Hiccup pulled at his cloak, adjusting the awkwardly hanging garment. The cloak looked different from the one his father had worn; given Hiccup's narrow frame, his was pinned in the middle of his chest instead of at his shoulders. It fell just off his shoulders so that the Berkian crest was visible on his shoulder pads. Underneath, he wore his standard green shirt with a decorated leather vest over it. Although not prepared to ride any dragons, Hiccup had on the vambraces that held his knife and compass. Strapped to his boot was the undecorated but still functional Inferno replica. Hiccup also had his sword from Astrid in its scabbard around his waist, meant to bolster the image of being a chief. He wore the helmet his father had given him five years earlier.
The meeting place was in a village on the slope of a large hill that wound its way down to a rocky peninsula that curved around a sandy bay. Warships larger than the Berkians' own boat were docked on the ocean side of the peninsula. Only a few others were small enough to sail up to the beach without worrying about running aground. Hiccup gulped at the sight of the ships, but didn't see any with the familiar logo of Drago's army.
A path ran part way up the hill; it split off, one branch leading to a collection of houses that disappeared around the hillside, the other up to a wide but plain Hall. People stood in clusters here and there on the beach. Some of them turned to look at the Berkians as Phlegma and Spitelout pulled their ship into the shallow port.
"Well," Hiccup said. "We're here."
He climbed out of the ship. The low hum of conversation on the beach stopped as they saw the new Chief of Berk for the first time. Hiccup, lending his hand to Astrid, kept his gaze on the people on the hillside, many of whom were now staring at him. Their expressions ranged from unreadable to outright hostility.
"Wow," Astrid said. "I didn't expect all the glares."
"Yeah," Hiccup said. He looked around at all the people. He lowered his voice. "Do you see anyone who looks like they could be working with Drago?"
Astrid shook her head. "No, but I'll keep my eye-"
She was interrupted by a loud call of "GOBBER THE BELCH!"
Hiccup and Astrid spun in the sand to find a massive woman storming down the hillside towards the three Berkians. The two young Vikings immediately reached for their weapons, ready to draw them at a moment's notice. Gobber turned and hobbled towards the approaching woman, mild alarm showing on his face.
The woman reached the threesome and stopped in front of Gobber. She towered over him, easily a head taller, and stood there with her hands on her hips. They stared at each other for a moment.
"Bertha," Gobber said. He didn't make any move to greet or welcome her.
"Gobber," the woman replied.
The silence held for a second longer. Then, Bertha and Gobber broke out in wide grins simultaneously. "Come here, you!" Bertha said, pulling Gobber into a hug that picked him off the ground and pressed his face against her ample chest.
Hiccup and Astrid exchanged a glance as Bertha let Gobber go. He readjusted his helmet that had been knocked sideways and turned to the pair.
"Hiccup, Astrid, meet Bertha of the Bog-Burglar Isles!" Hiccup smiled and offered his hand to Bertha. He started to speak, but she grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously up and down.
Up close, Bertha was even more imposing than from afar. Her height was magnified by her broad shoulders, making her more than twice as wide as Hiccup himself. Like many Viking chieftains, she wore a large fur cloak pinned to her shoulders and the dual-horned hat, dark blonde hair braided and coiled against her head. To complement her overwhelming size, she wore a bright orange dress shirt that would have looked garish on anyone less intimidating.
"So this is the might Hiccup, all grown up!" she said, releasing him. "You were still a wee babe the last time I saw you. It's been what, twenty years now? Haven't seen you since your…ah…since your mother died." She pursed her lips, as if trying to gauge how much Hiccup mourned the mother that, to her knowledge, he'd never known.
"Uh, yeah," Hiccup said, smiling awkwardly. "That's me." He gestured vaguely at Astrid to fill the silence after that statement. "This is my wife, Astrid."
Astrid smiled and held her hand out. "Nice to meet you, Bertha."
Bertha took her hand and shook it as violently as she did with Hiccup, though Astrid was far less ruffled. "Ah, you seem like quite the woman, Astrid. Strong, beautiful, steady." She leaned over to Astrid and stage-whispered to her, "and you got yourself the chief as a husband. Good job there!" She burst out laughing. Astrid joined her.
They started walking to the hill. "Bertha is an old friend of mine," Gobber said once the laugher quieted. "We got into quite the trouble in those days, the three of us. Bertha, me…your father." He paused.
"Aye," Bertha said, solemn now. "I knew your father well. I was sorry to hear about his death. The world lost a good man that day."
Hiccup swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "Thanks," he finally muttered.
At the base of the path leading up the hill, they were stopped by a Viking guarding the entrance. She pointed at Hiccup's sword. "No weapons," she said. "Take them off before you go up. You can leave them in your ship." She scowled. "Don't want a repeat of what happened last time."
Hiccup looked at Gobber, who shrugged, then waved Spitelout over from their boat. Hiccup stepped off to the side and detached the sword from his belt while Astrid unstrapped her axe from her back. He leant the scabbard against a rock before reaching up to take his dagger out from its sheath. It wasn't there.
He scanned the ground for it before turning to look back towards the boat to see if it had fallen out. Not seeing it, he turned to the others and yelped when he found himself face to face with a small blonde girl dangling his knife from her fingers.
"Looking for this?" she asked, grinning with a glint in her eyes.
"Uh, thanks." Hiccup reached out and gingerly took the knife from her. He started to put his knife back in its sheath before pausing, then handed it to Spitelout, who was taking weapons back to the ship.
From his side came Bertha's booming laugh. She came to stand next to the girl. "I see you've met my daughter, Cami!" she said. "She likes to greet other people by stealing their things." Cami grinned again and waved at Hiccup.
"Future Chief of the Bog-Burglars, at your service!" Cami said. "You're a lot smaller than your dad. I've never met him but Mom's told me a lot of stories about how big and brave he was. That's why they called him Stoick the Vast. But you're not very vast. Are you sure you're the Chief?" The words tumbled out of her mouth in a mad rush, as if Cami was trying to win the world record for most insults about Hiccup's size spilled in a minute.
Cami's description of Hiccup was a bit hypocritical, given the juxtaposition between her and Bertha. Everything about the mother-daughter pair seemed at opposition. Cami was shorter than Hiccup was at fifteen, though she had to be a few years older than that. Bertha, however, was even taller than Stoick had ever been, making her daughter seem smaller by comparison. Cami was dressed in all black, though her messy blonde hair – held back in a pair of ponytails tied at the base of her neck – would make it hard for her to be as stealthy as the color seemed to imply. She had no signs of conventional weapons on her other than an empty knife sheath strapped to her thigh. Cami did, however, have a dual sash crisscrossing her chest with all sorts of pockets and doodads hanging off it. Instead of a belt, Cami had a length of rope tied around her waist. A hook hung off one end.
Hiccup paused at Cami's questions, not sure what to say. He was saved by a loud horn from up the hill. They all turned to look and saw that many people were now making their way to the meeting hall.
"Well, I guess it's time to get this meeting started," Gobber said. He turned and started the walk up the winding stone stairs without waiting for the other three. Cami, Astrid, and Hiccup began to follow, but Bertha put her hand on Hiccup's shoulder to hold him back.
She leaned in towards him, voice lowered. "Stoick the Vast was one of the men I trusted the most, but just because you're his son doesn't mean I'll trust you as well. Times are changing, and I have to be careful who I trust. Show me that you can fill those big boots of your father's, and you'll have an ally in me." She glanced down, then back up at Hiccup's face. "Er. Boot."
Hiccup nodded. Bertha clapped him on the back, then turned and began to walk up the hill. Hiccup hurried to catch up to Astrid, who was waiting for him.
"What was that about?" she asked.
"Bertha's testing me," he said. "She won't trust me just because she was friends with my dad."
"Ah," Astrid said. "That's inspiring."
They reached the plateau upon which the Hall sat. Muted conversation came from inside. Unlike the one on Berk, it was sparsely decorated, with rough instead of finely carved wooden beams. Hiccup could see scorch marks and places where the Hall had been rebuilt and repaired many times. A portion of the roof, however, was made of lighter wood that must have been replaced only recently.
Bertha and Cami entered the Hall first. A Viking inside announced her arrival for those inside to hear: "Bertha the Bold, daughter of Hilda. Chief of the Bog-Burglar Isles!" Some people inside the Hall greeted Bertha as she disappeared into the fire-lit room.
His turn. Hiccup took a deep breath before standing straighter and walked into the Hall, Astrid and Gobber following behind him.
Most of the room was already filled. A dozen or so thrones were set up in a ring around the central fireplace. All but two of the chairs furthest from the door were already occupied with Viking Chiefs, all bigger and bulkier than Hiccup. They turned to look at him as one of the Vikings announced his arrival: "Hiccup, son of Stoick. Chief of Berk."
At that proclamation, the room turned silent. Vikings turned to stare at Hiccup, some with the same glares from before. He pressed his lips together as if trying not to panic and nodded at some of the friendlier looking Vikings as he made his way to one of the empty thrones across the room. His prosthetic clanked against the stone floor, the only sound in the room beyond the central fire.
Hiccup climbed into a seat between Bertha and an empty chair. He squirmed a bit under the intimidating glares of his contemporaries. Unlike the other Vikings, who seemed to fit their thrones, Hiccup was dwarfed by his. Astrid and Gobber took up their positions slightly behind the front of his chair and stood at guard.
The silence was broken by the arrival of the last Viking, flanked by two young women who were obviously his children. He was clearly older than most of the others, if his grey beard was any indication, and had dark skin and an eyepatch over one eye. Despite his age, though, the Viking walked without hesitation towards the open seat at Hiccup's left, ignoring the low insults and grumbles the others sent his way. "Harald the Stern, son of Sigurd. Chief of Ringerike Bay."
With every Chief present, a Viking across the fire from Hiccup stood up. Hiccup noticed for the first time that his throne was slightly fancier than all the others, with more carved decorations, though still less than what was often seen on Berk. He was older than Hiccup, but not by much. This was Ivar the Unshakable, Chief of the Western Fjords.
"Everyone's here," Ivar said. "Most of you have probably realized why I wanted to call this meeting because the same thing has been happening to you, so I'll get right to the point. The dragons have started attacking again."
The room burst with low conversation and rage as those who had not heard reacted to the news. Hiccup stole a glance at Gobber and Astrid. Astrid shook her head once at him, and Gobber leaned towards him and whispered, "Remember to keep quiet until we know more." Hiccup sat back in his seat, fiddling with his still awkwardly hanging cloak.
Ivar raised his hands to quiet the room. The grumbles slowly receded. "The dragons haven't attacked my village for almost five years," he said. "But then, a few months ago, they started raiding us again."
Several other Vikings in the room called out in agreement. Ivar's village wasn't the only one attacked, apparently.
"It's worse this time than before. The beasts aren't just stealing our food. They're attacking us as well." Ivar reached up with his left arm to unhook the clasp of his cloak. It fell off his right shoulder, revealing a horrible red scar of burns covering his outer arm. It wasn't an old injury. "This happened on the first night they attacked. It took us all by surprise." He pulled his cloak back up. "They didn't just take the food. They took people. Carried them right off into the sky."
More quiet muttering. Hiccup inhaled sharply. Not good.
"If that's all that's happened, why did you call us here?" the Chief opposite of Ivar said. He was a stout man with a thick black beard and a face made into a permanent scowl. "My village hasn't been attacked since they stopped. I see no reason why you need all of us here, Ivar. This is a waste of time." He stood up, as if to walk out of the room.
Ivar frowned. "I thought I should warn you all in person, Haakon. And everyone's here. We might be able to do something together this time, before the attacks get worse."
"Work together? Hmph." Haakon scowled more, but sat down in his chair.
"Thank you," Ivar said. He clapped his hands together. "I wanted as many Chieftains here as possible because our people have been fighting dragons for centuries. I thought that if we pool our knowledge, we might be able to figure out where the dragons come from and take the fight to them. Every one of our tribes, with the best warriors we can get. We might finally be able to end this war for good!"
Ivar's words had an effect on the assembled Vikings. Many began to nod and voice enthusiastic agreements with the young speaker. Hiccup spared a glance at Astrid, whose face reflected his own misgivings. Only a few others were quiet, Bertha and Harald among them. Haakon continued scowling.
"I know the dragons don't come from the mainland. My villagers have searched every inch of land they know and there's nothing. They must come from an island in the west." Ivar pointed towards the hall's doors. The same direction as Berk. "We'll gather our best ships and search until we find them."
"And do what then? Chase them off?" Haakon said. "Your people have been good at that."
Ivar stared at the man with an even gaze. "We'll find their nest. If we can, we'll destroy it. The dragons will leave."
"Oh, really? If that's the case, are you sure you're the one to plan this thing out? I seem to recall that you've never even sailed in the open waters and tried to find the dragons. All you've done is stayed to the coast and fight them off until they come back! Do you really think destroying their nest is going to stop the brutes from killing people?"
Hiccup grit his teeth at the insult. He sat up in his chair, but Astrid placed a hand on his shoulder as Ivar tried to speak. "Well, I-"
"It's not going to work!" Haakon yelled. "Chasing the dragons away isn't going to do anything but delay them from coming back." Some of the other Chiefs muttered their assent. "They'll just keep coming and keep killing us. We have to do something else."
Ivar tried to interject, but Haakon practically leapt out of his chair and started pacing around the room. "I say that we do more than just chase them away," he said with scorn in his voice. "We bring all our warriors, all our weapons. No matter what it takes or how much we use. One last battle against the dragons!"
The assembled Vikings gave a cry of agreement. Haakon puffed his chest out with the cheers, taking in their fervor. "We'll find them and kill them all! Finish them before they finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid of them!"
"That's not true!" Hiccup yelled.
His claim silenced every other voice in the room. All eyes turned to look at him.
Immediately, Hiccup shrunk back in his seat, his eyes very wide with the realization of what he just said. Next to him, Astrid closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Gobber slapped his forehead.
Haakon narrowed his eyes. "What did you just say, boy?"
"Uhh…"
"I believe," Ivar said, his voice cold and hard, "that…Hiccup said that killing them isn't the only way to deal with the dragons. Is that true, Chieftain?"
Hiccup swallowed. He opened his mouth, then closed it. "I…Yes. We don't have to kill them."
"Well, then what do we do instead, Hiccup?" Haakon spat his name out.
The Terrible Terror was out of the bag. Time to face his mistake. Hiccup took a deep breath, sat up straight, and looked directly at Haakon. "We train them."
Haakon blinked, then let out a giant, mirthless laugh. "Train them? You think we can train dragons? Train the beasts that have been killing us for three hundred years?"
"It's possible. I've trained a Ni- a lot of dragons. Everyone on Berk has." He paused. "And I can teach all of you how to train your –"
"Teach us how to train dragons?" Haakon laughed again. "Tell me, boy, how did training dragons go for your father? Didn't seem to help him when that dragon killed him last year. Served him right, the dirty ba-"
"That's enough, Haakon," a new voice said. Haakon turned to the man at Hiccup's left. Harald, the one who had spoken. "Those are just rumors."
"Rumors? What rumors?" Hiccup asked.
"Don't pretend you don't know, boy," Haakon said. "You Berkians have always been secretive out there on your little island. Plotting against the rest of us, I'm sure. Your father was the only survivor that day twenty years ago. Probably lit the fire himself to kill the rest."
"That's not true and you know it!" Gobber yelled, rushing forward. Astrid had to physically hold him back from rushing at Haakon.
Haakon ignored him. "The rumors that on your island you've been collecting dragons. Arming them. Preparing to go to war with the rest of us."
"War?" Hiccup said. "I don't want war with anybody. I just want peace!"
"Then how do you explain reports of armored dragons flying around Berk?" Haakon began pacing around the room, raising his voice to address everyone. "How do you explain the claims that outlying villages have been attacked and terrorized by Berkians on dragonback?" The assembled Chieftains began to murmur amongst themselves at this.
"How do you explain the fact that your own father was murdered by a dragon, the very same Night Fury that YOU claimed to have trained?"
The outbursts of surprise by Chiefs in the room at the words Night Fury were background noise to Hiccup. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. "How did you know it was a Night Fury that killed my dad? Only someone who was there –" Hiccup's face paled with the realization. "You're working with Drago."
"Drago Bludvist?" Haakon had a satisfied smirk on his face. "I do believe that Ivar had something to say about him."
Ivar started. He had lost control of the situation. "Er, yes, I do. He's the real reason I asked you all to gather here. He came to me with a possible solution to the dragon problem. You see, he has a way to control the dragons. Make them leave for good."
"No. No, you can't trust him!" Hiccup almost yelled. "Drago's the one who killed my dad!"
"And what makes you think we'd listen to you, boy?" Haakon said. "For all we know, you're the one who 'trained'" – he made air quotes around the word – "a Night Fury to kill your own father so you could become chief! How do we know you won't come for us next?"
The room burst with angry shouts. Chieftains who believed what Haakon had to say. Hiccup glanced at the room, seeing Vikings about ready to jump out of their seats and come at him. They weren't going to change. He grit his teeth and stood up.
"You're not going to listen to me, are you?" Hiccup said, shaking his head. "Then I guess I'll leave." He began walking across the room in long, anxious strides, followed closely by Astrid and Gobber.
Haakon stood dumbstruck for a moment as the trio passed him, then shook his head and snarled after Hiccup, who was almost at the stairs in front of the door. He grabbed the man's shoulder. "You can't just–"
The hand on Hiccup's shoulder made him startle, the tension in the room making his recently jumpy nerves even more so. In one swift movement, Hiccup spun around, grabbing the Inferno and lighting it before pointing the weapon at Haakon. The flaming blade was inches from the man's face.
Haakon's furious eyes reflected the fire as he glared at Hiccup. Hiccup and company began to slowly back away towards the door as Haakon spoke. "You. You dare bring a weapon in here and raise it against me?"
Hiccup was breathing too fast to answer him. The room seemed smaller, the other hostile Vikings closer, the flames in the hearth bigger. Everyone sat on the edge of their seats, a hair's breadth away from a fight.
Gobber reached the door and slipped out first, followed by Astrid. Hiccup lowered the blade, its flames dying as he prepared to leave the room. He stopped as Haakon, his earlier composure gone, spluttered something out.
"If you take one step out this room, boy, then this will mean war on Berk!"
Hiccup considered for a second. "War is what you want, isn't it?" He stared right at Haakon. "Then I guess war is what you'll get."
With that, Hiccup turned his back on the assembled Vikings and closed the door behind him.