Chapter 76
Hiccups POV:
These past three weeks have been busy to say the least but I know it's all been worth it with everything I have now on my new island, which I had named the dragon's edge. I started out with building an arch against one of the mountain walls so I could begin bringing my larger dragons to start construction on my new base. I spent a week setting up new buildings in a circle with my main observation building in the middle of the building so I'd be able to see everything. (AN: picture the clubhouse) From the sky the outpost resembled a giant eye with the pupil being a large gronkle iron dome I had built so it could be opened and closed. This dome was my dragon training area while the other buildings surrounded it and were all connected by gangplanks and zip lines. (AN: The buildings are in the same places as the huts were on the show so on those small stone stacks and resemble the huts except with more detailed dragon heads.) As for what buildings I had there was an armory with a gronkle iron outside with deadly nadder head on the top, while the inside had two floors made of wood, multiple racks and hooks all holding weapons of different kinds but the door had a lock on it which could only be unlocked using my stone of good fortune. (AN: picture Astrids hut with more weapons.) I also had a food storehouse with the head of a gronkle on it. My dragon stables were made of gronkle iron on the outside and had wooden pens on the inside along with a landing platform on the outside of the doors for my dragons. I also had a water storehouse with a monstrous nightmare head since with fire breathing dragons there's bound to be a few fires so I filled it with as many barrels of water I could. Then I had a small animal house with a zippelback head where I could keep some of my animals like a few chickens and two yaks so I could keep them in case I needed them for eggs or milk so on the Inside I built a pen on one side and three coops for the chickens. Then there was the hut that was where Toothless and me slept but also doubles as my forge that was outside, my inventions were stored inside on the bottom floor while me and Toothless slept on the second floor with Toothless' extra tail fins hanging on the wall. I also had a dock put in with a few bridges so I could bring a ship in and go fishing for a bit or if anyone from Berk decided to drop by.
Besides my new building I had also put in some security features since Dagur would come for me eventually and I wanted to be ready if he ever found the edge. I built a gronkle iron wall between the sea stacks at the front of the edge to prevent anyone from getting through to the cliffs and then climb up them since they'd be climbing right into the edge. The top of the wall had a platform so I could run across the wall and fire arrows while also making it easier to reach the catapults I had placed on the sea stacks. I had also setup five towers each holding up a large catapult while the middle held repeating ballista that could be rotated to face different directions. On the docks path you have to cross between two stonewalls and in-between these stone I had set up a gronkle iron wall with a door that had a lock that could only be opened with my stone of good fortune while the wall had a platform above so I could see who was coming. In the forest I prepared more than a few traps throughout the forest but designed them so only humans would trigger them so if anyone tried to attack the edge from the forest some of them wouldn't make it. Another one of my defenses is multiple towers all over the island with one of the night terrors standing guard in each as sentries so if anyone was either on or approaching the island I'd be warned. The way it worked was each of the towers were set up in different areas and each of the towers were painted a different color and the night terrors had bandannas around their necks that matched the towers color in order to show which area they keep watch in. With all the defenses I knew nobody would have an easy time getting in but incase they're able to do so and gain control of my defenses I put in a secret way onto the island by building a small arch on one of the far off sea stacks.
Speaking of dragons, I've had a few problems with some dragon species since I got here three of which were entirely new species that I'd only read about in the dragon eye. My first encounter was a day after we finished construction when Toothless and me were doing a little island exploration by flying low and through the trees of the forest. A flaming creature seemed to burst out of the woods nearly causing us to crash but I we were able to regain control before we hit a tree. When I went to investigate what that flaming thing was I found a small dragon with very sharp claws, one curved horn on either side of his head and one on his nose and orange scales. I took the little guy back to the edge for study where I learnt he unlike most dragons enjoyed eating eel and the way he flew made him appear like a flaming cyclone, an assumption that was only strengthened by the scorch mark he left on the floor of the dome. Another thing I learned about the little guy is he had some serious firepower when he lit the fireplace with a blast from a distance, which also earned him the name Torch.
Toothless didn't take kindly to Torch at first, especially after he took over his sleeping rock but I thought it was pretty funny. Sadly, the next day I found out why when Toothless picked Torch up in his mouth and tried to run away with him but Siren was quick to cocoon him so we could figure things out but Toothless was not happy about being cocooned. After I got Torch out of his mouth I freed him only for him to try and get Torch again but I just demanded he show me what's wrong. He lowered his head and let me mount him before we took off with Torch in my arms until we came upon a giant scorch mark like the one Torch left on the dome floor. That's when Torch's mother made an appearance and she was anything but happy to see me holding Torch. I tried putting him down and running but he followed me instead of going back to his mother before he latched onto my back as I mounted Toothless and took off. Sadly, Torch's mother wanted him back and quickly gave chase to us but we were able to use her size against her and flew low through the trees. She couldn't dodge them and eventually crashed which is when we went to check that she wasn't hurt. Torch was worried to and went to see if she was all right which I am happy to say she was if her nuzzling him was any indication. Torch's siblings then hopped off her back to greet him and I could tell they were all happy to see each other again. Torch's mother than put them back on her wing as I waved goodbye and they took off.
Besides Torch I had issues with a species of dragon known as a rumblehorn that was running off any dragon on the island and that included mine. He was also trying to run me off as well by continuously wrecking my base at night but it was too strong for me to capture so I decided to observe it when I could. It was through this I realized that it never hurt any of the dragons it chased off which brought up the question as to why. I decided to find out by having my dragons keep an eye from the sky as I lured it out with my eagle shield ready to protect me. I stood in the forest waiting before the rumblehorn charged out of the trees towards me but I stood firm until it was right in front of me but it didn't ram me. I knew this was a sign that it was just trying to warn me about something since it would've hurt me if it wanted to. I asked it what it was trying to tell me before it roared and began stamping around and I knew it was telling me that there was trouble since it freaked out my dragons.
After that I mounted Toothless as the rumblehorn took off with us following it out to sea only to discover a giant wave heading towards the edge. Fortunately, I was carrying my spirit bow but only my earth arrows so no water arrows until an arrow that was glowing blue formed out of my prosthetic. I took this as a sign that I should use it so without hesitation I loaded the arrow and fired it right into the wave. After that things happened so fast with their being a bright blue flash before the wave just collapsed into nothing. I had to say the arrows were a lot more powerful than I thought but I figured I'd figure out all their abilities at as they came. After I got back to the island training the rumblehorn was easy as was figuring out that it was female with purple with green trim scales, light underbelly and blue face so quite a beauty that now had the name Greta after my great aunt Greta the hard headed. She was known by that name because when it came to getting her to understand something you'd have to bang it in with a brick and because she had the hardest head that her tribe once used her as a battering ram. Anyway once Greta was settled in I found a job for her pulling wagons with heavy loads in them due to her great strength, along with her amazing sense of smell, which showed her to be a completely new class of dragon. I named this new class tracker class since after a few tests I learned she could track anything from literally miles away.
Besides them I've encountered and trained one other breed of dragon from the boulder class I've named the Catastrophic Quaken. I discovered the island this dragon lived on after spending time researching how the dragon eye reacted to the different types of lava Coal produced. This revealed a map that lead to the ancestral home of the gronkles known as Dark Deep. I took Coal there to help him get back to his roots only for the gronkles to pretty much shun him for some reason until the quaken made its appearance in the cave. It tried to bring the cave down on all before me and Toothless got it out while Coal helped the gronkles escape. Sadly when we were in the air the quaken rolled itself into a ball before dropping to the ground causing a massive shockwave that threw us back. When we crash landed the quaken curled up into a ball once more and charged towards us but Coal stood in its way making it stop before it hit him, which was surprising. I was then shocked to see it stand down and I realized that it was just scared and alone so it was being defensive. It was then with Coal at my side I was able to train the quaken and give it the name 'Boulder' since when he rolled up he reminded me of the Greek legend of Sisyphus who was condemned to roll a boulder up a hill for all eternity. Who could blame Zeus for condemning him to this fate though since the man literally chained up death meaning nobody could die which resulted in the sick and wounded suffering but it just goes to show you 'Unless you wish for eternal pain never mess with the gods'. Besides that Boulder now serves as a wrecking ball to help my smash large rocks into smaller pieces so I could use them for construction or feed them to my dragons that eat stone.
Now I was on Berk making a gronkle iron drop off for Gobber while also catching him up on everything I'd been up to since my last visit while he caught me up on everything that's happened on Berk. Not surprisingly nothing much has happened here on Berk since it's literally a village on a rock in the middle of nowhere. This was one of the many reasons I enjoyed travelling so much since growing up in the village was so boring. I was brought out of my thoughts when I saw my dad approaching with Bucket and Mulch but I knew it wasn't good. Growing up I'd learnt how to tell how my dad was feeling by the look on his face and this look told me he was in a bad mood. When he got close he asked.
"Alright Hiccup why were you sinking ships?" I raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean Bucket and Mulch saw someone riding a dragon and attacking a ship."
"Well don't look at me since I've been on Berk all afternoon talking with Gobber while you've been doing your chiefly duties." Mulch then said.
"We saw someone riding a dragon attack a ship Hiccup." I knew Mulch well enough to know when he was lying and this time he wasn't lying so I looked down and rubbed my chin.
"If that's the case then we've got a rogue dragon rider and if that's the case we may be in trouble." My dad then put his hand on my shoulder.
"Do you think you can handle it son?" I smiled at him.
"I'll be fine dad but I'm going to first need to know what type of dragon I'm dealing with." I turned to Bucket and Mulch. "Did you two see what species it was?" Mulch scratched his beard.
"Well it looked like one of those dragons you bring to Berk to help us collect wood."
"Which one?"
"That one with the sharp tail and the scales that looks like blue gronkle iron."
"You mean my razor whip Sapphire?"
"That's the one!"
"Well finding this rogue rider just got a bit easier." My dad then asked.
"How so?"
"A razor whips diet consists mostly of sea slugs and I know more than a few islands that are crawling with them."
"It could still take a while son."
"Not really since I have a gift from the gods that's going to make things go a whole lot quicker."
"And what gift would this be?" I chuckled.
"Can't go blabbing out all my secrets now can I dad or they wouldn't be secrets." He sighed and nodded.
"Just be careful son!"
"I will dad!"
2 hours later
I discovered this rider was on the island using my golden falcons to find the island where the rider was camping out. Now I was once again flying on Toothless but this time I had Siren and Sapphire with us since Sapphire might be able to calm down the other razor whip while Siren would be able to use her song to summon the razor whip back if it tried to flee. I used my eagle eye to get a better look at the island up ahead and knew someone was there by the smoke that was coming from what I assume is a campfire. We were quick to fly over to where the smoke was coming from and saw I was right in my assumption of the source of the smoke. It was a campsite but it was abandoned however the fire was still warm meaning the rogue rider wasn't gone long so they could still be close. I turned to Siren and said.
"Start singing girl!" She did so and in a few seconds we heard the familiar roar of a razor whip and looked to see it coming towards us with its rider on the neck who was trying to steer the razor whip away. "Siren cocoon the body but avoid hitting the rider." Siren gave a quick nod before firing her amber rock like goo and coated the razor whips body including the wings bringing the dragon down to the ground as the rider fell off but quickly ran for the dragon. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." My dragons prepared their blasts as the rider turned around to face me and said.
"I wouldn't either!" The rider took off the hood and mask covering her face to show who she was much to my shock.
"Heather?" She smiled.
"It's nice to see you Hiccup."
"Why did you try to run?"
"I've been living out here for years and I've made more than a few enemies." She looked down. "I didn't want to get you involved." She looked back at me. "I was hoping I could drive you back to Berk." I smiled at her.
"Heather what ever enemies or problems you have we" I gestured to my dragons and me. "can help."
"Hiccup please just let this go."
"Listen I've got a base not far from here so why don't you come back with us." She raised an eyebrow. "Nothing permanent mind you but just so we can catch up and I can set you up with some supplies." She smiled.
"You're not going to let this go are you?"
"Nope!"
"Well okay then but first do you think you can let my dragon out of whatever that stuff is?" I smiled at her.
"Of course just stand back while I do this." I pulled out one of my daggers and a jar of nightmare gel, dipping the blade in the jar and setting fire to it before I cut open the cocoon.
Nightfall
Catching up with Heather had been nice and it helped shed some light on a few things that I've been wondering about like how she came to ride a razorwhip, her dragons name being Windshear and what she's been up to these past few years. She was pretty tight lipped about why she'd been sinking ships though. I knew something was up though since only half an hour ago she locked the pens that held some of my dragons and then took off. Fortunately I figured she'd try something like this so I secretly brought Angel and Phantom over from my island and had them blend against the stables outside while Toothless and I dangled from the ceiling with his wings covering us. We followed her to a ship but kept our distance as I used my eagle eye to see who she was talking to and was surprised to see it was trader Johan. This brings us to where I am now and that's on Johans ship with Toothless behind me while my changewings were on either side of Johan. So far he'd told me about Heathers family being killed and why she's attacking the ships. Now he was putting detail into the answer of where Heather was going and my patience had just ran out so I slammed my prosthetic onto the table breaking it as I yelled.
"JOHAN! WHERE IS HEATHER GOING?" My changewings growled and began drooling acid making him gulp.
"It's not merely where she's going master Hiccup, it's who she's going after!"
1 hour later
We were flying as fast as we could to where Heather was heading in hopes of stopping her from going up against Dagur alone since that would get her and Windshear killed. I just hoped we weren't too late to stop her from getting her and windshear killed. It was then we came upon Heather and Windshear but sadly Berserker ships that had them chained in the air surrounded them. I didn't like the sight of this and said.
"We've got to free them." Toothless fired a plasma blast at the chains but it didn't do anything. "Dragon proof chains?" I heard Dagur laugh as he asked.
"You didn't think I'd make it that easy for you did you?" I dodged a bola that was launched at us as Siren and Phantom dodged the grapples before I turned to my changewings.
"Try your acid against the chains!" Each of them gave a nod before flying to the chains and spraying them with acid, which resulted in much to my joy melted through the chains. "Keep it up!" I looked down at Toothless. "Let's give them some cover fire bud." He growled in approval and then blasted at the archers sending them over board before we flew up to a now free Heather. "You can't take on Dagur and his fleet alone heather!"
"I've got Windshear."
"And are you willing to sacrifice the life of Windshear for the sake of revenge?" She looked down at this and I knew I had her. "There will be another time but for now we need to go or we'll all be dead." She nodded before we took off back to the edge.
2 hours later
The trip back with Heather was enlightening since she told me how she feels like she's destined to be alone since she was separated from her birth family when she was young while her adoptive family was wiped out. She told me how she had brief pictures of her birth family and how her father gave her a horn for some reason. I admit I felt bad for her and told her she didn't have to be alone but I don't think I got through to her. Now Heather was out in the forest training with Windshear but I made sure Siren was with them incase she tried to make another run for Dagur while I was going over some maps in the watchtower. I looked away from the map I was looking over to look at Toothless who now had his head in Heathers satchel and said.
"Could you stop snooping in that bag bud since I doubt that's going to make Heather trust us anymore." I walked up to him and pulled her satchel off his head making her horn fall out but when I picked it up I noticed something. "Wait a minute." I examined the seal on the horn. "That's my dads chief seal." I turned to Toothless. "We better get back to Berk to talk with my dad bud." He crooned. "Trust me bud this might shed some light on a few things in Heathers past." He nodded before I mounted him and we took off to the arch.
1 hour later
We were on our way back to Dagurs fleet where I knew we could find Heather and Windshear since she was no longer on Dragons Edge. She was able to get away from Siren by using dragon nip to knock her out allowing her to make an easy escape but I couldn't let her kill Dagur. If she was successful I knew it would be the biggest mistake of her life for so many reasons but the main reason was the one my talk with my father revealed. With me was Toothless, Sapphire, Siren, Champ and Violet since they were my fastest flyers and if Dagur had his fleet we'd need all the help we could get to hold them off while I knocked some sense into Heather. It was then I saw Dagurs fleet who also noticed us and immediately began firing as I used my eagle eye to find Heather but I was not happy to see her pinning Dagur to the deck with her axe pointed down at his neck. I turned to my dragons and said.
"Keep the men busy while me and Toothless handle Heather." They each growled before diving into action as I steered Toothless towards the ship Heather was on and yelled. "STOP!" She turned to face me as I hopped off the saddle to grab a rope and swing to her as Toothless landed on the deck. "Heather stop!" I stepped in front of Dagur.
"Move Hiccup!"
"You don't understand!"
"You promised me there'd be another time and this is it."
"I'm not going let you kill your brother Heather." I saw her eyes widen.
"What?" I took out her horn.
"Your father gave you this horn but my father gave it to Oswald the Agreeable to give to his new born daughter as a gift." I put a hand on her shoulder. "You were that newborn daughter Heather which means Dagur is your brother." She took a few steps back. "Dagur is your brother Heather." Before she could reply the ship rocked. "It's the rest of Dagur's fleet." It was then Dagur stood up while freeing his hands.
"Have to admit, you never disappoint brother or maybe you're my uncle after all, who knows in this crazy world." He then began laughing like a lunatic as a gangplank was lowered between the ship we were on and one that just pulled up next to us.
"Heather we have to go." Dagur began walking towards her.
"Heather, I'm the only family you've got left, join me sister." He held out his hand. "You can't fight destiny with the Berserker blood flowing through your veins."
Before I could intervene two Berserkers began walking across the gangplank so I hopped on as one charged at me. I ducked beneath his blow and pushed him to the side sending him into the water. The other charged at me the same way but him I just punched below the belt making him let out a high-pitched scream before grasping the punched area as he fell to his knees. I turned back to see Heather jump over Dagur and onto Windshear making me smile as she took off. I ran and mounted Toothless before taking off and hitting Dagur in the face in the process as I put my fingers to my lips and let out a whistle to call all my dragons back. They were all quick to follow after each of them gave one of the ships a quick blast doing some damage to the ships.
Sunset
Heather and I were on the landing platform and she had just finished packing her supplies. She was looking at me smiling as she said.
"You never did tell me how you found out your dad gave my dad the horn."
"The seal on it is my dads chief seal so I went to talk to him about it and he explained everything."
"Well I'm glad he did but please don't try and convince me to stay." I smiled at her.
"Believe it or not Heather I can understand how you're feeling."
"You can?"
"Yeah, I understand how finding out how Dagur is your brother is a lot to take in and you need some time alone to take it all in." She pulled me into a hug.
"Thanks for understanding Hiccup." I hugged her back.
"It's alright Heather and remember if you ever need a place to go or someone to talk to the edge and my island are always open." She pulled back.
"I'll remember that Hiccup." She then mounted Windshear and took off as I watched her fly off while I wondered what else the future held for me.
2 weeks later
Not much has happened in these last two weeks so things have been pretty peaceful and for that I am grateful but it was during these weeks I made a major discovery concerning dragon evolution. I was testing a flight suit I made incase me and Toothless were ever separated only to find an injured adolescent speed stinger. I had a little trouble at first but after restraining its tail I was able to make a cast from some of the parts from my suit and get it back to the edge to be properly taken care of. I had to bring in my speed stingers to try and make the little guy who I'd named Speedster feel a little more at home with his own kind around. Once Speedster was able to heal he was used to me along with all my other dragons before much to my surprise he ran on water. When I looked him over I found he had webbed feet meaning his species had evolved in order to island hop. It was amazing since this was the first sign of proof of dragon evolution and I was looking forward to learning more.
Sadly it was at this time Speedster's pack had made it to the edge and they wanted him back badly. Fortunately my speed stingers were still on the island and they did not like another pack coming onto their territory and threatening me or my other dragons. All the speed stingers circled Speedy and the rival leader as they slowly circled each other in the opposite direction most likely sizing each other up before they began to fight. When Speedy had the other pinned to the ground and looked to be ready to go for the kill he got off and let the rival up who seemed shocked. They both let out roars at their respective packs that all seemed to settle down and just stare at them before they ran off into the forest. Speedster's pack didn't cause any trouble and seemed to just want to rest if following Speedster into the stable and settling down was any indication. I decided to let them be since they weren't causing any trouble but I didn't see Speedy or the rival leader till the following night when they reemerged from the forest only this time the rival leader was nuzzling up to Speedy. After that it wasn't hard to see the rival leader was female and now Speedy's mate so training her and her pack was a piece of cake and ended with me gaining new speed stingers with the leaders name being Nita. Besides that everything's been pretty calm for me so I had to occupy my time with other things like training with my dragons, letting my wolves through the arch so they could enjoy the forest, making modifications to my ballista so it could fire farther and turn quicker because I knew the peace wouldn't last with Dagur out there.
Presently I was standing on the landing platform looking out to the sea to admire the sunrise while enjoying the peace that it offered me since I knew this peace wouldn't last. It was then I saw a terror flying towards me and knew it was one of the terrors I had stationed on Berk to deliver letters to me should my father need to get in contact with me. It came to land on my shoulder allowing me to take the message out of the tube on its back and what I read made my blood freeze. My father needed me back on Berk since Dagur just attacked and a lot of the huts were hit. I turned to Toothless who was lying behind me and quickly mounted him before saying.
"We've got to get to the arch now bud." He growled before we took off to the arch as fast as we could but when we arrived I saw a lot of the huts were pretty badly burnt while some were in complete ruins as we landed in front of my dad. "Where's Dagur?" He turned to me.
"He's gone Hiccup but it was a stragne attack since he didn't stick around and only fired a few flurries of flaming arrows to set a few huts on fire before he turned tail and ran."
"That's not his style."
"I know but thanks for coming as fast as you did because we're going to need all the help we can get to repair everything."
"Alright dad, I'll gather some of my dragons to help with supplies and a few to help with the reconstruction." He nodded.
"We're going to need a lot of wooden boards, nails and tools."
"I've got more than enough to repair the damage back on my island."
"You do?" I smiled at him.
"What do you think I do with all my free time besides flying and designing?" He nodded.
"Do you have any weapons to defend against naval attacks?"
"A few spare ballista's and catapults I'd be more than happy to supply the village with."
"Bring them over as quick as you can."
"Don't have to tell me twice."
Sundown
With the help of my dragons repairs to the burned houses had been done quickly giving a lot of people homes to sleep in but repairs to the huts that were burned to the ground would have to wait till tomorrow. As for the owners of the huts I am glad to say their relatives on Berk were happy to offer them shelter for the night so I wouldn't have to worry about them. Besides that my dad had me bring over every spare ballista and catapult I had in order to upgrade Berks defenses so the next time Dagur attacked they'd be ready. During this time he was very much a very difficult man to work with since he was constantly pestering me to build some more ballistae and catapults to defend Berk while also trying to convince me to stay and help defend Berk from Dagur. I told him that I would drop by Berk more often to check up and train some terrors to act as early warning systems but he didn't accept this until I told him I'd still try to draw Dagur away from Berk. After that conversation I gave my dragons orders to obey those repairing houses and help in anyway they could while me and Toothless went searching for Dagur. With me I had a quiver full of my explosive arrows which I knew I could fire with my spirit bow that was still safely in my arm along with my other god made weapons since with Dagur out there I wanted to be ready. I would've used my spirit arrows as well but I didn't want Dagur to know about them since keeping them hidden for the time being gave me a hidden advantage like with my other god made weapons.
Presently I was watching my dragons fly back to the island as they had finished helping out around the village for the day so they could go enjoy their dinner. As they flew I thought back to Dagur since an attack like this was not his style in the least so the question is why would he do this. When I went searching for him earlier I spent a good few hours out there with Toothless but I knew Dagur had nearly a full day ahead of me. I looked at my island and figured the edge would be all right without me for one night and besides I rather missed sleeping in my homes bed after so long. I turned to Toothless who was lying behind me but as I did I noticed Astrid and her little cousin Jamie both holding sleeping bags with their heads down. I knew the Hoffersons hut was one of the huts that were destroyed but luckily their parents were out at the yak races when the attack happened. Curiosity got the better of me so I walked up to them and said.
"Hey I just wanted to say I'm sorry about your home." They looked up at me as Astrid said.
"Thanks Hiccup but it's going to be hard to deal with for a while since it was where I grew up."
"I understand Astrid but can I ask where you two are staying tonight?" Astrid looked down.
"Well everyone who has a hut that's still standing either doesn't have enough room to take us in or already has someone staying with them so I figured we'd just stay in the old kill ring." I could tell both her and Jamie were down at this so before I could think I said.
"You know back on my island my house has plenty of guest rooms so if you two like you can spend the night there." I could tell they were both shocked at this since I never let anyone on my island but for two people who'd just lost a home I was happy to open up my doors.
"Are you sure Hiccup since you've never let anyone near your island except for the bazaar." I smiled at her and nodded.
"I'm sure as long as you obey the rules." Jamie replied.
"I promise to obey the rules." I smiled before picking him up and putting him on Toothless.
"Let's go." I offered Astrid my hand to help her onto Toothless before we took off towards my island.
Nightfall
After I brought Astrid and Jamie to my island I gave them a quick tour of my house and the rooms they'd be staying in before we all settled down for a quick dinner. During our meal Jamie asked me more than a few questions about my island while Astrid was surprisingly quiet and didn't eat that much which was concerning. Now Jamie was in bed sleeping, Astrid was taking a bath and I was in my private room going over today while wondering what Dagur was up to. I leaned back into the cushions on my couch while letting out a sigh as I kept thinking of Dagur and wondering why he'd do this since I can't recall a time he'd ever used this tactic. I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard a knock on the door followed by Astrid asking.
"Hiccup are you there." I stood up and said.
"Just give me a minute Astrid." I walked up to the door and opened the door to standing there while looking down. "What is it Astrid, is something wrong?"
"I was just wondering if you know how to get rid of this feeling of worry and being helpless." I sighed knowing the feeling all to well so I offered her one piece of advice I knew might be able to help her.
"I know the feeling Astrid and trust me when I say you can never get rid of it so you need to own it, remember it and do whatever you can to avoid this feeling again." She nodded.
"Thanks Hiccup." I just nodded.
"Get some rest Astrid, it helps." She nodded before going to bed and soon after I went to my own bed and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Sundown
I was back on the edge walking through the outposts as I went over the morning's events in my head. Astrid had requested I teach her and others how to train dragons but I flat out turned her down telling her I was not going to teach her anything. She didn't take kindly to this telling me that it would be a great help to the village and help her protect the village. I told her it would do more harm than good since there were some unsavory people in the world who'd love to learn how to train dragons and if I taught her it would only make both her and Berk a target for these people. This shut her up and got her to give up on the requests to teach her and others. After that I took them back to the village with a few of my dragons that were going to help out with rebuilding the huts. I looked at the dome and was wondering if I should form a new obstacle course using the tunnel that leads to the dome. I was then brought out of my thoughts by one of my night terrors flying down onto my shoulders and screeching in fear. I knew it was warning me that it saw something and knew from the red bandana around its neck this one helped patrol the base so it meant someone was coming right towards the base. I ran to the edge of the cliffs and using my eagle eye I saw a fleet of a dozen ships coming in fast and with Dagur on the lead ship. I didn't like this and put my fingers to my lips before I let out a loud whistle to call all the dragons that were on the edge. I looked around when they all arrived and smiled at who was here besides my speed stingers and Toothless there was also Greta, Siren, Violet, Sapphire, Reaper and Bones and with their combined power plus my defenses we'd be able to fight them off but just to be safe I ran and grabbed the quiver that was still full of explosive arrows.
When I got back the ships were close and my dragons were ready to attack but I held up my hand signaling them to wait a bit longer since I first wanted to take out their catapults. I ran to one of my catapults and took aim at one of the ships that was armed with a catapult and let the boulder fly. Using my eagle eye I saw it knock the catapult over board making me smile before I did the same with my other catapults succeeding in taking out four more of their catapults while also forcing some of the men to jump off to avoid the flying boulders. When I was out of boulders I mounted my ballista and began firing rapidly at the ships hulls and was able to sink two of them before I ran out by this point the remaining ships were now close enough to return fire. I ran for Toothless and mounted him before turning back to my dragons and said.
"Watch out for each other and do your best to take down as many of their ships as you can." They each growled and nodded before I turned to my speed stingers. "If they make it into the end of the docks then paralyze them." They each gave a growl before I turned back to the ships and saw a flurry of flaming arrows along with three boulders flying towards us.
"INCOMING!" My speed stingers scattered while me and my other dragons took cover beneath the dome as I used my eagle eye to see Dagur was using some kind of catapult that was launching the flurry of arrows. "If we're going to win I'm going to need to take out the ship with that catapult." I smiled as I took out one of my explosive arrows and released my spirit bow. "Easy enough." I dismounted Toothless who crooned. "Be right back Bud."
I ran out of the dome towards the edge by dropping and sliding forward on the ground to avoid a boulder as I prepared my arrow. I took cover behind one of the fired boulders and aimed the arrow at the ship where I saw they were beginning to reload it but I wasn't going to give them a chance. I pulled my arrow back and let it fly towards the target as I watched my arrow fly and prepared another one in case. I smiled when the arrow struck the side of the ship making it rock as a large hole in the ships hull before the men jumped overboard and swam from the sinking ship. That was the fourth ship leaving eight remaining ships to sink one of which, had just successfully docked. I whistled to let my dragons know it was time for them to attack, which they were all too happy to do. I saw three Berserkers running on one of the docks upper levels and turned back to Toothless as I said.
"I'll meet you down on the docks bud."
He growled and nodded as I put my bow away and released my star sword in its place. I then grabbed onto one of the zip lines that lead down to the dock and swung down towards the part of the dock where the Berserkers were. When I was close enough I let go and landed a flying kick on one of the Berserkers knocking him into the water while the other two stared at me as I pointed my star sword at them. They were quick to shake out of their shock before one charged at me with his axe raised but as he brought it down I swung my sword up to meet it. Not surprisingly the axe handle was sliced through leaving a shocked Berserker who I was then able to grab by the shirt with my free hand and then throw into the water below. I turned to the remaining man who was running at me with his own sword raised and running towards me. When he brought it down towards me I swung my star sword up to meet his and like all other swords that met my sword it snapped. The Berserker looked from his sword to me before he just dropped his snapped sword and jumped off the ledge and into the water. I looked at the lower levels of the docks and saw another ship had docked and there were four more Berserkers running down the docks. I put my sword back and released my bow before readying the arrow and aiming it at the path ahead of them. It was then one of them took notice of me as I released the arrow but sadly for them they weren't quick enough so the arrow landed between them both destroying the dock and sending all three of them into the water.
I smiled at the sight before looking back at the six ships out in the ocean and used my eagle eye to watch my dragons attack them and smirked when Greta rammed right through the hull of one sinking it. I watched as Violet and Sapphire launched their barbs at the Berserker archers forcing them to duck or dive out of the way so they weren't able to aim or fire their arrows. Bones used his size and strength to grab onto the mast of one and literally flip it onto its side before it sunk while Reaper sliced up the sails using his tail to bring the ships to a stop. They did have a few weapons that were still usable but Siren was putting them out of commission with her blasts that left the weapons cocooned and occasionally left the men with their hands stuck to them. It was then Toothless reached where I was standing and nudged my side as I turned to him and smiled as I said.
"Let's go sink some ships bud."
He growled before we I mounted him and we charged into battle by flying low and fast towards one the ships before Toothless let loose a plasma blast sinking it. We didn't get to enjoy this for too long though since I heard Violet's distressed call and saw one of the Berserkers caught her in one of their chain bolas. I glared at the man and switched Toothless' tail fin to automatic and said.
"Get me in close to the ship bud." He crooned in concern so I patted his head. "I'll be fine bud."
He let out one more croon before flying towards the ship as I stood up on his back. When we were almost above the ships deck I jumped forward towards one of the men on deck and slammed into him throwing him over board. The one handling the chained bola launcher that held Violet turned to see what the noise was but by this time I was close enough to him and landed a hard punch in his face with my prosthetic sending him into the water. When he was taken care of I turned to the chains that held Violet and with my sword in hand sliced through them freeing her. Toothless then landed on the deck allowing me to mount him before we took off as I put my sword back and released my bow. I turned back to the ship and fired one more arrow sinking it. There were now only two ships left to deal with and they were now retreating as Dagur yelled out that he'd be back while I rolled my eyes and muttered.
"That's what they all say." I could've gone after him but for now I needed to check on Violet and make sure she was all right and assess the damage done to the edge so we took off back to the edge.
4 hours later
I was now laying in bed while looking up at the ceiling as I went over the aftermath of the battle. Violet had sprained her leg and Siren had taken one in the wing but they'd both be fine in a week. The damage to the edge could easily be repaired within half a day, starting with reloading the catapults and ballista since Dagur might attack again soon. I also figured I could loot the shipwrecks and hopefully find that arrow launching catapult since I'd be able to do some serious damage if I had one loaded with explosive arrows. I might even be able to make a few improvements to it and possibly make a few more of them to use against my enemies and help Berk out when another attack occurs. For now though I just needed to enjoy todays victory and get some sleep.
AN: Hey all I hope you enjoyed the chapter and keep in mind if you want an episode to be written just let me know and I'll see what I can do. Sorry this chapter took a while though but I do have a life outside of fanfiction and in this life I had to deal with a family reunion. Sadly this reunion involved getting a lot of cheek pinching done and a big old kiss from my aunt Agnes and for those of you who wonder what's wrong with the kiss the answer is the women has a fully grown moustache. Don't ask or mention it but I hoped you all enjoyed the chapter and please keep your reviews nice and have a nice day till next time. GOODBYE!