For some unknown reason, I assumed that because I haven't published anything since last Christmas, it would take a week or so to get any readers or reviews. But Lo; it took less than an hour before the first notification came through, and by the end of the day I had 60 readers. Thanks everyone for warming an old man's heart.
Stripesicles review literally made me lol. Don't believe her when she says that she wonders what will happen next because as guest villian, she's already read it. Naughty Saz (I've just decided Saz is her new nickname... I just hope it does not translate into anything insulting in anyone's language.)
Thanks for the review Jokermask and a big hello to my old friend Draco; welcome back :)
Chapter 2
The strange words of the summoning sounded like pure gibberish to everyone in the Great Hall, even to those who had spoken them. Silence filled the room. Every last Berkian sat perfectly still, no one chewing, no one drinking, and no sound came from what should have been a roaring fire. The unnatural silence put everyone's nerves on edge when... BANG!
"Where the heck did that come from?" Gobber exclaimed.
"Outside!" Hiccup said as he ran for the door with the rest of the Dragon Riders hot on his heels.
Nobody complained about the main door being left open this time, as one by one an entire population of shivering Vikings made their way outside and stared up at the mountain behind the village. Near the base of the eternal monolith, a plum of octarine smoke rose up and was blown back towards Berk. It could be said that the air was filled with the aroma of something floral, assuming you could manage to find a flower that smelt like burning arm hair.
"What is it?" several people asked.
"What does it look like?" several more retorted.
"It looks like someone is asking for a punch in the nose" the first group growled in response.
"What do you think we should do Gothi?" Hiccup asked in an attempt to stave off a major brawl.
The wise woman stepped forward in front of the crowd and raised her staff to gain everyone's attention. She then lowered the staff till it was pointing towards the smoke on the mountain, indicating where they should all go.
"In this weather? Bugger that for a joke" Mulch turned and walked back to the fire, followed by almost everyone else.
Gothi just stood and continued to point at the mountain as the doors slammed shut behind her.
"Well... I suppose it's up to us... as usual" Hiccup shrugged.
"It's gotten to the point where we, the heroic Dragon Riders, are expected to take care of everything around here; and we won't even have our dragons to help us till they return after Snoggletog" Snotlout pointed out.
"Nothing we can do about it though" Hiccup sighed.
"Would anyone mind if I made a suggestion?" Snotlout asked as he buttoned up his coat "The next time this village gets attacked by a Skrill, a band of pirates or whatever, what do you say we just take off on our dragons and leave that lazy selfish bunch of Nerf Herders to fend for themselves?"
"Seconded" Astrid raised her hand.
"All in favour say aye" Ruffnut proposed.
"AYE!" everyone agreed.
He could not be completely sure, but Hiccup believed he may have even heard Gothi vote aye.
"Motion carried, but for now let's go mountain climbing" Hiccup declared and started the long hike into the snow.
Naturally the Dragon Riders found the going slow and difficult, so they were all impressed at the way Gothi soldiered on, refusing every offer of help. They were still about an hour away from where the smoke had come from, when something wondrous happened.
"Wha... what's th-that?" Fishlegs suddenly stopped and pointed up the hill.
"Is it a... a ghost?" Tuffnut asked about the rugged looking figure walking towards them.
"Greetings my friends" the approaching figure responded.
"It's a man!" Snotlout gasped at the half frozen figure.
"And what a man; grrrrowl" Ruffnut purred.
Though tall, muscular and incredibly good looking, the stranger was defiantly not prepared for the extreme Berkian weather.
"Sorry to be a bother, but I've been wandering through all this snow for a while in these extremely inappropriate clothes, and I'm afraid I may be about to freeze to death" the man informed them and then promptly fell onto his face.
"Let's get him back to Berk. Quickly, there's no time to lose" Hiccup ordered.
Tuffnut and Snotlout hurried over to help the fallen man, but were beaten to the punch by Astrid and Ruffnut, who both seemed very eager to offer their assistance.
Being forced to half carry the stranger meant the journey back, though downhill, took longer that their long slog up.
"SHUT THAT DOOR! Oh... sorry Gothi" Mulch apologised once more.
Hiccup and Snotlout grabbed an empty bench and took it over to the fireplace, providing somewhere warm for Astrid and Ruffnut to lay the odd newcomer. A number of confused Vikings gathered around to see what the Gothi and the young Dragon Riders had brought them.
"Well, who's this tall drink of ale?" Gobber asked with a smile.
"We found him up on the mountain" Tuffnut replied.
"I think we may have summoned him" Hiccup added.
"I saw him first" Ruffnut insisted.
"What on earth do you see in him?" Snotlout wondered "Sure he's handsome, with broad shoulders and firm muscles... but... well..."
"But... wow!" Ruffnut grinned.
"Pretty odd, eh Astrid?" Hiccup whispered aside.
"Huh... what? Oh... yeah... odd" Astrid replied while seeming to be a world away.
"So what do we do with him?" Bucket enquired.
"I suppose we just wait and hope we got him back in time" Hiccup shrugged "If he survives, then maybe he can tell us who he is."
"Oh I'm sure I'll b-be f-fine when I've warmed up a little" the man shivered.
"You need to rest" Ruffnut said as she sat next to the stranger and patted her lap "Lay you head down here and relax for a bit."
The offer was just too tempting for the half frozen man, and in less than a minute he had completely fallen asleep.
"Just look at those weird clothes; who'd go out in a snow storm dressed in such thin garments" Snotlout remarked derisively.
"But feel the material" Ruffnut pointed out "It's not a skin or pelt, but the weave is so fine and soft. Almost like what royalty would wear."
"So you think we've got a Duke or an Earl from the lands to the east?" Hiccup wondered out loud.
"Well for now Babe, I suggest we just keep him warm and let him rest" Astrid suggested.
"Hmm... I guess you're right" Hiccup agreed.
For the next four hours, Astrid and Gobber took turns holding up blankets in front to the fire to warm them up before swapping with the one already on the stranger's body. They also regularly checked to see if he still lived, for they all knew his survival was not certain after spending so much time in the snow. It was Astrid's turn to watch over him when the man gave a soft groan.
"Uh... hello" he croaked "You're one of those who rescued me aren't you?"
"Yeah she is. Her name's Astrid and I'm Ruffnut; your pillow" Ruffnut smirked.
"Who are you and what were you doing out in that blizzard?" Astrid asked the devilishly handsome stranger.
"Well... my name is Marty... and to tell the truth, I don't know what I was doing out there. Yesterday was quite warm where I'm from and... I um... remember I was about to get ready for bed... when suddenly I felt dizzy and passed out. Next thing I know I'm walking through more wind and snow than I've ever seen before."
"Where are you from?" Astrid asked.
"Australia; am I still there? We normally don't have snow at this time of year."
"I've never heard of Australia" Astrid shrugged "Is it anywhere near Elydonia?"
"I've never heard of Elydonia" Marty replied.
"I must admit that although the weather is unusually severe this year, I can't believe you don't have snow at Snoggletog" Astrid shook her head.
"Snoggletog? But Snoggletog is just a… wait a minute, where am I?"
"The Great Hall in the village of Berk" she replied.
"BERK?" the surprised man sat bolt upright.
"Stop shouting; there are people over here resting" an angry voice drifted across the room.
"Hey, he's awake" Fishlegs grinned and soon half of Berk was milling around the makeshift bed.
Marty soon found himself being peppered with questions, some of which he had already answered, so Astrid quickly came to the rescue once more.
"His name is Marty, he's from a place called Australia, and you all need to settle down" she ordered.
"Australia; is that anywhere near Elydonia?" Hiccup asked.
"No it… oh my goodness, this can't be real. How did I get here" Marty wondered as his head sank into his hands.
"Ah… um… I think… I think we may have summoned you" Hiccup admitted.
"Summoned me? How; or more importantly, why?"
Gothi passed the book containing the prophecy to Fishlegs, who opened it to the appropriate page.
"This is why, because of this prophecy" he told the confused man.
"Sorry Fishlegs but I don't know how to read Berkian runes" Marty shrugged.
"I'll read it for you then… hey wait; how did you know my name?" Fishlegs gasped.
"He must have heard it said" Snotlout smirked.
"No Snotlout, I know many of your names" Marty declared.
"Oh yeah, them who am I?" Tuffnut asked, doubting the man's claims.
"Tuffnut LaVerne Thorston; and that's Hiccup, Mulch, Gothi, Bucket and the fair maiden Ruffnut."
"Who am I then" one of the other Berkians asked hopefully.
"Sorry I don't know. You're just one of the Generic Background Vikings."
"I'm a what?" he gasped.
"So, maybe it would be a good idea if you told me about this prophecy, and why you would want to summon an average Australian man into your realm" Marty suggested.
"If he's average, book me on the next ship headed to Australia" Ruffnut whispered to Astrid.
"It's the weather" Fishlegs began.
"It's been very cold lately" Tuffnut added.
"It's rendered my brass monkey incomplete" Gobber frowned.
"The weather? But this is Berk; just south of freezing to death and stuff like that" Marty looked confused.
"True but we've never seen anything this bad before and it's only the first month of winter" Hiccup noted "At this rate, the whole island will be a solid block of ice in four to six weeks."
Marty stood up and walked a little closer to the fireplace, stroking his chin as he thought.
"This isn't right" he said seriously "Something must have changed and I must find out what it is."
"Good luck because nothing ever changes around here" Snotlout sighed.
He knew it would not be easy, but it was clear to square jawed man that the people of Berk needed him, and the observations he could make with his deep blue eyes.
In the first draft of this story, I tried to model myself after the character of Ace Rimmer in Red Dwarf; the highly competent but modest hero. Trouble was it sounded like I was trying to make myself too likeable to the reader so in the first re-write, I made myself smuggly irresistible and built on it from there.
It has never been so much fun to lie.
