Asher looks out at the bay in worry - there's a large ship there, not Trader Johann's ship…and something about the ship doesn't give the impression its friendly. Maybe the catapult-like objects at the sides, or the buckets filled to the brim with arrows with poisonous-looking green heads.
Or, maybe its what's been happening with ships like it.
Other ships with their crest have been reported as being the targets of dragon attacks, coordinated dragon attacks. They can be five yards from a Berk ship, but only the ships with that particular crest will get attacked.
When Berk's ships would go to help any survivors - as the attacks were always too fast to prevent or help with - they'd find cages on the ships and reports to watch out for 'the Dragon Tamer' as well as to look for any of their ships and disrupt them any way possible. And question any of them about this 'Dragon Tamer' - as if they'd know anything about someone like that!
And, the weirdest thing? Apparently, it was a group of three dragons…and a rider. A rider riding…a Light Fury.
It couldn't be…Bloom wouldn't ever come back here.
If she was going to, after all, she would've by now. Its been three years, after all.
Stoick looks at the ship from a spyglass, and sees a man with brown hair cropped around his head with a short beard the same color talking to a bald man that bears a bit of resemblance to him. They've got arrows with deadly-looking green heads stuffed into barrels everywhere on the ship, and weird machines on the sides of the ship that look…like they're a mix of catapults and nets.
They also look like they're expecting something, as they're looking around every few seconds. Around, and up in the air.
He doesn't get any more time to see anything else, as a commotion suddenly starts up on the ship itself. There's a bright orange explosion, followed by a blur of white. A familiar-looking Nadder and Monstrous Nightmare appear from the clouds, causing havoc on the ship and dodging arrows and nets - no, it couldn't be…could it?
Bloom and Brightfire make another fast pass, Bloom tossing down another fiery explosion at one of the nets on Viggo's ship while Brightfire cloaks them again and makes a sharp turn back around.
Alright, Brightfire, time to free the dragons.
Agreed.
"Ready, boys?"
Skyshot, Sleuth, and Sabo nod, and they make a wide circle around while Brightfire goes down for another dive.
Bloom jumps off at the mast, then smirks as Viggo glares up at her - she takes her custom-made metal bow out, and a handful of arrows, and starts taking out the Hunters with ease.
After she picks off about twelve of them, Viggo calls up "What's your angle this time, Dragon Tamer? Why not just get down here and finish this with some honor?"
Bloom smirks behind her mask, keeping it and her hood up to protect her identity from nosey Vikings, and calls back down "Your talking to me about honor? Don't make me laugh. Seeing as you're the one that loves Maces and Talons, you tell me what my angle is."
Ryker shoots an arrow at her, which gets caught and then promptly buried in his shoulder.
Viggo's expression changes after a minute of thinking, turning to horror as he runs towards the door leading to the hold. Moments before he can get there, though, the deck explodes with about a dozen dragons flying up out of it. He was right, it was a distraction!
How she manages to do such a thing is utterly beyond him, she was up on the mast all this time!
Stoick watches in growing apprehension as this mysterious hooded rider attacks the ship, then in shock as they take out a piece of metal that unfolds into a bow and starts shooting the people that try to get up to them…and then in a bit of fear as the dragons explode from the bottom of the ship.
The three dragons that were helping her attack the ship roar at the other dragons, but the Light Fury looks at its rider - who then jerks their head in the direction of Berk before throwing down something. A massive cloud of smoke explodes around the ship, and when it clears the mysterious person's not on the mast anymore.
No, now they're in the middle of a fight…and winning with ease. Parrying sword swings, cutting through those swords with ease, fighting in ways he's never seen before - spontaneously jumping into a backflip onto the railing. Kicking the bald man in the chest, revealing some hidden blades in their sleeves and fighting with them at one point.
The bearded man rushes the rider from the side of the ship and tackles them into the water before they leave…with a glare that promises they'll be back some other day.
To everyone's shock, a Scauldron rises up out of the water with the rider hanging onto its neck. She then produces a bright sword from somewhere at her back and swings it at the retreating ship - the resulting wave of fire hits the sails, setting them ablaze at once. She then sheaths the deadly weapon at her back and looks at the dragon. It looks around, then…starts heading towards Berk.
Even the Rider doesn't seem to like that much, judging from their body language.
The guards all run to arrest the rider as she steps onto the beach, but Asher gets there first - he tackles them to the ground, and they get taken to the cells after being relieved of an arsenal of weapons that makes even Gobber stare at them in shock. Quite the feat, since he drags that cart of weapons anywhere he think he might need them.
They don't struggle, even as the guards take all the weapons and anything else remotely suspicious off them - which ranges from weird vials of liquids to weirder metal balls to a series of metal pins and some bags of strange items.
They do, however, give Asher a death-glare with ice-cold blue eyes.
In a town meeting about the rider, the twins immediately grab the sword and start swinging it around, trying to recreate the wave of fire everyone saw - nothing happens except they nearly kill five people and themselves.
Asher groans, takes the curved sword made of a bright metal from them not even Gobber recognizes, and puts it back on the table in the great hall with the half a dozen other blades that were hidden on the rider's body and all their other strange objects are laid out for everyone to see. In short, it doesn't tell a very friendly story - this person is dressed and armed for war, and apparently wears weapons like accessories.
Gobber groans and says "I recognize a few of these styles. This," he picks up one of the shorter blades, one that was hidden at her left thigh in a hidden sheath literally stitched into the armor, "is a Dao. Light, fast, made for quickly slicing throats. That weapon she used to set the ship's sails on fire, that's a Tulwar. Also light, fast, and designed to not get stuck in someone when you slice them in half. How it produced the fire, I've no idea. We'll have to ask her. Those knives that were hidden in her gloves are a pretty unique design at first glance. The handle's made to be gripped in a fist, and the blade is similar to a stiletto knife. From what I can tell, you hold them like this." He holds the t-shaped hilt in his hand, with the slender blade separating his fingers into twos. "Though, I've no idea what metal was used to make the blades. As for the arrows, well-made…Thor's hammer, don't touch the arrowheads! Carved from Nadder Spines! Likely soaked in their poison, to. Or, at least, the stuff's still in the heads."
Stoick asks "And the other stuff? The stoppered vial of Flightmare-colored liquid, the pins? The small metal balls? The pouches of grass and random metal objects? The small tube with holes?"
Gobber looks at the pins, and says "Throwing pins, I'd guess. Likely balanced for her and her alone. As for the other stuff, we'll have to ask the rider herself."
"And…this?" Stoick holds up with sort of looks like a small version of the sharpener in the Forge - though, shaped differently, made to be held in one hand.
Gobber goes still, then thickly says "Self-sharpener. Lets you put a good edge on your weapon on the move. Last time I saw one of these…"
The blacksmith trails off, and Stoick asks "You've seen these before?"
"Aye, Stoick. I've still got the designs in the back room in the Forge, to."
The hall falls silent as yet another reminder of Bloom comes up. Some miss her, as she was the best apprentice Gobber had and he keeps going through them like water.
Others know better now not to open their big mouths, else Stoick will go off on them, or what's left of them after Gobber's through with them - they don't miss her a bit, they just like not having to drag broken bodies all the way up to Gothi's.
Most, though, think she's dead and Stoick's wanting to find her is a hopeless quest.
After a tense minute, Stoick thickly says "Bring the Rider in. Let's see what she has to say for herself."
Because, if she knows where Bloom is… If she knows where Bloom is, she'd better tell him - else she'll be faced 400 pounds of fury and a large hammer.
AN: Hey, everyone! Yes, we're getting back on track for the timeline! Last of the huge timeskips is behind us. Yes, Bloom is absolutely badass now. Yes, she's armed for war. And, yes, I did spend a few hours looking up weapons to use for ideas - somehow, a traditional Viking sword just didn't work. Look up the weapons if your curious, took me forever to pick ones that I liked. If anyone's wondering, her outfit is cross between Heather's and Hiccup's from the later movies. Especially HTTYD3.
A list of her arsenal:
small throwing pins
bow and arrows
daos strapped to her thighs, sort knives about the length of an average person's hand.
knives down her boots
Tulwar, a long and curved sword that looks a bit like a katana
hidden knives in her armguards
her magic - I'm so counting that as a weapon.
Anyway, enjoy! More chapters coming soon! Please review, I love getting suggestions!
