Berk was on fire and all Eulianna could do was stare. Stare in shock, in disbelief, and in excitement.
A dragon raid was happening and she didn't know what to do at that moment but to stare. Eulianna's heart was pounding in her ears as the flames outside illuminated her face.
Was she to participate in the raid or just stay tucked away in the supposed safety and comfort of her little home? Will she act like a viking and attack the dragons? She debated with herself on what to do as she sat down on her bed, her added weight slightly dipping the stiff mattress. Her mind drifted to Freckles as she remembered him telling her that he would use his contraption to shoot down a dragon. Her anger with him was lingering as she looked down at her sword that was hanging by the front door.
Eulianna rose from her position and headed downstairs and grabbed it before slamming her down open taking in the sight of burning buildings, frantic vikings utilising weapons to hit dragons, the scaled creatures hovering the island grounds emitting fire from their cores. Complete havoc.
In the distance, she saw the chief lift up a wooden cart with ease as he swung and hurled it towards a dragon, causing it to wail and falter in the night sky. She gulped at the sight of that. She was easily impressed by Stoick's strength yet terrified of the small damage he did to the dragon.
I can't do this, she thought before heading back into her house, dropping the sword and running back upstairs and covering herself with the woollen blanket on her bed. When the first couple of raids were happening back at Hjalfadargin, it was instinctive for her to block the whole thing out by hiding in her bed. Typically, Linnea would talk to her to bring some comfort and distract her. But Linnea wasn't here. She wasn't in her bed chambers in the castle. She wasn't guaranteed protection by a whole team of royal guards. This wasn't Hjalfadargin.
"It'll be over soon," she reassured herself. "It'll all blow over very soon." She peeked out from under the blanket and out the window next to her bed to see a small ball of fire coming straight towards her. Her breath hitched as she leapt off the bed and flew down the stairs to the front door, not forgetting her sword as she escaped her house before the fire hit.
She miscalculated the hit as the ball of fire landed at the corner of her house, as it started to slowly grow.
"My house!" She screeched. She didn't know where there was water to put it out, but as she was about to run off, some water extinguished it completely. She turned to see Astrid behind her who barely spared her a second glance before she hurried to fill up her bucket again to put out more minor fires. She made a reminder to herself to thank Astrid the next time she saw her.
Eulianna didn't know who else to go to but Gobber, and so she sprinted to the blacksmith forge, swerving around the frenetic Berkians who all had the same aims - protect the village and kill dragons and stay the Hel alive while doing it.
As she made her way to the forge, she heard a so familiar yet so foreign whistling screech above her head in the night sky as she saw strangely beautiful and recognisable purple blast struck a catapult, making it immediately collapse.
The girl skidded into the forge, seeing Gobber ordering Freckles to stay put inside the forge. "Eulianna! You better stay here too. It's too dangerous out here, lass!"
"But-" Eulianna began to argue.
"Stay! I mean it!" Gobber enjoined before raising his axe-arm into the air and releasing a war cry before hobbling out the forge.
Eulianna turned to look at Freckles but he was already gone and in the distance, she saw him wheeling away his contraption.
"Hey!" She tried calling after him, hesitating for a couple of seconds on whether to stay put or follow him. She chose the latter.
With her hand tight on the hilt on the sheathed sword, she did her best to trail Freckles to wherever he had gone, but it was hard to find him in the mass of vikings and dragons considering his smaller figure.
She eventually found him on his knee watching something in the air. She followed his eye line to see him looking at a dragon he shot down and falling into the forest.
"Oh, I hit it." He said surprised at his own actions. "Yes, I hit it!" Being completely proud of himself, he spun and was about to continue speaking when he saw Eulianna stare at him in shock.
Eulianna was stunned to see Freckles actually shoot down a dragon like he said he would. Her anger towards him still lingered, but she felt an ounce of joy seeing him celebrate himself and could even say she was proud of him for achieving half his goal. "You-"
"I hit it!" He exclaimed, forgetting all feelings of pique. "Did you see that? Did anyone else see that?"
His question was answered when they both turned their heads in synchronicity to the dragon that climbed its way up to where the two teenagers were standing and growled at the two of them. Unlike the Changewing, this one was more huge in size and was definitely not interested in apples or carrots.
Eulianna was frozen and silent whereas the boy dejectedly said, "Except for you."
"I'm out," Eulianna announced as she ran down the hill and back to the village.
"Wait!" Freckles cried out and followed suit as the dragon tailed him and tried eating him up, letting out a wail that echoed through Berk.
"Why did my dumbass decide to follow his dumbass!" Eulianna scolded herself as she tried to find her way back to the forge, but was struggling to do so due to the sea of vikings.
She and the boy separated ways as she climbed up some stairs to get to higher ground and hide somewhere and to her luck, the dragon was focused on Freckles and targeted him. She laid low, hoping the grass was enough to shield her from the vision of the dragon. Freckles narrowly dodged the blasts from the dragon as he stumbled and attempted to hide behind a brazier only for the dragon to spray fire at it. Eulianna watched from her position as the dragon craned its neck around the brazier and what she assumed clamp the boy between its teeth. It was difficult to see what was happening with both the dragon's body and brazier blocking the view.
To Freckles's luck, Stoick jumped between the dragon and boy sending a kick to the dragon's face pushing his head away from Freckles. Eulianna released a breath she didn't realise she was holding as she watched Stoick send a couple of punches to the dragon, pushing it further and further away from him and with one last kick, the dragon retreated in defeat and flew into the night sky. The brazier fell and landed on the ground with the lit iron basket crashing into one of the docks that surrounded the island, revealing Freckles who stood their sheepishly in front of Stoick.
Eulianna was brought to her feet with the help of a viking who found her.
"Are you hurt, princess? I saw that Monstrous Nightmare almost eat you!" The viking asked and checked the princess's face and body for any injuries.
"I'm okay, I'm not hurt," she reassured the nameless viking as the two of them descended the stone stairs down to join the other vikings. The viking guided her to Gobber who also joined the scene, looking onto the mess that just happened.
"Are you alright, lass? I told you to stay in the forge!" Gobber looked at Eulianna who looked down at her feet, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "You could've gotten seriously hurt." Gobber sighed when he got the message she wasn't going to say anything.
"Sorry, dad," Freckles said, not facing Stoick.
Eulianna's head shot up and she choked on her spit, covering her mouth with her palm to not bring any attention. How could no one have told her? How could no one have told her that she was hanging out with the chief's son? Not even Gobber mentioned anything.
The dragons flew away in success with sheep in their clutches and a destroyed village. Eulianna watched them fly away together to wherever they were heading, blocking out what Freckles was saying to his dad, but did hear her name in his explanation before Stoick yelled at him to stop. He immediately clamped his mouth shut and looked at his dad with eyes wide.
"Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems?" Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed!" Stoick waved his arm around as he reminded his son of the dire situation Berk was in.
"Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?"
Eulianna saw the viking who helped her look down at his belly self-consciously as he grabbed it with one hand. Eulianna hummed in second-hand embarrassment. It definitely wasn't the best time for his little comments.
"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!"
Hiccup. Hiccup was Freckles's name. She admitted given the current situation, the name suited him but she remembered him saying he was basically the village outcast.
"Why can't you follow the simplest orders? And don't think I didn't see you put the princess in danger!" Stoick gestured to the girl who was staring at the father and son. A couple gasps and tuts were heard from the crowd of vikings behind her. She figured now wasn't the time to defend Hiccup. "Hertha, make sure she gets home safely."
"Of course, Stoick," Eulianna heard Hertha behind her who placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder and ushered her away to her house.
Eulianna slowed her pace just so she could still hear or at least see the conversation between Stoick and Hiccup. Their conversation ended with an order from Stoick given to Gobber who lead Hiccup away from the crowd as everyone watched walk with his head hanging. She witnessed the other teenagers snicker and jeer at Hiccup, but couldn't make out what words were being exchanged.
"Hiccup." Eulianna simply said, mainly to herself forgetting Hertha was right near her.
"Hiccup? Oh, that boy is nothing but bad luck! And to think he brought you saying you saw him shoot down a Night Fury! A Night Fury! A Gronckle or a Terror I maybe would've believed, but a Night Fury? That boy is too much," she tutted and shook her head as the two of them reached the singed door of Eulianna's house.
Eulianna's jaw stiffened as she decided to ask, "What if I did say Hiccup did shoot down a dragon?" Her eyes didn't look at Hertha, but at the rising sun behind them. She didn't realise how their day had begun with a raid.
"Oh, princess you don't need to play along with Hiccup. You're too kind to him," Hertha responded, not answering Eulianna's question. "Now, on you go. Get some rest," Hertha said as she opened the door and left Eulianna alone in her home, wondering how Hiccup was currently dealing with just being reprimanded by his dad in front of the whole village.
—
The duchess of Hjalfadargin sat in the throne room, in what she believed to be her rightful position. With the princess gone, she was now the ruler of Hjalfadargin. Her new rulership was announced the night previous to the noble families who let it known to vassals and knights. The news quickly spread throughout the land, leaving a mix of different reactions.
The people knew plenty enough about Gerda to know she wasn't fond of foreigners, especially the ones who came to live on Hjalfadargin. The older and native Hjalfadargs hummed in approval and were hoping for a new set of laws under Duchess Gerda's new reign. A set of laws that particularly concerned the Hjalfadargs of Nirhongan descent. It was in her best interest to put Nirhongans "in their proper place," as she quoted.
She was awaiting the arrival of a spy she hired to search for the princess as she sat comfortably on her brother's throne, tapping her index finger on the arm of the seat.
Erland walked past the throne room knowing the duchess was there and lingered staring at the door. The night before Erland was about to enter the dining hall to present that night's dessert to Gerda and Jorn, when he overheard a conversation between the couple.
A bouncy and velvety pudding garnished with a mix of juicy, fresh berries. Before he rapped his knuckles, he heard the princess's name being said by Jorn.
"You want to try to find Eulianna? I thought you'd be… elated that she had run away," Erland heard Jorn ask his wife.
"Believe me, I am," he heard Gerda groaned. "But she had only run away. She is still alive, meaning she could come back to Hjalfadargin at any time. I cannot be months into my reign and have that brat come to steal the throne from me. This is the opportunity."
No response came from Jorn, and Erland made sure he was not making a move so he wouldn't be caught eavesdropping.
"So, I need her back because she will marry Prince Espen. Their marriage will ensure my reign. And finally, Hjalfadargin will be the way it should be. So no more Eulianna means no more Nirhongans, no more intermixing between Hjalfadargs and Nirhongans, no more dirty blood in our pure kingdom."
Erland held back a gasp and waited thirty seconds before knocking on the door to give the duchess and duke their dessert for the night.
Erland almost bumped into a mysterious man and apologised and quickly moved past to head back to the kitchen to prepare morning tea.
The guards opened the door to reveal a man heading into his older adult years. He walked into the throne room, striding down the carpeted mat and stopped five feet before the steps that led to the thrones.
He knelt down on a knee and greeted Gerda, "Your grace."
"Halvar," She addressed him, signalling him to rise to stand. "I am aware you already know what you must do?" The two of them met a couple of days earlier where Gerda provided him with a detailed run-through of his mission and relevant information and images to him. A picture of Eulianna and people Gerda found suspicious and two men in helmets with horns sticking out of them.
"Yes, your grace. Find the princess, observe her and report back to you," Halvar recited back his mission to her, earning a slow and firm nod from Gerda. Halvar was a spy from a neighbouring country, infamous for his detective work and slyness. Gerda didn't want a simple Hjalfadarg guard to search for Eulianna as she figured she would recognise the guard.
"Good. The boat she escaped on was on its way to DunBroch." Gerda stood up and paced around Halvar who stood with perfect posture and stared straight ahead. "Go there first and check the neighbouring kingdoms too. Then check the other countries and islands nearby. Then you can set sail to the west and north too. She would not be south. It would be too humid and hot for her to adjust. Be thorough with your search and observations."
"Yes, your grace."
"Oh. And do not forget to search that viking island, Berk," Gerda said as she stopped pacing Halvar and faced him. "A heinous place, but my brother was there once. And she does have his adventurous side to her, so make sure you head up north for that."
"Berk. I haven't heard of the place."
"How lucky. I wish I had not."
—
Eulianna managed to fall asleep for a couple of hours after the raid before she was awoken by a knock on her front door. She pushed herself off the bed and headed down the steps, picking out the gunk in her eye before opening the door to Gobber who was standing at the other side of the door with a large wooden chest at his feet.
"Gobber? What's this?" Eulianna asked, which was followed by a quiet yawn.
"Well, uh, you seemed a little bit upset after the raid. So I brought this to cheer you up!" Gobber kicked the chest into Eulianna's home, forcing Eulianna to step aside, and shut the door behind him.
"A chest?"
"Not just any chest! This chest is filled with your dad's belongings when he was on Berk," Gobber stated as he opened the chest to reveal what was inside.
Eulianna dropped to her knees and began pulling different items out of the chest. She first pulled out a helmet with small curled horns on it.
"We got that made for him! He didn't wear it a lot, but he loved having it in his room to look at," Gobber explained the helmet. With his hook, he pulled out a satchel. "He'd usually have this on him. Andy was always writing something down in his journal. Not sure what, though. Some days he'd be too distracted by his journal to even carry a conversation with me!"
Eulianna dug through the satchel to find a small journal with a pencil tied to a string, attached to the spine of the book. She didn't flip through the pages just yet and decided to read them at a later time, privately.
"And we got his shield here too! Your dad loved drawing, he painted this one himself!" Eulianna took out the biggest thing in the whole chest, a shield, with both hands and rested it in her lap, analysing the art on the shield. "I'm not sure what it was supposed to be. I thought maybe some snakes? I never took Andy as a snake guy though."
Eulianna knew exactly what it was. It was some sort of interpretation of Hjalfadargin's crest. Compared to the official version of the crest, her dad's version of it was much more artistic and impressionistic. The necks of the swans were more twisted and warped, the sword too. Her dad incorporated a flurry of blues, reds, black, and white on the shield.
"Maybe you could use it one day! It's still intact and if you want you could go over it and paint something new," Gobber suggested enthusiastically. "Oh! There's also a bow and some arrows in there. Your father wasn't the best at wielding a sword, but his aim was perfect."
Listening to Gobber go on and on about her dad and what he did on Berk, Eulianna's shoulders drooped down and she stared at the ground, realising how much she missed her parents and how little she knew about them. She only got to know her dad and mum for four years of her life before they disappeared into the ocean. Even though she always said she believed they were out there somewhere, she couldn't help but feel that they were truly gone and all she had left of them were their belongings and fragments of distant memories. Their faces were always blurry to her, but she supposed that the paintings helped jog her memory.
Her eye caught a small block of wood with a small loop of string attached to the corner of it. She picked it up and spun her wrist around, looking at it from all angles. On the shorter sides of the rectangles were five holes of the same size. She peered through them and saw that the holes ran all the way through the small object, as the light of the room was on the other side.
"What is this?" Eulianna asked, interrupting Gobber's storytelling.
"Hey, I almost forgot about that. It's a panpipe! Andy picked up different hobbies here on Berk and music was one of them. But I'm sure that music was taught when he was at the castle."
Eulianna nodded, remembering her early music lessons as a child which didn't last too long. Eulianna blew into the instrument and dust escaped the holes and floated in the air. She coughed before trying to play a simple note, but all that came out was a quick huff of air.
"It doesn't work," Eulianna narrowed her eyes at the small instrument as she pressed her lips together.
"That's because you don't know how to play it," Gobber claimed, taking the instrument with his hand and placing the instrument below his upper lip while tucking in his lower one. He blew gently across the five holes and a quick run of musical notes was heard. Eulianna's eyes lit up at the sound as Gobber played a short and bright tune, the corners of Eulianna's lips turning upwards.
Gobber handed it back to Eulianna and she tried to play the instrument again. She mimicked the shape of Gobber's lips and played a shrill note. She flinched back at the loud high pitched sound and tried again, blowing with not as much air pressure, producing a simple, long note. She moved to the next hole which played a higher note.
"There you go! Soon you'll be playing songs for the village, just like your dad!" Gobber said, adding a little bounce to his step. "I hope this little chest," he kicked the not little chest with his peg leg, "made you feel a little better."
"It did. Thank you," Eulianna smiled at her dad's friend. She suddenly remembered Hiccup who was lectured by Stoick hours ago.
"Hey Gobber, do you know where Fre-uh… Hiccup is?" Eulianna inquired.
"In his house. Probably. Who knows," Gobber said as he shrugged. "He's gonna be startin' dragon training tomorrow. My persuasiveness really got through to Stoick! But Hiccup is gonna be joining the other teenagers tomorrow morning."
"Dragon… training?" Eulianna tilted her head.
I thought Berk wasn't really into training dragons, I thought they were into-
"Training to kill dragons, actually."
There it is, Eulianna pursed her lips. "Oh."
"I thought about adding you to the recruits, so-"
"Yes! You're absolutely right," Eulianna interrupted, not bothering to hear what Gobber had to say. "Being a princess, I never had to do work like that! And honestly, I don't think I'd suit… killing dragons."
Gobber narrowed his eyes and just accepted what she said with a slow nod. "I mean, your dad wasn't able to kill dragons. Do you… do you also puke when you see a dead animal?"
"Yep." She doesn't. "That's exactly it! I guess it just runs in the family," she lied, followed by fake laughter. "If I see a dead dragon, I'll just mess up the training grounds. That would be extremely humiliating if the other teens saw that. I can't be known as the princess who puked. I wouldn't wanna be known on Berk as the princess who puked. My image would be ruined," Eulianna smoothly said, as she bit her lip and looked at Gobber with glassy eyes. She did think to go on about a damaged reputation and to make her eyes teary was a bit overkill, but Gobber believed it as his hand rubbed Eulianna's back, doing his best to not make her burst into tears.
"Alright, alright. Calm down. I wasn't going to force you into it anyway," he mentioned.
"I mean, can I come watch though?" Eulianna's quivers in her voice were completely gone and her eyes were no longer teary.
"I don't see why not. Just don't go vomiting around."
"Great!"
Gobber departed from Eulianna's house after they said goodbye to one another and Eulianna flicked through her dad's journal, seeing self-entries, drawings, and his own scores for the panpipes.
She thought about staying home and reading thoroughly through the journal, but something inside her caused her to make her way over to the chief's house, running past a bunch of vikings carrying bags with them and heading towards the docks.
She raised her fist to knock on the front door, but held back and took a couple of breaths before thumping thrice on the wooden door. She exhaled a deep breath as she waited for the door to open.
Hiccup opened the door to see the girl he had a disagreement with, holding her hands together.
Before she could speak, he blurted, "I don't know what to do."