AN:

This chapter is also not beta'd. Pretty much the rest will be so as my beta has quit.

I AM SO SORRY for the time it took to release this. I have excuses that I'm sure you don't care about. Mainly, I actually do most of my writing in the margins of my notes and then type them up later. This whole chapter and the one after were written back in November but, I lost the paper. Also, I am a very slow typer.

Finally, over last semester I read some absolutely stunning fanfics. If you like Star Wars I recommend you head on over to read Blank101's stuff. All of them are glorious. They moved me to tears at a couple of points. If Avatar: the Last Airbender is more your thing and Zuko is your precious cinnamon bun, then check out Embers by Vathara.

In the meantime, enjoy the show.

Not much else to say. Please direct all questions to my inbox. Review and tell your internet friends.

And here we go.

I own nothing.

OF BOWS AND DRAGONS

Chapter 15: A Parting of Ways Part I

The moment the sails of Astrid's ship broke through the mist the call went out to every villager: salvation. They streamed to the dock. About four hundred Vikings of varying in age gathered onto the crowded docks. The feeling of hope permeated the village as they waited for the news. If the gods were kind Hiccup would be with the dragon trainers with a plan to make them safe. If not… well, that would be huddle to come to later.

The ship docked slowly and the assembly strained to see the people on deck. There were at least five human shapes on deck in addition to the four dragon shapes. This sent ripples of murmurs through the assembled Vikings. It was evident that Toothless and Hiccup had been brought back by the search party. At the sight, hope surged brighter.

The ship finished tying itself off and they began to disembark from the craft. The search team descended the ramp first while their dragons left to the mass roost to inform the others of what has been developing for the village and their chief. The team looked to be in more or less the same condition in which they had left but, it was evident Hiccup was not.

He did not descend the ramp alone. A young woman with great bushy flame colored hair in worn dress was almost supporting him as they made their way down the ramp. Neither looked to be in good condition. Hiccup appeared to have discarded his armor in favor of an old spare tunic that was unbelted around the middle and his leg was bandaged tightly. Toothless came strolling behind them looking a little worse for the wear but none the les alive.

The village parted to allow Gothi the Elder to hobble to the front of the crowd and greet Hiccup and the red headed woman. The diminutive old woman batted those not paying attention to her approach aside with her bone hewn staff as she came to rest by Astrid's side. Gothi raised a brow and huffed as she scratched some runes into the ash covered ground at Hiccup's feet that read simply 'well?'

After deciphering the Elder's atrocious writing, Hiccup merely gave a smile and drew the piece of bound parchment from Toothless' saddlebag. "This is Merida. Her father, King Fergus of DunBroch, has offered us asylum, with free rule!"

The response of Berk was immediate. The Vikings offered the loud words of disappointment, shock, and anger. Merida took an involuntary step backwards at the uproar. She had expected shock and happiness at the news, not this unbridled anger directed at her and her friend. In the crowd, weapons were raised as they grew more restless.

"Shut up," shouted a feminine voice over the roar. The crowd silenced and parted once again. "We sent Hiccup with our faith that he would find a suitable place for to prosper." The split in the crowd ended before the elder and the chief to reveal Valka. "I say we press our faith and hear the boy out."

Merida quickly took in the appearance of the woman before her. Given the villagers' reactions to them, they were obviously well-respected members of the tribe. The older, and smaller, of the two carried a sizable bone staff and held severe hump on her back. He white-blond hair was bound into a braid on either side of her head with a small horned helmet adorning her head. She wore a warm fur vest that was belted around her middle. Padding on her arms seemed to cover scars on her arms if the few poking out were anything to go by.

The other woman also carried a staff but it appeared to be meant for fighting given the knobbed and curved point. She was thin and lithe which differed from the thicker Vikings surrounding her. Her clothing was layers of cloth covered by a long dark yellow tunic with a burnt orange belt and large circular shoulder pads connecting to a fur hood. Her bracers and boots both had spikes that appeared to be made from dragon spikes.

"Thanks, mom," remarked Hiccup with a grimace. A chief shouldn't need his mother to solve his disputes. Merida on the other hand was pleasantly surprised at his mother. The chief rubbed his face and passed the parchment to Gothi. "This is the treaty Ferus and I negotiated. It will not be official until you give it your approval."

The Elder of Berk took it and turned to the direction of the mead hall that was nestled into the cliff side and gestured to the chief and princess to follow her. Valka then shouted at the Vikings to return to their business and that they would be called when there was further news of the treaty, before she followed her son to the mead hall. Gobber, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Astrid, the twins and Eret, son of Eret, all went to follow suite. However, Gobber stopped the younger Vikings and said to them, "Go and keep order with the others and finish the final preparations for the journey." With great reluctance they moved to do as they were asked.

Merida walked behind Hiccup as they were led through the ruins of the Berk. Many of the buildings had been obviously scavenged for materials to assist the rebuilding of the fleet. Others were broken and twisted shelled of their former selves, much like the Vikings that now appeared to haunt the island. Some buildings were untouched and looked lived in but it was evident that a large portion of the survivors and the dragons were residing on the ships in the harbor.

The group approached the massive wooden doors that were inset to the great cliff before them. Intricate carvings outlined them and left Merida in awe of the construction. Inside was pleasantly warm as a large fire warmed the hearth. Very little remained in the great hall as all that really remained was a great carved table with sword stuck into a map inset to the table's center as well as a scattering of other tables.

The five of them sat down at one of these few remaining tables. Hiccup and Merida sat to one side and Gothi sat in the middle of the other side with Gobber and Valka flanking her.

"Merida. This is my mom, Valka. That's Gobber, my blacksmith master and this is Gothi the village Elder." Hiccup pointed to each Viking in turn. "Mom, Gobber, Gothi. This is Princess Merida of DunBroch."

Merida bowed her head in recognition and gave an uncomfortable smile that was returned by Valka and Gobber. They personally liked the face value of the offer for such land. Hell, their distant kin had invaded those same lands years ago. That was also the same reason they were wary. The memories of war do not fade easy.

With pleasentries exchanged, Gothi got to work scrutinizing the treaty that had been given to here for her approval. It appeared to her that Stoick's son had negotiated quite the treaty with this 'Fergus' fellow. He had secured a sizable chunk of land for the promise of kinship and trade. The final tenet that was added just above Hiccup's mark was enough to make her gasp. The diminutive woman glared at Hiccup, passed the parchment to Valka, and then immediately thumped Hiccup in the head with her staff.

"OW! What was that for?" complained Hiccup as he rubbed the rapidly forming lump.

It had been several decades since the Elder had the ability to speak. So being unable to speak, she understandably wacked Hiccup again.

"OW!" he exclaimed. "Would you stop that!"

Merida giggled nervously at this odd display. Court back in DunBroch was an orderly affair. This on the other hand was chaos. It was different and she wasn't sure if it was a good thing yet.

Valka rubbed her brow in frustration at her son. "I know that I was not around to raise you but that I know for a fact that your father would never thought this was acceptable."

Her son recoiled at the tone as a shadow of recognition passed across his face. Hiccup took his hand away from the knot on his head and composed himself. "You mean the final clause that I agreed to. That point is moot." His words came cold and smooth. "If you had bothered to finish that part, you'd have seen that Merida has to accept our involvement for it to apply. She doesn't so, it doesn't."

Gobber took the treaty from Valka's hands and read over the contested portion. "The lad is right. If Merida's consent is needed for the clause to apply."

Shadows of shame flitted across Valka's stern expression before it softened to the two before her. "That changes things then. Sorry for snapping like that Hiccup. Overall, this is a sound treaty your father would have been proud of."

Hiccups stony face softened as well when he gave his mother a small sad smile.

While they had their heart to heart moment, Merida watched as Gothi took a piece of charcoal from her pocket and grabbed the treaty from Gobber's hands. She began to make new mark directly beneath Hiccup's mark. The princess saw that the Elder drew the same crest that adorned Hiccup's pauldron and then circled the stylized head with a number of the runes. Once the mark was made, she slid the parchment over to wear it sat between Merida and Hiccup.

Unsurprisingly, Merida was unable to discern the meaning behind them. She glanced over to her friend, who was obviously reading them already, and asked, "What does it say?"

Hiccup flashed her smile. "By honor, we swear to uphold."

"So we're agreed then!"

Hiccup smiled again and made get up from the table. He was only halfway off of the bench when the glares from Valka and Gothi brought his rear back down. "What did I do now?"

His mother hefted her staff and pointed at the area beneath the unbelted tunic he wore and the bandages on his leg. "Leg bandaged. Head wound fading. Favoring your left side. What happened to you?" demanded Valka.

Hiccup shrugged nonchalantly. "It was a rougher landing than usual that's all. My side is fine. No injury there."

Valka gave her son a deadpan expression before poking him roughly on his left side. At his recoil and shout of pain, she grimaced. "Oh yes, perfectly fine. I can tell."

"Well, he lies as well as his father apparently," interjected Gobber. "What the hell happened to you lad?"

Hiccup ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Are you sure I need to tell that story now? I mean we need to be prepared to leave as soon as possible."

"We've been preparing the whole time you've been gone, lad. And I set Astrid and the others to get any and all final preparations ready to finish. Regardless of how this meeting went, we can't stay here. Now what happened in DunBroch."

The young chief gave his mentor a withering look. He had made some less then sensible choices on this trip and he didn't need his mother to scold him over them. "So Toothless and I landed in a wooded area really far south a couple of weeks into the journey…" Hiccup tried to tell the story quickly and left out most of the detail of their time in DunBroch. Every so often Merida would comment and add to the story but mostly she listened to the story.

The three opposite of them listened intently to Hiccup's tale. They smirked at the incident involving the bear. That was the little hero they knew and loved. His trial brought some sounds of discontent from them. At the events that occurred on the island in the hostile Viking territory, the older Vikings looked at Merida with surprise and thanks. In the end, all three were much more understanding of his state.

Valka cleared her throat. "Well that was quite the tale. So, Hiccup, how do you want to tell the village the news?"

Hiccup smiled softly at the ancient meeting table that stood at the center of the room. The beaten and gouged surface gave off a warm glow from the fireplace. It reminded him a better days. Days where he didn't carry the burden of being chief. Day long since passed. "Call a meeting. We're leaving at dawn."

_-_Meanwhile in Dunbroch-_-

Fergus sat on his wooden throne in mental anguish while his court was in uproar. The court had taken the news of the alliance rather well. Hiccup had proven to be an honorable lad and if he represented his people then they would make great additions to the Kingdom. The court of course was far less accepting of the decision to send the princess with the brand new ally. This was the crack that Nathair had been using to silently sow discord among the court. Unfortunately, Fergus just didn't know it was him.

Currently, his mind wasn't on the rabble before him. It was on the agreement he had signed with Hiccup. He had ulterior motives to allowing an alliance so easily. He needed an ally for not necessarily the kingdom but, the clan itself. War was eminent. Fergus could taste it in the winds. It hung in the air while he slept and it watched him from the shadows as he walked the halls of Castle DunBroch. War was only a stone's throw away. The only question was whether it would be between the clans, the North which grew restless with each passing month, or from an enemy which still lurks in the mist. But the fear that made him lie awake at night and check the shadows for enemies wasn't the coming of war. It was whether his people would stand alone.

AN: Again: sorry. Next Chapter will be up in a week or so. Originally this and the next chapter were going to be one large chapter. But as I was writing this point felt like a solid break. This way you guys also get more updates.

Not much action here but this needed to happen.

Next time on Of Bows and Dragons Chapter 16: A Parting of Ways Part II.

Review and let me know what you think of the story so far.

War and Peace,

-RedHoodandtheOutlaws