I Own Nothing
All Rights Reserved
Thanks for all the glowing reviews! Now, there are a few things people have been asking that I wish to address:
Valka is not showing up in this nor is Heather, nor will the Defender of the Wing people. And the woman Dogsbreath met with in Chapter 11 is a character I created
This story has a ways to go before it's finished, and what is about to come is NOT the climax,
To the reader named Mana, you figured out some of the next few chapters before you even read them. Congratulations!
I would really like to thank FenixWarriorBrX13 and especially LucyBC1990 for their suggestions with this story. Had it not been for their advice and suggestions this story would be vastly different and inferior compared to what it is now. Thank you very much.
Chapter 13
The Letter
Leagues away from Berk the Dragon King and his brother shot through the air like lightning.
"Soaring by each white cloud
Like a tern we glide over the sea
Some say this fun is not allowed
But who cares? Certainly not me!
We pull death cheating tricks
And seek lands untouched by humankind
To the ground I say 'fiddlesticks'
And leave all our troubles behind"
"Just like how you left your talents behind?" The dragon groaned as he covered his ears.
"Like you would know, you tone deaf lizard!" laughed the King. "Well, Bud, shall we try this again?"
"Only if you want to give me a heart attack." The dragon groaned.
"Oh come on, it'll be fine!" He pulled a lever that held Toothless's tail fin in place so he could glide, and prepared to jump off. Then he spotted a dragon trapper ship below them. "Hold up, Bud! Change in plans!" He changed the lever and they swooped downwards.
"One mast, five net launchers, hull has metal covering, six trappers visible, looks big enough for a crew of ten, heading northward…what d'ya say, Bud? Shall we call for backup or take this one on our own?" The scream of a Nadder reached their ears. "I think that settles it."
"Let's do this, boss!" Toothless roared and dived.
The trappers hardly had five seconds of warning when the dragon smashed onto their deck. With one powerful swipe of his tail Toothless sent three of them flying overboard.
"Take out the nets launchers! I'll get the hold opened!" With precision the King whipped out his sword and slashed it through the locks on the cargo hold. He jumped in while Toothless shot plasma blasts at the remaining trappers, forcing them to stay back.
"The pikes!" One hunter shouted.
"I don't think so!" Toothless laughed and he blasted the box the man was reaching for. The pikes were reduced to splinters. A Nadder and two Monstrous Nightmares emerged from the hold, making the boat list badly. The King was casually hanging onto the horns of one Nightmare.
"His name's Hookfang!" The dragon beamed with pride.
"Don't get any ideas, you! He's my human!" Toothless yelled at the Nightmare. The King chuckled as he mounted him.
"Jealous, eh? All right, let's get out of here!" The rescued dragons needed no more urging.
"Go! Go ahead and flee, you coward!" One trapper shouted at them. Toothless paused. He did not like being called a coward.
"Bud, ignore him."
"Go and run away, you demon loving freak!" Now it was the King's turn to pause. The man saw this and sneered at him. "What's the matter? Can't take a few insults?"
"What's your name?" The King asked, fighting to keep his voice steady.
"I am Eret, son of Eret; the finest dragon trapper in the world!" The man replied proudly. He was a stocky man with a very broad chest and a face that you could crack rocks on.
"Yet you had only three dragons in the hold." The King pointed out. "Hardly a record setting voyage."
"And now thanks to you we'll have to start all over again!" Eret son of Eret shouted at him. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've given us? Do you have any idea what Drago will do to us if we turn up empty handed? Look at this!" He gestured to a large burn mark on his chest. "He made that the last time I came back with too few dragons! He swore it would be my head the next time!"
"Then why do you serve him?" The King retorted. "If you're in that much danger, leave! You've got a ship! There a thousand ports out there he'll never find you in!"
"Drago's going to conquer the world and you know it. We'll never be safe."
"The world is a very big place, Eret, 'son of Eret'. As a sailor you oughta know that. Nobody could conquer all of it. Drago certainly won't after I'm done with him. Find a new place to live and a new occupation, and I'll make certain Drago never finds you again."
"New occupation? That's your game, is it? Put our lives in danger, ruin our livelihoods, then suggest we leave our homes and find new jobs! We were raised since birth to be dragon trappers, and you want us to toss that aside!"
"Why not? I did something similar! And as for finding work, every one of you could become fishermen or merchant sailors, or if you crave excitement I'm sure there are armies on the continent looking for soldiers! But as long as I'm around, you're not going to make anything dragon trapping. I am going to ruin that line of business permanently!" And with that they took off into the sky. The trappers wanted to shoot a net at them, only to find the launchers were all destroyed. All they could do was pull their drifting comrades back on board and sigh as they cleaned up.
"Do you think he's right, Sir?"
"Drago might not conquer the entire world, but he'll get most of it sooner or later. We'll never get far enough away if we run, lads."
"But we can't go back like this!"
"We're not going to." Eret sighed. "We'll keep looking. If we're late we'll explain that we had to stop for repairs and returned as quickly as we could." And maybe during that time that man will kill Drago and we won't have to worry about it, he thought hopefully. Now that he thought about it, a life in the army did not sound like such a bad idea compared to life as it was now. At least there the only people threatening to kill you would be on the opposing side where they were supposed to be.
"Or maybe we could seek protection with—"
"Not that!" Eret shouted quickly, "We're not so desperate that we need to seek his protection!"
"But we're excellent dragon hunters, sir, I'm sure he'd welcome us!"
"No! Between Drago and Grimborn, I'll side with Drago any day. Drago may be brutal, but he doesn't give me the creeps as badly!"
It was night when Snotlout made his way over to Mildew's house. He had to bang on the door a few times before Mildew answered.
"Oh, it's you, is it? Sorree, lad, but ya blew it. Ah can't 'elp ya now." And he shut the door.
Snotlout was stunned. "Now just a minute! I paid you a lot of good money to help me and you're just dumping me?"
Mildew opened the door again. "That's politics, boy." Then he shut it again.
Snotlout banged on it furiously. "Then I want my money back! Give it back or I'll tell the Chief everything!"
"Pu-leeze! Wot makes ya think 'e'd ever listen ta ya now? Nothin' ya say will make any difference! An' Dogsbreath an' 'Ognose know better than ta side wid ya too! Now go away!"
As he made his way back through the dark, Snotlout felt very alone. Very alone and miserable.
Of what was left of the Jorgenson family, Spitelout had a lot more success that night. He spent it with Stoick, after first declaring that he had no idea of what Snotlout had done, which they both knew to be true.
"I just can't believe things went so far as that!" Stoick exclaimed. "How, from where we started, did it come to this?"
"I know what ya mean. The family is either dead or disgraced and we're forced to settle on an outsider as the heir, and it's all because of them stupid dragons! And you know, I've been thinking about that…it's really quite a shame the King's dragon killed your boy."
Stoick put down his mead tankard. "Don't speak so loud. We don't know if we're being watched,"
"He promises us peace and yet spies on us! Some ally that man would be! And how would it look if Berk allied itself with the man responsible for the death of the Chief's son?" Spitelout whispered.
"Astrid insists he didn't. Says he told her sincerely he didn't. And you heard his excuse," His voice sank to a whisper, "but I don't believe it,"
"Even if it's true, he still took your son away from you, didn't he? He admitted that much! But then again, we should let the past go! Forget the fact that Valka and Hiccup were both killed by dragons! And you know, I think that King is a bit of a fool. I mean, he's got hundreds of dragons at his command…think of what he could do with that much power! Why, he could rule the world if he wanted to!" His voice sank even further. "True, he made it clear he did not want to use them for conquest, but supposing he had no say in the matter? Suppose we had the dragons under our control…isn't that what Valka always wanted?"
He was pushing on an opened door and he knew it. Stoick still had not forgotten about his family and the fact that dragons were responsible for it.
A long time ago, back when Stoick was being groomed to be Chief, he had often expressed a wish to be the greatest chief Berk had ever had, to end the war with dragons, to even conquer dragons and use them to establish a great Viking nation, which he would rule with wisdom and greatness. Youthful dreams at an age of life when anything seemed possible! Reality had quickly settled in and Stoick was compelled to largely forget about such dreams of conquest and greatness. He still wanted to be a great chief, as would anyone, but he acknowledged that much of what he had envisioned was mere fantasy from a young man who did not know what lay in store for him. They had been the merely desires of a young and inexperienced boy and he had grown up and realized that. Now, however, with a few words, Spitelout had rekindled those old ideas and hinted to Stoick that they were not impossible now.
And Stoick listened to him. Each day he had been thinking more and more of Valka and Hiccup and the fact that he had failed to avenge them. Each day he thought more and more of peace. Even if every tribe accepted the King's terms and made peace with the dragons, the tribes would then probably turn on each other and a new series of wars would break out. Surely there had to be a way to stop this. Had he not insisted he fought with dragons to prevent others from suffering from the losses he had suffered? Stopping one war only to start another was hardly compatable with this reason. It seemed obvious to him that what was needed a single power to bring unity and put an end to this mindless violence. And why should not Berk be the one to bring this about?
The scent of power is incredibly fragrant and alluring. Dreams of glory and greatness can be more seductive than a siren, and just as deadly in some respects. And like sailors wildly leaping into the sea after sirens, so Stoick leapt into the sea of words that flowed from Sptielout's mouth. They were already what he wanted to hear and he went along with them readily.
So Spitelout and Stoick began the plan Stoick had first suggested the night after Astrid had returned. They wrote the gist of it out on parchment and kept between the two of them. Unbeknowst to him, Snotlout was volunteered by his father. But whenever Spitelout suggested that maybe Snotlout should get another chance, Stoick was adamantly against it. Astrid was the heir and that was that. Still, to improve the family reputation after what had just happened, as they wrote their plan out, Stoick agreed that Snotlout should be allowed a part in it. All the same, he was to be kept in the dark about it until the last minute, as would the rest of Berk. They both knew a single untimely word might ruin everything, and knowing the people of Berk, there would be a lot of words once this got out.
One general consistency with the mentality of the public is that it has been a tendency to move onto a new subject fairly quickly. After a few days of gossip a subject loses its audience and a new vein is sought out to strike at. Evidently the wells of gossip had run dry on Berk, because two weeks after Astrid's return the Dragon King was still the foremost, and practically only topic of conversation. Nobody doubted as to why there was a spring in her step when she was walking, why she was teaching in a very gracious and forgiving mood, and how she had managed to set a record for longest period of time on Berk without punching someone.
Another subject that got people talking was the bribe, the news of which, despite the best efforts of Spitelout and Stoick, had spread throughout the island and provided lots of comedic moments for villagers. Even though he was involved with it, Mildew took to making made loud and rude remarks whenever Snotlout had passed by. Snotlout retaliated by getting the Twins to catapult bags full of yak dung onto Mildew's rickety house. The three of them were punished for this, of course, but amazingly Stoick did not make them help Mildew clean off his house. He just gave them jobs to do at the docks.
All of these made for a lot of rousing conversation around the table and during the hours of labor. But it was all eclipsed when Stoick made a startling announcement and left a piece of parchment in the center of the plaza for a Terrible Terror to pick up.
The King was sketching a new design for a machine for planting crops, when a Terrible Terror flew in carrying a piece of parchment.
"Thanks pal! Now what's this?" He read the letter, re-read it twice more, and then ran out of his room shouting "Toothless! Get the others! Get the others!"
In the Main Hall the King paced about impatiently as the others arrived. When they were all assembled he said without preamble "Listen to this!
"To the Dragon King, Greetings,
I am very glad to say that Astrid returned safely. No offense is meant, but we were not entirely certain if we had sent her to her death or not. But after what I have heard and seen, I have decided to accept your terms. However, I wish to go over a few small points with you in person. I therefore would like to invite you to Berk this coming Thor's Day. We shall have a ceremonial dinner to celebrate our new alliance and finalize the agreement. In addition, I shall take the opportunity to officially declare Astrid Hofferson as my successor. The dinner shall take place at sundown in Mead Hall, which Astrid assures me you know the location of, or can find out very easily. I only ask that you not bring any dragons into the village. It would be all too easy for some drunkard to make a gesture a dragon might find threatening, and that could easily lead to a big mess which would be a horrible way to commemorate this occasion. Therefore, if any dragons must come to Berk, I ask that they remain in the woods where they won't be stumbled upon. I hope to see you on Thor's Day at sundown, and until then,
Your true servant
Chief Stoick the Vast of the Hairy Hooligans"
The dragons burst into cheers. The King flung his arms around Toothless, who responded by licking him.
"We've done it, guys! Step one is completed!" The King shouted, "And it'll be just a matter of time before the other tribes will be joining in too! Right, now what's fashionable to wear to a Viking dinner?"
Thor's Day could not arrive fast enough for him, and when it finally did come, he was so excited he could barely mount Toothless. One mishap occurred the day before, however. The King had been practicing using the grappling hook hidden in his shield, and the rope had snapped. He had no coils of rope long enough to satisfy him at the moment, so he decided to pick some up while at Berk.
"We won't be back until tomorrow morning," he told Grimm, who would be in charge during their absence. "Knowing Vikings this 'dinner' will probably go all night, so we'll probably stay the night on Berk and leave at daybreak."
"Be careful," Grimm warned. Of the council members he had been the least joyous and most suspicious about the turn of events.
"Oh don't be such a worrywart! We'll be fine," the King laughed dismissively, "You guys can relax; I have already made preparations in case this is a trap. All right, Bud, let's head for Berk!"
"Have hope, Grimm," Persephone said once they had left, "It is not that hard a thing to have, you know."
"Maybe in Japan," the Skrill grumbled, "but I learned a long time ago that in these parts having hope just makes the disaster all the more crushing."
"That's nonsense. Humans can be as good and kind creatures as any other."
"But you know," Midnight mused, "it is rather risky to just let him go with only Toothless to keep them safe."
"But he said he's made preparations!" Shamrock pointed out,
"Yes he did," Grimm replied, "he told me everything last night,"
"What are the latest reports from Berk, anyway?" Midnight asked,
"Nothing much. The Chief is still writing an awful lot—of course we don't know what he's actually been writing. I've been meaning to have a word with the Hatchling about that. He thought the Chief might be writing letters to other tribes urging them to join the cause."
"Well, he is a Chief," Shamrock pointed out, "I imagine he has a lot of correspondence,"
"All the same…"
Persephone insisted "Hearts can change! His did when he saw the Beta for the first time!" Then she paused. "At the same time, it cannot hurt to make certain, can it, just to be on the safe side?"
"No it can't," Grimm agreed, "will anyone volunteer to come with me and check on them?"
All of them immediately raised their tails.
"That's what I thought."
Many hours later Toothless and his rider landed in a cove at Raven Point. It was far enough from the village that they could arrive unnoticed.
It was a beautiful spot. Rocks covered in soft, furry moss lay strewn about the ground. There was a pool of sparkling clear blue water in the center. The cove was surrounded by tall, thick, and ancient trees, with gnarly limbs and twisted roots, often covered in ivy or lichen. Tall, stately boulders surrounded the place, and baring a few random gaps the wall they formed was nigh impregnable.
"I remember this place,"
"Well I should hope so! Do you want your saddle taken off?"
"I'll keep it on, thanks. I wish you'd remove this fin, though."
"We've been through this, Toothless. I'm hopeful everything will go just fine, but I'd be a fool if I didn't take a few precautions." He really wished he had not left his shield behind, but it was too late now. "Besides, this way you can fly around and entertain yourself if you want—just don't go near the village."
"Don't worry!" Toothless laughed hollowly, "The last thing I want is to go near a bunch of smelly Vikings! Now their sheep…"
"Paws off, Bud,"
Toothless suddenly darted forward and gave him a big lick.
"Toothless! I was trying to look nice for the dinner!"
"Aw, so what? Since when do Vikings look nice anyway? Bunch of stinky bearded drunkards who throw axes for the fun of it…"
"That's not the point! You know that stuff doesn't wash out!"
"Yes, I know it, because you tell me every time," Toothless grumbled.
"If I get ridiculed for my appearance, I'm making you take a bath."
"HOLY SHEEP! I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!" And the dragon began to try and wipe the slime off his rider's suit. He pushed too hard and they both fell over, Toothless pinning the King to the ground.
"Out of curiosity, since you were complaining about how Vikings smell, how do you manage to smell fine if you don't take baths?" The King asked once he had stopped laughing.
"It's my natural dragon hygiene." Toothless replied proudly.
"Right." His friend turned to leave.
"You do know this could be a trap, right?"
"Yes it could. Or it could not. There's only one way to find out, and I'm going to do that. Tonight, Berk reveals her true colors," he really wanted to believe they were just being overtly suspicious. But just in case, "You remember what to do, yes?"
"Yes,"
He set off into the woods in the highest of spirits. They had intentionally taken their time arriving on Berk, so by now the sun was starting to set. The early evening air was cool and pleasant. Where there were shafts of sunlight poking through the trees, small groups of gnats were darting about. He noticed as he walked that a number of trees had thin but deep gouges in them about 5 feet up the trunk.
"Some things don't change, do they, Astrid?" he chuckled.
At the mention of her and changes, and as he got closer to the village, apprehension began to creep into his mind. He was about to see people who he wasn't certain he actually wanted to see. It had been different with the gathering of Chiefs. A lot of those people had been strangers to him his entire life, and he had had the advantage of surprise on his side. A hand slid to his helmet. He wouldn't reveal himself tonight. He wanted to let people adjust first and get used to his presence before he did. He knew, however, that he could not keep this charade up indefinitely, especially if he was compelled to remain on Berk for a while to help them integrate dragons. Sooner or later somebody would see him with him mask off, or maybe even pull it off. He thought of what Drago or Dagur would do once word got out of his identity. He had little doubt that they might try to use his identity as leverage against him, but his hope had always that by that point it would not matter. He had planned to have Drago and his power base finished once and for all, and had hopes, which granted were shrinking daily, that Dagur could be changed, or perhaps the Berserkers would grow tired of his antics and overthrow him.
"Still, if Berk has dragons and those men don't," he said to himself, "that should guarantee the safety of everybody. I'd feel much better if I knew Astrid and Gobber had a dragon guarding them every night. So once my identity is revealed, the key to their safety will be to ensure dragons don't fall into the wrong hands. We're already doing that, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'll have to talk to him about it—oh gods, I'm going to have an actual talk with him! Now when was the last time that happened? I honestly can't remember." The prospect of having a one on one talk with Chief Stoick added to the apprehension he already felt.
"On the other hand," he mused, "I'll get to see Gobber. I was a bit disappointed that he wasn't at the gathering of Chiefs, but I should have realized he wouldn't be. I hope I get the chance to talk to him. And Fishlegs…it'll be nice to see him too, I guess," He frowned. "And then there's Snotlout and his father, and Mildew and Dogsbreath. The Twins I can handle, I think. But Mildew? I seriously can't understand why he wasn't banished decades ago. I mean, couldn't somebody else plant the cabbages?" He looked at a tree as if it was a person. "You'd be a more pleasant cabbage planter, you know that? Talking to trees…maybe I'm going crazy…all this living away from humans, yep." Laughing, he picked his way over some boulders and proceeded onwards.
As he got closer to Berk he noticed it was far too quiet. He could hear birds singing, true, but nothing else. No hustle and bustle from the village, no shouting and swearing, no clanging of tools, and no explosions caused by the Twins. His only conclusion was that everyone must be in Mead Hall waiting for him, and that thought made him even more nervous. Having a one on one talk with the Chief was going to be interesting enough, to put it mildly, but now he guessed he'd have to make an appearance in front of the entire village. And while on second thought he realized he should have guessed that earlier, it was not something he had wanted to do here. He'd never spoken to such a large group of humans before. What if they all just started laughing at him? What if they didn't listen? What if he made a complete fool of himself in front of them?
"It's for the dragons," he told himself, "and for peace. I can do this."
Inside Mead Hall, where the entire village was gathered, Snotlout rushed over to Stoick shouting "he's coming, he's coming!"
Stoick quickly stood up at the podium and waved his hand for silence. "Snotlout, Spitelout, get ready! All right, listen up everyone! I want you to read this parchment silently. This is what the plan is for tonight."
The sun was almost down when he finally reached the edge of the village. His theory that everyone was in Mead Hall was confirmed by what he saw. Aside from the Hall in the town center, whose windows were warmly lit and bright, the rest of the place was deserted. Silence dominated, except for a faint drone he could hear from Mead Hall.
"Hasn't changed too much," he observed, "though I think the timbers on those houses look a bit worn…" He took a deep breath. "All right, I can do this."
He slowly walked to the entrance of Mead Hall. A guard was standing there. With a jolt he realized he was looking at Gustav Larson. A decade ago he'd been one of Snotlout's disciples and had the second or third worst crush on Astrid Hofferson. A little shrimp of a kid back then, but now he had gotten a lot taller and a little more muscular. He still wore his old necklace, though.
"Evening," the King said quietly.
"You're the Dragon King, I take it?"
"That would be correct. I believe I'm expected?"
Gustav laughed, "Oh yes, you're expected. Everyone's in there waiting. Here, I'll go ahead and announce you."
'That's a bit unusual,' the King thought, 'they usually don't announce people at these kinds of things…but then I am the guest of honor.'
Gustav returned. "Come on in, your Majesty,"
"Really," the King said as he followed him inside, "there's no need to call me—"
He had a split second glimpse of a crowd and wooden tables when a heavy net dropped onto him.
Authors note: You're all going to hate me for ending the chapter like this, aren't you? Next update will be Sunday September 18th.