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As the ships came to a halt next to his and Peadre's, Hiccup tugged at his collar. It wasn't until the ships had gotten closer that he was able to guess who the king was for at the prow was a huge, boulder of a man that could give his own father a run for his money.
The man wore the deep green and blue patterned clothing that Merida had worn the day she had challenged him. His beard wasn't as impressive as his fathers, and he seemed to allow his bright red hair to grow wild as parts of it stuck up under the crown on his head.
Hiccup held Toothless back on their boat and waited for Peadre to make a move. The man hopped onto the Alban vessel once it was close enough and offered a bow to his king. He spoke with him, but Hiccup couldn't make out what was being said from his position. Instead he paid attention to the lord's face, his expression was grim, but seemed to lighten up at something Peadre had said. Peadre gestured towards their ship and for the first time the King met Hiccup's eyes.
He felt the blood drain from him, but he took a steady breath and stood straight, attempting to invoke the presence his own father carried with him. He motioned for Toothless to follow him.
"Let's go buddy. Just… try not to scare anyone okay?" Toothless whined and then huffed as he butt his head into Hiccup's back to urge him forward. They anchored the boat to the King's ship and then crossed over.
Hiccup realized, as he walked closer, that he had no idea what to do in this situation. He wasn't sure if he should bow, or just stand tall. His mind spun with different scenarios which distracted him and caused him to trip on a bit of rope. In the end he gave a half bow, half stumble. Hiccup glanced up and saw Peadre biting his fist to stop himself from laughing and a glimmer of amusement seemed to shine in the eyes of the King.
He cleared he throat as he stood up straight. "H-hello, er, sir. I'm Hiccup, son of Stoick the Vast, Chieftain of Berk. I come to you in peace and hope to treat with you and yours, if you'll have me…" He kept his stance tall and continued to gaze up into the eyes of Merida's father. He realized where she got her eye colour from.
"So you're the little Viking boy who holds my daughter on his island while he tries to convince me to make a treaty? You want me to treaty with people that have terrorized my lands these past years? You don't seem like much lad, and I doubt you could convince me otherwise." He commanded in fluent Norse.
Hiccup frowned "I haven't captured Merida! She is on Berk, yes, but she isn't my prisoner. Frankly, I don't know if she would ever put up with that. Regardless I've come as a representative of Berk, not all Vikings are the same. Unlike Alba we don't fall under the rule of one King, so it is Berk that wishes to treat with you."
The king scratched his chin and glanced over at Peadre. The spy nodded once. "She isn't held captive then, so why isn't she here?"
Hiccup frowned a bit and wondered why Peadre hadn't given the King this information already, unless there was something he was hoping to glean from Hiccup's answers. He swallowed back his worry and walked back towards Toothless, he pulled the wrapped bow that was bound to the saddle. "She didn't want to risk breaking her cover, but she is with a friend of mine that I trust with my life. Merida asked me to give this to you, as proof that she was okay and on my side."
He presented the package. The king unwrapped the bundle and lifted the bow, which looked small in his massive hands, to peer at it. Hiccup watched emotion swim across the man's features as he drew his finger over the carvings one by one, and realized how much he must be worried for Merida. Hiccup had grown used to her on the island, and although he knew she wasn't a Viking, there had been part of him that had expected her to always be there.
Toothless must have sensed his sadness and nudged his hand in comfort. He smiled down at the dragon. The king cleared he throat and Hiccup looked back up at him.
"Aye, this is hers. She's been noting her journey on here." Hiccup's eyes widened in surprise, he hadn't realized. The king offered him a tight smile "she mentions you, and not with ill will." The king huffed and stared down at the bow with a touch of melancholy before shaking it aside. He eyed Hiccup for a moment again before speaking.
"For the sake of my daughter, I will allow myself to be open to your idea, but I will not deal in treaties while she is still on your island. We will sail there and fetch her first. I don't care about her cover."
Hiccup opened his mouth to protest, but the King held a hand up to stop him "no, I won't sail to your island, just close enough for Peadre to take his boat back and fetch her."
After a moment Hiccup sighed, he had hoped to get the treaty at least talked over, but then again, he had been hoping Merida would be here for it as well. "Okay, I agree… er, m'lord." He held his arm out.
The king blinked at it before he laughed as he roughly took his arm and shook it "you're and odd one for the Viking."
Hiccup rubbed his arm after he let go, but kept a smile plastered on to hide his pain "so I've heard" he commented.. Peadre smiled at him and clapped a hand on his shoulder in support.
"There ye go Hiccup, that wasn't too bad." He said in Gaelic. Fergus looked down at the bow again and then began to bellow orders out to the men. They took action to get the ship back in motion, tying the boat Peadre had taken so that it could drag alongside the other vessels.
They traveled for a time in relative peace. The sky was mostly clear save for some cloud cover, but there was no sign of bad weather. Hiccup allowed himself a moment to breath and just enjoy the sight of the blue of the sea and the knowledge that there was some hope of solving the complicated position Berk had landed in.
"Sir! There is something approaching ahead" called a man at the prow.
Fergus ambled over, taking care with his peg leg, which Hiccup realized he had for the first time. He had been so intimidated by the man when had first boarded and had kept his eyes up at his. The intricate carving and shape was quite stunning, the people of Alba had a bit more style to them then the Vikings of Berk.
He looked down at his metal leg, he had adjusted the spring once he had gotten used to walking with it, but he had been meaning to come up with something more useful. While the Viking's of Berk had a bit rougher fashion, they didn't ignore practicality.
"Hiccup son of Stoick, come here, quickly" barked Fergus. Hiccup moved to where he and Peadre were. "Look out there, tell me what you see." Hiccup peered out at the waves and didn't see anything at first, but eventually his eye caught a speck of colour.
"Sails… Red and white sails… Oh no."
"Yngvild" Peadre growled. Hiccup ran a hand through his hair.
"It's Yngvild, and if he is here… then he must have stopped at Berk earlier… Merida!" Hiccup was running back to Toothless before either of the men could stop him.
"Hiccup, Hiccup stop!" Peadre shouted as he ran over to him, placing a hand on his arm as he climbed up onto Toothless.
"Peadre, if Yngvild is already here, he had to have stopped in Berk. I have to find out if Merida is okay."
"I understand that lad, we care about Merida too ye know. However, what should we do?" Hiccup looked up at Fergus.
"Yngvild is not my friend, and while I promise you I will make sure Merida is okay, I can't get involved in anything else concerning him until our treaty is done. If Yngvild can prove that Berk doesn't want to help the council we risk them trying to take control by force."
Peadre laughed "Oh aye lad, ye'll not get more involved then barging onto his ship and demanding if he has an Alban princess on board for you to rescue?"
Hiccup's face went red, "not exactly, if he stopped on Berk and found her then Astrid will be nearby."
Peadre frowned "how can you be so sure?"
He smiled then "I made her promise, I trust Astrid, and she likes Merida too."
The man smiled "alright then, I trust you Hiccup son of Stoick."
Hiccup placed a hand on Toothless' neck "c'mon bud, let's get a better look at the situation."
Toothless growled in confirmation and leapt up into the air. Their take off rocked the boat and startled some of the men on board, but Hiccup was too focused on the task at hand to check on them.
They climbed high enough to be covered by some low clouds and flew over to where Yngvild's ships were. There were only two ships, something he was grateful for, but there was something odd on the mast of his main vessel.
He lowered Toothless to try and get a better look, it appeared to be a red banner, but as he got closer his stomach clenched in fear: it was Merida. She was bound to the top of the main mast of the ship.
Time moved in slow motion for him, he watched as there was a scuffle on the ship, some of the men were pointing and shouting up at Merida. He looked back and realized it was because she wasn't bound anymore, the ropes falling away from her as something small in her hand glinted in the sunlight.
She turned her head upwards and seemed to look right at him, before she started moving towards the end of the mast. Without even realizing what he was doing he had Toothless in a dive, as Merida picked up speed and leapt off the ship.
Ahh a cliff hanger! D: