A/N: A number of people took stabs, (Pun very much intended.) At Snotlout's sword design, I will just let you read and find out and I am officially off the fence on the Lemon, this story is going to have one, however it will not be for a couple of chapters, so don't get excited or worried, depending on your feelings on them, with that onto the chapter!
Something sticky lapped at Hiccups hand and the boy cracked an eye open and sighed, Toothless lifted the boys hand in his mouth and gave a light tug "Yes bud, we can go for a fly." Hiccup announced sitting up and yawning loudly, his back popping as he retrieved his helmet and belted on his armor, Toothless hopped from foot to foot excitedly as Hiccup quickly climbed his back, the sun was barely peaking the horizon, Hiccup took a long breath of the cold morning air before Toothless slammed into the air with a powerful beat of his wings.
It felt like a much longer stretch of time had passed since Hiccup had last flown with Toothless, with everything happening it was hard to just disappear for a few hours, Hiccup's trailed lazily over the ocean as he relaxed, wind in his face and Mildew on the cliff?
Hiccup frowned and kept Toothless high as he flew over the old man, pushing a wheelbarrow full of something towards the cliff, the glint of metal told him the contents and his eyes widened as he urged Toothless into a quick dive as Mildew pushed the stack of weapons of the cliff.
Hiccup reached forward and managed to get a hold of an axe before it hit the water, he glared at the top of the cliff quickly ascending and landing in front of Mildew.
"Ah, Master Hiccup what would you be doing out so early?" Mildew asked innocently.
"Weapon catching, apparently," Hiccup responded coldly flipping the axe in his hand "Do you honestly expect to get away with this Mildew, war is coming and you just threw the entire armory off a cliff!"
"Why whatever do you mean?" Mildew asked innocently "I am merely out for a morning stroll, this old bones still enjoy the morning air around Berk."
Hiccup hopped on his foot before launching forward blade pressed against the old man's neck as his eyes narrowed, Toothless puncturing growl emanating from behind him "I saw you Mildew."
"Heh, raising a weapon against and Elder without proof is a serious offense." Mildew chuckled warningly as he eyed Hiccup.
Hiccup's eyes turned to reflect the smirk on his face "Why whatever do you mean Mildew? I merely found a drunken old man who wandered too close to a cliff."
Mildew's eyes widened "There's only two people here Mildew, I could kill you and make up any story I want, so do you want to change that story of yours? Or are you going to become acquainted with the sharp rocks at the bottom of the drop behind you?" Hiccup asked darkly.
"You will not be able to keep the beasts in Berk forever Master Hiccup," Mildew growled as he moved passed the boy, after Hiccup allowed it that is "I can easily turn the Village against you."
Hiccup lifted a hand and clenched his fist, Toothless's maw glowed brilliantly as Mildew scurried out of the way "Be careful how you speak around beasts Mildew, they can hear you too." Hiccup warned simply as he looked down at the ocean, with that Berk was almost completely defenseless.
Hiccup sighed as he remounted Toothless, deciding to circle the island once more before landing, the town was in uproar as he landed and Toothless quickly moved to find Ghost.
"The armory is empty!" A villager shouted in panic.
"Gods above are we being punished? Does this timing mark the end of Berk?"
"Quiet down everyone," Stoick barked quickly, the village instantly stopped as the chief moved forward "We are looking into the disappearance of the weapons, with any luck they will be found and Alvin will not so easily finish us."
"Don't count on it," Hiccup strode from the crowd and tossed his father the axe he had caught "That's the only one I managed to save, Mildew tossed our weapons over the cliff!"
"An old man like me? Raided the entire armory on me arms and tossed it over a cliff?!" Mildew defended himself intelligently, Hiccup would give him that.
"Where's your cart Mildew?" Hiccup asked flatly
"Why I don't know Master Hiccup, I brought it to Gobber last night for repairs." Mildew shrugged.
"Aye he did, he couldn't have used the cart, it's wheel is still sitting in my forge." Gobber clarified.
Hiccup growled, of course the old man had used a different cart "Hm, Well it seems I've been bested, I can't win with only my word."
Stoick glanced at his son with a raised eyebrow "So, rather than that I'll just defend Berk myself."
"You defend a whole Village?!" Mildew laughed
"Did you forget who I am Mildew?" Hiccup glared at the old man so fiercely he abruptly silenced.
"I've held the woods east of this Village for months, I tamed a Nightfury and I can protect my home from a group of Outcasts." Hiccup growled
Stoick smirked "With that until new weapons are made, I am going to order everyone to the cove, Gobber can work there and Hiccup will be able to use the space to create a better defense." Both Haddock's glared at Mildew as he slunk passed them.
"Hiccup, I have no doubt in your ability, but defending an entire village on your own is crazy." Stoick watched the boys reaction carefully.
"Well, I never actually said I'd be on my own," Hiccup grinned glancing at the group of teens standing at the back of the crowd calmly "Don't worry about us, Alvin won't even know what hit him."
Stoick chuckled as Hiccup moved to the group of teens "So, six against an army huh?" Astrid questioned
"Well, thirteen if you count the dragons and Ghost," Hiccup countered as he walked to the forge "Don't worry, I always have a plan."
"That's what I'm worried about." Astrid sighed as the boy disappeared into the forge.
The window opened and metal clanked together as he dropped it down, the teens walked over curiously Astrid picked up the small axe and inspected it "It's way to light to be useful." She dismissed, not noticing Hiccup's small smirk.
"It's a new metal Fishlegs and Ruffnut discovered," Hiccup explained "It's durable, more so than standard Iron, it's considerably lighter and much stronger."
"We called it Gronkle Iron, since Meatlug pretty much threw it up." Ruffnut added calmly.
Astrid peered curiously at the female twin and picked up the axe that was practically a mirror image of her current one, the only difference being the new metal, Astrid set her current axe down and brought the new one down on it quickly.
With a metallic snap her old axes blade snapped in two and flipped into the air, Astrid's eyes widened in surprise as she lifted the new axe, Hiccup was right, it was way lighter meaning she'd be able to throw it further, she twirled it around for a moment before resting it over her shoulder.
The other teens shuffled forward, eager to see what Hiccup had designed for them, Tuffnut moved forward first and Hiccup pulled a simply mace from the pile and Tuffnut lifted an eyebrow as Hiccup smirked, he hit a switch on the hilt and the head fell away on a long chain he then handed Tuffnut a small buckler, built more for parrying than attack and Tuffnut accepted it with a simple nod of his head.
Fishlegs moved forward second, eager to see what Hiccup could come up with in just a day, having only chosen his weapon of choice the day before he doubted it would be much more than standard.
Hiccup slid the hammer to the large boy, it was pretty much exactly the same as the one before, a longer handle so he could effectively use it with or without a shield, Hiccup slid a large shield over the table, it was huge looking more like a massive curved door of metal than an actual shield, Fishlegs eyed it in surprise "I don't think I can lift that."
"Just try." Hiccup ordered quickly and Fishlegs grimaced as he pulled the shield to him and laced his arm through the straps, surprisingly the shield felt almost weightless on his arm "The weapon I couldn't do much with, but I had a field day on the shield." Hiccup announced
Fishlegs noticed the small mechanisms spread around his arm, quick shifts would activate them but if he wanted the shield to remain as it was he simply had to hold it properly, which he could do with ease, so he began testing them.
The first button slammed two thick spikes into the ground effectively turning the shield into an actual wall, the second button folded the shield onto itself, making it an easy to handle small square and the third function folded it further, morphing it into a cylindrical armguard that fit Fishlegs forearm snugly.
The large boy grinned, despite telling Fishlegs he'd have to fight, Hiccup had set him up with a way to defend more easily than hurt, the thought calmed Fishlegs slightly.
Ruffnut moved to the counter and Hiccup slid a simple looking spear towards her, one end had a large pointed blade on it the other had a more standard spearhead, she frowned at the design before pulling it back and spinning it around her neck like she had attempted to do the day before with the training spear, the weapon was perfectly balanced for her, it didn't shift her centre and allowed her to have a more powerful array of slashes that at any point could become deadly thrusts, it was a deceptively simple design.
"I call it a glaive." Hiccup announced "I got the idea when you tried to slash me with a spearhead, the same premise as an axe with a spike, only in a spear for the added reach."
"Thanks." Ruffnut smirked as she moved towards Fishlegs "Alright you time to whip you into shape!"
Fishlegs paled slightly as the twin approached him.
Snotlout moved towards the table apprehensively as Hiccup placed a sword across the bench, the long thing blade looked as though it would do little to block anything, Snotlout had seen enough examples to assume this weapon had just as much strength as a long sword, Hiccup paused him before he picked it up and snapped a part of the cross guard down, the blade abruptly thickened similar to that of a great sword with flatter end.
"The metal folds to create a powerful thrusting weapon and widened to allow more defensive options with longer reach swings, I thought this would allow you to meld both your fathers and your teachers styles." Hiccup explained as he moved the sheath towards his cousin.
Snotlout smiled slightly as he picked it up "Thanks Hiccup, I know we don't get along all that well, but this is…awesome."
Hiccup grinned as he moved back into the shop, metal clattered around for a moment before he emerged from the shop, the metal covering on his forearm glinted, the red dragon coiled over it seemed to almost glow against the silver.
The shield itself was like a curved rectangle strapped over his arm, two pointed edges revealed the back of his glove allowing his wrist complete freedom of movement and it jutted passed his elbow allowing him to maneuver as if her weren't wearing it at all, he clicked a button on the inside and the shield snapped inwards with a click, effectively making only the outside of his armguard appear silver.
"Astrid, I'm going to need a favor." Hiccup called calmly, his tone more like militaristic calm than the usual nasally sarcasm she was used too.
"What is it Hiccup?" Astrid asked quickly.
"Ghost has the best chance of flying around in the day without being spotted, I'm going to set up the defenses as best we can, but we need to know if Alvin is coming." Hiccup explained as he unfolded a map on the ground.
"The island they were using is here," Hiccup pointed to the map calmly "If we assume that they are going to come from the opposite side of the island that would put their ships somewhere out here." He gestured to the ocean.
"Of course we can't just hope so we are going to have three separate lines of defense on each bay, the only areas they will be able to safely land, the group that gets attacked will signal using one of these," He handed a set of three cylindrical wooden tubes with small strings coming from them, the teens looked at the devices in confusion.
"Trader Johann told me these are called 'fireworks' apparently they make a loud bang and a colored explosion, Alvin won't know what they are meaning it's unlikely he'll thing it's a signal." Hiccup explained
"So I'm flying rounds to try and figure out if he's coming from one or more directions, but we are going to defend the main points just in case." Astrid noted.
"Exactly, I'll leave the specifics of the defense to each of you," Hiccup looked up quickly "Snotlout and Ruffnut, you two will be on the southern bay, it's the least likely to see a raid as it's in the wrong place for them to do any harm without at least a day long trek, but we can't rule it out." Hiccup explained
"Only one problem, Ruff and I have a two headed dragon." Tuffnut explained
"I'm aware, but Ruffnut needs to keep training Fishlegs in the down time we have, I can't afford to split them up and get someone killed, that's why Ruffnut and Fishlegs will be here, in the main harbor." Hiccup explained simply
The teens nodded in quick understanding, Astrid's eyes followed Hiccup's finger calmly, that only left the eastern cove, where Hiccup thought Alvin was most likely to land and the forest Hiccup had long since made his home, if there was one place Hiccup could do damage, it was in that forest.
"Astrid and I will watch the east, if you don't see a shot of dragon fire in return to your firework assumed we didn't see it and set traps to fall back over, split to each of the groups and warn us don't engage on your own." Hiccup ordered flatly.
"What if they split and come in from every bay at once?" Tuffnut asked simply
"If they do that they will spread very thin, it's unlikely but Outcasts aren't known for their overwhelming intelligence, if they decide to use that strategy you are free to engage at your own discretion." Hiccup explained as he got to his feet, Toothless arrived with Ghost a few meters behind.
"Hey bud, I need you to convince Ghost to let Astrid ride her." Hiccup cooed to Toothless, the large black dragon glanced at Ghost.
"You understand him to," Toothless addressed the female Nightfury flatly "Will you assist us?"
Ghost glanced at the male for a long second while she considered declining and telling them they were on their own, but she didn't much like the other human either, the enemy of my enemy and all that "As long as I get to eat someone I'll allow it."
Toothless warbled in amusement "I've heard human tastes horrible."
Ghost lifted an eyebrow before padding over to the blonde girl calmly, Astrid's blue eyes locked with Ghosts for a moment and Astrid lifted her hand slowly, Ghost's eyes narrowed at the appendage and she glanced at Toothless apprehensively, the male simply nudged his head forward in example "It's a bond, it signifies the trust between rider and dragon, you may believe it is master and beast but you are wrong, they trust us in the air and we trust them on the ground."
Ghost only held for a moment longer before pressing her snout to Astrid's hand, she might have been able to claim it was a moment of weakness, that she still didn't like humans, but it would be a lie, try as she might she could not summon animosity towards the young people in front of her, she shook herself quickly and Astrid quickly climbed onto her back, she braced as Astrid held a spine that was protruding from her back tightly.
Hiccup moved towards the girl and squeezed her hand lightly "You be safe up there, no heroics okay?" He didn't manage to keep the worry out of his tone.
Astrid smiled at him warmly "I've got the biggest badest girl right next to me," The girl announce petting Ghost's neck with a grin "We've got this."
Hiccup nodded quickly as Astrid took off "All right everyone, move out!" The teens who had to get across the island scattered to their dragons, Hiccup pulled his helmet back on and climbed back atop Toothless "I hope this all works bud." He whispered worriedly as they took to the sky.
A/N: I need to cut this chapter here, mostly because If I don't it'll end up being way too big to properly edit (Even though I edit lazily I don't need any more excuses.) The next chapter will be the deciding battle! Snotlout's main sword is a rapier, but I think a great sword kind of suits his character, Fishlegs I set up to be less of a fighter, making him practically a walking wall of metal seemed appropriate, Astrid's still got the signature axe and Ruffnut's weapon was kind of an improvised, I was originally going to make it a standard double bladed spear before I had the idea to make it a glaive and I think the glaive is a better fit for her in this fiction, Hiccup's shield is similar in appearance to an Uruk-hai's shield from LOTR, I liked the sort of streamlined design of their shields, obviously he'll have a few hidden surprises in it, but for now I am keeping the mystery.
Glad everyone caught the Mulan reference, I mean it was a more obvious one, but still glad it wasn't received poorly.
Replies!
Midnight510: No, I haven't seen the latest RTTE season, I do plan to marathon them at some point, I have actually only recently finished Defenders of Berk, I am way behind, but I already had the idea to do Gronkle Iron this way because I have an idea with rock combinations that'll come in later, Rufflegs is the correct shorthand as far as I know, but I am sort of partial to that as a side pairing, a little undecided about how far I'm going to take it in this fiction though.
A big thanks to everyone else that reviewed!
Now my usual outro! If you enjoyed feel free to drop a follow and check out my poll and other stories if you are interested and I will see you in the next one, peace!