Chapter 187

Hiccups POV:

It's been nine days since I took on Boarsnout and his men with Toothless, Amr and my snake guardians and in that time, things have been very busy for me. To start with after we rounded up all the men and put them in cells on my ship for transport we did a complete raid of their entire base and found a fortune in treasures, books, weapons, livestock, supplies and stolen artefacts that were fortunately in sections to show where they came from. This would make returning them to their proper homes a whole lot easier and I wouldn't have to spend hours searching through them to find a clue of where they belong and I intend to return them all when the thaw comes in three weeks since the majority came from Berks allies.

As for the supplies, I brought them back to Berk to help replace all that was lost in the attack and all that was used making repairs to the damage that was done during the attack. As for the books, weapons, livestock and treasures, since I had no way of knowing where they came from I decided to keep them for myself with the weapons and three quarters of the treasure going to Berk while I keep the books as new additions to my library. Gathering everything and carefully moving it all took all day, but it was worth it since I knew what we gathered would help Berk in so many ways since the supplies would help the village survive and the artefacts will help strengthen alliances.

There was one thing that I discovered those crooks had that actually made my blood boil to the point that Amr had to paralyze me while four of my snake guardians held me until I calmed down or I would've used my Anubis Khopesh on Boarsnout and his men. The reason for this is while exploring the lower levels of their base I came upon a cell, but it didn't hold any human beings, what it held was a dragon and a rare one at that. The dragon that was had a shackle around its neck and each of its legs keeping in place with a muzzle keeping its mouth closed, was none other than a silver phantom dragon with light purple wings that were white at the end and its head. The thing that exposed this dragon as a silver phantom however was its unique wings that had diamond-shaped wing lobes which is unique to its species and from the look of pain mixed with anger in its eyes it had been here a long time.

When I approached it, it leaned back in fear, but I could see the intense anger in its eyes making me wonder what these men had done to the poor dragon. I ended up spending three hours sitting down in front of him only doing one thing and that's playing my calming flute and halfway through it Toothless came in and seeing what was happening he lay down behind me and just let me do my work. After I saw that the silver phantom had calmed down and seemed to see I wasn't an enemy I was able to get close enough to remove the muzzle from its mouth. It opened and closed its mouth while stretching and moving its jaw out a few times showing me that it had been wearing that muzzle for a long time before I slowly removed the shackles from its limbs one by one. Once the dragon I now know to be a girl was free she turned to me and I prepared to get a face full of flames but instead I got a nuzzle with a croon making me chuckle and rub her head.

After that we got her out of there expecting her to want to go and soar in the skies free again but instead, she came to me and leaned into my chest showing she wanted to stay with me. I couldn't blame her though since she must've been in there for a while, so I trained her and gave her the name Cirrus after the cloud since her species were known to stay up in the clouds. Once she was fully trained, we headed out on the ship to drop off Boarsnout and his men on Outcast Island where they would be spending the rest of their days for their crimes. When we got there, I met with Alvin and explained everything to him he promised to give Boarsnout special treatment for what he had done for half the supplies we liberated which I was happy to give him to make sure those men never tasted freedom again.

When we got home to Berk afterwards and delivered everything my dad was thrilled with the new supplies, additions to Berks treasury and the return of the artifacts of Berk we thought lost to us from years before I was born and when my dad was still an heir. I was just happy to have been able to help return artifacts to my village and lock up some crooks who I believed were wanted all over the archipelago since you can't steal so many artifacts without becoming wanted criminals. My dad agreed to send word to the other tribes to send over someone to collect their lost treasures when the thaw came since it would help strengthen our alliances. As for the livestock I collected, they were added to my island's livestock, which was a major increase to help with my supplies like milk, wool and eggs.

Then there's little Ylva who'd finally woken up, I am happy to say she's been healing well and is expected to make a full recovery thanks to the underwater herbs I brought back. The healers have been asking me to make a few more trips to the bottom of the ocean to collect more of the items since they were helpful in most of their healing potions and salves. They've been a bit of a headache for me whenever I was simply visiting the village to do a check up on the repairs or to visit Ylva to see how she was doing. They'd been asking me to take them down in my submersible ship to see how they work since they found it interesting that I had no problems collecting sea plants that they normally had to buy for a high price from traders. I didn't take them on my ship since I preferred to do the harvests on my own in case something went wrong and I needed to escape but I did build four more jellyfish collectors with enough supplying sea horses to fill each of their slots.

All of this had one thing in common though and that is that I was using it all to try and distract myself and escape the immense guilt I felt that Berk was attacked, and I wasn't there to protect it. Day in and day out that's what kept haunting me, the images of Berk in flames and little Ylva in the healer's bed unconscious were images that kept haunting my mind every second I wasn't busy. Because of this I was rarely ever enjoying a little down time which is something I'm guessing is something everyone noticed if the worried looks they gave me was anything to go by.

Now it was nightfall and I was in my library wearing a set of bed pants and an alpaca fur nightgown, reading one of the many books my library had with the only sound being that of the raven Odin gave me flying with a book in its claws ready to place it. The book I was currently reading contained information on some of the animals native to parts of the world and I admit I had seen a few of them on my trips but I was hoping for some inspiration for my next automatons or my next building project. I admit I had a few ideas wondering around my mind and a few blueprints in my inventions room, but this helped keep my mind off the images that continued to haunt my mind. It was then I felt a set of hands wrap around my chest while a head came to rest on my shoulder as the familiar voice of the white snake that I'm lucky enough to call my wife said.

"I thought you had fallen asleep reading when you did not come to bed like you normally do." I sighed and closed my book.

"Sorry Blanca, I was looking for inspiration for my next creation." She sighed and pulled away but let her hands remained on my shoulders.

"Hiccup, I know you well enough to tell when something is bothering you." I looked down.

"Is it really that obvious?" She nodded as she began massaging my shoulders.

"I can tell it's been bothering you for a while but what nobody can understand is what it is that's bothering you." I looked down keeping quiet making her fingers deeper into my shoulders. "Hiccup, it's not healthy for you to bottle it all up like this so please tell me what's bothering you so much." I sighed knowing I wouldn't get out of this.

"Berk was attacked, and people were hurt." Blanca nodded.

"And the ones responsible are now imprisoned on Outcast island."

"But what about next time?" I stood up and walked to the fireplace that now had embers instead of flames. "What if the next time Berk is in danger and I'm not there to protect it the outcome is worse with people being killed instead of just injured." I placed my arm on the fireplaces top. "What if next time Berks completely destroyed because I wasn't there to protect it?" I felt tears begin to form in my eyes. "Berk would be destroyed, and it would all be my fault because I wasn't there to protect it." I felt a hand on my face that turned me to see Blanca in her normal nightwear of the inner section of a kimono.

"Hiccup, those men attacked Berk when they knew you would be away, they used a trader who we thought we could trust." She gently stroked my cheek with her thumb. "The damage done to Berk was not your fault." I looked down.

"But it still feels like it was my fault." She turned my head back to her.

"The pain will fade Hiccup, but it will only do so if you let the wounds causing it heal instead of aggravating them by beating yourself up over things you can't control." I sighed.

"I know but it doesn't make things any easier."

"Hiccup, all you can do is help repair the damage from the attack that's caused you so much pain and help ensure that such an attack doesn't happen again." I nodded.

"You're right Blanca but it'll still take time to fully heal." She smiled and gently hugged me.

"And I'll be there every step of the way alongside all those who care about you."

With that said she pulled away and I allowed her to lead me out of the library, to our bedroom and in a few minutes, I was lying in bed with Blanca cuddled into my side but despite the comfort sleep did not come to me. Blanca's words about what I could do kept ringing in my head about how all I could do was help repair the damage done and ensure it doesn't happen again. All the repairs had already been done do now all I could do was ensure that it didn't happen again, but the question is how I could make sure it never happens again. I had a few ideas to improve Berks defenses but there was one idea I wasn't sure about even though I knew it would be the best way to ensure Berks safety when I'm away.

This idea was to start training new dragon riders which would be a major headache since a lot of people would no doubt volunteer but for the wrong reasons like wanting to be able to go on adventures, show off to others, impress the girls and other such things. I sighed knowing this was something I needed to handle in the morning when I could discuss things with my parents, Astrid and Blanca as they may have a few ideas for the defenses and how to handle the people who wish to become dragon riders. With this in mind I went to sleep to rest up and also try and figure out how to deal with all these future problems since I find at times that sleeping sometimes helps me think of solutions to my problems.

Morning

The night seemed too short for me and morning came far too soon knowing what today entailed but I'm happy to say that the first bit of my morning was peaceful with me holding Blanca when I got up followed by a hot bath and a delicious breakfast prepared by Blanca. She claimed that she knew I'd need it today with all that's going to be happening, so she figured I needed a big breakfast to help me keep my strength to deal with all that is to come. After that I went to my design room and looked up some of my old designs for defenses, traps, observation inventions and siege weapons that might be able to be used to protect Berk. Once I'd gotten my best designs out along with one of my most detailed maps of Berk and the waters surrounding it so we could pick out the best spots to set things up.

Now I was making my up the stairs of the great hall for my meeting with my parents and the council with Toothless behind me, Blanca on my left and Astrid on my right. When we reached the doors, I took a breath and pushed them open before walking in to be greeted by the sight of both my parents and the council members surrounding the firepit. When we were all in the Great Hall my father said.

"I hope you have a good reason for calling this meeting son as gathering the council is not something to be done lightly." I nodded.

"I know dad, but I do have a reason for calling you all here." I walked forward. "As you all know we've recently finished repairing Berk and healing those who were injured in the recent attack." They all nodded. "These past few days have been rough on my mind trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening again and there are only two things that come to mind." They all leaned in wanting to hear me. "First of all, we give Berks defenses some serious upgrades." Spitelout then asked.

"What kind of upgrades are we talking lad?"

"I have a few ideas on what we can build to improve Berks defenses and where they can be set up." Gobber then asked.

"But do you have the designs and the resources to make these defenses lad?" I nodded.

"I have multiple designs and I'm willing to help build them and gather the needed supplies to build them." He nodded before my dad said.

"We'll need to go over the plans and designs but for now, what's this second thing that came to your mind." I sighed knowing this was not an idea I liked but it was for the better of Berk.

"I think it's time for new dragon riders to be trained." There were gasps at this since in the past I had made my stand on this subject quite clear that I was against it. "Now I admit I wasn't big on it in the past but with what happened I decided it best we up our defenses since dragon riders would make invaders think twice about attacking Berk." They all nodded before Spitelout began rubbing his hands together.

"I have been wanting me own dragon for a while now lad." I smirked at him.

"Then I look forward to seeing you at the interviews." His smile immediately dropped while everyone else looked confused before Gobber asked.

"Interviews?"

"Of course, I want to make sure the ones who become riders are doing so for the right reasons instead of just using it as a way to pick up girls, look good, be able to go on treasure hunts and I also want to make sure they understand the importance of things and what they're signing up for." Spitelout grumbled as my mother nodded as she said.

"Makes sense since dragon riding is a serious thing that is not to be taken lightly." She then raised an eyebrow. "But who's going to perform the interviews?"

"I'll be one of the people along with Astrid, Blanca and my ninja will be present as well as they can tell me if someone's lying to me." They all nodded. "Now before that let's go over my ideas for improving Berks defenses." I reached into my coat with my prosthetic as my spiderpack pushed the rolled-up map of Berk I had. "Let's begin with the locations I think these new defenses should be set up and what should be set up." I unrolled the map on a nearby table and we began discussing the plans.

2 hours later

It's been two hours since we began discussing plans and, in that time, we've all been discussing the best places to set up the new defenses, what to set up in the places, which defenses to use and other things. Ten minutes into it I took out my dragon pipe and began smoking it to help me think, make some new plans to improve our current ones. All these plans and ideas would definitely help Berk in the long run and help turn the island from a simple guarded village into a fortress where people could live peacefully, and any invaders wouldn't last long. Sadly for me this also meant that the following days were going to be very busy for all of us with me and Gobber forging the needed parts, the people assembling the things, the dragons who were putting them in place, the gronkles who are going to be working overtime producing gronkle iron, my dad who'd be picking out those who would be manning the new defenses and my mom preparing to train new dragons. With all this running through my mind I took a breath and looked around at the people who were sitting around at the table and said.

"Well we all have a lot of work ahead of us." There were murmurs of agreement as I stood up. "Let's get to work."

Ten days later

It's been ten days since that meeting, and I could only describe them as incredibly busy for all of us considering all we had to do around Berk and on my island. Over half the gronkles in the nests had been working overtime to produce the gronkle iron we needed to work on the new defenses while Gobber and I worked hard to turn the iron into parts for not only the new defenses but new weapons for the armory. Most of my dragons weren't let off easy though as they were working overtime to help us including my whispering deaths who had been busy carefully hollowing out the sea stacks that surrounded the island. My terrors were also busy sending out messages and orders all over the islands as quickly as possible while my remaining dragons were delivering supplies and finished products to where they needed to be.

In the end it was all worth it as all of Berks new defenses were now completely built, set up and now being manned by multiple members of the Berk guard and I could sleep easier knowing Berk was a lot safer. To begin with for Berks outer ring defenses consisted of the sea stacks that had been completely hollowed out, but I reinforced the walls with gronkle iron supports to keep them from collapsing. Circling the walls was a stairway made by having wooden enforced with gronkle iron at the bottom built into the wall and leading up forming a spiral staircase that lead up to various platforms. The walls in front of these platforms were turned into doorways that were pushed open so the mini ballistae on them could be used against enemy attacks. These mini ballistae are loaded with explosive arrows with more explosive arrows so they mini ballistae could be reloaded when they run out of arrows to fire. At the top of the sea stack however is a larger platform that had a full-sized ballista that can shoot farther than the mini ones, so it'll be able to take out enemy ships that are farther away at the back of fleets.

The next set of defenses I'd set up was on the docks or at the top of the pathway leading up to the village that would handle any other enemies who'd get past the first ones. Setting this one up took a bit more time than the other defenses since I had to reinforce the entire decking using gronkle iron to ensure it would be able to hold with the new trap that would drive off most of the invaders. The way this defense worked is at the top of the dock at the entrance of the village are two gronkle iron balls that are the size of a gronkle and buried halfway in the ground but when the defense is activated they are brought out of the ground via lever pushing them out of the indent. They would then be pushed onto the pathway rolling down it forcing the invaders jump off the planks or be crushed but it couldn't cause any harm since I didn't want to kill anyone. In order for these balls to stay on track I put in railing in the edges of the decking to make sure they don't go over the side and they also helped the dock workers out a bit.

Along with these defenses on the docks I'd also set up some traps in the dock supports that were on the sides and carved to look like dragon heads. I'd personally hollowed out these poles and turned them into traps for any enemies who were able to make it onto the docks, these traps were set up so they could be armed by pushing down on the spines on the tops and twisting them around. The one arming them with a special gas trap that would spray the invaders with my knockout gas, and this would no doubt take some of them out of the fight. Not all of them were filled with knockout gas traps though as some of the smarter invaders might get wiser so they would be able to hold their breath. To prevent them I replaced the knockout gas with zippleback gas with a small flame at the bottom of the mouth creating flame throwers which could do some damage to enemies. These traps themselves would be activated by the deck's planks so when someone steps on them the traps would go off and the invaders would be dealt with.

Besides these defenses we also put in a few new catapults on the cliffs with some new ballista as well and some new watch towers to keep an eye out for things. I'd also taken the liberty of setting up the Berk guard with my finest gronkle iron weapons and also equipping those manning the sea stacks with signal arrows so we can be alerted if invaders are coming from the other side of the island. Other than that, I had been working on new plans to help improve the defenses, but these plans are still works in progress and would take time to perfect but for now I was satisfied with what we had. Now all that needed to happen was interviewing the possible dragon riders and seeing who would fit the bill and who wasn't going to be able to make it as a dragon rider.

This brings us to now with me sitting at a table in the old dragon kill ring with Astrid and Blanca at my sides while my ninja stood on the outer rings and Toothless and Stormfly sat behind us with Sawtooth, Lashbane and Jade who was going to help me out with a little test. As expected, there was a large group of people present who were all eager to become dragon riders and had come to try and prove themselves. When the last of them arrived, I sighed seeing most of them were the people who just wanted me to give them dragons to either help out with their work or to show off, when I first came back to Berk while others I am happy to see were members of the Berk guard. I smiled knowing it was time to thin the crowd before the interviews and stood up from the table while taking out an apple and gently tossing it in the air as I took on a stern expression. I paced in front of the people before turning to them and said.

"SO, YOU LOT WANT TO BECOME DRAGON RIDERS?" There were murmurs before I continued. "IF YOU DO THEN KEEP IN MIND IT IS NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS NOR IS IT NEARLY AS SAFE AS YOU THINK!" I placed the apple on my head and took out two more placing them on my shoulders. "RAZORWHIPS, DO YOUR THING!" They each shot a spine hitting the apple right off while I didn't even flinch as I had complete trust in my dragon before I pulled out another apple. "ALRIGHT, WHO'S NEXT?" I held it up to a woman who just shook her head before she fled followed by multiple other people making me smile as I walked back to my place at the table while tossing a sea slug to each of the razorwhips as a treat and turned back to the people. "FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE STILL HERE, FORM A LINE AND WE WILL INTERVIEW YOU ONE AT A TIME AND THERE IS TO BE NO CUTS IN THE LINE OR FIGHTING AND THOSE THAT DO WILL BE NO LONGER BE ALLOWED TO TRY OUT!" There were murmurs of understanding. "ALRIGHT, LET'S BEGIN!" With that said we began with the interviews.

Three hours later

These interviews for new riders was long and difficult as some of them tried to lie about their reasons for wanting to become riders but my ninja were able to tell when these people were lying and were quick to let me know via pointing their weapons at the persons throat. They always did this with such speed that the person never had time to react and would often get such a fright they'd jump back and, in some cases, wet themselves. After that I was always able to get the honest answers from them and as expected most were after the fame, the glory and other such things. There were still a few diamonds among the pieces of coal though and it was these ones that were selected to be dragon riders and I had to say I was surprised with some of them who actually fit the requirements and were chosen.

Most shocking of the group was Snotlout, the twins and Fishleggs each with their own reasons for wanting to join the dragon riders and although I didn't like their reasons, I could respect them. Snotlout claimed that his house was burnt down to the ground in the attack which I knew was true and he wanted to make sure it didn't happen again which is something I could respect. The twins on the other hand wanted to join up because they enjoy destroying things and wanted their own dragons since they figured if they were going to destroy with their own dragon it would be things that belonged to enemies who were attacking Berk. I didn't like these reasons but, in the end, they just wanted to defend Berk and Astrid was able to convince me to give them each a chance to prove themselves.

Fishleggs on the other hand was someone I could relate to since his reason was because during the attack, he felt completely helpless while he tried to protect his niece and nephews. He wanted to be able to protect the people he cares about and having his own dragon would allow him to do so and help him become stronger. When he says this, I could tell he was serious about this and told him that I could teach him how to ride a dragon but to become strong, it would be something he'd have to do it himself. He accepted this answer and although it was hidden deep in his eyes, I could see the same determination to protect the people he loved as I and that was what confirmed his place among the riders.

The remaining candidates who made the cut were mostly members of the Berk guard including except for a few people such as Bucket and Mulch, Spitelout and Not so Silent Sven. Bucket and Mulch claimed they wanted to be of use to the village other than simple fisherman who also acted as the village clowns from time to time. These were guys I can symphonize with knowing what they were feeling all too well from the days of my youth before I met Toothless and was determined to prove myself to everyone. Sven wanted a little more respect in the village so people would stop stealing his sheep and he wanted to make sure those who attack Berk regretted it. When he said this last part, I saw a fire in his eyes which was all the confirmation I needed that he wasn't fooling around and honestly wanted to protect Berk. As for Spitelout, he was an idiot, arrogant, insensitive and a great deal of other things but I could tell his main reason for wanting to become a dragon rider was he wanted to protect Berk so I decided to let him go through the training but I was not going to go easy on him. Now they were all lined up as I paced in front of them before I said.

"Alright, you all made it past the interview so you will begin your training into dragon riders soon but first let's get a few things straight." I then stopped and turned to them as Astrid and Blanca walked to my sides. "I've got responsibilities and projects to work on so Astrid will be helping with your training while Blanca will be acting as a scribe taking down all that's going on so it can be reported to my father." They all nodded. "Now any questions?" Tuffnut raised his hand. "Yes Tuffnut?"

"Can we use our dragons to destroy things during lessons?"

"Depends on what we're going over." I turned to the group. "Any other questions?" Fishleggs raised his hand. "Yes Fishleggs?"

"Will these lessons include academic studies like learning dragon statistics, habitats and other such things." I nodded.

"Yes Fishleggs, these lessons will include academics from time to time." Snotlout then said.

"So, we're going to be stuck reading from books." I sighed in annoyance.

"From time to time you will be Snotlout but it is more than often knowledge that can turn the tides into ones favor." I then smiled. "And I speak from experience from my past battles." He just grumbled as Spitelout.

"Alright I think that's enough questions for now." He then smiled. "So, lad, you and your lasses get out some dragons so we can start flying." I glared at him before a grin formed on my face.

"Don't worry Spitelout, you'll get your dragons soon enough but for now." I took a step forward. "DROP AND GIVE ME FIFTY!" He stepped back as I growled and had my eyepatch unravel to show the eye of the dragon when I glared at him. "NOW!" He immediately dropped to the ground and began doing the pushups as I looked at Snotlout and the twins while mentally saying that this was going to be fun.

AN: Hey guys I hope you all liked the chapter and will review kindly, yes I know it wasn't very long or exciting but I figured it would be best to do this knowing how Berk being attacked would affect Hiccup to the point he'd want it to be better protected. This protection would of course include new dragon riders since he knows it would get most enemies to think twice about attacking Berk. For all of you who aren't fans of this don't worry, the other riders don't make that much of an appearance as they'll be more like side characters. Also, I'm going to skip their training scene as I have an adventure I've been meaning to write for a while now but needed to work out some things first before I could work on it. Now onto the questions.

Guest:

I'm not sure but it's doubtful since me and my companions who are helping me come up with new ideas have plans for what happens before then.

Arraia:

If you mean Ylva, she will but later on.

AdvancedNSeven:

1. No Camicazi will be more of a sister to Hiccup

2. I have no idea so for now it's just going to be ongoing.

3. No he has been to neither of those places but I do have plans for them including the 300 series for Persia

Eris:

That comes sooner than you think but not the next adventure.

Guest:

I have no idea what 'xenophilia' is so I can't answer you.

With this done I bid you all a good day and ask that you remember to review kindly.