I Own Nothing
All Rights Reserved
Author's Note: I know I said updates would be every Saturday, but I won't be around to update this Saturday, and so I decided to do it early rather than late. Chapter 5 is intended to be posted on March 18th.
Chapter 4
A Meeting on Green Island
Green Island was indeed a green island. It was mostly flat and covered in grasses and wispy wildflowers. Not so green were the small lumpy cliffs that the ocean waves slammed into every minute of every day. By uninhabited island standards, it was fairly large, though not large enough for any kind of tribe to settle on. Due to its exposed nature it was sometimes used as a meeting spot for tribes, because neither side could easily conceal an ambush there.
Before landing Hiccup and Toothless took a look around the area. A single person dressed in black stood at the center of the island. Off the shore to the west was a small squadron of ships. The wind was blowing and he could see the emblems on the green flags, which was a dragon's wing with a gold lined shield in the center. He assumed at any rate it was a dragon's wing, for it was clearly not a bird wing and he knew of no one who used a bat wing as a symbol. The shield was not the round circle Vikings used, but curved pentagonal, like a knight's shield. He searched his memory but did not recognize it.
They landed on the eastern side of the island and the King slowly approached the figure in the center. His helmet was on so the only part of his face visible was his eyes. Toothless kept a careful distance behind him, ready to attack at any moment.
The unknown person, whose face was also concealed except for a pair of cold eyes, gestured to the sky behind them. "I believe our note said to come alone,"
"Did you really expect me to blindly go along with that?" The King asked coldly, "As it is, the riders up there are only here for my protection. As long as there's no treachery you have nothing to worry about. On the other hand, if this is a trap you have everything to worry about."
"Duly noted." The person looked him over. "Let's get down to business. You have the Dragon Eye. We want it back. Give it to me right now and nobody gets hurt."
The King cocked his head to one side, as if considering. "That's all very clear and concise. There's only one slight problem: whatever this Dragon Eye thing is, I don't have it."
"And I think you're lying,"
"That's your misfortune and it won't change the truth."
"We will not be trifled with, Dragon King. If you don't return the Eye to its rightful owners we will use force to make you—and we have ways of dealing with those who mistreat and enslave dragons," their hand went down to a curved sword attached to their belt.
"We don't mistreat or enslave dragons. We befriend them."
"Yet you call yourself the Dragon King,"
"I've also been called the Dragon Sorcerer yet I don't have any magic powers. And I personally see myself as a Dragon Trainer."
"Yes, you train dragons into submissive brainwashed grunts to do your bidding."
"You're not making a very good negotiator, you know. But that makes little difference because we've been at an impasse the moment we started talking."
The person demanded where he had been five nights ago, which the King assumed was the night this thing had been stolen. The King's response was he had been journeying to the Bog Burglars Island at the time and was probably sleeping on a sea stack, as he often did on those trips.
"So you have no alibi,"
"And I don't need one, because I don't have this Eye and I don't have a clue of where it is right now—and by the way, are we talking like an eye as in a real 'eye'? Because that would be downright disgusting."
Now the Unknown cocked their head to one side and the King thought he saw a hint of curiosity in their eyes. "You're either a fool or we've somehow got the wrong person,"
"I imagine you do. But humor me: why do you think I stole your Dragon Eye?"
"One of my Followers insisted it was you. And who else could have done it?"
"Take your pick. There are a lot of people around here who ride dragons these days. Have you considered that? What made your Follower so certain it was me?"
For the first time the Unknown's confidence faltered. "That Follower was positive it was you. And my Followers do not lie to me."
"Then they were mistaken. Where are they now, anyway? Call them over; I want to hear this for myself."
"Unfortunately, I cannot. They volunteered for a task and left two days ago. I was expecting they would be back by now, but it seems their ship has been delayed by something." They looked genuinely concerned about this.
"How inconvenient for everyone. Or maybe not. Still, if I was there stealing this eye, as you claim, was I riding a Night Fury?"
"No, but we know you have easy access to other dragons. This one had four wings; that is all we can be certain of. I'm sure you have such a dragon amidst your many slaves."
The King exchanged a glance with Toothless.
"Hiccup, it's that rider again, the one Drago mentioned,"
"I know Bud,"
The unknown's looked outraged. "Is nothing revered by you people that you even dare to speak their language?"
"Well if he talks to me I naturally have to talk back!" The King said sharply, "Now look, I didn't take your Eye, but I think I have an idea who did."
"Oh yes? And now you're going to tell me who it is and send me off on a wild chase for a few years while you capture more dragons?"
"I don't capture dragons. I free them and I take them in if they allow it. If you're so well informed, you should know that."
The figure spoke somewhat grudgingly, "Yes, we know you've been rescuing dragons from hunters and such. We do not object to that. But they should be set free, not kept as pets or circus animals. I heard about your dragon racing and I think it is atrocious. It is not right that dragons should live that way, and that is what we object to the most, that and the fact that you demean them."
"We don't keep them as pets and we don't demean them. They're our friends, as free as anybody else on our island," he pointed to Toothless, "and does he really look like a pet or some slave? Is this what you'd call a demeaned dragon?"
"Certainly not!" Toothless said proudly.
"Then what is with that tail fin?"
"Well, there are sadly people out there who try to hunt and kill dragons." The King said smoothly, "I fix what I can." He left it at that, knowing it would not look good to say who actually was responsible for the loss of the tail fin. After all these years he still felt a wave of guilt whenever it was mentioned. Sometimes he even wondered if he was being a hypocrite.
There was a silence, during which the person eyed him carefully. "You say you know who stole the Eye?"
"I think I do."
"Show me your face, that I may know if you're telling me the truth,"
"Only if you reveal yours,"
Their hands slowly moved to their heads. The King took off his helmet and the mask underneath it. At the same time the figure pulled down the hood and face cloth. She was a young woman, maybe only 5 years older than the King. Her hair was short and blond, and she had a stern face with firm features.
"I am Mala, Queen of the Defenders of the Wing," she said formally.
He bowed his head stiffly, though personally he was unimpressed with the title. "Just call me Hiccup."
"Then I have a new proposal for you…Hiccup. You say you know who stole the Dragon Eye: prove it. Find this person, retrieve the Eye from them, and bring it back to us. My share of the bargain remains the same: we will not harm Berk if you do this. And I might just provide a good monetary reward for your services," she added.
"That's very clear and succinct, but I have a counter proposal. Keep the money, we don't need it. I bring you this Eye. While I am gone, your tribe visits my island, and you shall see for yourselves that we do not enslave dragons or brainwash them. And let me point out that if I go on this venture, I have to know exactly what it is I'm looking for."
"No you don't."
"Yes I do."
"That is information only the select few can know. And why should I accept your bargain? I could, after all, threaten Berk and force you to accept mine."
"And what guarantee is there that I'll keep my half if you do that? Once I'm in the air, what will you do to stop me?"
"We have ways. Ways that have worked against Dragon Trappers will work on you too."
"You fight against Dragon Trappers?" Hiccup was secretly very interested. "Then why are we arguing like this when we have a common enemy? I've been working against them for years. Them and Drago Bludvist."
"Yes, we've heard about that. We know about that monster Bludvist too."
"Then why didn't you do anything about him?" The King demanded, his anger at the subject getting the better of him. "Where were you a year ago?"
"We came north to put an end to him. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to take part in the battle you're referring too." She looked embarrassed to admit it.
"Would your presence have made any difference?" the King asked with a skeptical raise of his eyebrow.
Mala's temper flared again. "I'll have you know every single one of us is more than a match for you or any Viking!"
"I'm not a Viking,"
"Oh? And what are you then?"
"A man who's getting tired of this talk and wants to come to an agreement. You can take my terms or find the Eye yourself and I wish you the best of luck…and if you try to attack Berk…well, I would advise you not to if you value your lives. Recall what happened to Bludvist when he tried it. But I think I would rather have you for an ally than an enemy. As we both are opposed to Dragon Hunting, by the sound of things we should be pooling our resources." He saw she was maintaining an uncompromising posture. "Well, I've enjoyed the chat. Have fun searching," he started to back away.
Mala suddenly realized she had worked herself into a corner. The King had all the cards now. "Wait,"
He stopped and smiled. "I'm waiting,"
"So are Astrid and your sire," Toothless muttered, looking at the dragons in the air behind him.
"The Eye is what matters most. For the chance of retrieving it, I will agree to your offer—on one condition. You will be accompanied by an equal number of Defenders."
"An equal number?" the King frowned slightly.
"It must be a joint effort," Mala smiled dangerously "You claim to know a lot about this thief. That makes you an asset I would be a fool not to make use of. Would you agree to come if I insisted every Defender must go with you? That would put you at a disadvantage. You would refuse or insist on bringing more of your cohorts with you, but either choice would put us at a disadvantage and you know it. And this mission sounds like it requires stealth, not an army. So it is better we each contribute an equal number and no more. Besides, I cannot send all of my people because I have need of them elsewhere."
"You do realize they'll have to ride a dragon, right? It's the fastest and most efficient way to travel."
"It will be a necessary evil for the time being." Mala said with great reluctance. She knew he once again was right. "As I said, the Eye is what matters most."
"And should we fail?"
Mala's nostrils flared. "Defenders of the Wing do not fail. They either succeed or die trying."
"Excuse me then—suppose we both get killed? What happens?"
"Your companion will ensure you leave indications of where you two are going, and I assume you will send word of your progress to your home whenever you can. If after a month you have not returned or we have not heard from you, we will send out a new expedition to find the Eye."
"And for the last time: what is the Dragon Eye?"
Mala sighed. "The Dragon Eye was made by one of our tribe's founders. His name I am forbidden to reveal. He was a great traveler and inventor, and he invented the Eye as a record keeper of his travels and observations. It's a device that contains lenses with a multitude of information on them. When he died he left it to the Defenders of the Wing. But the maps and information the Dragon Eye possessed were deemed too dangerous should they fall into the wrong hands, and it was decided to destroy everything. But nothing worked. The lenses and the device remained intact no matter what was tried. So our Forbearers decided to hide it. Each part was hidden in a different spot around the known world and the eye itself was kept in an iron case which only the Leader of the Defenders held the key to. For nearly four centuries these hiding places have sufficed. Even among our own people it was forgotten by most."
"So what happened to ruin this arrangement?" the King asked with genuine curiosity.
"We learned that a group of Dragon hunters found some of the lenses. At first we thought the finding was simply luck, and it well might have been, but now they have found too many for it to be a coincidence. Somehow they have learned about what those lenses can do and where they are hidden. They have been hunting down the others too. We acted fast. We began collecting the remaining lenses, and we stole the ones the Hunters had taken. But the Hunters were watching us, for less than a week ago they came and stole the lenses and the eye from us. We naturally stole them back while they were about to escape."
"All of them?"
"No. One lens remains hidden."
Hiccup knew better than to ask where it was, so he asked Mala to continue.
"There is little more to tell. Right after we took back what was ours, a human on a dragon appeared and without a word took it from us and vanished."
"Interesting," the King mused, "And you thought I was the culprit,"
Mala bowed her head, "Yes we did. And it seems that we were wrong. And that makes things even stranger."
Up in the sky, Astrid wished they would hurry up. Stormfly was starting to get tired of hovering and she knew the other dragons were too. Fishlegs and Snotlout were there, along with Stoick on his Rumblehorn Skullcrusher. The Twins and their Zippleback had been left on Berk, a punishment for once again nearly blowing up Stoick's house the night before.
Thankfully there seemed to be no reason for back up. Neither Hiccup nor the woman he was talking with showed any signs of hostilities. But their discussion seemed to go on forever.
"I'm bored!" Snotlout said loudly, "I'm bored and I can't hear a thing!"
"None of us can," Fishlegs grumbled,
"Well of course we can't if you lot keep talking for no reason!" Stoick snapped.
"What's he doing now anyway?" Snotlout asked, oblivious to the ire.
"They're shaking hands," Astrid said, "here they come!"
Hiccup and Toothless had taken off again and flew up to join them.
"So what happened?" Stoick asked, and the others echoed the question.
Hiccup shook his head. "Let's find someplace to land and I'll explain. It's not at all what we were expecting,"
"Let's just land already!" Hookfang shouted.
"I agree," Stormfly squawked,
"Maybe if you two put your energy into flying instead of your complaints you'd be just fine," the Rumblehorn growled.
"You're not seriously considering this!" Astrid exclaimed. They had flown to a sea stack and Hiccup had told them all about the meeting with Mala. "These people nearly killed Tuffnut, accused you of theft, have threatened every single one of us, and now you're going to do what they ask you to?"
"I agree," Stoick said firmly, "they had no right to ask this of us and I see no reason to go along with it."
"And Hiccup, don't you realize that you're going to try and track down a dragon?" Fishlegs added, "A creature that can fly at insane speeds in any direction without leaving any tracks, and has had at least a week of a head start? Don't you know that's practically impossible?"
"Of course he doesn't," Snotlout laughed, "that's Hiccup for you. He always goes after the impossible. And Astrid, you're really hot when you look concerned like that!" She responded with a kick to his shins.
"Very funny, Snotlout, and yes, I am considering this," Hiccup replied.
"That'll probably mean a long trip," Toothless grinned, "sounds like fun! I'm in!"
"Me too!" Hookfang added eagerly, "I wanna see some more of the world!"
"Whoever said you were coming?"
"Look," Hiccup said loudly over the bickering dragons, "I'm not ignorant of what Fishlegs pointed out, and I know I don't owe these Defenders anything, but that's not entirely why I agreed to this. I have reasons of my own."
"Such as?" Astrid demanded.
"Well first of all, I offered them a visit to Berk because I think we'd be better off having those people as our allies. We just have to show them we're not enslaving dragons. We've done things like this before, after all,"
Stoick considered this. "I suppose that could work. But what if they're playing us? What if they're really spies or something?"
"Then once they come to Berk we've got them at our mercy," Hiccup replied with a grim smile, "then we have them where we can keep an eye on them. And there's something more, something I haven't really told anyone about. When I was being held prisoner on the Czernobog last year, Drago Bludvist told me some very interesting things. He mentioned that I'd been a problem for him ever since Fort Flay. But here's the thing: I've never been to that place. I'd never even heard of it until he brought it up!"
"So he got a fort or two mixed up," Snotlout snorted.
"Snotlout, when a person riding a dragon attacks your base, you remember where it happened. Well, maybe you don't, but Drago would have."
"So maybe you got a fort mixed up," Stoick suggested,
"I've thought of that, but listen to what he told me next. I asked Drago if at Fort Flay the rider had a Night Fury. He answered in the negative. I asked him how he could explain that, and he replied the first dragon I was riding died of wounds inflicted by him, and so I made Toothless my replacement dragon—"
"Replacement dragon indeed!" Toothless said indignantly.
"—but we all know that's not true! Toothless is the only dragon I've ever ridden on a regular basis! Look, I don't pretend to know everything that's going on here, but the only conclusion I can make is this: at some point before I came into the picture, there was another person who rode a dragon and was fighting against Drago. Drago at some point injured this person's dragon and they vanished, and for unknown reasons never resurfaced. When I showed up, Drago assumed I was the same person as before, just with a different dragon! That's the only explanation I can come up with at any rate."
They paused to digest this information. A dragon rider who had been harassing Drago before Hiccup showed up? It certainly sounded unlikely, but at the same time, it could be possible. Given how this involved Hiccup, it could almost be plausible.
"And now this unknown person has returned," Astrid said, "You think they stole this Dragon Eye thing and once again people mistook the person for you,"
"Exactly. And it was not Camicazi or somebody else around here that stole that Eye either. I know for a fact nobody in this area has a dragon with four wings—yes, Dad, the dragon had four wings, assuming Mala was telling me the truth, and I don't see why she wouldn't. No, I believe her, on this matter at least. I've been meaning for a while now to try and find out what happened to this rider whom Drago confused me for, but I've never had the time; I didn't even know if they were still alive. But now I know. So yes, I want to go after them." He looked at Stoick determinedly. "I want answers, Dad. And we've got to determine whether or not this person is a danger to us, and that means finding them. Mala said they didn't want this Eye falling into the wrong hands, and from what I've heard I don't think I want it to either."
"Assuming I allow you to go, where would you start?" Stoick asked.
"I have some ideas. I'll need to talk with Midnight and a few others first. Oh, and, Dad, there's no "assuming" I'm going on this. I already gave my word. I'm going."
"WHAT?" Stoick shouted.
"It's the best way, Dad! We gain some potentially useful allies and I get answers to questions that have been plaguing me for a long time! And from what I've heard so far, I'd feel a lot better knowing this Dragon Eye thing was in safe hands, but I can't determine that from here!"
"What could this Dragon Eye whatever you call it do in the wrong hands anyway?" Snotlout asked lazily.
"According to Mala, the lenses contain maps and information on Dragons. What if those dragon hunters got this information? They could use it to exploit weaknesses and capture more dragons. Those maps could lead them to places we don't want them to go. I don't know for certain, of course, and Mala would not give me too many details, but I do know we won't find out unless we obtain it and have a look ourselves!"
"So when do we leave?" Astrid asked.
"What did you say?" Stoick exclaimed, "We?"
"Do you think I'm going to let him go alone, Chief?"
"Certainly not!" Stormfly agreed.
"I'm coming too!" Snotlout said, "You guys would be lost without me and Hookfang to help!"
"Yes, we could do with some live bait in case we ever need to go shark fishing!" Astrid laughed, elbowing Hiccup in the ribs.
Snotlout paled. "S—shark fishing?"
"Now just a minute—" Stoick interrupted, "I've said nothing about consenting to this!"
"I want to come too!" Fishlegs said excitedly, "this Dragon Eye sounds very intriguing! And we might as well take the Twins along. They won't want to be left out, and they'll be entertaining if nothing else."
"Why don't you just take all the Riders then?" Stoick threw up his hands in exasperation.
"I think not, Chief." Astrid said, "We won't leave Berk that defenseless. We'll take the Originals and leave the 'A' Team to protect the island." The 'A' Team was the auxiliary team of Dragon Riders Astrid had put together.
"Then I'm coming too," Stoick declared. The four younger Vikings exchanged uncertain looks. "And why not? I'm just as good a Rider as any of you, and my traveling experience is far beyond any of yours."
"Not mine and Hiccups!" Toothless said proudly, but of course Stoick could not understand him. Hiccup privately agreed but he was not about to offend his father by saying so.
"You're the Chief of Berk." Astrid pointed out, "It would not be good for you to be gone from Berk for long and we don't want to risk anything happening to you, sir. Berk can't afford the loss," she spoke very sincerely and the others nodded vigorously.
"And since you're all the future leaders of Berk you're all expendable?" Stoick retorted. "Do you think I'm going to let my Heir and his future—?"
"Dad!" Hiccup said warningly, glancing nervously at Astrid.
"—I mean to say future…Co-Chiefs, yes, do you think I'm going to let my Heir and his future co-Chiefs go off on some hunt to who knows where for who knows how long?"
"'Co-chiefs'?" Stormfly repeated.
"Must be one of those weird human terms," Hookfang said.
"Dad, there is another reason why you shouldn't come," Hiccup said quietly, "the Defenders of the Wing are coming to Berk for a diplomatic visit and tour. Who can we trust more to lead that tour successfully than the Chief of Berk?"
"Gobber could do it," Stoick grumbled, but he knew Hiccup had a point.
"Yes, Gobber—the cripple who got our racing flags mixed up the other day," Snotlout sniggered.
"Gobber would do just fine!" Hiccup said sharply, "Though I'll grant he doesn't look very impressive, especially when compared to you, Dad. And I think Queen Mala would feel slighted if we made her discuss policies with someone she saw as below her,"
It took a very long time to persuade him, but eventually Stoick agreed to this. The first six Dragon Riders would go on this mission and he would remain on Berk to play the diplomat. But he was not at all happy about this at all.
"You just agreed to do this because you want to do more exploring, didn't you?" he growled at Hiccup. "And I suppose there's nothing I can do to get you not to go on this?"
"No, but—"
"Technically yes, but we would prefer he didn't do any of those things to us," Toothless chuckled to Meatlug. She had her tongue out and was panting, one of her ways of showing delight.
"—I do have to agree with one thing." Hiccup turned to the other three humans. "I think you guys should stay behind."
"WHAT?" they shouted,
"And let you go off alone again?" Astrid screeched as she pulled out her axe, "I don't think so!"
"Hear me out! I won't be going alone! Mala insisted that one of her people will go with me on this! If I take five dragon riders with me, she'll insist that another five of her people come with us, to make things even. And I don't want there to be 6 defenders on this trip. For one thing, that's a huge amount of supplies to worry about and concealment will be harder. And if I lie and bring you guys along secretly, it will be awkward to explain to my companion that I deceived them. So guys, I want you to stay behind on Berk." He gave Astrid a wink. Then he turned so he looked like he was talking to Toothless, "But if you guys decide to make some plan to coincidently run into us while we're traveling, a plan that I am completely unaware of so I have deniability…"
Astrid's shoulders slumped. "All right, we'll stay," she growled, "but you owe me big time when you get back!"
Snotlout was about to protest but Fishlegs gave him a warning look. "We'll talk about this later," he whispered.
"Who's this person who will be going with you?" Stoick asked.
"I don't know. Mala said she would choose them."
"I don't like it," Stoick growled. "This person could hurt you—"
"And have to find the Eye alone and deal with an enraged Night Fury," Hiccup replied, "I doubt they'll try it. Not that I'll give them an opportunity, of course,"
"So when do you leave?" Astrid asked again,
"Mala and the Defenders will arrive on Berk in three days. We'll leave the day after."
Stoick looked at him fixedly. "Do you know what you're doing?"
"Inviting a tribe over for a tour, tracking down an elusive person, and retrieving a valuable object? Yes, I believe I do." He did not smile. "Mala boasted that all of the Defenders are a match for any Viking. They've already proven to be highly experienced archers. I think we'd be better off with them as friends then foes, and the best way to achieve that is to show them what we're like and do them a favor. There may come a time where we have to call on them for help."
Stoick's leadership instincts kicked in with those words. However much he might hate Hiccup going off on some long journey, his reasons for doing so were at least partially to benefit Berk.
"All right," he said, "A Chief looks after his own. I'll check out these Defender people and see if they're worth being allies with, and you will go fetch them their treasure so they're indebted to us—and find out about this person who stole it."
The Riders nodded firmly and began saddling up.
That night Astrid met with the original riders, excluding Hiccup.
"We're going with them," she said without preamble.
"Yeah!" Snotlout and the Twins cheered.
"Will the Chief allow it?" Fishlegs asked nervously, but he was just as excited.
"You leave him to me," Astrid replied, "But Hiccup is not to know about this, understood? This must look like we simply crossed paths and by circumstances were compelled to join him. That way our new allies hopefully won't take offense and we will have superior numbers while searching for this Dragon Eye."
"Do you really think they'll believe that?" Fishlegs asked skeptically.
"You'd be surprised at what people will believe," Astrid said, "Thuggory of the Meatheads believes colds are caused by the number 9 and Gobber believes in trolls,"
"What about this person whom Hiccup will be traveling with? They might take offense," Ruffnut said.
"Ruff, long journey's can either turn people into virtual siblings or sworn enemies. If the former happens in the end, we'll have nothing to worry about. If the latter happens in the end, this small deception won't make much of a difference. So, we just have to ensure we get the former result." She looked at them sharply, "Got that?"
Fishlegs suddenly started laughing.
"What?" Snotlout asked crossly.
"We're going on an adventure! Hiccup's been talking about the outside world ever since he came back and now we're going to see it too! For real this time, not just a few rocks in Viking waters! Think of all the things we'll see, the knowledge we'll gain from this! My new Book of Dragons is gonna need more pages! Oh, this is gonna be great!" He slapped Snotlout on the back so hard he nearly fell over.