The twelve labors of a Hiccup
6:The Stymphalian Birds
Hiccups POV:
We just docked on an isolated beach after sailing for one day which was fortunate since chances are the longer we took the more lives were lost to the birds if they do exist. I admit a small part of me didn't believe that these birds existed but since we've arrived in Greece I've dealt with a lion whose hide was as tough as armour, a dragon that could grow two heads back after one was cut off, a hind with golden antlers and bronze hooves, a boar who rivals in size to a titan wing gronkle and cleaned out the stables of huge cows who were said to be immortal. I had to say if these birds did exist it would not surprise me in the least. Greece is truly a place of wonders to both marvel and fear at the same time. One thing was for sure and that was when I get back to Berk I will have a lot of stories to tell which people are going to have a hard time believing me. Fortunately I'm able to get souvenirs from each of my little adventures. As these thoughts wondered through my mind I looked around the area and saw no villages nearby which was good like always since the last thing I needed was people coming by and getting scared of Scaulder which could cause them to come after him and try to kill him which was the last thing I wanted. It was then Scaulder nudged me from behind while Toothless nudged my side in concern. I turned to them and smiled before rubbing their heads and said.
"I'm alright guys just thinking about everything that's happened to us since we came to Greece." They growled in understanding. "The next time we come let's agree to just have a normal vacation." To this Scaulder just gave a gentle spray of water onto my face as Toothless slapped me with one of his ear flaps. "I guess you guys are right. For us this is a normal vacation." They just growled before I began to look around the area a bit more.
After I did a quick recognisance flight with Toothless and saw that there were no nearby villages I smiled knowing I would be able to leave Scaulder here with no worry of him being found. I knew that this was the place I could hide him while me and Toothless flew to Stymphalos to take care of the birds. I just hoped that this would be a task that wouldn't gain me more fame, not that I didn't enjoy the attention after spending most of my life being ignored or bullied by my people but seriously I couldn't walk through town without being swarmed by girls wanting a date, soldiers wanting tips on combat or children wanting me to tell them how I did it. It was just too much for me to handle so I could only hope my actions wouldn't garner me more fame than I already have because I doubt I could handle any more attention. I spent the rest of my day going over the map I had of the area so I could find the best and fastest way for me and Toothless to get to Stymphalos to fight the birds and also practiced my archery so I would be able to avoid missing any birds so they could possibly attack me.
Morning
I had loaded up Toothless' saddle bags last night before I went to bed since we'd be doing a full days travel in order to reach Stymphalos by nightfall. I was now standing in front of Scaulder who was nuzzling his head against my chest as I laughed and rubbed his head while saying.
"Don't worry big guy we'll be back before you know it."
He just growled before pulling away and watched as I mounted Toothless before we took off. While we were up in the sky I looked down at the land below and couldn't help but think of how truly beautiful it was down there so it was rather hard to believe that all those bizarre and dangerous things lived in this land but then again Berk was beautiful to and we had been plagued by dragons for generations. I chuckled at the memories of the village I grew up in since after I left I took the liberty of getting a bit of payback on some of the villagers. My uncle Spitelout is probably still wondering how all that shredded poison oak got into his underwear draw. The man was dragging his butt against everything including a baby wagon much to the anger and disgust of the mother of the child and much to Gobbers fury he used Gobbers hook to scratch his lower front. Gobber's still mad at him for that but he's cooled down since in the beginning he wouldn't work on any Jorgenson weapon. I shook my head at the memories as I muttered.
"I've got to remember to tell Spitelout how to get the itching to stop." Before I returned my attention to the skies ahead of us.
Night fall
We had arrived at a cliff overlooking a small village where I had gone to speak with some of the local villagers. Apparently their village was on of farmers and small time hunters but their village was often plagued by the Stymphalian Birds. Some of the hunters told me how they had tried to go after the birds in the swamp but would always get caught in the marsh since it could never support their weight. This would mean I would have to wait for them to take flight before I could shoot them since I'm not that great a shot in the dark and I can't attack them on Toothless because that could start a large panic. I decided it best I stay up here so I could have a high advantage point for shooting at the birds when they flew. I also received a single feather from one of the hunters who told me it was shot down at him from one of the birds and it had embedded itself in his ankle when the birds last attacked. I spent some time studying the feather but I wouldn't call it a feather. It was more like a throwing knife shaped like a feather since it was so sharp and when I threw it at a tree it embedded itself like one of my throwing knives. It was at this point I hoped I wasn't over my head when it came to this challenge. I brushed these thoughts away and just kept stoking the campfire while lying against Toothless.
Three days later
We had been here for three days and the birds still hadn't made an appearance. Fortunately I was able to still take Toothless out for flights at night and was able to practice my archery using a knothole in a few trees to pass the time. It was as Toothless was napping on one of the lower edges that stuck out of the cliff which was high enough so nobody from the village could spot him. I looked over the village wondering when the birds would make their appearance when I heard footsteps from behind me. I turned and found an elderly lady leaning on a walking stick in brown robes walking towards me. I stood up and walked towards her and said.
"Hello madam. May I help you?"
"Are you the one who's come to slay the Stymphalian Birds?" I nodded. "You've been waiting for three days now if I am correct."
"Yes and I'll wait three years if that's what it'll take."
"You are very determined I see." She then reached into her robes and pulled out a pair of bronze krotala. She held them out to me. "These Krotala will startle the birds out of their nests for you to kill them. Use them wisely as the birds will attack you when they see you are the one behind their fright."
"Thank you but are sure this will work." She simply nodded before she began to walk away before I heard her say.
"Good luck. Hiccup Haddock." As soon as she said my last name I turned around but she was gone. I muttered to myself how I have to figure out how people did that before I whistled signalling Toothless to come up. Once he did I looked down at the krotala's and shrugged figuring it couldn't hurt to try.
I stood my bow up next to me in case this worked so I could start shooting the birds immediately if they started flying. Fortunately I had one of my foldup shields in case they started shooting their feathers down at me. I tied the krotala's around my wrists and began playing them as fast and as loud as I could. After a few seconds I heard screeching in the distance and when I looked up and saw birds flying from the trees in the swamp who were beginning to fly in the direction of the village. I took out my spy glass to get a better look at them and they were like nothing I've ever seen before but one thing was for sure and that was they didn't look friendly. They were screeching as they flew towards the village as I picked up my bow and readied an arrow that didn't have hydras blood incase it landed in the river which lead to the swamp and poisoned the water. When one was close enough I pulled my arrow back before letting it fly towards the bird nailing it right it the chest before it screeched pain and plummeted towards the water of the river. I readied another arrow and took aim at one that was going towards the village before launching it and nailing the bird in the back before it plummeted towards the edge of the river. It was then some of the birds took notice of me and began to head towards me and Toothless. I fired another arrow at one that looked to be getting ready to take a dive at me nailing it in the chest. It screeched before it fell towards the cliff and tumbled down into the river below. After that I was barely able to shoot another one in the chest before I had to jump out of the way before a ten metal feathers came down at me. They lodged themselves deep into the ground like knives before I shot an arrow at the bird that launched them bringing it down into the river leaving only three left who were flying right at me.
One swooped down fast but I was able to barley dodge it as it stuck out its beak to peck me but considering its beak looked to be made of bronze and resembled a spear I would say skewer is a better description for what it was trying to do to me. This gave Toothless the chance to hit it with a plasma blast knocking it off the cliff while I took out my sword and unfolded my shield to deal with the last two. One of which just flung some more of those feather knives at me which I was fortunately able to block with my shield before it flew towards me. I dodged its strike and stabbed my sword swinging my sword towards the cliff with the bird before it was dislodged and went off the cliff. This left only one left to deal with which was attacking Toothless who was barely able to dodge the fast bird. As it went for another strike I ran towards it from behind and bashed it in the side towards the cliff with my shield dazing it before Toothless blasted it in the chest blasting it off the cliff. I ran to the cliff to make sure it was dead and saw its body fall into the water below. I smiled before turning to Toothless and saying.
"Nice shot bud. Ready for the next flock of those birds." He got into battle stance and growled in approval to which I smiled before I picked up the krotala's and prepared for another fight against the birds.
1 hour later
I pulled my sword out of the last of the birds and kicked it off the cliff while the others flew beyond the trees to an unpopulated area which was far away from any populated areas. Once they were completely out of sight even if I looked at them through my spy glass I let out a sigh of relief before looking at my shield which now had three claw marks imbedded in it which was a shock at first since nothings ever damaged gronkle iron. Those birds were definitely not normal and most definitely lethal on so many levels. I looked around the small area where our fight had taken place and saw that the birds had either fled or were thrown off the cliff by either me or Toothless. Toothless walked up from behind me and nuzzled my side as I rubbed his head before saying.
"Good work bud. I might not have been able to beat all the birds without you."
He just crooned and rubbed his head deeper into my side before pulling away allowing me to take a small satchel out of his saddle bag and put some of the metal feathers and Krotala's in it. I planned to go to the village so they could spread word that the birds were gone and maybe so I could see the old woman and ask her to let me keep the krotala's as souvenirs from this adventure since I collected quite a few from my past adventures. First I got the pelt of the Nemean lion, blood from the Leraean hydra, an arrow that had been shot at me after helping ceryneian which I got from a tree after I went back to investigate the area, the skull of the erymanthian boar and ten cows from cleaning the Augean stables. It was then my mind wondered back to that arrow I pulled from the tree. The arrows craftsmanship was absolutely incredible. The arrow from what I could tell was made completely out of gold including the fletching which seemed to be golden material and the intricate carvings on the shaft and head were both beautiful and so smoothly done that I didn't think such beauty could exist. I still wonder who made that arrow and who shot it at me but I had a feeling I would meet them someday. As for this adventure I was going to take the feathers that were left over from the fight and hopefully be able to take the Krotala's. I would have taken one of the birds bodies to be stuffed as a souvenir but I feared their insides might have been as harmful as their poo which as I saw acted like a toxic acid. When I saw some of it hit a tree it literally melted into the bark before the leave turned brown and the tree died. I didn't want the blood of the one who stuffed the bird to be on my hands so I'll settle for the feathers.
Morning the next day
I was now back on my ship in my sailing armour and heading back to Athens. I enjoyed traveling but I do miss Athens since I did have friends there who I trust like Aetes. Besides I was being constantly swarmed with people from the village I saved from the village. Thanking me for what I did and begging me to tell them of how I was able to fight them off when they swarmed me on the ground. Long story short they threw a big feast in my honour, all of the children asked me how I fought the birds and saying how they wanted to grow up to be just like me, all the local girls swooned over me, fathers of said girls introduced me to them and said what skills they had that would make them good wives and the hunters asked me for tips on archery and combat. It was nuts as always and I was really beginning to wonder why I did these acts when they just get me unwanted attention. One thing was for sure I was looking forward to getting back to Athens since at least there the glory from my last few tasks have calmed down and it will be a while before news of my latest exploits gets out into Athens community.
6 days later
We had arrived back at the cove we were calling home yesterday and I had spent the time we had left of the day building a small pen for my new cows so they could spread their legs on dry land a bit. Presently I had just docked and was about to head back into the city to see Aetes again. I greeted the dock worker before heading into the city so I could start my day at the forge and catch up with Aetes to see what's been happening while I was away. Probably nothing interesting since Athens was one of the most well protected cities in all of Greece. To be honest I was just looking forward to a nice peaceful time back in the forge creating weapons and other things for the citizens of Athens. Also collecting books and scrolls on their gods. Mainly the Greek god Hephaestus who is the Olympian god of fire, smiths, craftsmen, metalworking, stonemasonry and sculpture since he's meant to be a blacksmith and according to legend he is considered inferior by the other gods just like how I was considered inferior to my own people for so long. I guess I feel like both of us have a bit in common with how people looked at us growing up. The thing that interested me the most however were the legendary automatons which were animate, metal statues of animal, men and monsters he crafted and the best of them were said to think and feel like men. Being an inventor and artist myself I found the thought of these animate statues interesting. They still confused me though knowing I would never see one with them being made by the gods and I highly doubt I'll be meeting the Greek gods anytime soon.
It was then I realised I was almost at the forge and had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even realized I was so close to the forge in the first place. I continued to walk towards the forge until it came into my sight and I couldn't help but smile since it was always nice to get back to a familiar place after traveling. I walked in and found Aetes looking over a sword which I'm guessing from the shine was freshly made out of the forge. When I entered the forge however his attention turned to me and he smiled before putting the sword down and walking over with his hands held out as he said.
"Heracles you're back. It's so good to see you." I smiled before walking up to him.
"Good to see you to my friend. How have you been?" He shrugged.
"Same old. Same old. Nothing much has happened since you left besides the girls not hanging around anymore except a few who wanted to ask me questions about you."
"I'm beginning to wonder if the girls will ever come here for something that involves weapons or purchasing something."
"As long as you're in town I doubt it." We both chuckled at this. "How was your trip go by the way. Any luck cleaning out those stables by the way."
"Pretty good. My plan to redirect the river into the stables went great. Didn't get one hundred cattle though since king Augeas tried to go back on our deal after I paid him the fifty drachmas to allow me to actually try the challenge. I ended winning the trial and got ten of his cattle, my fifty drachmas back along with an extra nine hundred drachmas for the cattle he refused to give me."
"Well sounds like you got a good deal." I nodded in agreement. "Any other adventures on your way back?"
"Well there was my fight with the Stymphalian Birds." His jaw dropped to the ground.
"You went up against those beastly birds? How did you survive?" I chuckled before I spent the rest of the day telling him what happened.
Nightfall
I didn't realize how late it had become due to Aetes demanding details on my fight with the birds which he heard could rain razor sharp feathers down on the land. When I was done he put a hand on my shoulder before he said.
"It's times like these I wish I could come with you on your adventures but I have to stay and support my family."
"I understand. Family always comes first." It was then he got a crooked smile on his face and I knew this smile from before.
"Okay lay it on me." He looked confused for a moment.
"Lay what on you?" I cocked an eye brow.
"I learnt the look you give when you have a request but are afraid to ask a day after I showed you my weapons." He sighed.
"Well you see my cousin lives in Crete and their people have been having trouble with a rampaging bull. It's been said to be extremely strong and you certainly shown strength with the beasts you've faced so I was hoping you could go and help them down in Crete." I nodded.
"I'll take care of it. This should be a piece of cake compared to the other beasts I've had to face." He smiled and thanked me.
"When will you leave?"
"In two days. That'll give me time to restock my ship and besides I'll be able to get out of Athens before the people find out about my latest escapades and start swarming me." He chuckled.
"The life of a celebrity my friend. At this rate I doubt it will be long before fathers come to you offering their daughters to be your wife." I looked down and let out a sigh of annoyance.
"Please I'm not looking for a wife right now and doubt I will be looking for a few more years."
"Well that won't stop them from basically trying to shove their daughters down your throat." I let out one more frustrated sigh before turning to leave.
"Goodnight Aetes." Before I left to plan out my latest trip hoping this latest adventure would be easy. After all how tough could a bull be.
AN: Hey guys hope you enjoyed the chapter so please review because I was rather disappointed at the lack of reviews my last chapter got so please review this one.