Author's Note - The end of volume I was written without RTTE material in mind. If any character in this chapter or the following chapters feels OOC try to remember that RTTE development never happened in this world.
"War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." ― J.R.R. Tolkien - The Two Towers
Ultimatum
The snow began to thaw with the coming of the warm, southern winds. None of the trees had yet sprouted buds or indicated the approaching spring though. Things were different on the island this time. There was far less activity and less that needed to be done. Everything was more quiet since most of the island's largest denizens were away taking care of other duties. There was more time for everyone to tend to the animals, hunt in the forest, and learn new skills. Not that everything was perfect though.
Stoick waited as his tribesmen filtered into the Hall at his request to hear him speak about the main problem still facing the island. That of the dragons' continued absence.
Most people had managed to adapt to the changes despite feeling distraught at missing their beloved pets. But not having the dragons around did have certain negative impacts such as not being able to catch as much fish and not being as secure against possible attack.
Astrid had previously approached him with a possible solution to that issue. It seemed like a dangerous solution, not that dangerous solutions were to be avoided for that reason alone.
"I have an idea for how to bring the dragons back here."
That got everyone's attention.
"The Furies told us where the other dragons are nesting. We are going to send a ship to the island and will try to bring back our dragons' hatchlings by boat. They won't be able to fly yet and their parents will follow you back here. But you need to go on the boat if you want your beasts to come back. That is the best way to make sure they trust you."
"Yeah, we'll go." "I want to see them again."
He was pleased to see that there was enthusiasm for the idea.
"Good. We are going to wait a few months before we go and get them. Until then, we are going to be tough like we always are!"
He got all-around cheers, and everyone else seemed to have perked up quite a bit at the assurance that he had a plan. He fielded a few questions about exactly what the plan was and then set out for home.
It hasn't been that bad with the dragons gone. We don't need to get nearly as much food, and there is less work. It does feel different with them gone though.
"Hiccup!" he shouted when he got home.
There was no reply.
He went back outside and looked around the village and the skies. Sure enough, there were a pair of dark specks chasing after each other far out over the cliffs. He put off everything else he had planned to do and watched for a while as they played tag in the skies.
They had both grown significantly over the winter. They stood a couple hands taller and their tails were several feet longer than they were at the start of winter. It was a further reminder of the extent to which he was dependent on Moirai's services once she returned.
He went back inside, feeling strangely anxious. He lay on his bed without trying to sleep, instead just staring up at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. Thoughts of Hiccup stretching his wings. Thoughts of his little boy struggling to lift a hammer. Hiccup practically inhaling fish one after another. Little Hiccup repeatedly declining to eat anything, using the excuse that he wasn't hungry.
'There's no point wishing for what can't be...'
He resoundingly rebuked that doubting part of himself.
"No, this can work. She will be back, and then... then I'll make this right."
A battle raged on a beach near the other side of the island from the village.
He held himself at the ready, his claws kneading at the ground underfoot and his hind legs coiled, ready to leap at a moment's warning. Breathing in and out, staying mindfully in the moment. Holding himself low to the ground and staring into the narrowed, green eyes not a single wingspan away. Toothless returned the same posture.
Hiccup ran though everything Toothless had taught him about combat. About watching how the other shifts their weight, whether they plan to leap, will they try to bite or slash with their claws, what to do if they look about to try to flame him...
He shifted his weight and blinked when he felt something small wiggling underfoot.
And Toothless took that brief lapse in concentration to leap towards him. He bellowed and stumbled backward to give himself a moment to react. Then Toothless stood tall in front of him, a paw raised to strike. He quickly stood upright using his tail for balance and blocked Toothless's slashing strike with his own forelimb. He correctly expected Toothless's counter strike using his other arm and dodged by arching his neck back.
However, he did not anticipate Toothless lunging forward during that moment he was not visible and clamping his jaws around his neck. His breath was huffed from him as Toothless fell flat on him. He let himself go limp, knowing that the duel was over and Toothless had won.
Yet again.
Toothless released him and stepped back with an infuriatingly smug grin.
"You did better, Hiccup. Good learning."
"Still lose," Hiccup grumbled.
"Why you think you lose?"
"You much faster."
Toothless shook his head in obvious disagreement.
"Yes, I faster but that not why I win. Need see my attack before I move. Like flying, you need doing and not thinking."
Hiccup hung his head in frustration.
"I not know how to do that."
"We play and you learn. Remember, attacker always wants to get your neck or wings. Those are death for kin."
"So keep head down and wings in?"
"Yes, easy to hurt wings in fight. You cannot roll with wings out. I bite them or break them. A grounded kin is a dead kin."
Well, that sounds familiar.
"Only use wings to fly away?"
"Yes," Toothless nodded.
"Toothless, why would kin fight me? I do not try to fight them."
"They might want your cave, your food, or your female."
Hiccup rolled his eyes at Toothless's teasing remark.
"Not a problem for me."
"I know, you could not keep any of those," Toothless replied.
He returned Toothless's snide comment with a glare and a bit of righteous indignation.
You will pay for that!
He leapt at Toothless just as he started to turn away. His plan was to throw himself on top of Toothless and pin him to the ground in retaliation.
However, Toothless reacted faster than he thought possible by dodging and rolling to kick him away. Hiccup tumbled onto the warm sands and bellowed at the burning pain in his belly.
"Hiccup!" Toothless yelled.
Hiccup clenched his teeth against the pain and carefully rolled onto his side to look at his belly and the blood-soaked sand. One of Toothless's claws had punctured his underbelly and tore a gash in his skin.
"Let me see..." Toothless's voice held a hint of panic.
He inspected the injury and breathed a sigh of relief that it was not a deep cut.
"It is not bad."
"What! Hurts much," Hiccup growled in pain.
Toothless knelt at his side and bent down to his bleeding belly. Then he started licking the bloody cut.
"What are you doing?"
"Lick hurts. Mouth-water makes hurts better and not hurt."
Despite how strange it was to let Toothless lick his bloodied wound, he couldn't deny that the burning pain was immediately cooled and numbed. He swallowed his pride and let Toothless do his work, as he knew best on such a matter.
I guess Night Fury saliva has healing properties...
When Toothless was finished giving him the treatment, he looked back down at his wound and was pleasantly surprised that it had entirely stopped bleeding.
"Better?"
"Yes," Hiccup mumbled.
"Are you angry?"
"No Toothless. I just want you be more careful."
"I am sorry. Not want hurt you," Toothless whimpered.
Despite his remaining frustration with how careless he thought Toothless had been, he still sidled up next to him and gave him a brief nuzzle.
"Will this hurt leave mark?" Hiccup asked.
"Maybe small. Not big mark that shows you win fights."
Great, my first scar.
"I not fighter."
"And I not two-leg, but I learning two-leg picture-talking," Toothless retorted.
Those words made Hiccup perk up with an idea.
"Show me your name now in sand."
Toothless grumbled and shuffled on his feet, but he stifled any objection. He looked down at the sand before him, put a single talon to the sand, and carved for a minute. Hiccup came over when he was finished.
"Good, you are learning."
"You try making the shapes more times than there are trees on this island..." Toothless muttered.
"That is how two-legs learn. Do many times like learning flying. Hmm, I want Astrid see you now. Follow me."
Toothless shook his head at Hiccup's antics and silly excitement.
He would want to have Astrid see that I can write a little now. I do not understand it.
But he went aloft and followed anyway.
She stood at the ready, staring down her target approximately fifty paces away. She held her back straight, fitted an arrow to the line, and draw back the line.
Breathe in and out... feel the sight...
She let the arrow fly on its ordained course. The arrow cut through the air initially on course and then drifting slightly to the right. It buried itself in the side of the tree, and she gave a sigh of disappointment at her performance.
Only four out of ten. Gods, I've gotten sloppy. I guess I deserve it for not practicing for years.
She went to collect her arrows. There was very little for her to do on Berk with most of the dragons still gone. She had decided to take up practicing again to pass the time. After all, there would always be a need for hunters to bring down deer, rabbits, or bears.
Though she would need a bit of practice to get back to her form from prior years when she could freely hurl axes and never miss or could hit her target with the bow nine times out of ten.
She was about to start over again despite the strain in her arm when she heard the rush of approaching wings.
I wonder...
Sure enough, both Hiccup and Toothless swooped overhead. She set aside her bow and ran to the clearing to meet them.
"There you are. I was wondering where you two had gone."
Hiccup found a patch area of dirt.
We were playing
"Why should today be different? What is going on with you?"
Hiccup then turned to Toothless and muttered something to him. Toothless then stepped forward and wrote his own name in the dirt.
She stared at the writing for a minute, mouth agape in surprise, before reacting further. Toothless glanced at her, unsure about what she thought.
"Toothless... you learned. This is amazing!" she eventually shouted.
That is almost all he knows right now
"Still Hiccup, think about it. Toothless, a real dragon, can learn to write. That is wonderful. Tell him that I'm proud of him."
"She says you did good Toothless," he related.
Toothless rolled his eyes at what he considered pointless praise.
"They are only shapes in the dirt..." he mumbled.
Hiccup was going to reply that this meant more than just knowing some shapes, but Astrid beat him to it. She stepped over in front of Toothless with a bit of a scowl and stared at him.
"What is your problem mister grumpy lizard? I don't need Hiccup to translate that for me."
Toothless blinked first.
"That," she pointed at his writing, "is good. You are learning how to talk to us. Everyone has to start somewhere. I at least want to hear what you have to say."
He cautiously stepped back from her.
"What did she say?" he whispered to Hiccup.
"That you should not complain and that learning picture-talking is good."
Toothless briefly glanced back at her.
"She has fire in her belly. She would be a good, dangerous kin."
"What is he saying?" Astrid interjected.
You are scary
"What? A big dragon like him scared of me?"
And you would be a good dragon
Astrid looked at his words for a moment and then burst out laughing. Hiccup joined in a second later, leaving Toothless confused at their antics.
"Me, a good dragon? I didn't know he thought so highly of me. Looks like you have competition Hiccup."
In addition to Thorvald now?
"Not anymore. He has stopped chasing after me. The broken nose I gave him may have contributed to that. No, he is interested in Sifa now."
Really? Lout and Ruff? That's news.
"I don't know how good his chances are. Her brother certainly had a laugh when he found out."
Then she stepped back from both of them and turned toward her improvised shooting range.
"I'm going to get back to training. I need the practice."
They watched as she left and picked up her bow.
"What is she doing?"
"Practicing with hunting tools."
Toothless yawned in boredom.
"I want to go sleep. You stay with your female."
Toothless leapt away before Hiccup had a chance to retaliate.
I might as well keep her company.
He followed after her and stopped at her side. She spared him a questioning glance, to which he replied by looking at her target and laying down next to her. He was quite content to watch her practice her archery. Even though she seemed frustrated with herself with every errant arrow, he could still appreciate how skilled she was.
It also helped to remain relatively inactive so as to not agitate his minor injury.
Stoick stood on the cliff's edge and stared out over the ocean, hoping that he could see the return of Moirai's vessel. He had already done this almost daily for a couple months now.
She said she would be back around now. Where are they?
He had started spending so much time standing alone on the cliff and staring out over the ocean that Gobber got intrigued one day.
"Stoick, what are you doing?"
If only you knew...
"I'm thinking."
"Sure are doing a lot of that now. What about? Let me guess, you're worried about our beasties."
"Of... of course, I'm wondering when we will get our dragons back. How much longer should we wait before we go get them?"
"Eh, there's no rush. We are getting on well enough without them for now. Sador has had a very good haul of haddock and perch."
"Good to see that they haven't forgotten how to fish."
"Oh Stoick, there are some folks here to see you. Those odd guests with the black ship."
Stoick wheeled around on him.
"Where! When did they get here?"
"They're in dogfish cove over on the south tip of the island. Not sure when they got in though."
Stoick set out immediately for the converted storage building. It was a long walk and gave him a long time to think about what he was going to say. It also gave him time to worry. What if she couldn't get what she needed? What if something had happened to her?
He stepped through the hedge that had grown up around the place and beheld the old hut. It had been used by his people for as long as they had been on the island to keep extra weapons hidden away from the village or as storage for extra food or furs.
Moirai had already left an odd mark on the place. There were crates around the building, which itself had been reinforced and patched up into a proper dwelling. There was also a thin trail of smoke emanating from the hut's smokestack.
He moved to sweep aside the drapes covering the door when he smelled strange herbs that made him feel very light-headed.
"Hey! Don't go in there!" a woman's voice shouted.
He withdrew his hand from the drapes and stepped back to face whoever had yelled at him. There were a couple beardless men approaching, leaden with sacks of supplies and strange glass tubes. But he didn't focus on them for long.
It was her, and she seemed surprised to see him.
"Chief Stoick, I didn't expect to see you here."
"Moirai, I... I wanted to make sure you and your people made it back safely."
"Of course, of course. We did. I have everything that I need for now."
He breathed a sigh of relief and felt his heart leap with hope.
"Well, I will make sure that you are not bothered out here."
"That would be good. I did notice that there are no dragons in your skies now."
"We had an issue while you were gone. Most of the dragons have left for a while."
Moirai froze and slowly looked back at him, a worried expression on her face.
"What do you mean they have 'left for a while?'"
"They flew away to lay and hatch their eggs. I think we can get them to come back in a few months."
"That would be good. Do you mind if my people come and go on Berk?"
"Of course not, they've been here before and we got along well then.
"Good. One more question, and it is an odd one. Do you happen to know if any dragons died here over the winter?"
"What?"
"Yes. I'm really wondering if you have anything like spare claws, scales, or teeth that I could use. They would help me a lot with our... project."
"Ah," he mumbled, "I see. I'll see what I can do. Let me know if there is anything else you need."
"Only time, and then you will see your dear son again."
She quickly vanished inside her hut. He gradually made his way back home, thoroughly lost in his thoughts the whole time.
There had never been any dragons that had died of natural causes on Berk to the best of his knowledge. Most of the old trophies that his people had kept had been gotten rid of after they changed their attitude toward dragons years ago.
We can find some old bones and scales though. Maybe the Academy will have some spare samples.
He was so oblivious that he almost didn't notice Hiccup standing outside and clearly waiting for him to get back. His attention was drawn by Hiccup's rumbled greeting, and he stared at Hiccup with a budding feeling of revulsion and impropriety.
Then he shook his head and buried such feelings.
"Hey... let's go inside."
Once inside, Hiccup broke the ice first.
Are you ok dad?
"Yeah, I'm fine. It has been a long, stressful day."
Sorry about that
"No, no, it's nothing that you did."
It's what you are...
Toothless is making good progress
"Progress? Oh, you were teaching him runes. Right. Is he ready to show everyone?"
Hiccup thought for a moment before shaking his head no.
Not yet, he is a slow learner
"Speaking of learning, those people are back. The odd guests we had last year."
Hiccup seemed very interested by that.
"They will be here a while to keep learning about dragons. I gave them the old storeroom to stay in. Talk with them all you want here in the village, but no one is to bother them at their camp. Got it?"
Yes, Hiccup nodded.
Life progressed as usual through the rest of the spring. The few dragons still left on the island gradually woke from their long slumbers and became more active. The number of duties required to tend to animals and crops grew. Hiccup even volunteered to help pull the plow through the fields after watching the men struggling to till the soil by hand. The guests from the mainland were generally welcomed back as a source of coin, trade, and stories of the world beyond. Stoick started spending more time on his own, though no one knew why.
And then the routine was broken. Another foreign ship dropped anchor in Berk's harbor, except this ship was known to everyone on the island and was a source of much rejoicing.
"Trader Johann came early!"
The crowd swept down to the docks, eager to investigate the goods that Johann brought with him for barter. This time, Hiccup was awake and about when the man's ship arrived, so he flew down to the docks himself.
Just as I remember it. Vials of squid ink and paper at good prices. Good times.
Despite there already being a small crowd gathered to be the first to see the trader Johann noticed him first and hopped down from the docks to approach him.
"Ah, my favorite Night Fury. I have more parchment and ink for you to write with."
Thanks Johann...
He dipped his head in respect.
"Awe shucks, you know I used to bring the same things for your namesake. A human boy named Hiccup. He used to draw all kinds of things. Very odd for a Nord lad."
Oh, I know.
"Could you tell your Chief that I need to see him?"
Yes, he nodded.
Then he stepped back and watched as Johann returned to doing what he did best, trading and bartering goods and stories. It always made him feel a bit nostalgic. He flew back home and found his father where he could usually be found, sitting in his chair by the fire.
Johann is here
"Really? He is early this year."
He wanted to talk to you
It sounded important
"I guess I should. I owe him a lot for what he's given me."
Stoick reluctantly roused himself and went outside, not noticing Hiccup's slight confusion. He took notice of the large crowd gathered at the docks. The trader noticed his approach and broke away from the rest of the crowd.
"Stoick, good to see you again my friend."
"Johann, always a pleasure," Stoick stepped forward and embraced him, something he hadn't done in all the prior years.
"What's that for Stoick?"
"She found me," he leaned in and conspiratorially whispered.
"Who?"
"You know who. The person I wanted you to find."
"Oh," Johann lowered his voice, "and is she here?"
"Yes."
"As long as I don't have to meet her. She gives me the creeps. You don't want to know how we met."
"You wanted to see me?" Stoick continued.
"Oh yes, follow me. There is something I'm supposed to give you."
He followed Johann back onto the docks and out to his ship. Johann hopped on board and rummaged around before finding what he was looking for. He emerged with a strange, serrated axe.
Where have I seen that before?
Johann handed him the weapon, which he grasped and closely inspected.
"Where did you get this?"
"I was minding my own business at one of the Berserker villages when one of their Chieftains arrived. Dagur, I think it was. He paid me a handful of gold to take his axe and give it to you."
Stoick stared levelly back at Johann as the realization of what this event meant flooded over him. No Chief could misunderstand the message. His grasp on the axe grew shaky, and he drew a deep breath.
"Did he say anything else?"
"Yes, he wanted to meet you himself at Eirene Island on the first of Einmanudur."
"I see," he turned aside and wandered away from the docks, Dagur's axe in hand.
He found an isolated place outside of town and leaned against a tree, suddenly overcome with exhaustion.
No Chief gives an axe to another Chief unless in threat. But why? We have not been at odds with the Berserkers. What game is he playing?
The first of Einmandur... I need to leave soon then. And I need to bring a few ships just in case. I'll announce it tomorrow at lunch. No sense distracting them from Johann now.
His ships bobbed in the waves just off shore of the council island. He remembered it well from his last encounter here. Forging the first compact with the other tribes to share dragon knowledge. Meeting Osvald for the last time. Minor sacrifices that had to be made for the greater good.
He let a small number of his men go on shore at a time, but he kept the best fighters with him on the ships. There was no telling what Dagur had planned and the ships had to stay defended.
The others arrived just before noon.
The three Berserker sloops, aided by the wind, sped toward them with their red sails billowing. It was ominously like how he imagined a boarding at sea would look.
But they would not break the peace of council island. I hope.
Sure enough, the ships started spilling the wind from their sails and slowed down just outside of calling distance. He saw activity onboard both ships as a group of Berserkers piled into the small rafts and set out for shore.
"Alright men, let's go ashore and see what he wants. Keep your blades close."
He hopped into his landing craft, Dagur's axe in hand. The other men in the craft with him noticed the weapon and shared knowing glances with each other. A faint sense of impending doom seemed to hang in the air.
The company was securely on shore not long after, and they kept a close eye on the approaching Berserkers. The two groups of twenty men marched toward each other until they were a stone's throw apart.
They aren't heavily armed. Maybe it isn't a trap.
The central Berserker, a tall and lanky fellow, stepped forward and removed his mask. It was Dagur.
The two Chiefs regarded each other for a moment.
Dagur looks... calmer than I remember. Maybe he has grown some.
"Greetings Chief Dagur, I believe that I have something of yours."
Stoick took a few steps forward and nonchalantly tossed the axe at Dagur's side. Dagur didn't move to pick it up.
"Johann did as I told him to. I don't have to impale him after all. Shame..."
"You wanted to talk to me Dagur. Speak."
"Things have changed a lot since my father's untimely demise."
Stoick gritted his teeth and glared at him.
"I bet they have. He was a good man."
"And he was a terrible Chief. Too weak. He never made war on anyone."
"A wise leader only takes his people to war in their defense."
"And defending them against future weakness does not count? Who fears Berserkers now? No one. The world has forgotten how strong we are. Worse though, we have forgotten ourselves how strong we can be. I will change that."
"So what then Dagur? Are you going to declare war on Berk? Try to fight us and all our dragons?"
Dagur pulled out a small knife from his pocket and calmly inspected it.
"Not if that can be avoided. You see, I've united the Berserker tribes. But the many tribes do not think of themselves as one under me. They need to spill blood before they truly think of themselves as brothers and sisters and of me as their Chief."
Dagur looked back up at him with a dangerously calm grin.
"We want to hunt dragons again."
"I don't see how this matters to me. Go hunt dragons then," Stoick answered.
"And I thought you had gone soft, Stoick. But there aren't enough dragons anywhere to be good sport except on Berk."
"No."
"Think about it though. Berk is a big island. We could do our hunting on one half of the island and leave your half alone. It would give my people a way to quench their desire for blood and to bring back some trophies."
"Dagur, you know that will not work. It is too dangerous to have another tribe with a history of violence on my island. And we are fond of our dragons."
Dagur paced for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.
"Stoick, everything is competition. My tribe must fight something. I convinced them to settle for hunting dragons instead of skinning people. They can be very savage."
"I know that."
"There is one type of dragon that they will not kill. You know which one."
"Of course. The Skrill. If you are going to ask for one do not bother, we do not have one."
"I don't need to ask you for one."
Dagur stepped closer and lowered his voice.
"I already found one. I found it, and I broke it. Now it obeys me and fights for me."
"You trained a Skrill?" Stoick muttered in disbelief.
"Yes, I did. A Skrill is the match of any dragon except for one. The Night Fury. You have two of them I believe. If you won't let my people peacefully hunt for dragons on your island, then give me your Night Furies."
"Impossible."
"It is possible. You just don't like it. What will it be, oh dragon Chief? Will you give me what I want so that we can have peace?" Dagur sneered.
Stoick's fingers twitched on the weapon held at his side.
"And what if I don't give you them?"
Dagur laughed and waved at his sloops and guards while raising his voice.
"Then we will come to Berk, we will burn your ships and village, rape your women, butcher your beasts, and you will watch as I skin your Night Furies alive. How about that?"
Everyone standing behind him angrily shuffled on their feet while muttering obscenities. Most of them raised their weapons as well.
"Then I'll let you go so that you can remember that you lost everything."
He steadied his men with a gesture and returned Dagur's gaze. A strange calm seemed to come over him. He knew what Dagur and the Berserkers were capable of. Everyone knew.
"You won't do it," Dagur grinned.
"Never!" he growled back.
"So it's war then?"
Stoick unhooked his axe and held it out directly at Dagur.
"And I will kill you myself."
Dagur turned from him without another word, and his men followed him back down to shore without incident. Stoick made sure to hurry his people back to his ship in case Dagur turned his sloops on him. But the Berserkers made no such move and went their separate ways.
"Make sail. Let's get home."
No one needed anymore encouragement. Stoick even joined in at the oars, feeling the urgency to get back to Berk as soon as possible to begin preparing.
He took a final glance back toward the island and at the distant ships. A dark shape rose from the ruins on the island and seemed to set off after the Berserker ships. At this distance it could have been a large bird.
It made him keenly aware of just how perilous his situation was with the dragons gone.
We have to change that and bring them back now.
Gods protect us.