The mercenary Chapter 5
When the rest of the wounded were ready to leave they started to pack.
The mercenaries traveled light only taking extra weapons, armor, and clothing. As they got to the ships they all prepared to embark, though the mercenaries had offered to let them ride on the backs of their dragons since it would be much faster, the people had refused.
They made their way through the open sea and had the dragons pull the boat which gave them much more speed. Hiccup was at the front of the ship along with Eret and Heather was in the back talking to Ruffnut. By nightfall, Hiccup had to explain to Heather that they were already halfway, yet Astrid didn't believe them. It was at least another two more days but Hiccup assured her due to the dragons pulling of the boats that it was indeed only one more day.
The next day they made their way to the island. Hiccup sat alone on the boat at the front with Eret only saying a thing here or there. "Do you ever wonder how big the world is?"
"Nope," said Eret
"Not even a little?"
"I got bigger things on my mind"
"Like what?"
"Dinner"
"Your lucky you don't care," said Hiccup.
"Yep," Eret said casually.
"We have been to lands most people have never heard of and you still don't want to know if there is more out there"
"Everywhere we go it's all the same, dragons and war."
At the back of the boat Heather and Astrid where talking
Astrid Look to Heather "so what is his real name"
"His name is...well," Heather thought to her self what she would say. Hiccup didn't like using his name when working so he changed it to a different name, a sort of stage name if you will " we will tell you once we get to Berk"
Astrid decided not to press on with that question and instead ask something else
"what is it like to ride dragons," Astrid asked.
"it's one of the most liberating things you can do. we ride dragons and save them. We have a friend who takes care of the ones we save. We bring them to her and she gives them a home"
"you free them? aren't these ones your pets." Astrid exclaimed
Heather looks at her "no they aren't there are our friends, they are our equals, they were slaves like us once and they saved us once and we save them."
"Where I'm from you're supposed to fight dragons riding them just seem so wrong."
" I can't really blame you. Before this Eret used to capture dragons now he sets them free. We all have misconceptions about things that we don't know about but once we see that these creatures are just as beautiful as us and they can be just as gentle as us then the need to kill them immediately evaporates"
Astrid was astonished by how someone could think that they are beautiful. fighting dragons and stopping them from stealing food used to be a major problem, how could any person think that a dragon was gentle"Do you get mad at people when you see them hurt dragons or capture dragons?"
"I do but at the same time, dragons and humans have been at war for a long time that hatred doesn't just go away in an instant it needs to be taught. dragons can equally be as cruel to humans as we are to them. we need to teach each other coexist"
"Are there others like you? people who ride dragons"
"Oh yes, indeed there are whole tribes who ride dragons to the extent of the large ones like berk. we're not the only ones in the syndicate but we did start it"
"there are there more of you!"
" Not that many more but yes when we first started out it was just the three of us but then when we grew and learned we met other dragon riders and they joined us.
"Where are they now?"
"some of them are out doing other jobs. while others...well this job is dangerous, not all of us make it. When they are done with their jobs that they're working on they will meet us at Berk. We left a note at the house."
As she said this she could hear from Eret "I see land!"
Everyone ran to the front of the ship. They could see it also, it was Berk. Astrid, Fishlegs and Ruffnut all were relieved to see their home.
As they got there the village was lively. Everyone had to come out to see the mercenaries including the chief. as they got off of the ship and onto the dock Astrid was in front she was soon greeted by her mother Olga who hugged her tightly "I'm so glad you're okay. let me see you,"
"Mom, I'm fine but I need to see the chief"
"yes of course...are those the warriors" Olga whispered
"yes mom"
"then all is not lost, thank thor"
As they started walking Hiccup leaned into Eret's ear and told him to walk in front and when they met the chief Eret was to introduce himself first.
Whenever they took a job everyone always assumed that Eret was the leader and they were always shocked to find that the person behind him was, in fact, the leader. Hiccup signal to the dragons that they were to fly above and to not come down near the village and the dragons complied.
As they walked into the village people were staring at them with great curiosity. when they reached the middle of the town they finally saw the chief. Eret walked up and the chiefs spoke.
"Welcome great dragon master. I'm so grateful that you have decided to help us please let us talk in the great hall"
Eret stepped aside saying "My name is Eret son of Eret and this is our leader of the dragon guild syndicate he who sits upon a night fury. "
As Hiccup walked forward Heather was behind him and the chief looked surprised to see that he wasn't the leader, though he soon composed himself
"Sir please allow me to escort you to the great hall." Hiccup nodded his head.
As they reach the great hall. Astrid was walking with the chief explaining to him everything that happened and the chief was shocked, worried and wondered why this mercenary had decided to come even though they couldn't pay.
As they walked into the great hall the chief sat down on his seat and Hiccup stood before him.
"My commander has told me the situation and I'm sure you know ours. We have been under siege from raiders for a long time. now our warriors are good but the raiding parties are massive, our food is low and we cannot hold out against another attack that comes out at us. luckily if we hold out another 3 months then our crops will be ready to harvest."
Hiccup whispered into Heather's ear and Heather soon spoke: "What is it that you want us to do."
"From what I hear your reputation is unrivaled from any other mercenary out there. with you fighting alongside us we will certainly last 3 months and with your night fury, it will strike fear into the hearts of our enemies letting them know that they will never be allowed to come back without terrible consequences."
Hiccup then whispered into Heather's ear again. "We looked at how much gold you have and even if you did give us all of it you don't have enough for 3 months. When I talked to this girl she said You had other things."
"We do have other things. Yes, we have wood and good lumber and medicine. You can pick whatever you want really."
Astrid spoke "and that we would be in their debt, chief I told them that we had other things."
Hiccup whispered into Heather's ear and Heather spoke."My leader has decided that your gold is not enough however he will not let people die, he will take a look at your defenses and your resources and decide what you have to offer in the meantime you are in his debt and under his protection and he will train you men and you commanders. But you need to listen to him and me if this is going to work. We will turn your army into a professional fighting force. We will act as your generals while we train your commanders to fill those positions."
The chief got up from his table and walked over to them. Heather walked over to the chief and the chief spoke. "Thank you so much I'm sure we will find something that will repay our debt to you. Please can you tell me your names.?"
Heather nodded and moved back "My name is Heather, my large friend you talk to is Eret son of Eret and this...is Ragnar, he who sits upon a night fury, killer of masters and the red death, known from Gaul to Mongolia, Carthage to Constantinople, finder of new worlds and old." She said then pointing to Hiccup
As they both walked out of the great hall they called their dragons down to pick them up. People looked on as dragons came down brought them away. Astrid ran out. she could see them flying to a clifftop. The way their dragons took them was so effortless.
At the top of the mountain Hiccup and Heather landed "Where should we start," Heather asked
Hiccup got off toothless "Well, we're a little lucky berk got the advantage of only being attacked at the docks so they can put their defenses there. probably why they haven't been overrun yet.
"What kind of defenses are we thinking," Heather asked, walking to the edge.
Hiccup followed her "I'm thinking improvised coupled with explosive"
"You always did have a flair for the dramatic" Heather laughed.
"What about the warriors?" Hiccup asked.
Heather sat next to him and she put her arm around Hiccup "For what I could see everyone there looked pretty strong and lots of healthy people. I'll have to see what their leadership is like. if their leadership is crap then the organization of their army will fall apart. Here's the bigger question" Heather walked forward putting her hand on Hiccups shoulder "how are you doing?"
"What?" What looking at her with an eyebrow raised
"you just returned home walking on your home island for the first time, how are you doing?"
" it's different it's new I can't really explain it"
"I get it your focusing on work trying to use that as a shield to block out the scariness of being home I got it.
Hiccup looked at Heather and smiled "come on let's head back Eret's probably got himself a new girlfriend by now
"Oh I take that action 5 gold" Heather laughed
Flashback
After telling Eret about the incident they all were in agreement that they needed to help Nadia. Hiccup told Eret that he would be back and that he needed to get the supplies to fake the death of Nadia.
Nadia looked at them all "so wait you're doing what?"
"We are faking your death," said Hiccup. "Now Eret I will be back I got to go get some heads and a body."
"Why do you need all those?" Nadia asked
"Because if we show the chief a dead burned body and say it's yours then he will think your dead." Said Eret.
"And the heads?" She said with an eyebrow raised
"He will want revenge and we will tell him we killed the men who killed you," said Heather
The girl looked kind of impressed. these people knew a lot and it seemed if they had done this before.
Some time passed and Hiccup returned with a large sack in front of him hanging over toothless and another one behind him that was smaller. He got off of toothless and brought them over to Heather and Eret and told them that the body had been burned and that it was unrecognizable and that the heads were from the battle that had taken place before.
"Where did you get the body," Asked Nadia
"It's better if you don't know" Hiccup replied
As they made their way back to the island where the chief lived Nadia grew more uneasy. Hiccup had learned that she was just a child when she was kidnapped by this tribe from her land in Russia and she was being forced to marry the new chief named Tuba. Nadia was slim, had dark red hair and had a slight accent. She spoke four languages. She was smart and once she stopped throwing things she was noticeably kind.
When they got to the island they informed the chief Tuba that the girl was dead. The chief broke out in anger and rage he immediately ordered men to get ready for war but before he could finish Hiccup brought forth the heads of the men who had killed the chief's fiance. The chief was grateful that the men who had killed his bride were killed as well. He thanked the mercenaries and paid them half since they did fail at their mission.
As they were sailing back on their boat Hiccup was at the front of the ship sitting with his feet hanging off the side, his back leaning against toothless who was sleeping. Nadia was observing him for a while trying to figure out how to approach Hiccup. When suddenly Hiccup said while sitting"You going to just stand there all day or are you gonna sit and enjoy the sunset with me"
Nadia thought that she had been quite enough not to disturb him let alone not be seen but she soon walked forward and sat next to Hiccup. (punch) Nadia punched Hiccup in the shoulder. "That's for kidnapping me"
"Ow im sorry," he said grabbing his shoulder in pain
She then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek"That's...for everything else "
Hiccup was stunned, He had never been put in a situation like this before and he didn't know what to do."When we get to my home you can stay there as long as you like until you decide you're ready to go back to Russia"
"You're sending me back?"
"I thought you wanted to go back"
"I left when I was young I don't even remember much of where I came from "
"you don't have to go back"
"Where will I go "
"As I said, You can stay with us until you decide where you want to go."
Present
The chief had pulled Astrid back into the great hall to speak with her in private "Astrid... you have saved the village, you are what every chief looks for in a tribe member, fierce, loyal, honorable, fearless. But now your tribe needs you now more than ever."
Astrid looked at Spitelout. She was confused, wasn't the hard part over. "Sir I don't know what you mean"
Spitelout sighed and put his hands on Astrid's shoulders. "I want you to learn everything that you can from them. Strategy, tactics, training, everything so that when they leave we will have you."
Astrid didn't know what to say, she knew that she had to train with them but the chief was making it seem like she was going to have to train twice as hard. "Sir what exactly are you trying to say? I know I will receive training from them."
"It's not that. I need you to spend as much time around him as possible to learn as much from (him) as possible and become just as much like him as possible and if possible find out what he wants, what he needs what he cares about. If he cares about someone I want to know who. If he likes spices I want to know which ones. If he wants slaves then what kind.I guess the reason that I'm saying this is because if we can figure out how to get out of his debt then we need to find out."
"And you consider threatening his loved ones as a good idea."
"I don't like it but if you can't find out what he wants then you need to find out who he loves."
"Why ask me?"
"because you have more experience with them than any of us
"I'm going to talk with the mercenaries," she said as she walked out of the great hall
As she looked around for the mercenaries she could only find one. The large tall muscular man that called himself Eret. He was talking to three girls and had them all embroiled in a story about a tail of adventure when Astrid went behind him
"Excuse me," she said annoyed
"I will find you some other time ladies I must meet with one of the village commanders," Eret said while talking to the three girls he then turned around and faced Astrid"What can I do for you sweetheart," he said with a smile on his face
"Call me sweetheart again and I will knock that smile right off your face."
"Oh calm down I'm just trying to be nice, now tell me what do you need."
"Where is your boss"
"He is not here right now. can I take a message"
"I need to speak with him," she said more angrily
"Look, He is out planning his strategy on how he is going to train you people all right "
"Don't you think that we should be at that meeting? "
"Well, it's best if we let him just observe for now. He needs to get a feel for things before he can help anyone."
"Fine when he gets back tell him you people can stay in an extra house we have for important guests."
"Sure I will pass that right along"
Flashback
"And this is one of the spare bedrooms in the house that you can sleep in." Hiccup said looking at Nadia.
"It's big."
"Yep, Feel free to move about the house whenever you like except at night the dragons don't like it when you do that."
"I will be sure to keep that in mind," she said smiling at him. She then went in and sat down on the bed
"Hiccup can ask you something "
"Yes of course "
"When you became free what's the first thing you did ?"
"hmm ... I went and bought some new clothes."
"Really'' she said giggling
"What mind smelled really bad."
Nadia looked down at the floor in shame "when I earn some money I will be sure to do that first."
"Just get some sleep now, tomorrow is a new day."