I have got to stop procrastinating and writing these the day before. Maybe I wouldn't feel like I'm vomitting on my computer. Oh well.
This chapter is rate B for Brutal. Yes, my sanity is fine, don't worry.
—
It wasn't a perfect idea, but it was something. Better than anything else he thought of. After his transformation back into a merman, Hiccup met Heather and Camicazi in his grotto, like he had said. At first they were shocked that he had given up his human form, but he didn't answer there questions as to why.
"We have more serious things we need to worry about," he stated, with a melancholy glance.
The trio departed to the deep, ready to confront the masses of flesh-eating sirens. Hiccup only hoped they'd listen.
The school was a ways out from the island. The furthest rock pillar signified the beginning of their territory. The mermaids made homes along the sand, in thickets of seaweed or in caverns. In the center of the school, a massive reef served as gathering place. There, they ate and talked, learned and healed; all, in this gladiatorial monument made by the water. It was barely night when Hiccup arrived. The caverns were alight with glowing fish and algae. Soon, the school would depart and return to their nests, but not quite yet. He could still reach them.
As predicted, when he swam out into the middle of the reef, conversation and action halted. All eyes gazed upon the strange creature that was neither mermaid, nor human.
"Is that Hiccup?"
"What is he doing here?"
"I thought he made a bond." They all whispered.
Bertha swam up to him and placed a loving kiss on his cheek. Then she called to her peers. "Enough! Hiccup will explain why he has come back to us." She, Camicazi, and Heather, all backed away, allowing Hiccup to have the limelight.
The merman looked around, taking in the shocked expressions of those around him. He swallowed. "My sisters!" He called to them. "I can no longer hide the obvious. As many of you may have known, I befriended the humans. One, so much so, that…we bonded." He listened to the gasps and giggles in the crowd. "Because of that bond, I was able to become human. But as you can see…" He played with his fingers. "I am no longer…a man. It's because…while I stayed with the humans, a chief from a foreign tribe came to speak with Stoick. Things didn't go so well. And now, according to Heather, Dagur is on his way to Berk…"
The mermaids talked amidst each other before someone called out, "So? These Vikings love fighting!"
"This isn't like any normal army…They could handle that. He's called Dagur the deranged. He will have no mercy, and will bathe in Berk's blood! He is coming in the morning, with an fleet of a thousand ships. Berk is completely defenseless and they have no time to prepare. I…I'll lose everyone. Astrid, she'll…" He stopped and pursed his lips.
"What do you suppose we do?" Bertha asked, hating seeing her hatchling so upset.
"What's in it for us?" Someone else cried out. "Those Viking's haven't done anything for us!"
"They're the reason you're here!" He shouted. "Your fathers, they're all humans! Men!"
"All the men are good for are their seed! They didn't raise our daughters!"
"Exactly!" Hiccup shouted.
The crowd grew quiet as he seemed to ruin his own argument.
"What's in it for you? There's a fleet of a hundred Berserker ships headed this way. All of them are carrying warriors; big, strong, meaty men. They are planning on dying. So, I say, call the sister schools from the south. Call for everyone! Let the next generation of mermaid be strong and numerous!"
The maids cheered, some even baring their fangs at the prospect of food. It was a terrifying argument, considering they weren't doing this for anyone but themselves. But it would work. It had to work.
An elder raised her hands into the air, halting the exclamations. She swam down to Hiccup and surveyed him. "What is your plan, oh son of the sea?"
Hiccup nodded.
—
The wooden hauls of hundreds of ships slapped against the water. Each stroke of the oars were accompanied by a chorus of groans from slaves rowing.
The ship dead in front, about twenty feet ahead of the rest of the fleet, was silent, save for one passenger. Dagur stalked back and forth, dragging a sword behind him. The blade scratched the wood and left claw-like marks behind.
"Make a fool of me, will they? I'll show them!" He grinned. "I'll cut off Stoick's head, and mount it to my mantle! I'll gaze upon his dead face every night before I go to sleep, and I'll laugh! Oh I'll be so cheerful!" He lifted the blade and pondered his reflection in it. "I'll cut out that bitch's tongue, and make her my slave. I'll make her watch as I burn Berk to the ground. Then I'll take care of that little pest. The dirty bastard that thinks he's smarter then me! Maybe the blood eagle? Maybe I'll place him over a bed of coals and make him crawl over them if he wants to live! Yes! Perfect! Oh Berk shouldn't have passed me off so easily!"
The soldiers on board the ship put all of their effort into staying quiet, but it was battle to just keep from throwing up. Dagur certainly lived up to his name.
"Coming up on Berk, sir." The navigator called.
"Excellent!" The teen grit his teeth into a smarmy smile. "They'll never know what hit them!"
Suddenly, the sound of seagulls hit their ears and Dagur became confused. "It's not yet morning, where are all these birds coming from?"
"Sir…those aren't seagulls."
In a rare moment of sanity, Dagur saw his ships bursting into flame from dragons. With the light he could see the shadows of beasts leaping from the water and stealing men from the ship.
"Oh great Odin's ghost."
He wasn't prepared for a sneak attack. He didn't like not being prepared.
—
Long before the fleet made it to the bay, Hiccup and his troops spawned out and pillaged shipwrecks for armor and weapons. He convinced the girls that they would be helpful and needed. The Berserkers would be armed to the teeth, and once the fight began, there would be no stopping.
Once the magical beasts were adorned with armor, he called them all together for the battle plan. Toothless had stayed behind to watch over Berk. Once the ships reached the sea stacks, that's when the dragons would attack, lighting the ships on fire. The chaos from the dragons would cause a distraction and allow the warriors to be off guard from the mermaids.
"Alright, let's go." Hiccup called.
Like a billow of smoke, the innumerable army flocked to the ships. They circled, while Hiccup stayed low in the center. He would give the signal, he would sound the attack.
He held up a single finger, and a single soldier leapt and claimed her prize. She was so stealthy that no one above noticed. He raised two fingers, and another two maids shot out and dragged warriors to the deep. A moment of hesitation, then Hiccup raised his hand and all hell broke loose. The water churred like a mighty storm, though there was barely any wind. Vikings fell into the water like rain, their last breaths exploding out as the monsters grabbed hold and pulled them down…
Down…
Down...
Never to surface.
—
"Stoick! What on earth is going on?!" Spitelout shouted, coming up the hill.
"Mermaids." Gobber answered. "Protecting Berk."
"Protecting—?" He gasped. "Can you not see the slaughter that is going on right now?! Enemies or not, those men are dying!"
"And what?!" Stoick shouted back. "Would you rather us kill them? Would you rather them come ashore and burn us to the ground?!" He looked back out to the sea. "We were lucky this time. My son knew about this and saved us all. We just have to trust him, no matter how brutal this fight becomes."
"Then what?" The general accused. "We let them win? Then become their pray? Why to you keep entertaining this idea that that Merman is anything but a monster?!"
"That's my son!"
"You're son is dead!"
A swift silence passed between the men as they glared each other down.
"Regardless if he's the one we killed all those years ago, he's changed Stoick. He's adopted the mermaid's ways. He's a demon. He'll kill the entire fleet, and then he'll come for us. He wants us to see his power, so that we'll live in fear and await the enviable. He doesn't love anything but destruction."
"He loves me." Astrid stated. "He never said it, but I saw it in his eyes. I should have known better, but I'm choosing to trust him now. He'll protect us, because he loves us. He truly truly does."
—
"Sir should we retreat?"
Dagur stood and watched as his fleet fell apart in front of him. Screams of agony and fear, shrieks of terror, and swords slicing through armor and flesh all melted together in a orchestra of chaos. It almost brought a tear to his eye. "Isn't death beautiful? I could watch it all night."
"Sir! At this rate, will never be able to conquer Berk!"
Dagur narrowed his eyes. "As much as I hate to say it, you make a valuable point. Prepare the retreat."
Out of no where, a mass shot out of the water and tackled Dagur to the ground. The young chief stared up at a familiar face in confusion.
"You! Cripple!" He shouted.
"Surprise!" The boy smiled for a brief second, before his face contorted into a demon, fangs and talons that pierced the heart of men. Eyes black as ink and soulless, with a promise for a future spent in agony. He snatched his jaws, mere centimeters from the chief and Dagur braced his arm on his neck to keep him at bay.
"It was you all along!"
"I warned you to stop this hunt before it began!" The merman hissed with acid dropping from his maw. "You will regret ignoring me!" He reared up and gnashed again, catching Dagur by the nose and tearing the flesh. Dagur hooked his legs around the mermaid and flipped them over, pinning the beast to the deck. He dug a knee into his stomach and kept him there, then withdrew a knife from his belt.
"You made the mistake of coming out of the water. Now I have the advantage, demon!" And he plunged the knife into the boy's arm.
Hiccup writhed in pain, hissing and shrieking as he did so. Dagur stood and kicked him over and over. Then he turned to his general.
"Don't signal the retreat. Just get us out of here."
"But sir, what about the others?"
"They'll cover our escape." He sheathed his bloody knife. "Someone has to keep those monsters busy."
Hiccup groaned as he lifted weight onto his arms. He saw a mix of his and Dagur's blood staining the wood. He had to protect Berk, maybe he wouldn't made it back, but he wouldn't go down without a fight.
Refueled by his anger, Hiccup leapt and clamped onto Dagur's leg, his talons and teeth burying deep into his flesh. The chief swung around and knocked him against the side of the hull. The merman saw spots.
"You just don't know when to quit!" Dagur spat. "It appears it's not safe to leave you here on board. But I can't kill you, not yet. You're the rarest on in the bunch." He grabbed his chin and heaved him off the floor. "You think you scare me? You think you can stop me?! I'm a god! No power on earth can stop me!"
Hiccup's eyes widened at his declaration. Dagur was a madman, and how foolish he had been to try to take him down without back up.
The chief dropped him to the deck. "Tie him up and secure him to the Stempost! He'll be more useful as a figurehead."
—
Morning rose with a strange sort of grayness. A fog that came after tragedy. Astrid carried a set of clothes with her and sat down at the docks. She was prepared to apologize to Hiccup and tell him over and over how much she really did love him. Then he would return to her, and all would be well.
She hoped.
Debris and wreckage washed ashore, but no bodies were found among it. Villagers came down to the shore and aided in cleaning up the beach. Berserker sails scattered around proved that it was the enemy that had attacked last night, and now they were safe.
A soft singing came from the water and instantly everyone bolted, screaming and covering their ears. Only Astrid remained, knowing full well that they wouldn't hurt her.
Camicazi surfaced by Astrid's dangling feet and looked up at her with sad, sad eyes.
"Thank you…" The young woman said, equally as sad.
"I should be happy." Said the mermaid. "This time next year I may have my own pups. But I am sad, knowing the horror that has befallen." She sighed. "According to my brother, these men were evil. They wanted to kill you and destroy your village. I am glad I could keep you safe…but I wonder, if Berk will ever accept us? Or will we always be the monsters they think we are?"
"Maybe someday, we could move passed all that. Maybe."
"I hope so…I like humans." Camicazi smiled. Then she frowned. "I'm afraid, there is something else…You are waiting for him."
"Yes, of course, to restore our bond."
"I could not find him after the fight." He stated sheepishly. "But I found this."
Hiccup's fake fin laid limply in her grasp.