Phantom woke before dawn the next day, rubbing the remnants of sleep from his eyes, pushing away the grogginess caused by too much drink from the night before. He had a task to accomplish and he wouldn't let anything stand in his way. He would use every skill and resource he had available to beat his rival in this next contest.
He made a quick breakfast and set out before the sun had risen, his goal in mind: the mountain top. He hiked his way up the mountain, jogging most of the way and only taking small breaks when he absolutely needed to. The journey still took hours, but in his mind, it was well worth it, as long as he beat that scrawny pest of a Viking.
True to Astrid's word, the river he followed lead to a pool right at the top of the mountain, and situated deep within the waters, hundreds of gems glittered in a variety of colours.
He set his bag down on the ground next to him and stripped off most of his clothing. He removed his leather vest, undershirt, boots and pants, setting them next to the empty bag, then throwing the bag over his shoulder and diving into the water. The water was absolutely freezing against his skin, but he pushed on, diving under the water and collecting as many gems as possible before he had to come up for air.
He did this over and over again until his lungs burned and he could take no more. The bag was full to the brim and dragging him down under the water, and the current battered him around until he could not tell which way was up.
Desperately, he dragged himself to the surface, gasping for breath and weak from swimming, then pulled his heavy form to the edge of the pool.
Surely he had enough now? His bag was full of fine gems, worth enough gold to buy a sword for Shadow to win him this next contest. It had to be. He couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't keep diving for gems, and could carry no more. He needed to get back to the Dragons Edge and meet Astrid.
He climbed out of the water, washing off the remaining dirt and drying himself off before redressing and beginning the long journey back to the base.
.
Meanwhile, Hiccup was rushing around inside his forge, managing multiple projects at once, never stopping to take a breath. He had worked tirelessly from dawn until midday without stopping once and was about ready to drop from exhaustion. Usually, he was used to working hard from morning 'til lunch, but after focusing on four projects non-stop, it was about time he took a break.
So far, he was half way through making Shadow's gift for today, her gift for tomorrow was still in pieces, and the final gift still had a lot of work to go, but was taking shape. He wasn't sure if he would manage making them all, being only given a day for each of them. It would be a close call.
He decided to give himself a break and go down to the docks after lunch to see what trader Johan had brought with him. He was expecting a shipment of maps of further away lands, and any information on Dagur or Grey, so hopefully the trader had something for him today.
After setting down his project and cleaning up slightly, Hiccup left his forge to head over to the clubhouse. Astrid was already there in the corner, working on something privately, so he didn't disturb her and went over to the central fire to grab a piece of meat roasting over a spit. He then moved over to a seat in the corner to enjoy his lunch and rest before meeting Johan.
Not long after, his rival male waltzed in, carrying a large and obviously heavy bag over his shoulder. Hiccup didn't speak to him, in favour of staying silent in the corner and observing him without being noticed. Phantom didn't even acknowledge him and went straight over to Astrid. That seemed quite strange to Hiccup, since the male Black Moon seemed quite distant from his team of riders. But the two of them seemed to be quite friendly towards each other, with no obvious tension or hostilities between them.
Hiccup stopped caring and went back to his lunch. Right before he got up to put his plate away and go down to the docks, he saw Astrid leave, carrying the same bag that Phantom had when he came in.
.
Once he got down to the docks, Trader Johan was just tying off and setting the gangplank down so they could come aboard. Hiccup smiled and went on board immediately. "Good to see you again master Hiccup. Doing well up here on your own?" he asked happily.
"As well as we can with a few rogues on the loose. I don't suppose you have some information on those particular madmen and dragon hunters, do you Johan? We could really do with some leads." Asked Hiccup.
"Straight to the point and right into business, I like that. I came across a few of my own informants, who are quite reliable sources, and came up with some rather important information if I do say so."
Hiccup was instantly intrigued. "Go on." He said.
"One of them mentioned crossing paths with a certain madman that we all know too well, and that new fellow too, the one who chartered my ship to bring him North. It seems that the two of them are in some sort of alliance, using each-others skills and resources to gain an advantage over you. But there seems to be a rift between Dagur and Grey, so their alliance isn't entirely stable. My informant tells me that each of them have a different main target in mind when it comes to attacking you and your group of riders."
If Dagur and Grey were working together, that couldn't mean anything good. Dagur had an armada at his back, and a whole lot of crazy going on inside his head, making him unpredictable and dangerous. Grey on the other hand, was just one man, one man with enough knowledge and experience around Black Moons than anyone else apparently. The two of them combined could mean big trouble.
"Dagur's main objective is capturing you and your Night Fury, so he can use you and your knowledge of dragons to seize control of the archipelago, whereas Grey only has one target in mind and couldn't care less about you. He's after your girl Shadow, and that other shapeshifting dragon that came north."
Hiccup thought for a moment, trying to think of how he can use that information to his own advantage, but Johan caught his attention again.
"My informant overheard something quite dire, Master Hiccup. He said to me that Dagur the Deranged was planning on handing over some of his larger ships to Grey the Dragon Hunter, so he could attack your base and kill his quarry. The only trouble is, I don't have any idea when he might attack."
Hiccup's eyes went wide and his face went white. An imminent attack wasn't something that they wanted to deal with, and they didn't have the numbers to stand against large amounts of ships. But they had two Black Moons on their side, and they were formidable opponents against any army. Hopefully, they had enough firepower to withstand an attack.
Johan and Hiccup talked for a little while longer until Hiccup decided to go back to his work. But before he did, he took a slight detour over to the stables to be with Toothless for a bit, to make sure he didn't feel neglected. That was when he noticed Astrid coming back from the docks. He was about to call out to her and say hi, but he froze for a moment.
She was carrying a very large item over her shoulder, looking obviously like a longsword, and the bag at her hip, the same bag that Phantom was carrying earlier, was much lighter.