Chap4: Preparations for war
The next day, as soon as Hiccup woke up, he gathered the dragon riders in the arena, the old headquarters of the academy. When they all arrived, Hiccup gestured them to come closer to the flat stone on which he lied a map of the archipelago. He cleared his throat before saying
"All right gang, I have bad news, very bad news. The Headless tribe is back"
"Oh no! Not the Headless tribe, not them, we are going to die. They will kill us by decapitation and use our skulls as decorations "Shouted Tuffnut hysterically, before lowering his voice and asked Ruffnut "What is this Headless tribe?"
"I don't know, should I, because Hiccup looks pretty serious. On another note, Headless sure does sound cool, at least way cooler than Hooligan. "She then turned towards Hiccup" Hey chief, can we change our island name to, I don't now, armless, legless? Hairless?"
"For these two, I think Brainless would be pretty accurate" Chuckled Astrid.
"Please Astrid, not you" Hiccup groaned, facepalming. What did he expect? These were the Thorston twins, he should know by now "
"The Headless, hum, let me guess, we are going to get our dragons and try to capture one of them and then train them" Snotlout interrupted in typical Jorgenson fashion "Can we go back to Dragon's Edge? I missed that place."
"What, you think that the Headless is a dragon? Laughed Tuffnut ironically at Snotlout,
"Yeah, muttonhead, no one is going to call themselves the Headless" responded him
"How foolish are you, young Viking, to think that, the Headless are obviously the corps of ancient Vikings that done very, very bad thing. Their actions had angered the Gods! "Tuffnut gesticulated, acting menacingly. "And the gods punished them by chopping their heads off. And now, they dwell this world, jealous of the braves, they hunt them." As Fishleg started to be back off, clearly scared by the theatrical Tuffnut, Snotlout asked bluntly:
"And how do you know that? I say dragons, you say weird dead Viking, who says who's right?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm right, let me guess, this is a secret that only the chief knows, and is the ghost of Stoick that came back to tell good, old H about it"
"Arhhhh" Hiccup groaned even harder "Some time of my life that I'll never get back"
"It's okay, Hiccup" Astrid smile softly at him "It's just them being them, it's a good sign"
"How's that a good sign?" Hiccup inquired, taking a worried look at the arguing two.
"Well, this is a sign that everything's back to normal, the Drago events are starting to be forgotten. You didn't see the twins pull lokies during for a moon or to after the attack, didn't you?"
"Fair point, but this is serious, a single mistake can get us all killed, and put the entire island at risk" Hiccup answered softly, sparks of worry in his eye, before raising his voice " Alright, stop it, the only thing correct in... any of that is the fact that we are all going to die if we don't treat this seriously. And no, they are called the Headless because we came up with it, well people before us did, because we didn't know their real name. Fishleg? "Hiccup turned toward the blond Viking that was starting to recompose himself "Would you mind giving a little history lesson?"
"Of course, he answered, okay, okay, listen up" he shouted at Snotlout and the twins" It all started eighty winters ago when a tribe of relentless warriors took over the archipelago like a storm. They were smart, well-armed, and with their precise knowledge of how to utilize plants, turning trees and flowers into deadly weapons, they conquered island after island, regardless if it was inhabited by Viking or dragons."
Fishleg 's vivid, detailed description of the past events and his energetic gestures really captivated his audience, or at least, though he. The blond Viking finally stopped when the sun was vertical, hitting directly on the top of skulls that he finally stopped, bent down, hand resting on his knees, panting and sweating. When he straightened himself, he was met with the bland, almost idiotic stares from the twins and the nonchalant attitude of Snotlout, leaned against Hookfang, cleaning his nails. Fishleg groaned in a mix of frustration and anger
"Have you guys even been listening at all? This is serious"
"Nope, I pretty much stopped at the part where they can use plants as weapons" Answered Ruffnut
"Although the dragons more powerful than the king of dragons sounds interesting. The Bewilder beast is already the size of an island, imagine the size of that, it will huge" shouted Tuffnut excitedly, throwing his arm in the air"
"Imagine the destruction it can cause, I bet he can sink islands in a single blast. Does it spit fire or ice? Wait, wouldn't it be cool if it spits a combination of both? He freezes you and burns you at the same time, this would be awesome !"
"So basically, it spits water," Snotlout said sarcastically
"How's that?" Tuffnut asked with a confused face. "I say that maybe the above-king-of- dragon can spit both ice and fire at the same time"
"you muttonhead, fire melts ice, turning it into water"
'Plat' as Fishleg slapped himself in an act of despair. Why can't they be serious? Alright, you two stop it!" Yelled him "this is serious"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it" Snotlout interrupted it "'Dangerous, crazy Viking. So, what are we waiting for? Let's go find their base and fly in, dragons blasting and blow everything up, et voila, no more Headless. You do know where they are hiding, don't you Hiccup" while eyeing at the one-legged Viking
"Well, it appears that Snotlout right here just volunteered for a searching mission" mocked Astrid" Be careful to not get capture, because we can't come to your rescue if we don't know where you are"
"Wait, so you don't even know where they are, then why are we here? "Yelled him before adding "And shut up Astrid "
Before Hiccup got to reprimand Snotlout, a bulky dragon fled through the Academy door. Green red scales, three horns, it was Skullcrusher. A svelte Viking slid of his side; hands full of paper. "All done, chief, everything that you asked it here"
"Thanks, Eret," Said Hiccup while takin the papers and spread them out on the table.
"What is that Hiccup, looks like Gothie's notes," asked a curious Fishleg
"Well, since we are going against an enemy that uses plants and poison, I figured at least know how to recognize and create the antidote for them" answered him. Looking up at the sky, Hiccup then added "Alright, gang, you can go to the Great Hall and eat." while gesturing Eret to stay a bit. The statement created a joyous reaction as Fishleg the twins and Snotlout rushed to their dragons and head off. Astrid was about to pass the gate when she looked back and saw Hiccup and Eret still at the table, rearranging the pieces of papers.
"You two are not coming? "asked she
"Go first, we'll catch up" answered Hiccup, looking at her sighing with disapproval written on her face.
After she's gone, Eret asked
"You looked worried chief, what do you have in mind?"
"Can I ask you a favor?" Hiccup's question startled Eret, it wasn't very much of him to ask a favor, raising an interrogative eyebrow, the ex-trapper answered
"Of course, chief"
"I don't want you to come with me."
"What?"
"I'm going to gather the Riders and head off"
"Don't you even try to engage them alone Hiccup, "interrupted Eret fiercely, worried that his chief might do something crazy
"I'm not, I was thinking about constituting a first line of defense with them, to buy us enough time. I'm maybe overthinking it though"
"Explain yourself"
"When I attacked the transport vessel, these men saw me and Toothless. And I worry that Berk may be their next target. And my plan is to head off Berk, and inhabit a couple of islands further north until we spot the ships. As soon as we see them, we'll send a message to our allies while we try and hold them off. This means war, Eret, and Berk can't take another one right now."
"And what role do I play?"
"I need here your experience to help train the others for trapping, you know, how to properly use the wood to mask their trails, in short..."
"Utilize our only advantage, the location at its full potential, because if the tales are half as true, a frontal assault would be suicidal and the dragons almost useless. Right?" Completed Eret
"You read my thoughts." Hiccup smiled" On the other hand, go tell Gustave that I reactivate the A team, and you can continue your dragon rider training with them"
"The A teams? "
"Oh right, said Hiccup, he always forgets that Eret had just integrated the tribe in the past months. "Back in days, Astrid created an auxiliary team of dragon riders to assure Berk's defense. They might be a little rusty"
"Well, if they are trained by Astrid, I believe none of them have forgotten their training" Chuckled Eret "Alright, I'll do it, Anything else?"
"Thank you, Eret," said Hiccup heartedly "and tell the others to meet me at first light tomorrow in at the Academy."
As the ex-trapper fly off towards the village, Hiccup looked down at the pile of uneven paper and started arranging them. His eyes sparkled when he found out an easier way to hold these in a specific order. "Let's go bud, to the forge," said him while hopping on Toothless
Astrid was mindlessly chewing on her chops in the great hall when Eret came and sat down next to her
"Let me guess, he isn't coming and is still working on his plan," said her with a touch of blame, like Eret was supposed to drag Hiccup to the tables.
"Yes, but how?" Asked Eret, curiously
"I know that look, he has the same one when we were back at the Edge when he is thinking about his project or planning the next mission"
"The Edge, and what missions? Or this is a secret?"
" Oh right, like two winters ago, we went exploring beyond the borders of the Archipelago, when we encountered the dragon's hunter, under the command of Viggo and Ryker Grimborn, before searching for the king of dragon, that turned out to be the Bewilder beast, against Krogan and his flyer and trader ... hum traitor Johan. Any of these names ring a bell? "she stopped when she caught a slim smile on Eret's lips "What's so funny? "asked she
"Nothing, it's just funny how you two sounds like"
"Who, me and Hiccup"
"Yeah, anyway, to answer your question, yes, I did some business with Viggo before. Sold him a couple of praise and rare heads. He got quite the business mind: smart, ruthless, yet always a man of his words"
"Yep, we got to experience a lot that, Hiccup and Viggo were constantly trying to outthink each other. Hiccup learned a lot from him." Astrid said heavily "We all did."
"And how exactly did it finish between you and him? "Eret spotted on her expression that Viggo might be more than a simple enemy.
"He changed?"
"How's that. Hey, if you don't want to talk about, it's fine" Said him softly. Astrid's evasive answers indicated clearly that she doesn't want to talk about it.
"No, it's fine, it's just every time I think about, I remember when Hiccup almost died for us, he is always the first one to face the danger. He always was there for us, but we weren't always there for him. Like, during that last fight against Drago, it was him alone with Toothless against the Bewilderbeast. I felt useless. And now, even more. He doesn't even want to share his plan with me." Her voice broke at the end. Further memories awoke the more recent ones. She lost track of how many times Hiccup put his life in danger for his people, his friends, for her.
" Hey, hey, it's ok, he did all this to protect you and the other riders, you know how he is" Eret awkwardly tried to comfort her, " All I know about him is that the name doesn't do him justice, he doesn't even have them. He's crazy in his own way and he wouldn't like to see you like that."
The attempt drew a light chuckle from Astrid. Watching her in control of her emotion again, Eret asked one more time "So, are you going to satisfy an ex- trapper's curiosity?"
"He changed, like you, like me, like all the people on Berk. He saw beyond the wild, aggressive side of dragons. Hiccup showed him the loyalty and the magnificence of them. After helping us gathering important information from Johan, he sacrificed himself for us."
When she finished the story of them and the dragon hunters, the great Hall started to empty itself, as Viking began their afternoon works.
"I should get going. I initially came here to say that Hiccup asked you, Fishleg, the twins and Snotlout to join him at the Academy at first light tomorrow. And by the way, do you know where I can find Gustave?"
"He should be in the stables, or out flying, why do you need to find him? He's nothing but trouble" Astrid winced at the thought of the little Viking that caused them so much trouble.
"I need to tell him that our Chief as reactivated the A team, you should know what it is"
The mention of her former idea surprised her. The team wasn't used after they came back from Dragon's Edge. "Wait why?" Shouted her towards Eret, but he was already out of reach. Staring mindlessly at her cold chops, she thought to herself "What are you thinking Hiccup, and why don't you tell us? "A moment later, she decided that dwelling on her though would lead nowhere. Putting her plate for later cleaning, she ran out and called Stormfly. Hopping on the blue Nadder, she decided to go search for Hiccup when flying around the island. The one problem? Hiccup was nowhere to be seen.
0—0
"Clang" as the hammer resonated in Berk's forge, shaping red hot metal into the wanted shape. After the sizzling sound of cold-water meeting hot metal stop, the young blacksmith wiped the drops of sweat dripping from his auburn hair before taking removing his orange translucid googles.
Taking a look at his creation, two very thin rings of Gronckle iron, reflecting the sunlight, Hiccup smiled
"What do you think bud?", he said when he showcased the two metal rings to Toothless. The dragon raised a pair of curious green eyes, interested in the new thing that his friend used to build. He approached it, and sniffed at the rings presented, before turning away, clearly not impressed by it. Hiccup chuckled lightly
"Common bud, don't be so harsh, this will be useful" Toothless stepped lightly towards the young Viking before nudging him with his nose, and looked at him with big, intelligent, imploring eyes.
"Yeah, we will go flying later, get some rest now, the night would be long" Hiccup patted on Toothless nose, fingers running smoothly on his head spikes, before reaching for his chin. When Hiccup finished petting Toothless, he then took a wooden slab and draw a line of charcoal on it, before taking the stack of paper and aligned them properly. After some more fumbling around the forge, the Night Fury took off, disappearing into the northern cloud, missing a blue and yellow Nadder by bits.
•—0—•
As dawn hit Berk, sprinkling golden dust across the land, a couple of shadows soared across the sky, startling a group of chirping terrible terrors. Landing in the Academy, Fishleg a little behind the other riders: the Gronckle's reputation wasn't based on their speed. He suppressed a yawn before asking "Why isn't Hiccup here? This isn't like him"
"I don't know" followed Ruffnut "And usually, he doesn't use others to pass a Rendez-vous order."
"Yes, and Eret looked like he's worried about the chief when he came sneaking up on me to deliver said order, running au passage, a perfect boar stacks. "Tuffnut said, grinding his teeth "Don't you hate how he just creeps up on you, like a ghost"
"On another side, don't you think it's awesome how he can walk this quietly? Like his feet aren't touching the ground. I think we should ask him how he does that, that sure would be useful for the great plan" added Ruffnut while eyeing suspiciously at her brother "Finally we would be able to accomplish the impossible"
The twin's erratic behaviors and incessant pranks draw a sigh from the other Vikings. Having been with them all their life, they still haven't been used to it. "How did Hiccup manage to order them and smack some sense into them, would remain a mystery" though Fishleg, looking at the perturbing duo desperately.
"Guys, please, this looks like it's serious," said him before turning to Astrid. "Astrid, has he told you anything?" Asked Fishleg to the blond shieldmaiden, hoping to learn more
"Nothing, everything I know is from Eret to, and Hiccup didn't show up at the great hall last night too. But he did put the A- team back in action" she said.
Speak of the devil, a small group of dragons lead by a purple yellow monstrous Nightmare landed in the arena, perfectly aligned. Their riders slid off their respective dragons aligned themselves in front of Astrid
"Berk's Auxiliary Team, coming in to report," said Gustave while saluting his ex-instructor, the young Viking didn't grow a lot in the past two years, but he did appear more mature in his gesture. Like many, the war against Draco made them realize that even with dragons on their side, Berk wasn't invincible. Well, almost anyone, the twins were still, well them.
Soon after, a slim, black dragon landed, followed by two bigger ones. The first rider slid off his Night Fury before speaking up.
"I know a lot of you have questions, and I will try to answer all of them" Since he became chief, Hiccup gained some confidence in his way of speaking. Calmer, with determination and authority well written on his face, he didn't let the other Vikings any chance of interrupting him.
"A team" added him while nodding toward them" I want you to welcome your newest member, Eret son of Eret" He pointed towards the ex-trapper. "And your new instructor, Valka" while pointed the tall women beside the Stormcutter. "I trust you to teach him the basics of dragon-riding, as well as how to fly in formation" he received a unanimous 'yes' from the auxiliary but then, Spitelout stood up
"Will all due respect; I don't really see the point of Valka being our instructor here"
Hiccup smirked before addressing his mother "show him, would you?"
The tall women agreed, before approaching Spitelout's Nadder slowly, knee bent, back curled, and one hand, palm up in front of her. The Nadder squawked curiously at her, before leaning in and sniffed the offered hand. Valka stepped sideways, hand sliding on the dragon's cheek, scratching it now that she gained his affection. Arrived at the Nadder's legs, she raised two fingers and pressed into a specific spot on the thigh's articulation with her other hand. The Nadder squawked in surprise, and then, scales erected all over his body, just like the one on his tail. The dragon battered wings, and a volley of spines flew off in a wide arc.
"Wow" as all the Viking jaws dropped to their floor, amazed by what just happened.
"Wait, wait, let me try," said Astrid before repeating what Valka just did. To no one's surprises, Stormfly shot a couple spikes, digging in the wall behind her.
"Very useful if you are surrounded, "Said the tall women while eyeing Spitelout, dancing uncomfortably.
"She is definitely teaching us" Gustave stepped up.
"All right, Hiccup cleared his throat, apart from that, she will also hone your solo flying skills. And on a further note, Eret will teach you how to effectively lay traps and some ambush techniques. All right, off you go, we still have something to sort" Dismissing them, the members of the A-team flew off with their newest member, in the trail of Cloudjumper.
After they disappeared from his sights, Hiccup turned to his old friends. Before he got to say anything, Astrid asked
"They don't know do they?"
"No, they don't, none of them knows, apart from Gobber, Valka, Eret and the rest of the council. I don't want to start a panic" answered Hiccup, he took a deep breath before continuing "You guys know that you don't have to come with me."
"And let you have all the fun going against a tribe of mysterious Viking that conquered half the archipelago? Not a chance. Not a single chance good sir. No sirrie "Interrupted Tuffnut firmly.
Hiccup gazed over them, reading determination in their eyes and support on their face.
"We know that you want to protect this place, the people, your people. But we, as part of Berk, also have the duty of protecting our home. And I'm also part of the Berk guard and Berk's army general, which give me another reason for standing against them." Astrid said seriously, her sapphire eyes lit with fire of will and authority, her blazing gaze piercing through Hiccup's green ones. The young chief couldn't do anything but nod. Hiccup smiled wholeheartedly. "Thank, you, thank all of you"
"So, what's the plan?"
" This, this is the plan" As Hiccup put two things on the ground, gathering the small group to kneel around a map and weird rectangular shape, sandwich between two fin layer of leather were a pile of parchments, all roughly trimmed to be the same size, but many were sticking out from all side. The whole pile was held together by two metallic rings, with one incision to chain the notes.
"What's this Hiccup? Asked Fishleg while pointing towards the leathers cased notes
"Just some small contraption that I build, since the notes were of different sizes, I couldn't make them into a book, so I used these two rings to hold them together. "
"Gronckle iron too, I see"
"Yep, the only metal that wouldn't break at this thickness"
"Alright, stop" Interrupted Astrid to prevent the two Viking going into an endless nerd compliment- giving contest" What's the real plan"
"Our goal is to hold them off the shore of Berk as long as possible, I've already sent a terror mail to the Dagur and Heather, but it will take some time"
"And how exactly do you know that they are going to come right here?" Said Snotlout
"Because" answered an irritated Hiccup "When I freed those dragons on the transport ship, they saw me riding Toothless, and as far I'm concerned, he is the only Night fury. So, not so hard to make the connection."
"So, you messed up and we have a tribe of super Viking that can tame many of those huge ice spitting dragons coming right at us! Remember me why I'm doing this again?" Ranted Snotlout
Hiccup knew that his friend didn't mean it and it's just how this muttonhead behaved. Yet, Astrid still threw him a solid punch in the shoulder, for good measure, making him shout in pain. Gesture by which Hiccup thanked by an honest smile.
"As I said, Hiccup continued his presentation, we are going build a small, practical outpost on this island" pointing at the map "But our main defense activities will be conducted here." What Hiccup chose to be the outpost is a small island at the north of Berk, and the other ones were a series of slim but long island, extending in the east-west direction, forming a soft arc.
"This island will be the Outpost," said Hiccup pointing to the first island "and these ones, I named them Lures." He pointed to the group of three small islands. "And no, I will no be taking complains about the name."
"And this is the hut we would be living over there" Hiccup took out a couple of blueprints from Toothless' saddle bag and lied them on the ground. The dragon left out a small growl and nudge Hiccup. "Not now, bud." Said him before turning to his friend. "And before any of you ask, no there won't be a personalized hut for each of you, nor any type of recreational building like a boar pit" while eyeing at the twins." Any questions?"
"Woah, how does he know what I am going to ask, can he read minds now?" Asked a surprised Tuffnut
"Or maybe its Toothless that can read mind, since he is the king of dragon an all that, and he just told Hiccup what you were thinking." Added Ruffnut
Hiccup slide a hand across his face in an act of frustration "Seriously? guys!"
The group leaned in to take a better look at the map and the blueprint. Tuffnut spoke again
"Actually yes, what's so special about these huts of yours? For me, they are just a simple room with a roof. Lots like those on Berk, but smaller"
"Actually, they can be built and demolished very easily. The three walls, the ground, and roof can all be built separately and assembled later. So, we are going to build these pieces on Berk and assemble them at the Outpost."
" Hiccup, this is actually genius," said Fishleg after looking more closely at the blueprints, before switching to the map "But why didn't you chose this island" he pointed at the island much closer to the small group of three islands playing the role of the first line of defense. "It's much closer"
"That's true, but according to this "Hiccup held the leather cased notes "this is all the notes about the Headless tribe and the plants they use, as well as the antidotes. And on Outpost island grows a whole bunch of plants that can be used to counter their weapons." he handed the booklet to Fishleg "And I'm entrusting it to you, you will be our healer over there." The blond Viking accepted this act by a radiant smile and a sincere nod.
"Hey, I don't get this whole outpost thing, "Snotlout asked, "Why we can't just fly back to Berk and organize shifts and all? The island seems pretty closed to here"
The question aroused a small, ironic grin from Hiccup "That's what I thought too. This is a very old map, and the distances are not so accurately displayed. The outpost island is a quarter day flight from Berk, and these three, a bit more."
"Quarter day? not so bad right? Snotlout interrupted, smiling
"At full night fury speed" Hiccup concluded, promptly erasing the smile off his cousin's face.
After some more chitchatting around the localization of the island and the design of the hut, where Hiccup denied many silly suggestions from the twins, such as a transportable boar pit. Snotlout promptly reminded them that this wasn't possible using colorful adjectives involving cattle. The argument about holes and some anachronistic topology stopped when Astrid spoke loud enough to cease the bickering.
"Alright, shut up." She looked at Hiccup "So, what do you actually have in mind?"
"As I said, we will use the three islands as the first line of defense and try to hold them off as long as we can. We don't know what they will hit us with, but we must stand our ground as hard as possible. Until it falls, the Outpost island doesn't exist in our defense. "He paused a bit to let that sink in.
"When the first line falls, we retreat to the outpost island and make our stand there. The basic goal is to hold them until our ally arrives. And I'm asking you guys to give all you got" Hiccup took a deep breath before continuing, slamming his hand on the map "because it is either a battle between us and them or a war on the shore of Berk." He finished in a heavy silence.
