So not as many reviews as normal, but an influx of new followers! That makes me feel special all the same (:
I finally finished jotting out everything I want to happen for the rest of the story. I'm planning on nineteen to twenty chapters total, so we've got eight or nine more chapters to go after this one! Hope you all enjoy them!
And, while I was writing this chapter... Fanfiction logged me out for some reason. So... three fourths of Alvin's section in this chapter vanished because I hadn't saved it yet. THANKS, FANFICTION -_- So I apologize because when I went back to re-write it, I just didn't put as much thought into it as the first time around x3
Snake Screamer: Really? Interesting. I will probably not be playing that familial relationship in this story, but that's cool to know!
Thanks to my other reviewers: KaliAnn, Endermoon, Egyptprncssxoxo, storygirl99210, Kyuubi's Death, Pewter Griffon, and JJ! Also to the people that have just faved/followed this story! You are all awesome!
Lastly, three things before I get onto this chapter.
One. Obviously, the most recent episode introduced Spitelout's character a lot and he's nothing like how I portrayed him. That's okay. To be honest, I feel like where I'm separating from the show is before the Heather episodes. I could incorporate Heather if I wanted, but I feel like I would have needed to mention her earlier for her to come in smoothly. So, consider this my version of the Heather episodes... without Heather or the fight being over the Book of Dragons xD I actually originally thought about how Alvin might just want the book but, lets face it, it's not as interesting if he's just chasing down a book. So, therefore, my version of the characters will not be influenced by many of the newer episodes (unless I feel it could be important to my story).
Two. This chapter isn't the most exciting one. So it's a bit shorter than my last two because I don't want to drag you guys through a chapter that is mostly informational and explanatory. I apologize in advance, but it's one of those chapters I need to do even though it's not my favorite. But I suggest still reading carefully, as I feel like it ties up some loose ends. After this one, the story will speed back up again as the second battle approaches! I'm super pumped for those chapters, they'll be awesome!
Three. One more OC. Honestly, he's going to sound important from this chapter... but he won't be in the long run... He'll turn into, like, Savage and Guts, where he's important for a certain part but not much else x3
Chapter Eleven: The Enemies
Hiccup scanned the contents of the letter again. It was a letter addressed to Alvin, the handwriting sloppy and barely legible, but still clear to understand. It spoke about how she, Hella, could arrive within a week. However, the letter had been written a week ago. Meaning that she had reached Outcast Island today. The thought made Hiccup tense. Help for the enemy had arrived. He wanted to crumple the paper in his hands up until it was nothing more than a ball of parchment, rough and jagged. He contained himself, though, and handed it over to Astrid, who looked over it with wide, blue eyes.
The letter went on to talk about how she would be arriving with a good number of men, over two hundred. Men she had gathered from another island. The people were known as the Folk i Isen. Hiccup knew only small tidbits about them. They were not a tribe that Berk often dealt with and, based on the way his father spat the words out, he believed it was not a tribe Berk wanted to deal with. He stood there, watching his father seethe, breath escaping in sharp hisses between clenched teeth. The Hooligan chief clenched his fists, leaned back in his chair, then got antsy and leaned back forward, waiting for all the teens to read the paper before he begun his explanation.
Fishlegs, to spare them some time, read it out loud for Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Snotlout. The three knew how to read, but they were slower at it. It would be even harder for them to make out the poorly scratched words. Completely confused, the three exchanged glances before Snotlout, Fang resting on his shoulder, voiced the question that was on each of their minds, "What does this mean?"
Toothless, who was standing off to the side, snorted and wiggled impatiently, as if he, too, was eager to hear what Stoick had to say. The Night Fury jogged around in a quick circle before curling up, knowing better than to light the floor of the house on fire to settle into. That's what the slab upstairs in Hiccup's room was for.
Stoick, content to know the teens were all on the same page now, nodded his head and stood, coming around the table to face them all. He was grim, his mouth drawn into a hard line and his green eyes seeming to darken. He leaned back against the table, crossing his arms after a quick stroke of his thick, curly beard. He nodded his head once more, stating, "It seems there is to be a whole new fight ahead of us. Hella was a girl that I grew up with. She was banished by my father when she murdered a child and her own father."
"Murdered a child?" Astrid exclaimed, her voice edged as she repeated the words. "And her own father?"
"She claimed her father was abusive so he needed to be killed. She used the child as bait to lure him into a home about to be destroyed by a Zippleback. I saw it happen, I was the one who told my father about it."
"Was her father even abusive?" Fishlegs asked.
Stoick's gaze glanced at his feet. "Only Spite knew her well enough. According to him, the man was cruel. However, even he couldn't stand up for Hella when she killed the child, too. He had been trying to hold out and hope that she would eventually seek his help."
Hiccup winced at the mentioning of his uncle and he avoided looking at Snotlout. Hicup nodded, unable to truly wrap his head around this. How could someone be so messed up? Then again, Alvin was pretty messed up himself. How, though? Hiccup stumbled forward as the thought crossed his mind. He needed to ask his dad about the mistake... What had Alvin been talking about?
"Yes, Hiccup, what is it?" Stoick asked when his son approached him a couple steps.
"Why was Alvin talking about fixing your mistake?"
Hiccup rarely saw his father at a loss for words. But the man pushed away from the table, mouth hanging open. He trailed away from them all, heavy footsteps echoing dully across the room. Toothless picked his head up, sensing the sudden change in atmosphere from just curiosity and anger to tense and uncertain. The dragon chattered, urging Stoick to continue. He then looked at Hiccup with his wide eyes, elongated scales twitching as he cocked his head, checking over his human.
Hiccup winced, looking down at his leg, though the bandages were hidden under his pants. He pulled his head back up and gave Toothless a gentle smile, "I'm fine, bud."
"The mistake, according to Alvin, was that I didn't kill you when you were young."
Stoick's sudden statement caught everyone off guard. The words, even more, seemed to penetrate the very souls of the teens standing there as if it was a dark secret they weren't meant to hear. Hiccup seemed to have paled a couple shades and he teetered, but Astrid wrapped an arm around him to keep him up. He could hardly feel her warm embrace as a strange numbness clung to his body out of confusion. Kill him? Was his father supposed to kill him?
Stoick had glanced back to see how his son was reacting and saw the state of shock on his boy's face. He quickly realized he had more yet to explain and strode back over, shaking his head. "No, no, no, I'm sorry. Let me explain. You see, when we were young, Alvin was a small boy himself. Not quite as small as you, but plenty small. Anyways, the others and I used to give him such a hard time. I once even told him that... That when I was chief no one as puny as him would exist in the tribe."
"Why would you say something so dumb?" Tuffnut chuckled, but was elbowed in the stomach by his sister. Bruises not fully healed yet, he didn't just double over, but he fell onto his butt. "Ow! I'm hurt! I'm very much hurt!"
Ruffnut rolled her eyes and shushed him.
Stoick thanked the girl with a twitching smile before getting back to what he was saying. "I was young, brash, and too bold for my own good. However, I guess Alvin never forgot I said it and took it quite seriously. When you were five, you tried to help fight the dragons-"
"Big surprise there," Snotlout snorted. "Let me guess, it ended terribly?"
Stoick could only nod.
"Big surprise there," Astrid teased.
Hiccup, feeling offended, turned on his girlfriend, "Hey!"
"That's beside the point right now," Stoick interrupted before Hiccup could whip out a sarcastic comment. "Anyways, it gave Alvin the perfect chance to point fingers. He attacked me and then went after you to try and murder you himself. That was why he was banished."
"I feel like I should remember this critical point in my life where I was nearly killed," Hiccup mused.
"Alvin managed to knock you pretty hard. You didn't remember any of it when you came to. It's how you got the scar on your chin, though."
Hiccup gingerly reached up and rubbed his pointer finger across the raised skin of the tiny scar on his chin. Half the time he forgot it was there, it was barely noticeable. It was there, though, and now he knew why. It was a proclamation of the time he almost died just as him living and breathing was a proclamation to Alvin as to why he was outcasted. No wonder the man hated him so much. He hated Stoick for banishing him, but he hated Hiccup for, well, existing. Hiccup sighed, supposing he would have to start getting used to the idea of having people want him dead if he was going to be a chief one day.
"So, what about the Folk i Isen? What do they have to do with all of this?" Fishlegs asked, getting everyone back on track as to what was really important.
Stoick came back from across the room and resettled himself by leaning against the table. By this point in time, Hiccup's left leg felt on fire from standing so much. He lifted Astrid's arm up, as she was still holding him, gave her a reassuring smile and then wandered to the steps and sat down upon one, feeling the release of stress on his leg as soon as his weight was redirected to his rear.
"The Folk i Isen are a tribe that live to the East of the Shivering Shores. So they're a fair distance away from Berk. They're one of the tribes that show up to the meetings between the nearby chiefs. They're also one of the islands still struggling to grow used to dragons. In fact, they probably still hunt them every now and then for the sport. You see, I will be honest here, Berk and the other tribes liked to compete on which island could have the most Nightmare heads. Berk was always in first and the Folk i Isen were always second. Well, that irked them a great deal. But if that wasn't enough, I didn't aid them during a starving period after a bigger freeze than normal hit their island one time," Stoick explained, gruff voice growing confident now that he was speaking on more... political terms.
"Why not?" Astrid inquired.
"It was the day after a raid so we had all ready lost a fair amount of food from the night before. I explained this to their leader, Frosne Hjerte, but he refused to believe I couldn't spare his people some food. So, well, he grew bitter towards me and, by chain of events, his whole tribe slowly came to hate Berk."
Hiccup asked for the letter back and Fishlegs waddled over, providing him the parchment. Hiccup pressed it flat on his lap, reading over it again. Puzzled, he looked at his father and asked, "Hella says she's bringing the warriors of the Folk i Isen to Outcast Island. How could she have gained their trust?"
"She must have survived all these years. After she was banished, we never heard of or about her again. Once she heard we and the Folk i Isen were enemies, she must have gone there to fight for their trust. They had a common enemy and that's all people need sometimes to join sides."
"Is that why they're friends with Alvin, too?" Tuffnut asked from the floor, where he had resigned to sitting instead of bothering to stand back up. "Because they're all jerks?"
"Right idea, Tuffnut," Astrid praised.
Stoick chuckled lightly, adding, "Alvin, Hella, and the Folk i Isen all share the common enemy of the Isle of Berk."
"Those jerks!" Tuffnut spat.
Snotlout stepped forward suddenly, a grin on his face, "If we always beat them in killing dragons then we can definitely beat them all now! Especially since we are now friends with the dragons."
Fishlegs nodded hopefully, seeing where Snotlout was going.
Stoick shrugged. "The Folk i Isen are cold natured. They can be brutal, but they're not tactful. So we'll see. I must be off to the Great Hall. I am meeting with Gobber, Hoark, Phlegma, and Blisteria to discuss battle tactics."
"Battle tactics?" Hiccup asked, about to push himself back to his feet, hands at the ready to push his body into a standing position.
Nodding, the chief stared over with a hard gaze, admitting, "If Hella is bringing the Folk i Isen, then we can not sit around and wait for them to come and attack us. We are going to strike them first."
"Awesome!" Ruffnut grinned, but was pulled backwards when Tuffnut snatched her hand and yanked it in an attempt to pull himself up. He ended up just sending her sprawling on the ground beside him. He burst into a fit of laughter, grinning and admitting, "Pretty sick!"
"You kids will be staying here," Stoick pointed.
Toothless growled, having enough of a grasp on what was being talked about to know that if the kids were ordered to stay, that meant he would have to, as well. Even if he could fly on his own, there would be no way he would be leaving Hiccup. He went where Hiccup went, but he wanted Hiccup to be able to go to battle so they could fight side-by-side. His warning didn't phase Stoick, who was used to him now. Fang, however, was a new dragon.
The little beast hopped off of Snotlout's shoulder and lumbered over to Stoick, letting out an assortment of clicking noises. It stopped at the base of Stoick's feet, sitting and then turning his gaze upward with narrowed eyes, slits that stared Stoick down. The chief blinked, unsure what to make of the stare down he was getting from the tiny dragon. When he looked back up, he saw all pairs of eyes on him as Toothless, Hiccup, Astrid, Fighlegs, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Snotlout looked at him with rather disapproving grins.
"Dad... You know you need us," Hiccup finally reported, pushing himself to his feet at that moment.
Astrid nodded, swiping her bangs from her eyes, "Remember how good the twins and I did on the docks? Imagine if you had all five of our dragons working together, concentrated on the enemy and not just protecting people that were fine anyways. We've all recovered from out earlier injuries. We're up for this!"
Stoick hated understanding the sense in Astrid's words. The attack they were planning wasn't to happen for another week. If well rested, Hiccup's wrist would be able to come out of the cast (it had only been a sprain) and he would be able to use his leg well enough to work Toothless' tail. Astrid's bruise was nothing but a shade darker on her face, but even that would vanish entirely soon. Ruffnut's cheek was just a scar slashed across her face, not bothering her. Fishlegs was completely fine, though Tuffnut and Snotlout were the worse. Tuffnut's body refused to heal, the bruises still dark on his body, but he hadn't been sitting down and relaxing like he needed to be. Same with Snotlout, whose head was still mending.
"Fine," Stoick groaned, but raised a finger. "Under some conditions!"
The teens nodded obediently. They were glad to be going, but it was war, not a game. They tried to take it seriously, though the spark of excitement in Tuffnut and Ruffnut's eyes was difficult to miss. None of them aside from Hiccup and Snotlout had gotten the full taste of war in the last battle, so they had yet to understand the full horrors of battling while watching comrades fall and the pain of losing someone close to you.
"Tuffnut, Snotlout, and Hiccup, you three are not to leave bed except to use the bathroom and stretching. You need to heal properly and your bodies can't do that with you all walking around and about. Ruffnut, Astrid, and Fishlegs can help you guys with anything you need," Stoick started, then heard low whines from Toothless and Fang. "Toothless and Fang can help, too. The other condition is I want you to be properly equipped. Armor and weapons. Maybe some protection even for your dragons. Gobber's been working on some designs that might suit them all well so visit him to try it all on. Got that?"
"Yes, sir!" they all chimed in unison.
"Frosne!" Alvin greeted, marching across the sand to shake hands with the leader of the Folk i Isen. He reached out, grasping the man's firm grip and moving his hand up and down, shaking his head with a nodding smile. "Good to have you come to my island."
"Alvin," Frosne acknowledged. "Good to see you, I suppose."
Alvin winced. The man before him was meaty and strong looking. He didn't have quite the look of power that Alvin had, but something about him held an air of respect and authority. It frustrated Alvin because he was the one in charge, not this man. Frosne was a very pale man, dirt smeared across his face to give him a bit of a darker look. He wore several heavy layers of clothing, probably because their island was frigid at this time of year just as it was every other time. His eyes were wide and an exceedingly bright shade of blue, a shade that seemed to shine with a devilish glint. His hair was slicked back into a thick ponytail, but his beard was merely stubble, as he was obviously normally clean shaven to reveal the pointed chin and high cheekbones of his angular face. His smile was as appealing as a piece of crap.
"You will be fond of seeing me once I am the ruler of Berk and our two islands aid each other in complete conquest," Alvin cackled.
Frosne didn't appear pleased. "I care nothing for control, Alvin. Simply revenge and revenge only. Once Berk is yours, I expect you to simply leave us in peace and aid us when we're in trouble as payment for our current help."
Alvin sneered, not finding the man pleasant at all. He looked over at Hella. He motioned with his head towards Frosne and snarled, "Where'd you dig up this guy?"
"The Folk i Isen took me in after I explained to them I was also an enemy of Berk. I worked pretty hard to earn their trust and convince them that working alongside you would be worth it. Try not to blow it," the woman deadpanned.
Alvin blinked with a hidden frustration and forced himself to glance back at the four of his men left. They were exchanging glances, seeming unsure what to do. Alvin motioned for them to come forward and waved a hand out to the men that Frosne had brought. "Entertain the men of our guest while we speak in private," he ordered.
As the men trekked across the sand to meet up with the men on the boats, Alvin motioned for Hella and Frosne to follow him to the meeting chambers. He inquired as to why Frosne hated Berk so, but barely paid any mind to the man's explanation. Alvin could care less for another island's squander with Berk. He was doing this for his own revenge. For himself. For power. At this soothing thought, Alvin smiled a fake smile, one that slid across his face like honey. He glanced back over his shoulder to nod at Frosne, giving the man an appearance that he was listening to the tail of the Folk i Isen's desperate starvation after the biggest freeze their island had ever seen. When they climbed up into the meeting chamber, however, Alvin was ready to get down to business.
Frosne stated that he didn't want control, but Alvin would not feel eased of suspicions of treachery until an agreement was made. He started towards the door that led to the outside ledge, intent on closing it to escape prying ears if someone took a dragon to the ledge... Although only the injured Nightmare and the pitiful Nadder were left aside from Blood Cry.
As Alvin was about to shut the door, he saw the flash of crimson scales sailing towards the door. The Thunderdrum perched on the ledge, letting out a roar of greeting before yanking his head to tell Alvin to come look. The Outcast leader strode out onto the overhanging, coming alongside Blood Cry. He smirked, crackling with laughter when he noticed the beasts that Blood Cry wanted him to see.
"Well done, my power ally. You did well," Alvin praised the dragon, receiving a wide, fanged smile in response.
Heading back into the chamber, Blood Cry followed him in and shut the door with his tail. As the two neared, Alvin grew great feelings of pleasure in his stomach when he noticed a glimmer of haunted fear in Frosne's eyes. The man was certainly not quite used to dragons, yet. This pleased Alvin tremendously.
"So, the terms?" Alvin asked into the air.
Frosne, hiding his earlier fear, quickly piped up, declaring, "I will capture Stoick and kill him."
"What makes you so special as to earn the honor of killing Stoick?" Alvin questioned, dark eyes narrowing.
Frosne smiled, "Stoick is the reason I'm here. Let me be the one to plunge the sword through his heart. You can give me the signal, whenever you want me to do it. After you have Berk, my men and I will return to our island and expect nothing from you except aid when we are suffering."
Alvin mulled this idea over. He was not fond of the idea that he could not be the one to draw Stoick's blood, but he would have to move past it. At least he could decide when. So long as he could splatter the boy's blood, Stoick's was one honor he was willing to sacrifice. His gaze transferred to Hella.
"I want to return to Berk with you when this is done. I expect a high position, though," the woman replied coolly, her hazel eyes glinting.
"Done and done. So long as you all answer to me throughout the duration of this upcoming battle," Alvin announced.
Hella and Frosne exchanged an uneasy glance, Hella raising an eyebrow. She turned back to him and pointed out, "You rushed blindly into your last battle and look where it got you. I will follow you into this battle if and only if you take my plan into consideration. It beats mindless slaughter."
Alvin thought back to the beasts that Blood Cry had shown him. He turned and looked at his dragon, a smirk playing across his features. He then spun back to face his esteemed guests and chuckled. "I have an addition to your plan, actually. Have you ever heard of a dragon known as Scauldron?"
Mrrr... Told you it was a bit boring. And definitely shorter. But Fanfiction logging out on me doesn't help x3 But that's all right, the next chapters will pick back up (:
Not expecting too many reviews about the chapter since it was dull but I would love your thoughts on the Folk i Isen twist, Frosne (I promise he won't be very important except for, maybe, like, one more chapter? He'll be around, but not doing much ^^;), what you think might happen, or what you think of the story as a whole so far! 8D
Love,
Deyoxis