It seemed there was no way that the tribe of Berk could convince both races, the elves and dwarves, to side with them and form an alliance. Berk was on its own.
That night, the two races and their kings left the island, all whilst Berk was left to pick up after themselves, and it was also on that night that they feasted.
In the great hall, nearly the entire Berkian Tribe was gathered up for a feast to honor those who fell in battle that day, and who were now finding glory in the Halls of Valhalla alongside the Aesir and Odin.
It was quite surprising that everyone could fit into the great hall however, considering that the Berkian Tribe had a population of three thousand. But unlike most great halls, theirs was built into a mountain, and as such, it offered ample amounts of space for all...
Aside from the villagers who were present within the great hall, the dragons were there as well. Hundreds of them, sitting and standing with their fellow riders and having a great time.
At the chieftain's table, Hiccup, Astrid, and the riders sat together, eating their fill and drinking mead, celebrating their victory as their stress from the heavy work that day was shrugged aside, all whilst Stoick, Valka, Gobber, and Eret - who was a former dragon trapper, were having a conversation of their own.
As Hiccup's friends continued feasting, the young heir of Berk stared back at Toothless, who sat nearby feasting off a large bucket of fish.
"He must be really hungry," he sighed. "I bet he hardly gets to have moments like these. I mean- look at how fast he's eating..."
"Well, that's what happens after a day of hard working and fighting. You get hungry," commented Astrid as she sipped from her stew. "You on the other hand haven't taken a bite from your food, mister."
Hiccup arched a brow as he turned around to face forward in his seat - but she was right. Upon looking down he saw that his bowl of stew and his leg of chicken, sitting on a plate off to the side, was untouched.
"Oh, right," he chuckled, taking ahold of his spoon as he took a loud slurping sip from his warm stew.
"Mind your manners!" Astrid reminded him, to which he laughed heartily.
"If you say so, milady. But I'm not the only one eating like this!"
As the couple went on with joking with one another, music suddenly began playing in the center of the great hall, attracting many glances.
The bards grabbed ahold of their instruments. The lute strummed, the drum banged, the fiddle fidgeted, and the horn-pipes began blowing. Soon they began to play a cheery tune, with much of the hall laying their eyes on them.
And then the band began to sing:
"Have you heard of the one whose name is Brann?"
"He who saved the innocent as fast as a ram!"
"He walked on mountains and he walked through valleys,"
"He marched through battle where his foe would rally!"
"A smile to the good and fair is all he gave,"
"Never sad nor flaming mad, but always brave!"
"But when the foul and evil would cross his path,"
"He would unleash the Allfather's wrath!"
The bards bobbed their heads from side to side as they happily sang and sang throughout the hall, with crowds of people watching, dancing, or sitting in their seats with smiles on their faces as they clapped to the rhythm.
Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other. "Brann?" they both asked in unison.
"Aye!" spoke Gobber, grabbing their attention. "Brann is among the most legendary vikings to ever walk Midgard! Or so they say. Alas, we don't know whether he exists or not."
"But what kind of man is he?" asked Astrid. "The song makes it sound hard to believe, at least to me. Surely he isn't…"
Gobber nodded with a chuckle. "Ah, but he is! Poets and songs describe Brann as being a tall and muscular man who carries nothing but a shield as his weapon. They say the shield is stronger than the skull of a large ram; blessed by Odin, thus it is nearly unbreakable."
"As for his personality, people say he is the kindest and fairest viking out there. He is never angry at those who are good and fair, like us. He would even risk his life to protect the smallest of innocent creatures! But to those who are evil and wicked, he beats them down into Helheim!"
"Geez," Hiccup replied, sipping from his tankard of mead with widened eyes. "I see why they call him a legend. But I have never heard of any kind of viking like him."
"Aye, many have not," Gobber nodded in agreement. "But remember that he is just a legend. We don't know if he is real or not."
"Right," nodded Hiccup. "Well, if you wouldn't mind, I am going to get some fresh air... Astrid, would you like to join me?"
"Thought you'd never ask," she said as she stood from her chair, grabbing ahold of Hiccup's hand as the two hastily made their way through the crowds and out through the doors of the great hall.
But not without their dragons…
…
It was a bright night above them. The clouds were radiant with moonlight, and the blue and white stars above them glowed brightly, like that of the northern lights.
Hiccup and Astrid sat on the hill near Stoick's hut, looking up at the night sky with amazement while Toothless and Stormfly like the dragons they were chased each other in circles around the two vikings, fooling about.
The couple laughed as they continued staring up at the sky, laying their heads against each other.
"Mmm, I love nights like these," giggled Astrid, narrowing her eyes back at Hiccup. "Don't you wish we could have them more often?"
Hiccup nodded with a light chuckle. "Yeah. But with my dad pressuring me on learning the "basics" of becoming a chieftain, I have had barely any spare time on my hands."
"Plus, there are also many important matters," he added on.
"Well, that's Stoick for you. Then again, you are the heir. You do have responsibilities that you have to-"
"Please don't remind me," he quickly interrupted, glancing back at Astrid with a sigh. "Right now, let's just take this time to appreciate the view. It might be the last we'll ever see of it."
"...Though who knows. Maybe we will see it again one day?"
"Maybe," smiled Astrid. "All that matters is that it's just the two of us, alone… mostly."
"Mostly?"
She sat up straight, pulling her head from Hiccup and clearing her throat with an, "Ahem" as she motioned with her hand at Toothless and Stormfly who were still running around in circles, chasing each other playfully.
"Oh, right," he chuckled. "I nearly forgot about them. But hey- at least it's quality company. Not like they're going to disturb us like Snotlout would-"
Astrid cringed with a slight look of disgust as she heard his name. "Snotlout? Gah, I'd rather have him be as distant from us as possible, or even off Berk as a matter of fact. It's bad enough that he can go wherever he wants…"
Hiccup let out a sigh, leaning forward with his hands crossed. "There goes the moment for tonight I guess. One mention of Snotlout and everyone starts talking about him."
"...Still, I wonder what he is up to."
Astrid arched a brow, shrugging. "He could be up to anything. All I know is that he is never up to any good, especially when he is in his village on the other side of the island."
"He's already done enough damage to us for today," Hiccup commented, now staring out over the horizon. "First he builds an outpost without my dad's permission, and then he breaks all ties of helping us against the raiders… Honestly, he should be grateful that my dad gave him the rights to build a village on the other side of Berk."
"And as well as have the ability for gathering necessities," Astrid added on. "But building an outpost where he wants without permission is out of his power, not to mention he is claiming the hunting grounds for his own like the ungrateful muttonhead he is… I can only say that there's something fishy going on. Don't you agree?"
"...Hiccup?"
It seemed like he was not paying attention. Hiccup's eyes stared down towards the center of the town after noticing something unordinary and suspicious. There was a noticeable glow of orange and light blue colors from where the runestone was. It could not have been a coincidence, could it?
"Astrid, do you see that glow?" he pointed out.
His hand motioned down towards the large plaza, pointing towards the direction of the runestone that was out of sight, thus Astrid too noticed it.
She rose a brow. "Since when was the runestone able to use two magics at once?"
"I don't know," he shrugged, slowly standing to his feet in a hesitant manner. "It can't be Gothi, can it? She is supposed to be asleep by now. ...Though maybe we should find out. Toothless!"
He immediately whistled for his dragon, and quickly Toothless ran to his side as Hiccup already began making his way down the hill towards the plaza, along with Astrid and Stormfly following him.
His footsteps were slow, almost hesitant. He was also as a matter of fact surprised that he even was hesitant as he had not felt like this ever since he was a teenager. Then again, it was one of those moments where he was simply unsure of what to expect.
Upon closing in on the runestone his expectations became clear. The runes on the large enchanted rock glowed with both fire and icy magics, which was actually surprising to Hiccup and Astrid as Gothi barely used ice magic; but rather only fire and healing magics.
Along with that, the runestone could only use one magic at a time. But how was this possible? Was it activated by some mysterious force?
Even Toothless and Stormfly looked at the runestone in confusion. They were smart enough to know that it worked with only one magic, but how two?
The curious Night Fury looked at his rider, crooning in a questioning manner which Hiccup assumed as, "What is going on?"
"I don't know, bud," replied Hiccup, inspecting the stone from top to bottom. "This could not have possibly been Gothi's doing. She hardly uses ice magic."
"Hmm, maybe it's waiting for something to trigger it? ...Or someone?"
He shrugged. "Maybe. But I don't know, Astrid. Perhaps we should just-"
"Try to touch it."
Hiccup narrowed his eyes from the runestone and onto Astrid, giving her a confused look. "You can't be serious. You really think I should go along with this?"
"At least try," she said, urging him on. "I already said to you today that maybe the runestone could give answers to our situation. Gothi uses it to receive visions and blessings from the gods, but isn't it strange that it would activate while it's just the two of us around?"
"...We should see what happens. I promise that I'll pull you back if you feel something is wrong, all right?"
Hiccup gulped uncomfortably as he looked back at the runestone. Though he was somewhat convinced, he was not sure what would happen upon touching it. Regardless, he took a few steps forward until he was at least two feet in front of the runestone.
He took one last glance at the enchanted rock, before gently laying his right hand against it.
And for a moment nothing happened…
...
Until he felt a mysterious force of some kind suddenly shut his eyes and pin his feet down. At that moment he was about to panic and call for Astrid, but he bolstered his courage and convinced himself to continue going.
The first thing he saw upon closing his eyes were flames. Bright flames, raging all around him, followed by the sounds of loud whispers that spoke with a heated and burning presence like fire and ash. They chattered, saying random things that made Hiccup beyond confused.
"Wings… Midgard…"
"Fallen… Reunited…"
"Valnr… Shadows…"
"...Wrecked."
'Wrecked?' he thought. 'What does that mean-'
Suddenly, the flames around Hiccup immediately dissipated as he found himself standing in the middle of somewhere sandy, with rain falling down from the clouds in the sky above him. He was on a beach. Unable to think entirely on what was going on however, he was unsure what beach he was standing on or even where it was.
However, what he did notice aside from his surroundings was a distant longship wreckage, and around it were the bodies of several vikings - though he couldn't tell who they belonged to from where he stood. Were they his own? Were they from another tribe?
There was not enough time for him to react...
Suddenly everything went black. He was surrounded in darkness with nothing but a soft blue dimmed mist around him, yet at the same time he felt the weight on his legs and eyes slowly begin to lift. And before he knew it, he heard a voice call out to him. It was calming, but it also sounded authoritative.
"...Seek it out in two days time. Only then will you find your answers…"
'It? What is it?! What on Midgard is going on-!?'
…
The light suddenly hit Hiccup as he backed up from the runestone. He gasped, breathing heavily from what he had just witnessed, so much so that he nearly fell to the ground - was it not for Astrid who leaped out to catch him.
Toothless as well rushed to his side upon seeing his rider in a nerve-racking state, and he stood over him in a guarding manner to make him feel comfortable.
"Hiccup!" she said in a worried tone, holding the shakened lad in her arms. "Are you alright? Did something go wrong? Please- say something…"
"I…"
Hiccup was barely able to get a single word out. He laid there, shaking in Astrid's arms until he felt his exhaustion wash over him, and soon sleep claimed him…
…
On the other side of Berk, within the village of Clan Jorgenson, Snotlout sat on his throne in his great hall, feasting with many of his vikings along with his right hand Dogsbreath who sat next to him. He spoke of the events that happened that day.
Dogsbreath like Snotlout was muscular. He was loyal to his leader, but not as tempered when it came to heated situations. Still, he too was arrogant and moronic.
"And so I went on to build the outpost regardless of what that beer keg Stoick thought," spoke Snotlout. "And after that fat faced yak Gobber came to me and kept urging me to aid them with pushing back their raid, I made the decision to no longer support them against their raiders."
"It's their problems. Not mine."
"A funny move, if I do say so myself," Dogsbreath chuckled wickedly, all while sipping from his mug of wine, filled to the brim. "Every decision you make, a step closer to devastation for the Berkian Tribe."
"-As well as a step closer to avenging my father," replied Snotlout, tightly gripping his own tankard of wine.
"Hiccup the Useless, Astrid, Fishlegs, the Twins, and Stoick will all be forced to bend to my knee sooner or later, and I will make their lives more than just difficult..."
"Heh, that's gonna be something to laugh at. Though speaking of the Berkian Tribe, are we still going to continue as planned with our-"
"Yes," Snotlout nodded. "Tomorrow, I want you to ride out to the Berkian village and present to them my demand. Make sure to bring a regiment of twelve or so warriors. You will all be given horses for a swift trip."
"Should I also bring Wartihog and Agatha along?" asked Dogsbreath while sipping from his wine.
Once more, Snotlout gave a nod. "You can bring them along as well. You three will make sure that Stoick and that scrawny Hiccup receives my message clearly. "
"And if they refuse?" Dogsbreath added on.
"Then you can threaten and tell them that the Berkian Tribe will officially be an enemy of Clan Jorgenson…"