Chapter 245
Hiccups POV:
I was lying in bed with my wives all cuddled up to me as the morning light shone down on us through the window while I went over the events of yesterday when Brant had his surfing lesson. I knew today was going to be a headache with the bazaar being set up since I always had to supervise the set-up of the stalls and ensure the traders were comfortable while also discussing the rules with the new traders who come by. It's during this time that I have to deal with them shoving their items in my face, hoping to get a good spot and for me to tell their future customers about how good their items are. It wasn't surprising though since they all knew how wealthy I was and how I was on good terms with not only their future customers but also a few of the royal families in not only their homeland but other lands as well plus they were hoping to get to stay in one of the houses in the desert. Because of this, they saw me as a way to expand their business to new heights and make a much better profit but for most of them, it was so they'd have an easier time supporting their families. Still though, the most annoying thing though is there's always at least one of trader who tried to sneak onto my island to try and find some new items to take back with them to Arabia but they never made it far before Mirage caught them.
It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by movement on my right side before a familiar feeling of warm lips covering my own followed it to form a kiss that I was all too happy to return. When the owner of the lips pulled away I saw it was none other than Astrid who was smiling at me but before I could say anything two hands gently grabbed my cheeks and turned me to look forward and then brought into another kiss. When the one who brought me into this kiss pulled away, I was greeted by a smiling Hadasa's face and then a new pair of gentle hands pulled my head to the left and into a third kiss that was firm yet gentle and shy. This was the familiar kiss of my sweet Blanca and when she pulled away, I saw her smiling face and I couldn't help but smile back before I looked back at the ceiling with my eyes closed and asked.
"Now could one of you tell me what exactly did I do to deserve this type of morning greeting so I know to do it in the future." The girls giggled before Astrid answered.
"You just looked like you needed a bit of a morning pick me up." Hadasa then asked.
"Care to tell us what's bothering you so early in the morning?" I sighed.
"The bazaar is today and-" Astrid placed a finger on my lips silencing me.
"Say no more." Blanca then said.
"We all know how difficult setting up the bazaar is for you and how much stress it puts on you." I sighed and threw my head back against the pillow.
"Am I really that easy to read?" They each replied.
"Yes!" They all then giggled as I rolled my eyes before Astrid sat up.
"Alright, enough jokes since we need to get ready for the day." She threw her legs off the bed. "Starting with waking the kids up." Blanca then threw her legs off the bed and said.
"Preparing breakfast." Hadasa then got off of me.
"And picking some fresh fruit to go along with it." With that said they each left the bed and went to greet the day, leaving me alone in the bed as I sighed and rubbed a hand over my face.
"At least they'll know how busy I'm going to be today and will make a good breakfast to help me get through the headache that is welcoming the traders." With this in mind I got out of bed and got ready for a day that was most likely going to be a headache for me.
10 minutes later
I was sitting at the dining room table looking at what could only be described as a feast for breakfast with fresh fruits, meats, bread slices, eggs and freshly squeezed juices with water on the side. I licked my lips at the sight of all the foods on the table and I could tell the kids were looking forward to it as well before I turned to the girls who were smiling in pride at their work and asked.
"So, what's the occasion for such a feast to be served for breakfast." Astrid replied.
"We knew you've got a busy day ahead of you, so we figured to go all out to make things a little easier for you." I smiled at them.
"You girls are too good to me." I then began piling food onto my plate with everyone following my example and once I felt that I had enough I asked.
"So, what are the plans everyone has for the day." Blanca answered.
"I plan to help train my people who are close to achieving their full human forms." I nodded
"Let me know when they're able to break through since they can then help out in the bazaar as guards without causing uneasiness with their forms." She nodded before Astrid said.
"I'm going to be running some drills with Berks dragon guard." I smiled.
"Try not kill Snotlout or the twins if they get crazy or lose control of their dragons again." She took a bite out of her bread.
"I make no promises." I rolled my eyes before Hadasa said.
"I intend to start harvesting the ripened fruits on the trees today." I turned to her.
"I thought none of the fruit was near ripe enough to be picked yet."
"They normally wouldn't but that plant nibi, Mei has made it so they're all ripe and ready for collection." I smiled.
"Well then I'll send out some of the Harvest Mantis to help you out a bit." She smiled and nodded.
"Thanks." I then turned to the kids. "And what do you two have planned for the day?" Chara quickly answered.
"I'm going to help mama Hadasa collect the fruit." I smiled at how eager she was to help Hadasa before Brant said.
"I'm going to do some training under the ninja." I smiled at him.
"I'll let them know you'll be in their care today." He smiled before we continued with breakfast.
4 hours later
I was standing in my Arabian desert with Toothless on my right and Saichi on my left as we stood by the arch and watched multiple traders walk through with their caravan camels holding baskets full of goods. Fortunately I sent word to Arabia about the arch being opened, yesterday morning so word was able to spread and traders knew they could come through to set up shop and a lot of them wanted to come early to get both a good spot and in hopes of booking a house for their stay. It was then one of the traders walked up to me and asked.
"Excuse me sir, I was hoping to ask if there are any free houses left?" I turned to him and smiled.
"You're lucky you arrived so early but before I can send you to the residential area, I will need to know how long you plan to stay with us and how many people are with you so we can decide on the price and how many rooms are needed." He smiled.
"Me and my four companions will be staying for seven days before returning to my home with what I hope will be a large profit of exotic items and gold." I nodded and pulled out a Scouter automaton that flew onto his shoulder.
"This little guy will lead you to the house you'll be staying in but it's going to cost you fourteen gold pieces for your stay." He smiled and handed me the money. "Thank you for your business and have a nice day." He bowed and took off with his camels and men as I put the money away in my spiderpack and rubbed Toothless' head. "Keep your guard up boys, in every batch of traders, there's always at least one crook who's looking for a way to make a quick gold piece." I then rubbed my chin in thought. "Maybe I should make some sort of tag for traders who want to come through and have those in Arabia I trust make sure they're alright to do business here." I pulled my hand away from my chin and began rubbing Toothless' head again. "Would save us a bit of trouble." It was then a voice said.
"I believe that would be a smart idea." I turned to see the face of a smiling man with a small moustache, wearing light brown robes and a white turban smiling at me which I returned having known this trader for a while now.
"I should've known you'd be one of the first to come here like always Maadai."
"What can I say other than I like to get a good spot and hope me, and my camels will be able to get a house." I chuckled.
"Well it'll be the usual fee and don't worry, I saved your usual house and spot for you." He smiled.
"Thank you old friend." He pulled out the gold coins needed and handed them to me. "Oh, one last thing." I raised an eyebrow as he reached into one of his camels' bags and pulled out a small leather bag. "Your usual order of freshly sugared dates." I smiled and took the bag.
"Thanks, you always know exactly what I need when this bazaar is first being set up." He chuckled.
"That's because you're one of my best customers whether it be in my homeland or in this temporary market." He then walked away with his camel holding his goods while I took out one of the sugared dates and said.
"Don't let his smile fool you, he's one of the most cunning traders I've ever met." I then tossed the date into my mouth and began eating it, moaning in pleasure at the familiar taste of my favorite Arabian snack as a thought occurred to me. "I should send word to Alvin, Heather, Dagur and Mala to let them know about the bazaar opening tomorrow since they might find something they want to buy." I ate another date. "And it would be nice to see that crazy brother of mine again along with my sweet little niece Tera." I had another date."Come to think of itI haven't seen Dagur and Mala since mine and Hadasa's wedding in Arabia which gives me all the more reason to send word to them about the bazaar." It was then more merchants came through. "I'll take care of the messages after we're done welcoming the merchants." I then rubbed my chin in thought. "I better have Inazuma take them the letters to make sure they get there in time and it'll give him something to do." With that said, I got back to watching them come in.
Nightfall
I was sitting on a seat made of solid sand, formed by Saichi who was lying down on my right side as I looked down at the bazaar with its various empty stalls that had been set up. Along with them, past some of the stalls were the houses that had the light of Arabian oil lamps from the windows with some being extinguished. I gently rubbed the head of the sand nibi who was next to me and said.
"An hour after our day begins, this place is going to be filled with Vikings and merchants with all the merchants eager to shove their goods in the faces of all their Viking customers." I then let out a groan and rubbed a hand through my hair. "And sadly, I'm going to be their top target since they know how rich I am in gold, items, livestock and connections." I then looked down at her. "Do you know why I'm telling you all this?" She let out a low roar. "It's because for the next eleven days this place is going to be chaotic and there are those who'll try to take advantage of that chaos despite Mirage being around which is where you come in." She looked up at me. "I want you to remain in your sand form all around the bazaar and keep an eye out for troublemakers and if you see any, restrain them." She nodded. "Be sure to remain out of sight though." She looked up at me as I chuckled. "You're an amazing creature and you may not have noticed it, but those traders noticed you with a glint of desire in their eyes but kept quiet since they didn't want to hold up the line." Saichi tilted her head. "Those guys are going to want to buy you from me and when they find out about your abilities, they're going to want you more than ever so let's try to keep your skills on the down low and don't expose yourself unless absolutely necessary." She growled and nodded before I stood up. "Well better turn in since as I said, we have a busy day tomorrow." With that said I took off for the house while Saichi turned back into sand.
Afternoon the next day
The bazaar was officially in full swing and I was right in the middle of the chaos that was everybody trying to get to the stores in order to get first picks of the items on sale. Among these people were Dagur, Heather, Mala, Throk, Alvin and a few of his men, all of whom had arrived an hour ago and were eager to see what was going on sale in the bazaar this time. They mostly all went for the weapons first, wanting to see what they could offer with a few of the merchants offering special deals for them. There was a small issue though when one of the merchants offered dagger a set of bejeweled scimitars which he liked until the price was mentioned which brought the old Dagger who both me and Heather had to pry off the merchant who he was strangling. This brings us to now with me sitting on a solid block of sand across from Dagur with Heather on his left and Mala on his right who was holding Tera with each sitting on their own blocks of sand. I sighed and said.
"Alright Dagur, you told me that the trader you just tried to strangle did something unforgivable and since it was bad enough for the old Dagur to come out it must have been bad." He growled.
"That piece of filth offered me to bejeweled swords but the he asked for a night with Mala in return." If it wasn't for my ninja training and knowing the trader who Dagur just tried to kill I would've blown my composure but I knew in these cases it's best to keep a cool head but Dagur seemed to take my plain expression the wrong way. "I take it you don't believe me brother."
"No, I believe you fully, but I've learnt to keep calm in stressful situations and to be honest I'm actually rather jealous of you right now." They all looked at me in both shock and confusion before I smiled. "That traders name is Gaash and he has been a thorn in my side since I first went to Arabia." I then took a breath as I stood up and waved my arms up in frustration. "He practically shoves his products down my throat whenever I'm out, has made more offers for Toothless and my travelling scorpion than there are people in all our tribes combined and don't even get me started on what he's said about my wives." They all looked surprised before I continued. "He's offered me a night with one of his wives in trade for a night with one of mine and the worst part is he's been trying to buy exclusive rights to the bazaar on my island so only he and the traders who work under him are allowed to do business here." I sat down and took a breath. "To make matters even more of a headache, there's also his family with his daughters flirting with me whenever they get the chance, even when I'm with my wives and what's worse is they aren't hesitant to try and seduce me when I'm with my kids including when Chara is on my shoulders." They all stared at me in shock before Heather asked.
"If he's such a pain then why don't you just kick him out?"
"He's got a lot of connections, so he'd be able to lower the number of traders who are willing to come through and do business with us and present lower quality goods." Mala then said.
"So, it's a case of putting up with an annoyance for the good of your people." I nodded. "A noble thing to do Hiccup." I nodded in thanks and sighed as I looked to Dagur.
"Unfortunately, letting you off with just a warning would cause a lot of problems with not only him but also all the traders in the bazaar so I'm going to have to punish you brother." He sighed and looked down.
"Alright, what's the punishment?"
"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you and just ban you from the bazaar for three days and you have to stay away from Gaash and his stall." He smiled. "I'll also talk to the other merchants and see if I can explain that you didn't go all Berserker on Gaash for no reason but because he insulted your wife." He smiled.
"Thanks brother but any ideas on what I can do now since I can't go back to the bazaar?" I looked at little Tera and smiled before turning back to him.
"Why don't you take Tera on a peaceful father daughter flight." He smiled as Mala smiled and handed him Tera and said.
"I think that's a fine idea." Dagur held her in his arms as she giggled and smiled at her father.
"I'm in full agreement my sweetie." He then turned to her. "But what'll you be doing?"
"I saw a couple of weapons and materials that could prove useful to the defenders of the wing and intend to negotiate a price for them." He frowned and took her hand in his right left while holding Tera with his right.
"Well alright but I'll miss you my mighty Valkyrie." She smiled.
"And I shall miss you my mighty king." I smiled at the sweet moment before Dagur turned to me.
"I don't suppose you have any place on your island that's toddler friendly."
"Well there's the Hawaiian beaches, the Great Planes and the Celtic fields." Dagur hummed and rubbed his chin.
"I admit the beach sounds nice but what're the fields like?"
"The Great Planes have a nice lake and it's where my horses run so she could get a good show and you guys can enjoy some peace in my Teepee while the Celtic fields are a little more peaceful with plenty of room for Tera to enjoy and little places for her to hide plus it's so peaceful you could fall asleep while lying on the grass and I know this since I've done it multiple times before." He smiled.
"I think the Celtic fields will be perfect for my little princess' afternoon nap." He then lifted Tera up to his face. "Isn't that right my little Tera?" Tera just giggled and reached for her father's face making me smile.
"Celtic fields it is then." I pulled out a Scouter automaton. "Just follow this little guy and he'll take you to the fields and although I'd love to join you, I've still got work to do here until tonight." He smiled.
"Don't worry brother, I understand and sorry again for all the trouble."
"It's alright brother, I can't hold what you did against you with me wanting to do the same thing so many times." He chuckled before he stood up.
"Maybe next time brother." He then whistled for his dragon that came to land before us. "I'll catch you all later." With that said he took off with little Tera while I went to get back to the stalls to try and smooth things over with Gaash and the other traders.
Nightfall
Exhausting, there is no better word to describe how my day was after Dagur left to give Tera some quality father daughter time together in the Celtic fields of my island. The reason for this is after he left, I had to go smooth things over with Gaash who pretty much demanded Mala in compensation for what Dagur did and I had to hold back the urge to hit him. When I turned that down he tried negotiating for my travelling scorpion, but he stopped when I was able to get it through his head that only I could control the scorpion, he let it go. Sadly, he then asked for one of my dragons but shut up when I pointed out he'd become a target for bandits and hiring guards would cost him a fortune as would maintain the dragon's health and diet. After all this I was able to get him to let it go by giving him a chest full of gold and informing him that Dagur had been punished for what he'd done and was not to come near him again.
This was enough to get him to shut up and leave me alone so I could get back to my patrols around the entire bazaar and it took hours to smooth things over with the other traders who were still hesitant to work with Dagur after what happened. Fortunately, most were alright after they heard why Dagur went Berserker warrior on Gaash since he'd been known to be a flirt and do whatever he could to get into the beds of married women including a few of their own but there were still some who took Gaash's side. Those guys were the biggest headache and would refuse to do any sort of business with Dagur, Heather and Mala which was a shame since they had some pretty good stuff.
Anyway, after that I was able to enjoy a little peace and quiet while browsing through the various stalls and enjoyed a few of the shows that were being put on like the sword swallowers, fakirs sleeping on beds of nails and walking on hot coals, snake charmers and of course the dancers. When I went to check out the dancers though I had a good laugh at seeing some of the men get pulled away by their wives who were dragging them by their ears for ogling the girls in their belly dancer outfits. A few of the men were actually drooling at the sight of the women in those outfits and I am surprised to say that one of these men who were drooling was Alvin. I had a good laugh at this before continuing on my way to see what else there was to handle in the bazaar and I am happy to say that things were relaxed after that other than a few issues with the prices of some items.
Now I was sat down at the dinner table with my wives and kids along with Dagur, Heather, Mala and Tera as Dagur stared at me in amazement after I finished showing my trip to Japan to face Akuhei once more. Dagur then chuckled and said.
"Odin brother, you really don't have an easy life now do you." I smiled.
"No, I do not but then again, that's what makes my life all the more fun."
"So, tell me brother, what's up with the new forge you showed us." I took a sip of my drink.
"It's a gift from the dragon's forge which means I can still make normal weapons but now I can also make magical weapons." I saw his eyes widen before a smile formed on his face but before he could ask anything, I held up a hand. "And no, I have not made any magical weapons that I can show you and when I do, I cannot guarantee you one." Dagur frowned before Heather asked.
"You haven't used the forge yet?" I shrugged.
"Things have been busy since I just got back from a long trip and wanted to spend time with my family and had to help my islands new additions settle in followed by the bazaar with the responsibilities and problems that comes with it." Dagur then asked.
"And why can't you make me a magic weapon with the forge when you're done."
"It's because I'm not the one who decides who gets what weapon." They all looked at me confused. "According to the message left to me by the master of the dragons forge, it's the weapon that chooses the master."
"So how does that work?" I shrugged.
"I honestly have no idea but once I've made a few weapons I'll call you back and we'll see if any of the weapons choose you as their wielder." He nodded with a large smile on his face before we all got back to our meal.
2 hours later
I was once again in bed with my wives enjoying their usual places at either my sides or on top of me while I went over todays event in my head and had just gotten to after dinner. We all retired to the library while my serving automatons took care of the dishes and then had a quiet evening catching up on how things have been going with their tribes. I am happy to say things seem to have been going well for their tribes with their crops being ready for harvest in a couple of weeks, so their tribes had been busy with preparations. I knew they weren't wrong to do so since the crops in my garden would be ready for harvest but unlike my companions, I had my automatons and dragons to help with the work. Following this I allowed them to use my portal doors to return to their own homes where their tribe members were waiting for them.
After that I began thinking about plans for the coming harvest but knew, I needed to focus entirely on the bazaar which I'm sad to say means little time to enjoy with my family but it was for the good of Berk and as my father's always telling me, there are jobs a chief has that will always be a headache but we have to do it for the good of Berk. I sighed knowing the next ten days were going to be very difficult for me since Gaash was no doubt going to keep bringing up Dagurs attack on him to try and convince me to give him better payments for his stuff and convince me to give him exclusive rights to sell on my island. With this in mind I allowed myself to drift into the sweet realm of slumber.
8 days later
Nobodies POV:
It's been eight days since the bazaar had opened up and anyone could tell it was a great source of stress for Hiccup, even with all his training and past experiences in handling the bazaar. The main reason for his source of stress was none other than Gaash who had been pressuring Hiccup for exclusive rights for him and his comrades to be the only ones allowed to do business on his island. Anyone who saw him could easily tell how much of a toll it was taking on him with his wives offering to take on some of the responsibilities but like his father, he was stubborn and protective of his family and knowing Gaash, he'd flirt with them nonstop. What Hiccup hadn't noticed though was that Brant had noticed the toll this work was putting on his father and was determined to be able to help relieve his father of some of the stress in the future.
It was because of this that he'd begun training even harder than before spending every moment he could in the library going through every book he could on things related to trade and Arabian customs putting a strain on his mind. To make things worse, when he wasn't doing that, he was training on some part of the island under the ninja and even they could tell he was putting more stress on himself than any child should. This was something Chara had taken notice of and like any good little sister, she was worried about her big brother and told her mother's about it who were also worried about Brant. After that the girls took time off from their usual duties to check on Brant and discovered that Chara was more than right about him overworking himself both mentally and physically and like any mothers, they were more than worried about his health.
It was then and there that they decided that enough was enough and that both Hiccup and Brant needed to take a day off from the bazaar and training. This is why they convinced Stoick to take over Hiccups bazaar responsibilities for the day and convinced the ninja's pick-up Brant from the desert where he was training to fight on moving terrain. Now Astrid and Blanca were dragging both boys through the house to the garden where Hadasa was waiting for them alongside Chara with them setting up a little thing to relax the boys. During the time they'd been dragging the boys they had to come up with all sorts of answers for the boys excuses to come with them such as Hiccup wanting to handle the bazaar and Brant wanting to get back to training. It was then Astrid decided to quiet both boys down and said.
"Would you both relax, the whole reason we're doing this is because you two have been overworking yourselves with training and the bazaar so jut for today we talked Stoick into handling the bazaar and the ninja to give a day off from training." Hiccup sighed and nodded.
"Alright but you still haven't told us where we're going in the garden." The girls smiled before Blanca answered.
"A place where we are hoping you boys will be able to relax and forget the responsibilities you both have for at least a few hours." They then broke through the garden to the end and found a picnic of good foods waiting for them with large grass dome behind it while Hadasa and Chara were sitting in the clearing waiting for them with Hadasa saying.
"It's time for you boys to enjoy a day off." Brant looked ready to deny it, but Hiccup held up a hand to silence him as he said.
"Don't bother arguing with them son, it's a losing battle to argue with your mothers." He sighed and nodded making him smile. "Alright, let's enjoy this day off."
4 hours later
It's been four hours since the girls pulled me and Brant away from our routines and I have to say I was grateful they did since it was nice to unwind a bit and not need to worry about the bazaar or Gaash giving me a headache. Now I was in the large plant dome which turned out to have the ground covered in puffy alpaca fur blankets while the walls were lined with flowers of different types with each known to have a smell that relaxes a person. Both Brant and Chara were soundly sleeping with their heads in Blanca's lap, Hadasa was busy making the flowers spread their scent and Astrid was behind my shirtless body, gently massaging my shoulders, working out all the knots out of my back. It was then she hit a right point and I let out a long moan before I said.
"That's the spot." Astrid replied.
"You really have a lot of tension in your body Hiccup." I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.
"How do you know how to read the tension in my body." She smiled.
"Kung fu training to read a foes movements and being your wife for so long it's easy to read how stressed you are and with that bazaar going on with that idiot Gaash being here this time, we all knew how much stress you'd be under." I nodded and leaned back into her hands.
"Speaking of which, I wonder how my dads handling things at the bazaar." It was then a voice from the entrance answered.
"He's done handling it." We all turned to the entrance to see my father who walked up to me. "I cannot take another complaint from one of those Arabian traders, another fight between people wanting the same thing or that nut job Gaash trying to convince me to help him convince you to give him and his men exclusive rights to sell on the island." He then collapsed into the middle of the dome and rolled onto his back. "I'm giving you your responsibilities back son and I don't want to hear any complaints." I chuckled and grabbed my shirt.
"Handling the bazaar isn't as easy as you thought?" I put my shirt back on.
"Not in the least." I then put the rest of my clothes on.
"Alright, you take a break before going back to Berk while I get back to handle things at the bazaar." I then turned back to the girls. "Thanks for the time off girls but duty calls." They each just smiled at me in understanding before Blanca said.
"Please, just do not over work yourself again." I smiled.
"I make no promises, but I'll try." I then took off back to the bazaar knowing that I could face the coming problems with ease knowing my wives would be there to help me relieve the stress of the burden.
AN: And that brings an end to yet another chapter of just peace and no mystic danger to the world unless you count the magic of different races coming together and attacking each other. Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying your day and enjoy this break from all the action adventures because I have to admit it's rather nice to take a break from it all and just relax a bit with the chapters. The only problem is now I don't know what slice of life should come up next so if you have any recommendations just let me know and we'll see if I can use it. Now I hope you all have a nice day and remember to review kindly so until next time, stay safe.