When Farran decided upon the name 'Unshakable Oath' for the defender-class vessel he now commanded, he had done so as a testament of his loyalty to the hunter organisation. It seemed a fitting title at the time. That was one month ago. A whole month since his final confrontation with Heather and here the ship sat tied to the docks, yet to sail from the harbour. It merely floated endlessly, yet to receive the chance to prove and earn its title. Instead of sailing across the blue still ocean taking down dragons or escorting more important vessels or anything, it just sat there before the hunter, with only a handful of caretakers keeping it from gathering dust.

Curiously, Farran did not fret or feel any resentment to the lack of command. After all he had been the one who had ordered it to remain at the harbour since he now had the command and power to do so. A very unusual request for any new captain but it was not without reason. The young hunter cared greatly for his small yet capable frigate, enough to make sure that every member of the crew assigned to it was up to the task of handling it. To most it seemed unnecessary since he had met the crew during his training routine, but truth was those sailors were only meant to carry out the task of being commanded by a captain-in-training. Nothing more. In reality, the picking of the crew rested entirely on Farrans shoulders and his shoulders alone. This was done by hand-picking those hunters who fancied more a life at sea rather than hunting just on land. There were more of these requests than one would expect. Next followed a simple meet and greet of each individual hunter that was picked before being allowed on the ship, ready to begin their new life at sea straight away. It seemed that the hunters were a great believer in learning on the job.

A hunter Farran may have been, but he was not so easily a believer in such a ridiculous rule. If he was going to have fresh-faced sailors on his ship then he was going to make damn sure they knew exactly what they were going to be doing before they even stepped foot on it! That was the way his father had taught him so many years ago and now he would apply that technique here. The only difference being that unlike back then, full grown Vikings were being taught the basics, not children which meant that the newly promoted captain did not need to hold back. He was going to be tough on them, but fair. Anyone who would be unable to handle his teachings would be leaving at once. It was going to be quite the experience.

Now here he stood, facing an impressive number of ninety six hunters all lined up in five rows, one behind the other. Farran had to admit, he hadn't expected so many to show. But according to the tales of other, far more experienced captains, this wasn't even half the number that they had when they had to pick their sailors. There was also the matter that the frigate could only take a maximum of thirty crew members which meant that less than a third would qualify, IF that many actually managed to meet and push past his standards. Farran took a deep breath. Time to sort out the men from the mice.

"Good afternoon!" He had to raise his voice so that every single hunter could hear him. "My name is Farran, but YOU will refer to me as Captain if you want a place on my ship! Understood?"

A few people openly agreed with a verbal 'yes'.

"Now I understand that most commanding officers tend to do things simple and just allow you on board without bothering to check if you have the determination, the strength OR the mentality to keep up with the pressure of sailing a ship, well not here! Here you need to prove that you have all those qualities if you want even a chance of sailing onboard my ship. If anyone here disagrees or does not feel able to commit then leave now!"

Unsurprisingly, several immediately turned tail and left. Clearly these were the ones who expected an easy and cushy job. Good riddance to bad rubbish, Farran thought. The eighty nine that remained seemed confident enough in their abilities to give it their all. Farran waited a few seconds more to see if anyone else wanted to leave. When they didn't, Farran continued.

"Well, it's good to see that the majority of you THINK that you have what it takes! But fair warning! Unshakable Oath will have a maximum of thirty crew members when she first sets sail under my command! That means that most of you will not have the chance to join. Let that sink in! Only those who want a place most will earn themselves a place! I wish you all luck! Does anyone have any questions before we continue? This will be your only chance to do so!"

A few hands went up. Farran chose the closest one. A young lad, though not as young as Farran. He seemed confident enough.

"How do we earn a place?" He asked eagerly.

"By going through a series of tests to see if you're capable of handling the conditions a life at sea will throw at you! I won't tell you anything specific during training but what I will say is this! Expect the unexpected and you will never be caught offguard!"

The hunter seemed satisfied with this answer. Farran then pointed to another raised hand further back. This one was a hefty sort of man. Large sideways and looked like he harboured a bad attitude.

"Why is all this training necessary? No captain has his crew go through any sorts of tests before!"

"Because unlike them, I care if my ship sinks to the bottom of the ocean all because of one incompetent fool who had no idea what he's doing! Understood?"

The man said nothing more. A few other hands seemed to go down after. Farran continued to answer questions for a few minutes more before deciding to begin.

"Now then, your first test will be simple, but far from easy! It will test your readiness to spring into action at a moments notice, whether from a dragon attack or an attacking ship! Remember what I said earlier about expecting the unexpected! Are you all ready?"

Every hunter was eager enough to nod or verbally reply.

"Good! In that case... head back to your quarters and relax."

Many hunters went from excited to outright confused in the blink of an eye. Farran resisted the urge to groan. They had already so easily forgotten what he had just said seconds ago?

"You heard correctly. Go, now unless you'd rather prefer to do a lap around the island."

That made them scatter. All eighty six hunters turned and left, some rushing away while others calmly walked off. Once they were all gone, Farran released the breath he hadn't realised he was holding. Never had he ever addressed such a large number of people over such a matter. Only now did that realisation kick in for him. The sudden respect and responsibility of what he had just gone through was unnerving, yet at the same time a little exhilarating. But that wasn't important at the moment. He had much work to do before tomorrow morning.

./././././././././././.

Those who were at least partially dedicated to sailing the Unshakable Oath were mostly confident in their abilities of pleasing the captain. After all, many of them had spent years serving Viggo, with only a rare few given the right to call themselves veterans. A mere child like Farran would be easy to impress no doubt so long as they did the tasks given to them. If anything, they may be able to teach him a few things in order to win favour for their own selfish rights.

These thoughts were thrown out the window the next morning as the young hunter personally woke them up from their very tents himself with his very loud very angry voice, demanding for them all to get ready at once for the first part of their training. Anyone who failed to comply would lose the right to a place on his ship. The threat was enough to get them all moving. At least now they would be aware that Farrans words were not just empty threats. The next couple of days would prove to be very interesting.

As all eighty six men lined up before Farran whom had his back to a sandy beach. The unshakable Oath was docked about five hundred yards from their current location, an important detail that would separate the swimmers from the rocks. The young captain carefully counted the growing number of possible sailors, making sure that none had decided to oversleep. Luckily none had. That would save him having to make an example of anyone. Yet.

"Now then!" He started off. "Did that little wake up call catch you all off guard? I should hope not after what I said yesterday! Always expect the unexpected! Still, you all yet the decency to drag yourselves out from your warm beds so that's a good start. Which means we can move on to your next task!" Farran pointed to the ocean. "A simple swimming test! From this beach you will swim over to the Unshakable Oath and climb onto the main deck as quick as you can!"

A couple of hunters raised their hands. Farran allowed the nearest one to speak.

"Why do we need to do this, captain?"

"Simple. If you're ever find yourself overboard then you need to at least know how to swim a short distance and climb netting and rigging to get back onboard, unless you wish to end up as food for Scauldrons!" Farran now addressed the entire group. "Remember, these tests and exercises are not without reason! If you follow and complete them then you have a much bigger chance of surviving the harsh unforgiving world that is waiting for you out there! Especially out at sea! Now, do we have any volunteers?"

Reluctantly, a total of four hunters stepped forth. Farran made sure to make a mental note of them.

"Congratulations! You have the easy part of this exercise. Follow me. As for the rest of you, you have ten minutes to prepare yourselves before your test begins. Do not keep me waiting!"

Farran led the four volunteers back to his frigate and boarded it with them. From the main deck it was quite easy to see everything on the front face of the island. Especially the remaining eighty two hunters on the starboard side. At least here it would be easy to see who would prevail the cold waters that belonged to the ocean. The young captain turned to look at the other opposite end of the deck and checked to see if what he had requested from repair and maintenance teams had been delivered. Turns out it had. Thick ropes and nets laid sprawled across the port side, ready to be used at a moments notice. Satisfied, Farran faced the four once more.

"Now listen closely. Your job may be easy but it's just as important as keeping yourselves from drowning. Do you see the assortment of equipment beside you?" Farran pointed to the nets and ropes. Each of the four hunters nodded. "Good, because you are going to need to attach them to the side of the ship so the rest of the crew can climb up and reach the safety of the deck. Do not grab that rope just yet!" He scolded one hunter who was too eager to begin. "You will need to learn to act fast if you ever have to do this in an actual life or death situation. You delay, you risk the lives of others, so I don't want to see a single mistake from any of you! When the other potential sailors enter the sea and swim their way over here, you will get those nets over the sides and tie them down, properly! The last thing anyone wants is to think they're safe from the perils of the ocean only to fall back in because someone else made a fatal error!"

Before Farran could continue, the sound of slow clapping could be heard nearby. It wasn't coming from any of the hunters either. Whoever it was clearly seemed to be mocking him, though for what reason he had yet to learn. Farran turned to the source of the noise and found a gruff looking man at the ramp of his ship, standing uninvited on his deck. He sported a short black beard and had a scar that ran through his left eye. His foul grin was full of slightly yellow teeth and thin cheeks. At least those were what could be seen behind his long knotted hair. However the most notable feature was his size. The stranger was almost unrealistic, at least to most Vikings. He was a good couple of feet taller than Farran and almost three times as wide. Likely to be more muscle than fat if his large hairy arms were any indication. Despite these features, Farran was more focused on his near black eyes which rested on him with a dangerous hunger.

"A fitting speech for an fitting crew." He chuckled in a rough, near quiet voice. He strolled forwards, slowly but confidently towards the captain. "Eager to prove themselves, yet are too weak to muster the strength when the time comes. Much like yourself."

Farran narrowed his eyes. Clearly this stranger had no intention to make friends. Behind him his small crew could be heard growling, probably due to being referred to as weak. Before they could get close however, Farran quickly called them off and ordered them to focus on their own task while he dealt with this colossal being of a man.

"Who are you?" He demanded in a tone that showed that he was in no mood for this oddity.

"Ah, of course. Where are my manners?" He smiled wickedly. "My name is Destro. Captain of the Dread and Regret. Ring a bell?"

Oddly enough it did. The Dread and Regret was a known destroyer class ship that had partaken in many battles even before the skirmishes with the dragon riders. The only difference was that that particular ship was also known to not just go after dangerous dragon packs, but Viking ships too. Merchants to be exact. The crew would strip everything of value on the ships they targeted and left the innocent traders alone with only their lives remaining. Sometimes not even that. It was all the information Farran needed to immediately despise the giant that now looked down on him.

"I do. You and your crew have an... interesting reputation." The smaller captain spoke carefully. "I'd have thought there would be more innocent lives for you to plunder within the vastness of the ocean, why come here?"

Destro crossed his thick arms. "I make it my interest to learn of any new officers Viggo promotes. Especially one as young as you."

"How flattering." Farran responded with the dullness of a foggy morning.

"Flattery has nothing to do with it." The giant huffed. "From what I can see with my own eyes, you're nothing more than another feeble hunter who was lucky enough to impress someone of a higher rank. You are not, nor will you ever be worthy of such an important responsibility."

"Viggo thinks otherwise."

Destro let out an amused laugh. "Is that what you believe? Please. You're nothing more than a blind pawn to him, as are the rest of us. Only you're more of a tool. You're just too lousy with loyalty to see or accept it. To him, you're nothing." The larger captain, for the first time since Farran had found him on his ship broke eye contact and now stared at the hunters, finally acting to sort out the nets and ropes. "You're training them? A little pointless, don't you think?"

"Train them for any eventuality and they can survive anything. Though I doubt you carry such concern for those who serve under your command." Farran challenged.

"And why should I? They can always be replaced with more men should I need them. A lesson I know you'll learn in time." Destro looked left and right, studying the ship with a face that seemed like he had stepped in something unpleasant. "Well, I've spent enough time on this dung heap. I'll let you get back to playing with your pathetic excuses for Vikings. Until we meet again, Farran."

The enormous hunter turned and headed back the way he came. His footsteps thundering across the deck. Before he left, he gave one final insult and wiped his heavy boots on the front of the deck leaving large dirty marks to be cleaned up. Only when he was out of sight did Farran allow himself to relax his posture. A deep uncomfortable feeling swelled in his stomach. He doubted very much that today would be the last he saw of that half-troll.