and began teaching people to train dragons to help around Berk, Berk was still a small village and as such, word spreads fast. It's because of this, when the morning I was to give the tour came, nearly every warrior on Berk had gathered to come see my forge which brings us to now.
Me walking out of the great hall with Gobber and my parents following after spending an hour explaining to the warriors of Berk why I was only letting Gobber and my parents check out my forge's mystic storage. It was true that the weapons would no doubt increase the power of Berks defenses to new heights, it would make me a bigger target since I'm the only one who could use the forge and there were those who would use my family to get to me. Along with that, there was no guarantee that everyone would walk off my island with a weapon and I didn't want fights to start out of jealousy and for the new gear to be used on each other as my father would never let me hear the end of it. It was then Gobber brought me out of my thoughts by walking up next to me and saying.
"Sorry about the trouble lad."
"It's alright Gobber, I should've remembered that Berks a small village and that makes it both nearly impossible to keep a secret and when it gets out, word spreads fast." He chuckled.
"Ain't that the truth." My dad then walked up and asked.
"Son, do you think there might be something in that forge for me?" I shrugged.
"You never know since as I said in the Great Hall, the wielder doesn't choose the weapon, it's the weapon that chooses the weapon." I could tell he was about to say something else, but my mother cut in by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't question it Stoick, let's just wait till we get there, and we might get an explanation in the form of one of the weapons choosing one of us." That got him to be quiet and we were on our way.
10 minutes later
I was now making my way towards my dragons' forge with my parents and Gobber following while my wives were with the kids, watching them continue their training under my ninja since they wanted to see how far the kids had come. It was then we reached the forge and I walked up to the door before turning back to those I was leading and asked.
"You already to see what I've made with this forge?" They all nodded making me smile and open the door. "Then let's go."
I then lead them all in and the looks on their faces when they saw the room were hilarious and I had to hold in my laughter since their mouths were hanging open and their eyes were wide. Honestly, it was hard to tell if they'd fainted on their feet since they weren't giving any indication whatsoever that they were still conscious. I clapped my hands to shake them out of their shock before my dad asked.
"How big is this place?"
"I have no idea but it's able to store all the magic items I've forged and out of the hands of those who would use them for evil." Gobber then whistled and said.
"Have to say lad, this is impressive and the items on display are some of the most impressive pieces I've seen in my years as a blacksmith."
"Thanks, Gobber and who knows, you guys might leave with one of these pieces choosing you." He nodded before my dad asked.
"So how will we know if one of these pieces has chosen us?" I shrugged.
"I honestly have no idea since this is the first time, I've ever brought anyone in here, so nobody's ever been chosen."
"Well then why don't we each just try and pick one out then." He reached out for a sword before he could touch it, his hand was met by an invisible barrier.
"That's why, each are protected by some sort of invisible wall that not even I can get through them." He grumbled until I noticed Gobber looking around in confusion. "You alright there Gobber?"
"So, you can't touch the things you made?" I shrugged.
"Sad but true." I shrugged. "I don't mind though as long as they go to those who won't use them for evil." He nodded but before he could reply the light of the room dimmed bathing the entire room in darkness. "What in the world?" After that the various pedestals lit up and a ring of light formed under all those, I brought in. "I think this is how people can see if a weapon is willing to choose them as their wielders." My mom then asked.
"So, what do we do now, try and pick an item up?" I shook my head.
"It's never that easy mom." As soon as the words left my mouth, there was a blinding flash and I found myself outside of the golden dragon with its muzzle now shut but I shrugged. "I guess they need to do this part on their own."
I walked over to a stool I kept in the forge and sat down while keeping my eyes on the golden dragon forge storage and after ten minutes past it finally opened up once more with my parents and Gobber walking out with smiles on their faces. I immediately stood up and walked up to them while asking.
"What happened in there?" My dad answered.
"After you disappeared, glowing paths appeared in front of each of us leading to the weapons that had chosen us to wield them." My mom then continued.
"Once we took them though we had to go through a painful bonding to prove that we were worthy of wielding them." Gobber then finished.
"And not one of us failed to prove our worth to our new weapons and with it, learnt all they can do."
My dad then held up a two-handed axe with a smooth wooden handle with gold intricately imbedded into it with the bottom holding a wooden pommel that was shaped like a dragons head, curved down with the tongue sticking out. The blade of the axe had intricate Norse rune designs with the blade being silver with runes inscribed into it and behind it were gold weaving above blue metal and then behind it forming the main body was black metal with intricate patterns carved into it. The other end had another smaller blade half the size of the main blade and made of gold with multiple curving patterns with the far end being like the large head being silver and behind it being weaved gold above blue metal. (AN: The leviathan axe from God of War with the wooden dragon pommel.)
"This new axe has enough strength to destroy a boulder in one swing and when I throw it I can call it back to my hand."
"A great axe for a great warrior." He chuckled and patted my shoulder before mom held up a naginata I designed after her own with a large silver blade on either end that had gold lining, barbed back, red pole and three holes in each blade that had a gold ring in each of them, being held in place by wires.
"This is my new naginata and I can use it the same way I used my staff except it has a few extra features such as the ability to cut through metal, the blades can be dulled to be non-lethal and my personal favorite" She held out the naginata before the pole pulled in on itself until it was as long as her forearm. "it's easier to travel with." Gobber then stepped forward.
"Have to say what chose me is going to be pretty handy."
I groaned when I noticed what his new gear was since it was a bad pun as the items that chose him was a set of gauntlets I designed with inspiration from the forges I saw when I was with the dwarves. The gauntlets were a little bigger than gobbers natural hand but they were square in shape both palm and fingers, while the fingers were connected with a special hinge mechanism, each with a special metal tubing that lies in the center above of each of the knuckles. Just above these were rectangular vents that glowed faintly like that of a dying forge and at the backs were thick rings that serve as wrist guards. On top of the center of the back of the gauntlets were holes that held a single fire orange jewel each while on the side of each opposite to the thumb were small holes that held smaller jewels. (AN: Picture can be found on pinterest page.) What surprised me though was there was a gauntlet at the end of his left arm since he lost his left hand in a dragon raid years before I was born. He must've noticed my look of shock since he smiled and raised it as he said.
"I have to say lad, was a shock to me to when this thing attached itself to my stump." He then open and closed the fingers. "Burnt like forge fire for a few moments but the next thing I knew, I could use this thing like a normal hand." He raised it up and wiggled the fingers. "Going to take some getting used to but old Gobber's grateful since these things 'll be helpful in the forge with what they can do." I raised an eyebrow.
"And what is it they can do that'll help you in the forge."
"They can heat up to forge temperature to melt or weld metal lad." He then patted my shoulder. "I admit I had my doubts about this forge thinking it a bit of a shortcut when it comes to forging but after checking out these things, I can still tell they're your work and I'm looking forward to seeing what else you can make with these forges." I smiled.
"Thanks, Gobber." I then stepped back and looked at them all. "Now how's about we use my training mirror to give you all a little practice with your new gear?" I cannot recall a time my dad had ever said 'yes' faster and with that we were off to the training room.
Nightfall
Night had fallen over my island and now I was laying in my bed while looking up at my rooms ceiling while going over all that happened today. After getting their new weapons my parents and Gobber spent hours in the training mirror practicing with them and it was easy to tell that they were enjoying themselves but that was understandable since they're Vikings and all Vikings loved a good fight. Seriously, for the third round, they had a situation with a small invading armada attacking Berk and they were the only ones to take on the invaders and as expected, they won easily before calling in another armada to take on. They went through this training for so long that when they were finally finished, it was time for dinner and since it was so late, they were free to join my family for a dinner of roast chicken and freshly picked vegetables with apple pie for desert. After I bid them all goodnight I was able to turn in for the evening but I knew that they'd be back soon since we're in a time of peace and as anyone could guess, as Vikings they'll want to use their new weapons for battle so they'd want to use my mirror. For now, though, I was content to just lay in bed and get some sleep since there's no telling what tomorrow held and with that last thought, I embraced the realm of slumber.
AN: And here's another chapter for you all to enjoy and if you have any thoughts on what the next chapters should involve then either review or PM and we'll see if it can be used. Now then remember to review and have a nice day.
