Battles to Come

Author's Note:

I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LATE CHAPTER!

I know that I miss two months of update and this chapter isn't even that long.

I really have no excuse for the late chapter, I was procrastinating and I just lacked the motivation to write.

Thankfully the trailer for the Assassin's Creed movie came out and reminded me that there are so many people still waiting for me to update this story. (Btw, what do you guys think about that trailer? I thought that it looked really good. Different, sure, but different in a good way. PS. I've never heard Kanye sing, so I didn't know it was his song during the trailer, but even then it sounded out of place)

Without further blabbing from my part, I'll just let you guys enjoy the chapter already:

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"Ready for the big day?" Heather asked as she stuck her head into Thuggory's room, which made him jump a little.

"What the Hel, Heather?" Thuggory demanded as he put on his hidden blades. "Have you heard of knocking? I could have been naked!"

Thuggory was, thankfully, already fully dressed in a brown Assassin robe, but he kept the hood off his head. No point keeping it up and covering his beautiful face, right?

"Come on, It's not like I've never seen you naked before." Heather replied coyly.

"That's not the point!" Thuggory shouted back as his face became red in embarrassment.

"You had a point?"

"You are invading my privacy!" Thuggory huffed as he tested his hidden blades.

"Fine, I'll leave," Heather resigned, "but first, we need to talk." She said in a serious voice.

Thuggory looked up from his hidden blade to her face, a raised eyebrow plastered on his face. With a gesture, he invited Heather to sit on his bed, which he was already sitting on.

Most people would not think of Thuggory as the listening type, or even a thinking type, because of his playful demeanor. That's his mask; a lot of Assassins have one, to hide their real intentions among other things.

That doesn't mean that Thuggory isn't actually playful, he just magnified that one aspect of himself to block the rest of himself. For example, the part of him that is good at listening.

Heather knew this, and she knew that Camicazi listens too, when no one else think that she is, which is why she already had this talk with her. Now it is Thuggory's turn.

"It's about Hiccup." Heather elaborated as she took her seat beside Thuggory. "We are about to enter the village that casted him out when he was younger, in fact, he is still an outlaw to them."

"And you want us to keep an eye on the villagers and get ready to fight at the moment's notice." Thuggory finished, "I figured as much."

"Well, yes. But we also need to keep a close eye on Hiccup." Heather told Thuggory. "He still holds grudges against them."

"You're afraid that Hiccup might go berserk on them?"

"I'm afraid that Hiccup will make them go berserk on us."

That made more sense to Thuggory. He knew that Hiccup was angry at them and that he might do something stupid, but he had hoped that Hiccup would have enough sense not to take things too far.

"We will need to do our best to avoid conflict with Berk, but do it subtly. If they see us in opposition with Hiccup, it will be considered as a sign of disrespect and disunity. We'll lose their respect." Heather continued. "And if we do get into a scuffle, try not to kill anyone."

"Fighting without killing people wasn't in the job description." Thuggory remarked sarcastically.

"Look, we're walking on a thin rope right now, and Hiccup is making things worse." Heather said with a sigh. "We need to be as careful as possible not to create any friction."

Thuggory ran a hand through his brown hair which reaches down his forehead. He used to have longer hair, all the way to his shoulders, but it made the hoodie uncomfortable, so he cut his hair just slightly above his hood, which reaches his eyebrow.

"Well, I guess I can babysit Hiccup while we are there." Thuggory replied.

Thuggory is in his mid-twenties by now, which makes him the oldest guy in this little group. So, sure he'll take on a bit more responsibility.

Heather chuckled a little, "Good, because there has been a change of plans."

Oh crap.

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Hiccup knew that just strolling into the village like they own the place was asking for trouble, but, to be honest, he didn't care.

If Stoick was serious about the treaty he would have informed the villagers, and they wouldn't have gotten surrounded by a bunch of angry Vikings.

"Look, me and my people do not want any trouble. We are just here to make finalizations to our treaty." Hiccup held his arms up as a sign of peace, but it was clear that Stoick had not informed his citizens about the treaty.

He knew that Stoick was watching to see how he handles the villagers. Stoick could stop the villagers from blocking the path, but he chose to sit back and watch events unfold.

None of the Vikings budged at Hiccup's reassurance; that is, until a cranky old man stepped forward and begins shouting at the Assassins.

"You! You were banished from Berk!" The old man shouted. "You have no right to be here!"

Hiccup recognized the old man, but he can't seem to remember his name. He remembered that none of the kids liked him because he was old, cranky, and, to be frank, smelly.

The old man then turned to the crowd behind him. "What are you all just standing there for? Kill him! There is a large bounty for his head!"

Still, none of the Vikings dared to engage the Assassins. They tightened their grip on their weapons, but made no move towards Hiccup.

"Just so you know, I was invited here by Stoick to sign a treaty. So I'm giving all of you a final warning: make way for us or we'll make our own way to the hall."

For several tense seconds, Hiccup and the rest of the Assassins stared down the Berkians that stood in their way. Both sides were ready to fight, but neither made a move towards the other.

"Stand down Mildew!" Stoick's voice boomed.

In response, every head turned to find Stoick walking towards the village square, where the showdown was taking place.

"All of you make way for our "esteemed guests"." Stoick ordered, although he sneered the last part, indicating that he didn't like them either.

Hiccup didn't mind though, he didn't like any of them either.

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Hush silently leapt from branch to branch with much grace as he tailed a pair of scouts who he was following to Dread Hill.

The scouts wore no armor and carried little weapons on them. It wouldn't be hard to take them out from above once he no longer needs them.

Once the main army figures that the two of them are dead, they will scour the entire forest, which will allow me and the rebels to take out the thinly spread army.

That was the plan, now all Hush needed to do is gain the rebels trust after he finds them. The scouts should help with that.

Speaking of scouts, they have arrived.

The rebel base was a small, simple fort. The walls were made of wooden stakes lined side by side and it circled around the tiny hill named Dread.

The walls were not that high, so Hush could see over it from his position up in the tree. There were several tents set up around a fireplace. One tent that was closest to the fire was particularly large, and was probably war room.

Below him, Hush could hear the scouts whispering among themselves. Soon they started circling the fort to find a weak point or any notable characteristic.

Hush followed the scouts silently as he studied the fort alongside them.

The gates were also made of wooden stakes, but it looked flimsy. The walls are not much better either; they wouldn't be able to hold up to a catapult, much less a canon (which Hush was sure they would have).

There were a few platforms behind the wall that allowed rebels to look over the wall and fire arrows or something. Several Vikings were keeping a look out from these platforms, although they didn't seem to be armed with much.

Overall, the rebels are at a major disadvantage if the Berserkers attack the fort.

Now's as good a time as any. Hush thought to himself before leaping of the branch he was standing on and stabbing one of the scouts in the back.

Hush made sure that he didn't kill the scout immediately so that his screams would capture the attention of the rebels. A cruel move for sure, but a necessary one.

When he got up, Hush saw that the second scout was running away. Turning his head to the direction of the fleeing scout, Hush whipped out his pistol and fired.

The scout's lifeless body fell to the floor.

His gunshot would have created a loud enough commotion that would surely draw out the rebels.

But before he proceeded to gain the trust of his soon-to-be allies, he reloaded his pistol and carefully examined the scout that he stabbed.

The man was trying his best to act dead, but Hush could see the faint rising of his body as he breathed. Without hesitation he shot the downed scout, killing him.

Now, he was set.

Hush collected the bodies of both of the scouts and dragged them towards the rebel's fort. He was aware of the eyes and arrows that were trained on him, but he confidently walked over to the gates and dropped the bodies he was dragging.

"Gentlemen, these are scouts for an approaching army sent by Dagur the Deranged; an army that could easily storm your fort with little casualties on their side." Hush announced in a loud, authoritative voice. "But I have the potential to turn the tide of the battle against the Berserker army."

"All I ask is to speak with your leader." Hush plainly made his request made.

Just then, the doors to the fort swung open and Dogsbreath walked out of the fort. "So you shall."

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"I have consulted my council and we have come to an agreement." Stoick told Hiccup, who was sitting at the other end of the meeting table. "We will sign your alliance."

The rest of Stoick's council nodded their approval, although some did so with more reluctance than others.

The round meeting table was divided into half by the people who sat there. Stoick and his council took half the table, while Hiccup and his Assassins took up the other half.

Stoick's half was staring expectantly at Hiccup's half, fully expecting them to proceed with the signing without further delay. But little do they know about the Assassin's change of plan.

"We will not sign the treaty as it is." Hiccup stated in a simple manner.

"What!" Astrid shouted as she stood up in anger. She was quickly joined by Snotlout and Spitelout.

The room grew immediately grow more tense as the two sides stared each other down.

Stoick gestured for the three of his councilmembers who were standing to sit down and then proceeded to question the Assassin. "What do you propose?"

Hiccup smirked and stood up to make his proposal in a business-like manner. "Since you broke the agreement we set up for the meeting, we are requesting for two more terms to be added to the treaty."

"State you terms and we will make our considerations." Stoick replied.

"The first term," Hiccup started with a nod towards the Chief of Berk. "is to add my assistant, Heather, to the Chief's council. She must take part in every meeting held by Stoick and his council for the duration of the treaty. If we find that she is left out of even one meeting, no matter how trivial its purpose, we will consider the treaty broken and void."

Most of Stoick's council were clearly against this term, but they stayed silent as Stoick gestured for Hiccup to state the second point.

Through the eyes of Stoick, Hiccup could see the gears turning within the mind of the Chief of Berk, and Hiccup knew gears very well.

Stoick did not like the first term, and he is not going to like the second one any better.

"Tonight, a raid will attack this village, and me and my warriors are bound by the treaty to protect your village during the raid. However, it will be very difficult if we act independently of one another, and your men might attack mine out of confusion."

"So I request to be given a certain amount of authority to command the army even at times of peace, just so we can prepare for the next raid."

Immediately, there was uproar within Stoick's council. Tempers flared at the proposed term. Spitelout was claiming that Berk will never give any authority to a murderer and outcast, Snotlout said that Hiccup was planning to backstab them, while Astrid said that she would rather die than give up her freedom.

Hiccup and the Assassins were expecting such a response, and they had their own counter-arguments.

"The terms that we are proposing are simply common sense." Hiccup insisted. "How am I to keep your village safe, if I cannot guarantee the safety of my own warriors?"

"And we are giving your people so much that we are losing more than we gain from the treaty, it is only fair if we get some insight into how our resources are being used and give advice as to how it can be used most efficiently."

"If you fear of betrayal, than I can swear to you that I will not harm a single person that lives on Berk. Whether I sabotage you from the inside or not, an army of dragons would wipe out your village with little to no casualties."

Stoick heard Hiccup speak, but no words registered in his mind, which was clouded with anger. All reason was lost to him.

After all that Hiccup has done to Berk, he has the guts to show up here and demand to take over Berk. The fact that he is doing so in such a reasonable and diplomatic way, without even having to get his hands dirty, made Stoick all the more furious with the person standing before him, demanding that Berk throw away hundreds of years of sacrifices and to make their arch-nemesis at home in their own land.

"No, we will not accept your terms." Stoick growled at Hiccup.

Hiccup stood up and turned to leave, with the rest of the Assassins doing the same also. "Then you won't get an alliance, so we will make our leave now."

"Wait!" Snotlout shouted, "You said that there is a raid tonight?"

Hiccup ignored the shouts of his ex-bully and kept on walking. He even sent the rest of the Assassins ahead to check on the dragons, just in case Snotlout comes after him.

Oh, this is going to be good.

Snotlout ran out of the hall and chased Hiccup, with Stoick and the rest of the council trailing behind.

"You're just going to leave us to die?" Snotlout shouted at Hiccup, which caught the attention of the villager who are walking by. "All these people? What about the children? You're going to let them die too?"

Hiccup stopped in his tracks when he heard what Snotlout said.

"You know, when I heard that you changed I didn't believe it. It is such a shame that you have to throw away your life like this, you would have made an excellent warrior."

Snotlout's face turned red with anger upon hearing what Hiccup said, and he immediately drew out his axe and charged.

Hiccup, even though his back was facing Snotlout throughout the whole exchange, saw the attack coming.

He drew his sword with his left hand and blocked the axe. With a quick sidestep, Hiccup was out of danger's way and he kicked the back of Snotlout's knee, making him fall to his knees.

The hidden blade emerged from Hiccup's right bracer and he held the blade right next to Snotlout's neck.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this." Hiccup said with a little grin.

Just then, he noticed that Astrid was also charging towards him with an axe.

Berk: the gift that keeps on giving.

Hiccup has grown to dislike the girl that he once had a crush on. She was selfish and only cared for herself and her honor. She didn't lift a finger to help Hiccup in his times of need and she even claimed that he hated Berk for not being good enough during dragon training.

All in all, not really girlfriend material.

Hiccup spun around and blocked the axe with his right bracer. He used his left hand to support his wrist, but even with the bracer made from Gronkle steel the impact still hurt his wrist a little.

That is one angry lady. Hiccup thought to himself as he quickly took some steps back to regain his bearings.

Astrid swung her axe at him one more time, but Hiccup ducked underneath it and quickly got up to kick her while she was still unbalanced from the swing.

Astrid fell to the ground just as Snotlout stood up with a sword in hand.

Hiccup quickly charged at Snotlout and blocks the first swing of Snotlout's sword with his left bracer and elbowed the Viking in the nose. Without wasting a single second, Hiccup sent a punch into Snotlout's stomach and followed it up by smashing his bracer into Snotlout's face.

Snotlout fell to the ground with a bloody nose, but before he could get up to attack Hiccup further, Stoick stood in between Hiccup and the fallen councilman.

"You will sheathe your sword and leave this island at once." Stoick ordered Hiccup with a booming voice, "You have overstayed your welcome."

The rest of the Assassins, who were watching the fight along with a massive crowd that has gathered, walked over with their dragons, including Toothless.

Toothless growled at everyone he saw as he walked over to Hiccup and allowed his friend to get on his back.

"You all better start getting prepared." Hiccup announced to the large crowd that has gathered as he climbed unto the Night Fury. "The raid tonight isn't the biggest, but it will probably be your last."

At the announcement of the upcoming raid, the rest of the villagers started to panick. They couldn't possibly survive another raid right? Some were even saying that Hiccup will be the one leading the raid.

The mumbling went on and on. Several people even shouted at Hiccup

Without addressing the crowd any further Hiccup and the Assassins took off.

"Damn you Hiccup!" Snotlout shouted after him as he stood up with one hand still wiping blood away from his nose. "Damn you to Hel!"

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Hush looked around at the army that he had at his disposal.

Around thirty men all armed with swords and axes. No bows, no guns, just the old-fashioned swords and axes.

It wasn't looking good.

The Berserker army was meant to defend several islands with villages under the Berserker tribe. So they had about a hundred men armed with swords and axes, as well as bows and guns and even canons.

Hush would have to use the element of surprise well if he were to win. Thankfully most of the better thinkers joined the rebellion, because they were well aware of Dagur's despicable rise to power.

What kind of sadistic madman would kill his own parents?

Dogsbreath was actually a retired naval officer who organized everyone who was willing to fight against the great injustices that Dagur has committed.

Hush himself was an excellent fighter, and although he would rather not kill, he was still willing to set aside his own comfort (and maybe that of his enemy) for the greater good.

It struck him that the scouts probably have family's waiting for them to come home. Women seldom worked in these societies, so there was no one left to support the family. The eldest son would probably have to work long hours to pay for his family's survival…

No, I need to focus, Hush chastised himself as he stood before the army he was goven command of.

He was going to fill them in on the strategy he and Dogsbreath drew up in order to defeat the Berserker army.

Here goes nothing.

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Author's Note:

So there it is, chapter 5 is finally done!

I will try my best to make up for the two months of no updates, but I do suffer from chronic laziness, so I do hope that you guys bear with me.

Without further ado, it is time for me to reply your reviews:

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adipose1913: The characters are playing an intracite chess game: The moves haven't yet revealed who has checkmate. I love stories where part of the fun is untangeling the web of intrigue the author has woven, and this is one of those stories. Have the templars arrived on Berk yet? (Hiccup believes they have, but there is no evidince yet.) What is their final game in this part of the world? (Again, it is implied, but we aren't sure yet.) Is the rift between Hiccup and Berk healable? I can only wait for where your story goes.

Reply: I'm glad that you are enjoying the way my story has been planned. It wasn't meant to be this intricate, but it just kind of developed over time. Most of the Assassin's Creed games center on an Assassin untangling the web of Templars in that particular area anyway.

Thanks for your kind words!

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Dracologistmaster: Great chapter, I look forward to seeing how Valka reacts to what Hiccup did and might do in the next chapter. I don't think she's going to be happy with him. Thanks for the possible hint by the way. :)

Reply: Haha, I'm sure she won't be very happy with him, unfortunately, you won't be seeing much of her for a while. But I promise that she will be playing an important role in this story.

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gamelover41592: Yes this chapter was really good as well but I can probably guess at least four of chosen Vikings who will join unless you are going with the original five

Reply: Thanks for the compliment. Some of the original five will join the training, but not all of them (I just noticed that the two 'Nuts have not had anything to do so far and even in my overall plan).

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Bluetooth: Good chapter, ready for the next one

Reply: So sorry to keep you waiting for this chapter, I really hope that you still enjoy it though.

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Goliath: Excellent work,you are one of the best fanfiction writers I have ever read please update soon!

Reply: Thanks a lot man! I really appreciate the compliments! I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting for this.

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StarCadet: A job well done indeed. Even Altier would be impressed with Hiccup. Can't wait to read more.

Reply: Thanks a lot! I'm sure that Altier wouldn't be easy to impress. I think that Hiccup is still a bit rash by letting his emotions control his actions, so maybe he won't really be getting a seal of approval from Altier just yet.

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AyaEmett: OMG, I FALL IN LOVE AGAIN AND AGAIN, U ARE THE BEST 3 MORE CHAP PLS

Reply: Sure, I'll get you 3 more chapters, just give me a few years and it will be done. XD Seriously though, thanks for the compliments!

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SiriusBlackLP: pls send in another chapter this so exciting like if i would read a book

PS: by the way are there going to be any Hiccstrid moments?

Reply: Thanks for the kind words! At least I can become an author is all else fails, right? XD

I don't know, there might be some Hiccstrid moments…

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avatarHiccup: HeatherxHiccup it has so much potential, a great addition to your work. I love the whole assassin Hiccup concept, except I would have changed his name to something less obsolete.

I never liked his name LOL

Reply: I know right! Not a lot of people do HeatherxHiccup, so I wanted to try something new. Besides, in many Hiccup runs away from Berk fanfic, Hiccup and Astrid's relationship just feels force and don't make sense. Like, Hiccup and Astrid don't really like one another but becomes a couple because of the mysterious power of love! It just feels like a cheap way to bring them together. I, personally believe that you should either put more time, thought and paragraphs into developing their relationship or not do it at all. In my case I opted not to do it simply because my story is already full of stuff and it is easier to just insert Heather as Hiccup's love interest (although because this story is so full of stuff I can't really explore their relationship much). The prequel will give me more of an opportunity to explore their relationship since I plan for it to be like a roadtrip thing with the both of them and Hush as they travel around and discover the war between the Assassins and Templars and are forces to choose a side.

Sorry for the rant, just needed to let some of my thoughts out :D

PS. I originally planned for Hiccup to change his name to Henry just so he could break all his ties with Berk, but I just couldn't write him as Henry, I keep on thinkng and writing him as Hiccup, so the name stuck.

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Once again, thanks for reading and following and favoriting! I really appreciate all the support! And do leave a review if you have some profound thoughts about this chapter if you just wanna say something about this chapter in general.