Chapter Two

Part One – Plans and Preparations

Three days later, on Berk;

The village was bustling; had been all week, actually. The reason for the activity: the final details of Hiccup and Astrid's marriage pact had been settled. Only one thing remained: to build a home for the new couple to move into, following the 'official' ceremony.

Hiccup took care of the planning and designing, of course, and the entire village pitched in when the time came to start building. It would be a structure unlike any other in the village; standing two stories tall, with wide windows on the top floor that opened to the sky. The main floor was kitchen and living area, the upper floor held a small library/study for Hiccup, and sleeping areas. (As you might imagine, with that number of people, and dragons, helping, the structure took only a few days to build.)

Once that was done, the focus turned to making the other arrangements: preparations for the wedding feast, entertainment, and so on. Every evening, the conversation that filled the Great Hall was more boisterous than the one before.
Then, one night, something unexpected happened: An hour into supper, a man rushed into the hall, clutching a scroll in one hand. Conversation gradually faded to silence as the new arrival hurried to where Hiccup and Astrid were seated, at the head of the hall. As he handed Hiccup the scroll, the man rasped, "This … just … arrived … from … Shivering … Shores; Said it was … urgent."

Hiccup broke the seal, unrolled the parchment, and read the message in silence. As he read, his eyes narrowed, and his expression became serious. Finally, he lowered the paper, though he remained silent.

Astrid knew from his expression that the news was bad, "Hiccup… What is it?"

Hiccup was silent for a moment more, than he said, "According to this, a Shivering Shores' patrol- fleet was lured into an ambush and attacked, the night before last; during an evening run … Thirty ships left, twenty- four returned; eighteen of those badly damaged." He glanced at the scroll, "The enemy ships 'numbered beyond counting', 'came from the south', and 'bore two banners'; the 'devices on sails varied', but 'all leading banners depicting a Kraken'…" He sighed, than added, "The Chief of the Shivering Shores has named this an Act of Aggression against all tribes, and calls for a Council of Chiefs; twelve days from now."

Valka, who was seated to the left of her son, let out a soft gasp; "There hasn't been a Council of Chiefs since… since…"

"Since Drago came north the first time," Hiccup finished. He frowned, and snatched up the scroll again. A moment later, his eyes widened, "Odin's Ghost!"
An instant later, he was on his feet; calling to Swiftwing, one of the Terrible Terrors he'd trained to carry air- mail messages. The moment the Terrible Terror landed on his shoulder, Hiccup began to speak in a low voice.
The moment Hiccup finished giving him his message; Swiftwing nodded once, and launched himself into the air. Seconds later, the Terrible Terror had shot between the doors to the hall, and vanished from view.

By now, Astrid was also on her feet, "Hiccup; what's happening?"

Hiccup took a deep breath, "Sorry about that … I was thinking about the 'two- banners' thing, than thought back to Drago, and… something clicked."

Snotlout, who was sitting a short distance away, frowned, "What do banners have to do with anything?"

Hiccup held up the scroll, "It's all here: The devices on the enemy's sails were different because they belong to different tribes! Whoever the Kraken- banners belong to has been conquering other tribes; absorbing their resources and warriors into their own ranks … If I had to guess: I'd say they take hostages after every conquest, and use them as leverage to keep their 'new recruits' in line. And, if their fleet is as large as reported, they've been doing it for a long, long time."

The silence that followed stretched for several minutes; until Valka said, "And the message you sent; what was it?"

Hiccup shifted, slightly. "I've asked The Colony to send patrols to the other tribes' villages; to keep watch for any … 'suspicious activity', but to remain out of sight, and undetected."

As was so often the case, Astrid was first to grasp his meaning. "You think they're planning to do the same thing here!"

Hiccup nodded, "The attack on the Shivering Shores could have been a distraction to cover two or three other ships, moving north from another direction… If that is the case, though, these ships wouldn't risk moving by day, and chance being sighted, so the Night- Furies should still reach their destinations first."

Fishlegs stepped forward, hesitantly. "Uh… Hiccup; if the Night- Furies find an abduction-in-progress, and try to interfere, wouldn't that put people who're being abducted at risk?"

Toothless snorted. 'My kin will be observing, not interfering, in the events they witness … If they witness an abduction, one will return here; with news of where and when it happened, and who was taken; the others will follow them. Once they have arrived at their destination, another will report back; so we'll know where they are.'

"And once we know that…" Hiccup's usual smile was back, as was the gleam in his eyes.

Astrid shook her head; also smiling, "You've already got your 'contingency plan' figured out, don't you?"

"Of course," Hiccup said, as he and Astrid returned to their seats. "In the meantime, I see no reason for our (ahem) plans to change." He winked at Astrid, she blushed, and the tension in the room drained away.
Five minutes later, you never would have believed that news of a potential war on the horizon had just been reported: Hiccup, they knew, had things under control.

Part Two – Unexpected Visitors

The following morning;

A few hours before noon, just as Hiccup was cluing up his time at the forges, he heard someone shouting his name. A moment later, Meatlug came in for a landing, and Fishlegs slid off the Gronkle's back. "Boats … coming!" Fishlegs wheezed. "Kraken banner!"

A few minutes later;

A crowd of villagers had gathered to watch, as the two boats slowly drew nearer to the island; coming to a full stop, about two miles off- shore.
From there, those gathered on the cliff top had a clear view of the deck, and of a man who appeared to be tying a scroll onto a birds' leg. A moment later, the man released the bird, gesturing towards Berk, as he did.

The bird rose into the air, and shot towards the island. As it came within hearing distance, it squawked, and said "Note for the Chief; Note for the Chief! (Squawk)."
It landed on a low branch, in a near-by tree, and stuck out the leg with the scroll tied to it.

Hiccup, clad as he was in his dragon- scale armor, moved forward, untied the scroll, and read it. A moment later, he said, "They want to talk; 'a group of three', and they've agreed to come unarmed." He was silent for a moment, and then said, "This should be… 'Informative'."

Twenty minutes later;

About twenty minutes later, a rowboat pulled up to the beach. The two muscular men who'd been rowing jumped into the water, to pull the boat the last few feet to shore. The two men were clearly guards, though, as promised, their scabbards were empty. The third man was clad in robes, covered with intricate embroidery. Over his heart, the Kraken insignia was stitched in golden thread.

"I am Emric, of The Thirteen Kraken Lords," the man said, in a thickly accented voice. He considered the crowd assembled on the beach; several dozen men – all armed, Astrid, Valka, and, of course, Hiccup. "Here to speak with your Chief."

"That would be me," Hiccup said, taking a step forward, as he spoke. Emric's gaze fixed on him, and Hiccup could have sworn the man's face went a little pale. "You… you are Hiccup?"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, "How is it that you know my name, if you don't mind my asking?"

Emric's guards shifted, as though uneasy, but Emric appeared not to notice. "We know you only by reputation," he admitted. "As I said: I am here on behalf of The Thirteen Kraken Lords; the joint- rulers of the greatest empire of the south! We heard your name from the survivors who followed a 'former applicant'; Drago–"
Emric's voice drifted to silence, and there was little question as to why.

For the first time that anyone could recall, Hiccup looked truly angry; his expression was cold, and his eyes burned. In a deceptively calm tone, Hiccup said, "'Drago Bludvist'; the man responsible for my father's death…"
As Hiccup spoke, a growl sounded from behind the assembled Vikings. The crowd parted, and Toothless, the Night- Fury, came forward. When he reached Hiccup, the latter placed a hand on the dragon's shoulder.
Turning back to Emric and his men, all of whom were wide- eyed and white faced; Hiccup said, "As you can see, my friend, here, is about as 'fond' of the name 'Drago' as I am… We have nothing more to say to one another, so I suggest you leave."

Without another word, The Kraken Lord, Emric, scurried back onto his boat. The guards rushed to push the boat off shore, than scrambled back into it. The trip back to the boat was 'noticeably faster' than their journey towards Berk.

Once the boats had raised their sails, and began turning back the way they'd come, Hiccup took several deep breaths, allowing his anger to drain away. "Well… We certainly made an impression."
That startled a chuckle out of several of the Vikings, and the crowd began to break up; as everyone went back to their various tasks: there was a wedding to prepare for, and only a few hours left to get ready!

That evening; Astrid,

Astrid couldn't believe how quickly the afternoon had passed… How quickly the ceremony had passed! To her, it was all a blur of motion and words: hers, Hiccup's, and several others. Now she was married! … She gazed around the inside of their new home. Despite the time, she felt surprisingly energized. She smiled to herself.

Part Three – Gathering of Chiefs

Four days later, Berk;

For days later, Hiccup received the news he'd half- expected. A Night- Fury scout arrived at the Great Hall, just as the Vikings were gathering for supper: the wife, teenage daughter, and young son of (a northern- chief) had been taken in the early- hours of that morning, before the rest of their tribe cleared the sleep from their eyes.
The rest of the Night- Fury patrol was following them to their destination, as planned.

The following day,

The following morning, a second Night- Fury returned to Berk, with news of their targets' final destination.

Hiccup smiled, thanked the Night- Fury; turning to Astrid, he asked "Do you mind if I borrow Sneaky for a few days?" – Sneaky being the Terrible- Terror Astrid had trained, several years earlier, in the dragon- training competition Hiccup had judged.

Astrid looked surprised, but nodded. Sneaky swooped down, settling on the table between them. Hiccup produced a scroll, slid it to a carrying tube; and handed it to the Terrible- Terror, who gripped it in her claws.
Hiccup smiled at Astrid; and turned back to Sneaky, "I just need you to deliver this; they'll fill you in on the other details once you're on your way." He turned to the two Night- Furies, "You know what to do."

The two black dragons smiled, and the three dragons rose into the sky.

Seven days later,

The hall where the previous Council of Chiefs had convened had, of course, been burned to the ground years ago. Instead, the Chiefs of The Archipelagos met in the Great Hall of Berk. True: It had been the Chief of The Shivering Shores who had 'called' the Council, but several of the other Chiefs had expressed concerns about travelling to a region where such a formidable enemy had so recently been encountered.
In an effort to prevent events from getting out of hand, Hiccup had offered to host the gathering on Berk, under the protection of the Berk Dragons, and human warriors both. This offer had been unanimously accepted, as many of the Chiefs were 'cautiously curious' about Berks' work with dragons, and no-one could deny that a force of dragons would make for formidable defenders, should 'The Enemy' choose to attack.

As was often the case, there was a 'certain amount' of arguing: Any tribes already engaged in a dispute would insist on presenting their case to the group; both sides hoping to win support from the others at the table.
An 'alliance', of sorts, quickly formed, and forced the conversation to the real topic they'd assembled to discuss; the 'alliance' consisting of Hiccup, and the Chiefs of The Shivering Shores, and The Stony Shores.

The Chiefs had gathered; The Council was ready to convene.

To Be Continued…