Chapter Two: Surprising Revelation
Tension was rife in the rough and tumble Viking village of Berk! Every member of the village was preparing themselves for the Roman attack! While it is true that Berk had never really fought the Romans before, the reputations of these vicious conquerors could not be denied! The fearsome Legionnaires who fought like machines, the massive weapons of war they brought with them into battle! But what was truly horrible was how the Romans treated their prisoners!
If a warrior was ever captured by the Romans, they faced two terrible fates…either they were sold off to live as slaves, to be either a plaything of the Roman nobles or in backbreaking labor for their masters, or…they became gladiators! A gladiator was forced to fight for the amusement the Roman citizens in huge arenas! The gladiators would face beast, including dragons, and fight other gladiators to the death! Now, while it is true a Viking relishes a good fight, they would not appreciate a fight degraded into a sport! Especially when the slave and the gladiator had one thing in common…they would never see their loved ones again!
"Gobber! How are the catapults coming?!" exclaimed Stoick the Vast, doing a last minute review of the harbor defenses.
"Aye chief, all the defenses are up, the catapults are in position and everybody's blade is sharp!" exclaimed Gobber the Belch, in his thick accent(1), with a laugh. As the village blacksmith, Gobber took extra pride in how he crafts and maintains the weapons of the Vikings. Plus, with the peace between Berk and dragons, his blacksmithing services were not used quite that often, but that's another story…(2)
"Good!" replied Stoick before turning to Spitelout Jorgenson, Snoutlout's father, who was in charge inner defenses, "How's everything going?"
"The provisions are stock, all who can't fight are in the Great Hall, and every important position is now guarded!" explained Spitelout while standing at attention. When it came to being in a fight, Spitelout was as reliable as a well-maintained sword. He often tried made sure that his son lived up to his high expectations. Still in this instance, Spitelout was the best man for the job!
"Excellent, get into positions! This could be the toughest battle to date! May Thor guide your hand in the battle to come!" declared Stoick, dismissing his men to their posts, before turning to his son Hiccup, who was standing beside him, "Hiccup, I need to know more about what we're facing. Are you sure Snotlout didn't say anything else?"
"No!" replied Hiccup wearily, having been asked this same question in about a dozen different ways, "All he did was scream 'Romans' before collapsing from exhaustion!" Taking some time to collect himself, Hiccup decided to ask, "Dad, are the Romans really that dangerous? I mean I don't remember anytime they've ever attack Berk or anywhere in the Barbaric Archipelago…ever!"
Sighing, Stoick turned to Hiccup and explained, "That's not entirely true, Hiccup. There was a time, in the past, when the Romans attack the Archipelago, looking to conquer more lands and slaves! Every island had been attacked at least once by the Romans! Even Berk was attacked, though it happened during the time of Hamish I!"
"What happen?" asked Hiccup, wanting to know more about the upcoming enemy.
Taking a deep breath, Stoick further explained, "According to the ancient scrolls, the Roman fleet had managed to sneak into Berk under the cover of night! It was only because of a little boy disobeying his parents that the village managed to muster up any resistances! Even so, the Romans had more or less taken control of the village and were about to execute Hamish and his family. But then the most unlikely event turned it all around…"
"What?" asked Hiccup, feeling like a kid hearing his dad's war stories.
"The dragons started attacking Berk! Now, normally, this would have been a bad thing, but the beasties had decided to focus all their efforts on the Roman fleet and army! I don't know, maybe they saw them as the bigger threat! But the Romans were completely helpless against the dragons and the Vikings of Berk! So they did the only thing they could…they jumped on their ships and sailed away, never to return…until now!" Stoick finished his story with epic rendition.
"So it's because of the dragons that Berk still exists!" replied Hiccup, seeing this as more proof of Human and dragon cooperation.
"Don't get your hopes up; the dragons still stole some of the livestock! And the Romans didn't leave without exacting a price! Especially of the Jorgenson family!" explained Stoick, hoping to keep Hiccup's mind on the current problem.
"Wait, what do you mean 'especially on the Jorgenson family'?" asked Hiccup confused by that part of the story.
Sighing, again, Stoick turned back to Hiccup and said, "That little boy who snuck out and saw the Romans…it was Snotlout's great grandfather!" Hiccup wears an expression of shock while Stoick continues the story, "After the Romans conquered the village but before the dragon attack, the Centurion demanded the boy's parents reveal themselves! When they stepped forward, the Centurion turned to the boy and said, 'This is the price you pay for not listening to your elders!' With that he signal two of the soldiers and, with ruthless precision, cut down his parents right in front of the boy! After the dragons drove them off, the boy would live with his uncle, but the Joffersons never forgot what the Centurion did that day!"
"Stoick!" yelled Gobber, running towards the father and son, "I just came from the lookout tower! They've spotted the Romans!"
Clenching his fists, Stoick turned to the warriors and yelled, "EVERYONE! Into your positions! Hiccup, I need you to organize the riders in case we can't hold them off! Gobber, how many ships did the lookout see?"
"Well," said Gobber hesitantly, "that's the thing. He only saw one ship."
Hiccup stopped as he was about to head to where the riders were stationed, "Come again?" asked Hiccup and Stoick at the same time, not sure they heard Gobber correctly.
"Like I said there was only one Roman ship heading to Berk as far as the lookout could see!" explained Gobber, just as confused as they were, "And it looked pretty banged up too! There were patches jobs from what I could see and…"
Stoick look fairly irked at Gobber's pause when he asked, "And what?!"
"They were flying a flag of truce!" said Gobber quickly, flinching a little at Stoick's tone. Stoick and Hiccup both had confuse looks on their faces. This was not what they were expecting! All the stories they heard about Roman, including about how they attack Berk in the past, could not prepare them for the Romans…seeking peace!
"What do you think son?" asked Stoick, both as a test of his heir and a genuine query for advice. Stoick was skilled at diplomacy, but mostly with people he was familiar with: Vikings! Hiccup had an insight into the unknown which created the Berkian practice of training dragons! If anyone knew what to do it would be Hiccup!
Thinking it over for a moment, Hiccup replied, "I'll have Fishlegs and Meatlug scout around for any other ships! We should keep the defense up but wait for their move! After that…" Hiccup pause for what he was about to say next, "Looks like me and you are gonna go greet some visitors!"
This last sentence did not go over well with everybody! "Stoick, you can't meet with theses…" Spitelout paused, unable to give words to his hate for the Romans, "For all you know it could be a trap!"
Stoick contemplated what was said by Spitelout and hiccup said, before coming to a decision, "It's true…it might be a trap. But, it could also be legitimate. There have been rumors going around about the fall of Rome. Until we speak with the captain of the ship, we'll go with Hiccup's suggestion."
"But Stoick…" began Spitelout, not happy with the situation.
"No buts, Jorgenson! That's how we are going to do this!" exclaimed Stoick, leaving no room for argument. Turning towards the dock Stoick went to meet the ship, while Hiccup went to get Fishlegs to patrol the island for Roman ships. A few moments after Stoick arrived at the dock the Roman ship began to arrive in sight. It was the first time Stoick ever saw a Roman ship before and in his opinion…he was not impressed!
Many of the designs were similar to a Viking ships; a single mast with a square sail, the same low single deck, and a 'figurehead'(3) to differentiate the bow from the stern. There were differences, like the fact that the 'figurehead' was not made in the any animal save a swirled conch shell, that large eyes had been painted right below the 'figurehead' along with Latin runes painted on the side of the ship, there was a jutting piece of wood (obviously designed to ram a ship) on the bow of the ship, and finally there holes for oars along the deck. What really set it apart from the Viking ships in Berk's harbor was simple…it was a mess!
The Roman ship was covered in boards used as patches for damaged suffered either in battle or from stormy weather. You could tell because the boards didn't match the wood the ship was made out! Also, the sail had patches put in it and stitches used to covered damage done. There appeared to be no sign of weapons on the deck, though Stoick could barely see the crew on the deck, working about various tasks…
Hiccup managed to arrive just as the ship entered port! He had to run most of the way, due to the unspoken agreement between the two to leave the dragons out of sight. They knew absolutely nothing about who had come to visit Berk and they planned for any contingency! Many people of the world were still terrified of dragons, so if these people were friendly, they would be slowly introduced to the dragons. And if they were unfriendly, well…their introduced would be much…quicker!
A ramped land from the ship and no sooner than it was secured than walked down the single most…unique person ever to come to Berk! Wearing styled leather boots with white fur around the ankle, his footsteps were measured but playful, like he was showing off. His black pants were much like what a Viking would wear, but his shirt was white and made of silk. In addition he wore a grey wolfs fur vest over his shirt much like Hiccups. But there were obvious differences between him and the Vikings of Berk!
He had a tanned skin tone which immediately identified him as someone from the Mediterranean Sea. His black was windswept and carefully combed. His green eyes held an easy smile, which he showed on his lips. Most peculiar was the cat lying on his shoulders! It was grey with black spots in its fur, with white fur on its underbelly(4). It was unusual to see a cat on Berk because of the superstition revolving around cats and the sea!
"Aaah, such rustic charm!" said the visitor before turning his attention to Stoick and Hiccup, "Oh my apologies, I was just admiring the beauty of this wonderful village! Allow me to introduce myself…I am Ameilianus Augustus Aemilius, but you can just call me Ameilianus! I am sure you are wondering why I have come to Berk! Well, to put it simple…I am your SALVATION!"
Disclaimer: I don't own DreamWorks Dragons franchise or the book series it is based off of. I brought the Romans in after finding out they show up in the book series. I don't know if they would have met in real life, but it would have been near the end of the Roman Empire. I should point out that some of the details like the treatment of prisoners and slaves are clearly exaggerated. After Berk would have only heard tall tales of the Roman Empire. Also, when you think of Aemilianus's voice, use either voice actors Macro Grazzini and Alex House, aka the voice of Alejandro in the Total Dram franchise! My Roman noble's name is based off of Marcus Aemilius Aemilianus Augustus, a true Roman emperor…for three months in 253AD! However, he is more based on the infamous Roman emperors, Caligula and Nero, who's names will be used for…other creatures relate to him! Hope I didn't leave too many hints on where this story is heading! Please read and review to tell me what you think!
1 Unfortunately I am not good with writing accents. You'll just have to imagine it whenever Gobber speaks. You probably should watch the show or movie for reference
2 This is a references for the DreamWorks Dragons: Riders of Berk episode 'Viking for Hire'
3 I don't know if it's really a figurehead but it would look like that from a Viking perspective. Oh, by the way the ship is a Roman Trireme.
4 An Egyptian Mau. You'll find out its name next chapter…and its disposition! MUWHAHAHA!