In the royal capital, Ruby, who was wearing a dress at the time, and the twins wherein King Topaz's chambers. They could hear voices on the other side banging against the door.
"Open this door!"
"There is no place left for you to run!"
Ruby looked at her father, King Topaz, he was a man of 50 years and if you look closely into his deep brown eyes you could see the wisdom inside. He had a long thick black beard and hair, though there were some greys growing in it.
"Ruby, you must flee," he said rubbing his hand against her head.
Ruby looked at him with a pleading look. "I can't escape alone, you have to come with me father."
"You won't be alone," he said and then turned the twins. "Ruffnut! Tuffnut! I'm giving you a very important mission, you must protect my daughter!"
The twins immediately nodded and saluted. "Yes, Sire!"
"What about you father?" Ruby asked with tears in her eyes.
"I will be fine," he assured.
"Yes, but—"
"Go, before the Dragon Knights find you," he said.
The twins immediately guided Ruby towards the secret passageway in the King's chambers and the just close the door behind them just in time to see lightning blowing the door part. They could hear the voices of the Dragon Knights as the entered the King's chamber and with no other choice began running down the passageway.
In the present, Hiccup was driving the tavern across the countryside, Ruby and the twins were just looking out of the window completely stunned. Hiccup had given them rooms to sleep in and they wasted no time making themselves at home.
Toothless then entered the room. "Hiccup wants you downstairs."
"We'll be there in a moment," Ruby assured.
Toothless nodded and made his way back downstairs.
Ruby just couldn't believe her eyes. 'This isn't some dream, it's real. I actually did it, I found Sir Hiccup. One of the legendary Seven Deadly Sins, I think.'
Immediately it was hard to believe that Hiccup was the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins, he was tall and very lanky and showed no signs of any muscles. Though it was hard to forget that he managed to punch a Dragon Knight twice his size into the air with a single punch.
When they made their way downstairs they found that Hiccup was at the wheel guiding the tavern down the countryside.
Hiccup turned his head and smiled. "Thanks for coming. I know I'm asking a lot, but while you guys here do you think you can help out?"
Ruby looked at him. "In what way?"
"I could use some people waiting on tables," Hiccup offered. "I know it's not the most exciting work, but it would help us get some information on the Seven Deadly Sins."
Ruby admitted manual labour was not exactly the ideal thing for Princess of the realm, there again he had only done so much for them without asking a lot in return. Plus they were sleeping and eating at his place for free, it was the least they could do.
"We'll do it," Ruby nodded.
Ruby and the twins let the bar for a few minutes to change into their uniforms. The girls uniforms was basically that waitress, which were black and the skirts reached up to their knees. Tuffnut was wearing a waitress uniform which both looked proud and elegant.
"I was expecting a lot worse," said Ruby.
"Do we have to wear these things?" Ruffnut complained.
"I think I look pretty good," said Tuffnut.
"If you be serving tables you have to look the part," Hiccup pointed out.
Ruby then looked at Hiccup curiously. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you." Hiccup looked up and looked directly at her. "The Seven Deadly Sins, are you really that wicked? Are you all terrible criminals like the rest of the world says? And if you are what awful crimes did you commit?"
Hiccup looked at her solemnly. "Each one of the sins did commit a crime and that crime represents to individual sins. For instance my sin was that pride, but I'm afraid that I can't say more than that?"
"Why not?" Ruffnut asked suspiciously.
Hiccup chuckled slightly. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. Though I can assure you that we Sins are not as bad as people make us out to be."
Ruby nodded. "Seems to me they just don't know understand what kind of person you are. After all, you made the effort to save me even though you had no idea who I was."
Hiccup then returned his attention controlling the tavern. "We're here," he said as he pulled down on a rebound they came to a sudden stop. "This is our next wellspring of information, Bernia Village."
He then immediately pulled down on a handle and suddenly the wheels on the tavern began to fold into the base. Seconds later a drill appeared beneath the tavern began to drill a massive hole into the ground. Once the drill stopped the tavern rested onto the hole it dug and soon they were based right on the edge of the cliff that overlooks the village.
"I usually buy all the alcohol where ever I find it, but Bernia stuff is special," said Hiccup as they made their way into the village.
"The best water you can find is here in this village and with the grout growing by the river it's used to brew Bernia Ale, it's got fans far and wide," Hiccup explained.
Toothless then looked over the bridge and frowned. "Well, it used to, now those famous waters are bone dry."
They looked over the bridge and saw that he was correct, the river was no longer flowing and the grout growing at the bedside were dying out.
"Look at those herbs along the bank are dead," Ruby stared.
"This isn't good," said Hiccup.
They made their way into the village and found a whole crowd of people in the Plaza.
"It appears to be a lot of people hanging in the square," Ruby noted.
"Some sort of festival?" Ruffnut asked.
"Let's find out," said Hiccup as he made his way to the nearest villager. "Excuse me, sir, what's going on here?"
The villager looked at him. "We're trying to pull out a sword that some Dragon Knight jacked in the ground."
Upon closer inspection they could see that there was indeed a sword in the centre of town and all the men were trying to pull it out. They even tied a rope to the sword and use their horses to pull it, but no matter what they did they couldn't budge an inch.
"He stuck it in the ground?" Tuffnut blinked.
"Why did he do that?" Ruffnut asked.
The village elder then approached them. "Three days ago, a Dragon Knight brought his wraith down upon us. He infused his sword with mana, pierced the ground and locked away the water for our village."
"If we don't do something about this soon will lose our water and our grout too," a villager complained.
"Then we won't have any more Bernia Ale."
"The Dragon Knight?" Ruby stared and looked at Hiccup. "Do you think it was that knight you defeated the other day?"
"Not a chance," said Hiccup. "He wasn't a Dragon Knight." Ruby looked at him blankly. "Trust me when I say that the real ones are a whole lot worse."
"Then what was he?" Tuffnut asked.
"He was an Apprentice Dragon Knight, very few of them have the potential becoming a Dragon Knight," said Hiccup folding his arms. He looked at the twins. "If memory serves you to our apprentices aren't you?"
The twins looked at one another sheepishly.
"Only a Dragon Knight has the power necessary to draw saw that belongs to another," the elder explained. "Breaking the news is not going to be easy, but I'm afraid this village is done for."
"Oh no," said Ruby.
"Ah, give me a break," said a small voice. Hiccup looked down and saw small boy walking into the crowd. "What's the deal of all this moaning and groaning?"
"It's Agnar," said a villager.
Hiccup then noticed that several of the villagers were looking at him with disdain.
"A Dragon Knight sword stuck in the ground is nothing," the boy continued. "My bodies the Seven Deadly Sins were here that sword will be gone by now."
"Quiet Agnar!" an old woman snapped. "And who's fault is it that were all in this predicament in the first place! Of all the things to say… you have to mention those criminals too."
"Yeah, she's right," said another village as more villages began to surround the boy. "We don't need to make the Dragon Knight angrier!"
"Do you have a grudge against us or what kid?"
"No," he said. "Come on, that isn't the reason I did it."
"We've had it with all your mischief and all of you're lying!"
"You're such a jerk," said a small girl then tossed the stone at the Agnar.
Unfortunately she ministered and headed straight towards Hiccup, fortunately he caught it before it struck his face.
"I hate you guys!" Agnar cried.
"Guess what, we hate you even more Agnar!" a boy yelled and he too began to flow stones.
Hiccup immediately grabbed the boy and dragged him towards the tavern.
"How about we get you out of here before they toss something larger than stones at you," he said.
The she then immediately turned to the crowd. "Stop it all of you!"
"Looks like we came on the wrong day to this town," said Toothless.
"Deep down inside, he is really an honest well-meaning boy," said the chief.
Hiccup had taken Agnar back to the tavern.
"You don't have any friends here do you?" said Hiccup folding his arms. He then looked down at Agnar. "So tell me, kid why did they—"
Agnar glared at him. "I don't have to tell you anything." He then stopped and looked around. "So what is this a tavern?"
"Yeah, the Black Dragon," Hiccup nodded. "It's my place."
"Well, I'm hungry."
"If you answer my questions, I'll make sure you get some food."
Agnar shook his head. "Nope, food first."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and immediately returned with some roast chicken.
"That looks great, I can't wait to dig into this," said Agnar and immediately dug in.
"Glad you're enjoying it," said Hiccup as he poured stuff into a tankard.
Hiccup then sat down opposite him. "So is it true… All that stuff about you being friends with the Seven Deadly Sins?"
"Your food gave me amnesia," said the boy with a snooty look. He then sniffed the air and recognise the send coming from the tankard that Hiccup was drinking from. "Wait a minute, are you drinking Bernia Ale?"
Hiccup put down the tankard and smiled. "You've got a keen nose."
"Man, it tastes really good doesn't it?"
"Yep," Hiccup nodded.
"It's the best, sweetest, full-bodied… or so I hear from the adults," he said quickly.
The door opened and Ruby and the others entered inside.
"I see you guys made it back," Hiccup noted.
"Thanks were leaving us in the dust," Tuffnut muttered.
"Yeah, you could have told us to come with," Ruffnut nodded.
Ruby immediately looked at Agnar. "So Agnar… I hear you're quite the prankster was a bad sense of humour. The chief in your village told me so."
"What's it to you? Who do you think you are, my mother?" he snapped.
"I'm beginning to like this kid," said Tuffnut.
Ruffnut nodded. "Yeah, he's played more jokes than us combined."
Ruby then bent down to Agnar. "When I was young, I used to get scolded by my father for pulling pranks."
"Yeah, and that means what to me?" said Agnar looking away from her.
"I really wanted his attention, I even have the twins help me with some of them," said Ruby looking back at the twins.
"Those were the good old days," Ruffnut sighed.
"And day where you can prank anyone had almost get away with it," Tuffnut nodded reminiscing.
"My point is my father was not the one I was born with," Ruby continued. "And one day when I was a little girl, I climbed a really tall tree in the garden hoping to give them a good scare. He turned pale as a ghost and started up the tree to save me.
"This man who had never climbed one in his entire life, he then fell out of the tree and hurt himself though luckily it was not serious. But still I remember every minute of it like it was yesterday, if he had died I know I never have forgiven myself."
"I don't do this kind of stuff, because I don't feel for them," said Agnar looking down at the table. "They are all real good to me."
Ruby then placed a hand on his back. "Then why do you?"
"My mum and dad were always going from place to place, I was even born on the road," he said unable to look at any of them. "But when we stopped at Bernia a few years ago, there was an epidemic and then they got sick and died. That's when the people of the village took me in and raised me as one of their very own and I was so thankful that they did… but I wasn't a part of anyone's real family. I got jealous, because I knew I would never get what they had I started lying and pulling pranks."
Tears began to form in his eye and he immediately began to brush them off on his arm.
"Is that why you put the bug in the Dragon Knight's drink too because you are upset?" Ruby asked.
"No!" he cried. "I did that because the Knight treated everyone in the village like they were crap!"
A few days ago, the blonde haired night had visited the village and immediately the chief poured him a drink of their best ale.
"The village is very proud of this year's brew," said the cheap as he poured a drink into a glass. "We truly believe that this is our best one yet."
Once he was done pouring the ale he immediately backed away on the table. The Dragon Knight immediately began drinking that ale and everyone waited for his result.
"Disgusting," he said and everyone was shocked. "I'd rather drink horse piss then more of this swill."
It was at that comment that Agnar tossed a bug in the Dragon Knight's drink. When that happened he immediately dropped the glass and drew his sword.
"Oh no, don't!" a villager pleaded.
"Please forgive the boy, sir," the chief pleaded.
The Knight however did not and likely began to course through the blade and he dug it into the ground as hard as he could. The moment that happened the river went dry preventing anyone to make any more ale.
"We just care so much about it, everyone in the village put their heart and soul into making that ale," he said painfully. "But he insulted them. Dragon Knights are no good bastards!"
"Then why did you say you were good friends with the Seven Deadly Sins?" Hiccup asked curiously.
"Well I lied," he said.
Hiccup sighed. "Can't say surprised, but I was hoping."
"What made you tell a lie like that?" Ruby asked.
"The Seven Deadly Sins are wanted by the Dragon Knights aren't they? If the Dragon Knights are going after them, doesn't that mean the Seven Deadly Sins are the good guys?" Agnar asked looking at them.
Everyone turned and looked at Hiccup who was still dragging from his tankard. Then they suddenly heard a commotion outside and it sound as if a lot of people were yelling.
"That's coming from the village," said Agnar rushing outside.
"Agnar, wait!" Ruby yelled, but he was already out of the door.
In the square to soldiers were now standing next to the sword looking at the villages.
"Now listen up you peasant scum! If you haven't pulled out the Dragon Knight's sword by sundown then we are going to charge you 10 times the normal product tax!" said a tall lanky soldier.
The villages weren't too pleased with this statement.
"That's insane!"
"With all the water trapped we can't even make one bottle of ale, much less 10 times that amount!"
A husky soldier looked at them. "That's your punishment. Not only did you insulted a Dragon Knight, you also claim to be friends with those known criminals the Seven Deadly Sins."
"Damn, if Agnar hadn't pulled that stunned this wouldn't have happened!" a villager yelled angrily.
Agnar then ran past the crowd and made his way to the sword, he then began to pull on it with all his strength.
"Agnar no!" the old woman cried.
The soldiers looked down at Agnar.
"The little big mouth," said the lanky soldier. "It isn't going to be any fun at all if easy only one."
"So we're going to charge 20 times the tax now," husky soldier smirked.
"You know you can't pull out that sword!" a villager yelled at Agnar.
"Stop it, kid! You're only making things worse for us!"
"All right, that's enough!" the chief yelled.
Everyone then turned towards him slightly confused.
"Chief?"
"Who insulted our great skills and wounded our pride is ale makers?" the chief asked looking at every single one of them. "Was it Agnar? No! Wasn't that boy only expressing the feelings we were all having deep down inside?"
Everyone immediately looked ashamed.
The old woman then approached Agnar.
"Auntie?" Agnar blinked.
"The village chief his right about this," she smiled. "You aren't the one to blame."
The two kids that had thrown stones at him then approached them. Then the four them together began to porn the sword.
The man looked at one another and they all nodded and started to make their way towards the sword.
The soldiers merely stood there laughing at them.
"Hey, you people hear what we said? Pour the beer out of your ears, it's twenty times now!" the lanky soldier yelled.
The villages merely ignored them and made their way towards the sword.
"You just leave this to the menfolk," said one of them and the old woman and kids immediately backed away from the sword.
Immediately they began wrapping rope around the sword and pulled as hard as they could. However, no matter how far they pull they couldn't budge it an inch.
The soldiers merely laughed as they began drinking beer sitting on top of the dry well.
"It won't even move a fraction of an inch!" the lanky soldier laughed.
"We're going to sit here chugging this cheap stuff and enjoyed the show," said the husky soldier.
Agnar and the men kept on pulling on the road with everything they had.
"Come out!" Agnar yelled.
The soldiers laughed.
"They're so desperate!" the lanky soldier laughed.
"What a bunch of morons," said the husky soldier.
They are about to drink their beer, but Hiccup walked past them and grabbed the tankards.
"I don't think the two of you deserve this quality of ale," said Hiccup as he made his way towards the square.
Eventually the rope around the sword snapped and all the men and Agnar fell over. However, Hiccup and merely walked past them drinking the soldiers' ale. Once he was done he put the empty tankards down on the ground and made his way towards the sword.
"I think it's time we ended this charade," said Hiccup as he grabbed the sword.
He then pulled the sword everyone stared at him in shock as he successively pulled it out. The two soldiers were now gobsmacked as they saw Hiccup raising the sword high into the air.
"Impossible, only a Dragon Knight could pull that sword out so how did he do that?" the lanky soldier gasped.
Suddenly there was a rumbling sound beneath them.
"What's that sound?" the husky soldier asked.
Then suddenly water erupted from the well sending the two men flying. The entire village cheered as water began raining down on them indicating that the flow of water have now been restored.
Hiccup then approached the two soldiers. "I think this is yours," he said as he tossed the sword in front of them.
The soldiers were terrified and the moment they took the sword they immediately ran out of the village as quickly as they could.
Ruby and the twins had arrived in time to see Hiccup puling the sword out and stared at him dumbfounded.
'He's incredible,' Ruby stared. 'The power of the Seven Deadly Sins."
Agnar then approached him. "Hey, mister, that was so amazing. Are you really—"
Hiccup smiled at him. "I think you already know the answer to that question, but do you mind if you keep it to yourself?" Agnar nodded enthusiastically and Hiccup bent down towards him. "Besides, I think there something more important that you need to be doing."
Agnar turned and looked to the villages.
The chief looked at him. "Look Agnar, we were wrong. Can you ever forgive us for treating you that way?"
"But what right do I have to forgive you?" Agnar asked. "It's not like I'm part of the village."
Hiccup then shoved him towards the villages. "Go on."
Agnar turned on him. "What do you mean go on? After all, I really don't belong here."
"Agnar," said the villages over and over again.
Tears began to form in Agnar's eyes and he then immediately dashed towards them.
Hiccup smiled. "You can live to yourself or you want, but there's no way you can ever fool your own heart."
Ruby looked at him curiously and she could sense something inside of him, though she couldn't put a finger on it.
Later that night everyone was celebrating in the Black Dragon.
"Hiccup of the Black Dragon!" the villages cheered as they bashed their tankards together.
Ruby looked immensely nervous as this was going to be her first time serving the customers.
"I'm a little nervous," said Ruby. "I've never done anything like this before."
Hiccup looked at her. "Don't worry about gathering any intel. Just stay relaxed out there, that is the most important thing."
"I can do that," Ruby nodded.
While she was able to do that, the twins kept on fighting the resulting in pouring drinks and food into the customers faces. Thankfully none of them were too upset about it considering what Hiccup had done for the entire village.
Toothless looked at Hiccup. "You sure this was a wise idea having those two wait tables?"
Hiccup frowned. "Maybe we need to give them another job."
Agnar smirked at Ruby who was having troubles herself. "You've never done a hard days work in your life, have you? You completely suck at this job."
The old woman then quickly came over and scolded him. "Now that's enough! Don't start mouthing off again! Did you learn your lesson today?" She then folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Children who get too big for their britches get taken out and left in the Forest of White Dreams."
Agnar immediately panicked. "Oh no! Not there!"
Ruby frowned. "Forest of White Dreams?"
"It's a place so spooky that even Dragon Knights won't travel through it," Agnar answered with the scared look on his face. He then immediately looked back at the old woman. "Oh, auntie I promise I'll be good and behave, anything but that!"
The old woman smiled. "And why should I believe you?"
"I promise, I swear!" said Agnar quickly.
"Don't try and put one over on me I've got my eye on you," she warned.
In Fort Solgales, a soldier was kneeling before the blonde haired Dragon Knight and have placed the sword in front of him. He had just given him the report from Bernia and was looking a bit nervous.
"Only moments ago, we received a report from our soldiers from Bernia Village," said the soldier. "They say that an unidentified young man has pulled your sword from the ground, Sir Gilthunder."
Gilthunder and the soldiers then began walking down the corridors.
"It must be some random fluke that allowed him to…"
"So, a fluke let him draw out a sword placed by a Dragon Knight?" said Gilthunder doubtfully.
"N-No, sir."
"Give me the range and heading to this village. Be very exact."
"Yes, sir," the soldier nodded. "It is on a direct line with the fort's four o'clock, distance 7.3 miles."
Gilthunder then turned to a soldier holding a spear. "Do you mind terribly that if I used your spear?"
"No, sir, please do," said the soldier presenting him the spear.
Gilthunder grasped the spear in his hand and immediately made his way to a large window. "Should be about this angle."
He raised the spear and immediately electricity began to flow into it and everyone just stared at him in wonder. He then slammed his foot forwards and tossed the spear with all his might and it rocketed into the air faster than they could blink.
In the tavern, Hiccup could sense something was off and Toothless looked at him.
"You sensed something?" Toothless asked.
Hiccup put down the tank as he was cleaning. "I'm going outside for a while, make sure the twins don't ruin anything."
"That's a tall order," said Toothless.
Ruby was currently outside looking at the stars and then she saw Hiccup making his way to the cliff.
"Oh, Sir Hiccup," she said.
"Beautiful night, isn't it?" Hiccup asked.
Ruby looked to the ground. "I'm sorry, I know I'm supposed to working now but when I saw Agnar and the villages, it brought a flood of memories I have of my father."
"Understandable," said Hiccup as he turned around and looked at the sky.
"I just hope he's okay," said Ruby hopefully.
"I'm sure he's fine, the Knights wouldn't dare to harm the King," said Hiccup as he looked at the sky as if looking for something.
"I shouldn't do this," said Ruby shaking her head. "It's no time to move around, feeling homesick. But I've seen so many good people being oppressed by the Dragon Knights, I know that their suffering and with a Princess like me their chances don't seem too good."
"You found me didn't you?" Hiccup asked. Ruby looked up and stared at him. "If you haven't been trying everything you could to help your people and then stumbled into my place, they would have no chance at all."
"So you're saying there's something I'm meant to?" Ruby frowned.
"Exactly," Hiccup nodded. "We all have a purpose in life, sometimes we are born into it, sometimes we find it and at other times we make a place for ourselves." He then immediately looked up at the sky. "And right now there something I'm meant to do."
Then suddenly aiming straight towards them was a spear and the moment that it flew past Hiccup he grabbed it. This fear was moving pretty fast as he immediately dragged Hiccup along with it and Ruby watched as he flew down the cliff at incredible speed.
"Sir Hiccup, no!" Ruby cried.
Hiccup hit the ground with incredible force, but the spear was still moving pretty fast. Hiccup immediately slammed his feet into the ground in the hopes to slow it down and his left sleeve was immediately torn away revealing his mark.
Despite his best efforts the spear kept on going in to instruct the village and they went straight through several houses. Hiccup immediately jumped and put all his strength into slowing down by slamming his feet into the ground. Eventually he came to a sudden stop when he spun around with his back leaning backwards.
Hiccup then immediately opened his eyes sharply, he spun around and tossed the spear with all his strength. The spear was now moving even faster than before and soon disappeared into the distance.
Gilthunder was still in his fort looking at several reports when he sensed something heading towards him. Seconds later the spear went directly through the window and immediately the tower crumbled upon the impact of the spear.
A soldier and immediately rushed into the ruins of the tower looking for him. "Sir Gilthunder! Are you all right?"
The soldier stopped when he saw Gilthunder still sitting in his chair. He had moved his head a few inches to the right and managed to avoid the spear which would have pierced right through his head if he neglected to do so.
A small smile appeared on his face. "It's just as I thought. You're live aren't you… Hiccup?"
Ruby, Toothless and the twins immediately rushed towards Hiccup and the villages began examining the damage that had been done.
"Sir Hiccup!" Ruby cried. "I'm glad we found you!"
"Was that spear from the Dragon Knight, who left his sword in the ground?" Tuffnut asked.
"More than likely," said Hiccup as he examined his burnt hand. "I think its best that we leave this village as soon as we can."
"But what if Berina Village is attacked again?" Ruby asked.
"I think there would be a lot more danger if we were to stay," said Hiccup.
"Looks like we need to find someplace to hide," said Toothless.
"Wait a minute," said Ruby.
"What is it?" Hiccup asked.
"Earlier tonight, Agnar said that he would do anything not to be taken to the Forest of White Dreams," said Ruby. "In fact he even said the Dragon Knights stay clear of the place."
"Then it sounds like the perfect place to lie low for a while," said Toothless.
"Then it's agreed, but we won't be going there just to hide," Hiccup smiled. "Because when be doing exactly what we set out to do."
"What do you mean by that?" Ruffnut frowned.
Ruby's eyes widened. "You don't think…?"
"I do," said Hiccup looking at her. "It's the perfect place to hide and I bet that one of us is hiding there has we speak."
Ruby smiled.
"It's time that we find another Sin," said Hiccup.
"Right," Ruby nodded.
They immediately activated the mobile tavern and began to move out and the village can help waved them goodbye wishing them the best.
Unbeknownst to them, there was in fact someone inside the Forest of White Dreams. The forest itself was covered in mist, but it looked as if the entire forest was completely dead and there was no sign of life.
A girl was currently sleeping on the ground, she looked about 20 years old with raven black hair which was tied in a ponytail. She was wearing a light grey long-sleeved shirt and wore a brown leather jacket over it. She was also wearing a skirt that looked as if it was made by a long sheet of metal and wore a pair of combat boots, but the most notable thing was the crimson serpent mark on her thigh.