Chapter 36 - Familiar Faces:
"Hiccup! I don't believe it!" The muscly, short jet black haired man exclaimed with relief.
"Sa-s-Savas?" Hiccup mumbled, staring at the brown eyed man. "H-how…"
He laughed, "It's a long story." He said, nodding to himself. "And I believe you two also know each other?" Savas patted the other guy on the back.
Hiccup went through another shock. This person he had not seen for a long time. He had lost an incredible amount of weight, and looked almost skinny.
"Fis-Fishlegs?"
"He-Hello Hiccup. Been awhile." He spoke weakly, but still looking scared, his eyes wondering up to the Night Fury above him.
Hiccup looked at the distance between the dinghy and their island. Then he turned back to Fishlegs and Savas. "We'll get you to shore." He said.
So Toothless helped bring the boat back to their rocky island at a fast pace, while Kormak and Vali waited anxiously. Watching the commotion.
As soon as they arrived the boat gave nasty lurch when it made contact with the rocky shore. Both Fishlegs and Savas tumbled forwards, they both seemed weak and looked very thin.
"SAVAS!" Vali yelled, recognising her old counterpart from Myrka. She ran over to the boat, and helped him out of it till he was standing on land. Then she pulled him into a hug, while Kormak helped Fishlegs out.
"Whoa there! Hello Vali, long time no see." Savas patted her affectionately on the back.
She released him and then looked at him right in the eyes. "Thank you for saving Hiccup and Toothless when they were escaping Myrka." She smiled gratefully, "It was a very honourable thing to do."
At those words Fishlegs slipped on the rocks as Kormak helped him off the boat, and Kormak just caught him before he hit the ground.
"Careful!" Kormak exclaimed suddenly, as he helped the clumsy Viking to his feet.
"Oh." Savas chuckled, as if he had completely forgotten about it. "It was nothing."
Toothless heard a faint noise behind him, and turned to the sky.
He spotted Spark, Cloudjumper and Kormak's Thunderdrum flying towards them.
"Hiccup! They've returned!" He called out, capturing the attention of the others too.
Hiccup spun around, and Valka dismounted Cloudjumper. Together they walked up to them. "Who are you two?" Valka asked as she strode to them. Hiccup began to notice her limp was becoming more and more noticeable.
"Mum, this is-"
"Whoa whoa whoa wait! MUM?!" Fishlegs positively squawked, his eyes becoming as round as dinner plates. "Hiccup! You-you…"
He repeatedly glanced between Valka and Hiccup. "She is alive! You found her!" He exclaimed.
Hiccup smiled, "Actually, she found me."
"That's your mother?" Savas perked up, looking between Hiccup and Valka like Fishlegs did. "Wow, you do look alike somewhat."
"Mum," began Hiccup, "I'd like you to meet Fishlegs. He's from Berk." He gestured to him.
"Berk?" Valka questioned suspiciously, "How in Odin's name did you get all the way out here? And why?"
Savas nodded to himself, rubbing his neck and looking down at the ground. "It's a hell of a story, I'll say that." He remarked. Judging by the way he was expressing himself, it did seem true.
"And mum, this is Savas. The guy I told you who helped me escape Myrka." Hiccup introduced, now gesturing towards him.
Valka looked at him, "Yes, I think I've seen you before somewhere. So you're the one who did those wonderful deeds, might I ask why?" She appeared to be suspicious of him.
Savas looked back at Valka with the same expression she was giving him. "I would love to explain, but we've been on the water for ages. Do you have any food or water please?" He asked politely.
Fishlegs's stomach made a loud grumble at the thought of eating. It had been a while since he had last had a good meal.
"Yes of course." Hiccup said, jumping into action. "Come over to the cave, we have some there."
And so the gang helped bring Savas and Fishlegs inside the cave.
Hiccup handed Fishlegs some water, and he gulped it down as fast as a yak in a heatwave.
After drinking, Fishlegs collapsed onto the rocky ground and fell fast asleep. He was exhausted.
"Fish-"
"I'd leave him be Hiccup." Savas cautioned him, turning to look as he too gulped down some water that Kormak gave him. "He's pretty tired. Been on the water for some time."
Hiccup sat down and so did Savas and Kormak. "So what happened out there?" He asked Savas.
Savas rubbed his eyes with his hands, and began.
"As a matter of fact, I only joined Fishlegs a few days ago. We were both in dinghies sailing adrift on the water, and we bumped into each other oddly enough. I joined his boat and we agreed to stay together."
Hiccup raised his eyebrows. "You met up in the middle of the sea?"
He chuckled in response. "Yes. Hard to believe isn't it?"
Just at that moment Vali came back with some bread and vegetables. Savas smiled gratefully when given the food, and he ate it all very quickly.
"Thank you very much. I'm very grateful." He thanked us.
"Well, it's the least we could do. You saved Toothless and I in the Myrkian tunnels so we owe you a great deal." Hiccup smiled at Savas, he was so grateful, but there were many questions about Savas lingering on his mind.
"Anytime." Savas replied, winking.
"So," began Vali, speaking out as she sat down next to Kormak. "why did you save Hiccup? And how did you know about the Six?" She asked him.
All eyes were immediately drawn to Savas. Toothless sat by Hiccup, his eyes glued to Savas.
He took a deep breath. "Remember how I was in the Myrkian High Command, just like you Vali? I was in charge of the Myrkian forces."
Vali nodded.
"Well, because of that, King Harun trusted me quite deeply, and I served his wishes to the letter. He had told me about a prophecy and the Six, and explained that the Six were led by Hiccup. He told me they were supposed to kill us and attempt to stop the war between Vikings and dragons."
"I thought that was a great idea. I was never a fan of what the Myrkians do and have done. I just always did as I was told. I was a slave in my youth as a matter of fact. Anyway, you know Orah? The main servant of King Harun? He was a slave too, except he became a puppet to the propaganda fed to him by Harun. And became consumed by it, following Harun's every step."
"I saw this effect on him, and realised I wanted to keep my conscience. But, of course, I never had anyone to share my thoughts and feelings with, or I'd be executed. But when Harun warned me about the Six, I seized my chance to try to help you Hiccup, and I succeeded."
"Orah obviously will not follow my path. He is too consumed by evil now. Besides, we might be able to use him. This one time, awhile ago, I asked Harun how he got all this information, and he answered saying that is between him and his master."
"I had no idea who or what he meant by master, so I tried to do a little sneaking around to find out. I followed Orah one night when he was told to leave by Harun to go somewhere, and he suddenly vanished into thin air right in front of me! It was a like Changewing just surrounded him and took him away. That's my theory anyway, I do not know who this master is though."
Before Savas could continue, Kormak interrupted him. "We do."
Savas turned to him surprised. "You do what?"
Vali spoke up, "We know what the master is. We don't know who it is, but we've seen it." She shuddered as she recalled the vision of it.
"YOU'VE SEEN IT?!" Exclaimed Savas. "What is it? How did you find it?"
Hiccup stepped in. "We didn't find it. It found us."
"Well?" Savas questioned. "Come on don't leave me hanging what is it how did it find you?"
"We don't know how it found us. But it killed some friends of ours. It's a powerful creature that shoots white fire. It's a dragon." Hiccup responded.
Savas's expression turned to sadness and anger. "It killed people?! Oh, I'm sorry for your loss."
"Don't worry about it. We're trying to not think about it, it's for another time. Tell us more about how you got away." Hiccup politely asked.
"Sure." Savas said. "Anyhow, after I stabbed Harun, allowing you and the Night Fury to leave, I fled. I ran into the Tokenill lands, and built myself a dinghy. I didn't leave for a while though, I stayed hidden, hunting and staying away from Myrka. However, the Great Gathering of chieftains suddenly took place not long ago very close to me, and I feared I would be found."
"So, I left in a hurry and stayed adrift on the seas floating around hoping to get as far away from Myrka as possible. I had brought supplies. Only about a week into my time on the water, I ran into Fishlegs. He was in a dinghy like mine, and we got our boats together and constantly talked nonstop for a couple days."
"And I told him about myself and told him who I was, and what had happened to me. As soon as I mentioned your name, he squealed in surprise. He explained to me he left Berk by himself to look for you, Hiccup. He said that Berk was in distress. The dragon raids have dramatically increased in severity and frequency."
"But, he also said that your father, Stoick, is deeply missing you. As is…uhh, the blacksmith. I've forgotten his name-"
"It's Gobber." Hiccup said to him, putting his face in his hands. "Gobber is the blacksmith. Oh Thor, I really messed up."
Savas nodded understandingly, "I'm guessing your departure didn't go down well with most of the village?" He asked.
"Yeah." Hiccup replied. "It does make me sad at times. I do want to go back, but I can't yet. I really want to do what I have to do first."
Valka smiled and ran a hand over Hiccup's hair. She was very proud of him.
Kormak began to notice that Savas's eyes were repeatedly drooping. His eyelids kept closing and re-opening.
"Why don't you get some sleep Sav? You look like you need it." Kormak offered, gesturing towards the ground near him.
"Thanks, I might just do that. I am pretty tired. I hope you'll excuse me."
Savas then lay down where he was sitting, and almost immediately fell into a deep sleep.
"Hiccup?"
Hiccup turned to Kormak who mentioned his name.
"Yeah?"
"You said Savas trained you in combat, back in Myrka right?" He asked curiously.
Hiccup nodded. "That's right. He trained me quite well. You wouldn't want to pick a fight with him."
"Because I've just had an idea." Kormak wondered, now looking at the group. "Do you think he could help train me? Along with you and Vali of course?"
Hiccup pondered this, just as he was about to answer, Valka spoke up.
"Look, I'm all for this, but I'm a little suspicious of that Savas guy. There's something strange about him." She said relatively quietly. "I don't trust him."
Hiccup shook his head and turned to his mother. "No, I'm certain he's innocent. He trained me in Myrka and saved Toothless and I. I'm sure he's good."
Toothless nodded in agreement. "I think I agree with Hiccup, surely he must be good. When he saved us, he looked like he meant it."
"All right." Valka agreed with Hiccup and Toothless. "If you say so."
Hiccup stood up, and all eyes rested upon him. "Let's get some air."
Everybody stood up, dragons included. And began following Hiccup out of the cave. Leaving Savas and Fishlegs to their sleep.
The sun was close to touching the horizon, with only a few clouds scattered across sky.
Kormak looked out across the sea, looking near the sun and how it changed the colours of the sky. It was becoming a bright and stunning orange.
He looked back to the Thunderdrum behind him, seeing her beautiful red streaks along her body. Then Kormak glanced down at his dragon mark, which was glowing a vibrant pink.
"Seaflare."
Everybody turned to Kormak.
"What?" Said Vali. Looking confused.
"That's what I'm going to name her." Kormak announced. He turned to his dragon partner. "Do you like the name Seaflare?"
The Thunderdrum bounced up and down on its paws, and gave Kormak and excited lick. Before saying, "Yes! It's sweet!"
Kormak smiled, patting his dragon very affectionately.
"Hey gang?" Hiccup said quietly, grabbing everyone's attention.
"We can't stay here much longer. We've already been here too long." He said, seriousness dominating his tone.
"What do you mean?" Cloudjumper asked, stepping up and standing beside Valka.
He sighed. "We need to start finding the last two members of the Six and unite them with dragons. Every day that goes past, brings pain to me. Knowing that Shapeshifter is out there, and could be killing Vikings or Dragons at any time. We've got to end it."
"I agree Hiccup. But where do we start?" Kormak asked, concerned.
"I don't care. Whatever the nearest village is. Remola isn't it?" Hiccup turned to Valka.
"Yes. It's just over to the northwest. But Hiccup, Remola is the only clan left that knows Berk exists. It's a risky choice. But it's your call." She stated.
"That's a risk I am willing to take." He replied, almost hastily. "Besides, I won't reveal myself. I'll go in as a different identity. Who would want to go in with me?"
"Go in?" Vali asked, "you mean go in with you into Remola? The actual village?"
"Yes." Hiccup replied, turning towards her. "I don't think all of us should go at once, that would make it too dangerous. I reckon some of us go in to the village and try to blend in, and get to know everyone. Find out as many names as possible so we can meet up at night and discuss."
"Sounds like a plan." Spark said, some electricity sparking off her in excitement.
"What about Fishlegs and Savas?" Toothless asked.
Hiccup turned to look at the cave.
"We can't take them with us."
"I agree." Valka noted.
Hiccup explained. "I recall Remola wasn't a very large island. But it seemed to have a large population. So I suggest we fly out now and inspect it a little closer. Try and find a cave or somewhere to hide around its borders. If we do find one, we should move all our stuff and all of us should take up residence in it. If we don't find one, well-"
"We'll come to that later." Vali finished it off for him.
"Yes." He said.
"Okay, let's go." Toothless stated, shaking his body in readiness.
And so they all took off. Flying towards Remola.
It was at this point, the deadly creature of which is responsible for all the trouble, the Shapeshifter, took off from an island and flew up high, watching them fly away.
It smiled at them as they flew.
"This is going better than I could have possibly imagined. What a climax this is going to lead to."