Chapter 291

Hiccups POV:

It's been seven weeks since I took in Egil in and since then he's officially been taken in as a child of the family with my kids seeing him as a brother while me and my wives saw him as a son. Because of this we'd all helped him turn the guest room he once stayed in into his own room by grabbing his stuff from his uncles' place before dropping the ship on it and decorating his room with it. Speaking of his uncle, we'd used my golden falcons to check up on the village to see what'd been going on there and we all got a good laugh at the reaction his uncle and his family had when they saw their home with the ship on top of it. Along with that, I could see the satisfied smirk on Egil's face when he saw his cousin and his group doing multiple chores around the village with scowls. Anyway, besides that Egil has been able to continue his training with the sword and has come a long way and reached the point where I decided to let him have his chance in the golden dragon armory.

I stood by him when he was standing in front of the armory, nerves that he wasn't worthy of getting anything from the armory so I placed my hand on his shoulder and told him how Brant and Chara were the same and came out with new equipment each time. After that he walked in with a little more confidence and when he came out, it was with a very big smile on his face and a new magic weapon in his hand. The weapon he brought out was a sword with a blade made of pure blue ice and seemed to pulse with power, the handle being made of metal with leather wrapped around with a small hole at the base of the ice blade that had a small flame within it and three ice spikes coming out of each side with the cross guards also being made of ice. (AN: Image on pinterest page.)

I had to admit, seeing him receive an ice-based weapon was surprising but then I thought about it and it made a little sense and improved my opinion of the golden dragon armory. The reason is this showed me that although the armory often gave weapons the wielder was most well suited for, it would also give them the weapon which would also help them overcome things. In the case of Egil, he'd suffered a lot in the cold and because of that, he'd freeze up a bit when hit with cold items but with this sword, he might be able to overcome the damage from his past experiences. The reason I believed this is because one of the abilities of the sword was to give Egil a minor immunity to the cold so although he could still feel it, he didn't freeze up as much when in the cold. In addition to this it freezes the part that it hits of anything it strikes, making it possible to shatter it and if the blade itself shatters then it nearly instantly repairs itself. If it strikes a person though, it could do one of two things which were cut through them cleanly, freezing the wound which comes in handy for hunting since the blood wouldn't come out and attract predators while also keeping the wound from rotting and festering. There was also the nonlethal attack where he can stab or slice with his sword and it would go right through the victim but there'd be no wound, the blade would phase right through the victim leaving them completely as if they'd been stung by a speedstinger, pale skin and all but their bodies became as cold as ice and the effects only lasted three hours before the victim could move again.

Besides that, I'd been taking Egil on a couple of low paying bounty hunting missions with Brant and Chara to see how well he'd perform in actual combat with me and his siblings being there to watch out for him. I admit, he did pretty well for his first few missions, but he still had a long way to go before he reached the same level as Brant and Chara who were doing well on their own. Still though, I still remember when they were that scared eight-year-old boy holding his five-year-old sister in the storage hold of that ship where they were waiting to be sold. Now there was no sign of those two children with fear in their eyes as in in their place was was a strong twelve-year-old boy who was becoming a master with a spear and fast nine-year-old girl who was on her way to becoming an expert with the kunai. I knew one day Egil would follow in their footsteps and lose the fear in his heart and become a strong warrior in the making, ready to take on the world. (AN: Not sure if this is how old they really should be but with the time skips it's hard to keep up with how old they are.)

They weren't the only ones growing up though as little Xiu is already a full year old, and her first two teeth had come in, so she'd begun teething and also begun getting more curious about the world around her with her senses becoming more developed. Now she always smiled whenever she saw me and Blanca and giggled when she saw one her siblings enter the room to play with her. In addition to this we'd begun letting her outside of her crib for longer periods of time under supervision of course and we'd often take her to the other parts of the island to play except for the arctic part since she was in no way ready for that area. I admit, I loved seeing how she'd grown but it also caused an ache in my heart since she was growing up and reminded me that she wasn't going to be a baby forever which is an ache all parents had to face but it just makes the time with her more precious.

My kids weren't the only ones growing up though since Twilight is also growing up and had grown to the point that she's only a little smaller than Toothless was when we first met. It's because of this that I'd built her a saddle and training Brant to ride her since he was obviously the one who she bonded with since they had formed a close bond when they were both young. These days it was hard to find one without the other with Twilight even laying around and watching him during his training time and I couldn't blame her since before we found the nightfury flock, Toothless would do the same for me.

Now though I was in the bamboo shrine sitting while quietly meditating with Toothless and Twilight laying around the stairs napping, the kids meditating around me with all of us trying to keep our minds off what was happening at the house. I was also trying to calm my nerves since even with all my training to keep calm and to suppress my fear, I couldn't hide it or suppress it with the event happening that had been happening for the last six hours. The day of waiting had finally come to an end meaning Astrid had gone into labor and was busy bringing our first child into the world with Gothi and my other wives being there for her. As a male, I wasn't allowed to be present for the birth of the child and would only be allowed in once the child had been born and this time, they'd ensured all my automatons were out of the room so I wouldn't be able to witness things. Fortunately, what I was able to do was leave one of my serving automatons outside the room so the girls would be able to let me know as soon as the child was born.

It was then through the eye of the dragon was active and I looked through the eyes of the serving automaton I posted at the door and leaned back in fright since Gothi was standing there and tapping its eyes with her finger. I had it lift a hand to stop her before she gave it a smile and nodded while pointing at the room and I knew that it meant the child had been born and I smiled as I stood up. This got the attention of the kids who looked up at me surprised before I smiled at them and said.

"Let's go meet your new sibling." They all smiled before we all rushed down the stairs, catching the dragon's attention. "Come on you lazy reptiles, Astrid's just given birth to the child she's been carrying for months." They both got up before we all headed back to the house and up the stairs where Gothi was waiting outside the door with a smile on her face as I smiled and gave her a nod as thanks. I walked through the door and paused at the sight in front of me as Astrid was sitting there in bed with her hair being a mess and her face covered in sweat, but she had a tired but bright smile on her face. I then looked down at her arms and I couldn't help but freeze at the sight of what was in her arms as wrapped in her arms was a small bundle of blankets. I slowly walked in and walked past Blanca and Hadasa who were smiling at me before I made it up to Astrid who looked up at me smiling as she said.

"Say hello to your new daughter." She offered her to me, and I gently took her and saw her silently resting and saw she looked so much like her mother, but her features wouldn't appear for a few more weeks.

"She's perfect." I looked up at Astrid. "Just like her mother." Astrid gave me a tired smile as I turned back to my newborn daughter. "So, what are we going to name her?" Astrid replied.

"Zephyr, that's her name." I nodded.

"Perfect for our gentle breeze." I then passed her back to her mother and turned to the door where the kids were waiting. "Kids, come in and meet your new sister."

They all walked in and gathered around the bed, looking down at Zephyr who slowly opened her eyes to reveal she had her mothers eyes which looked up and at her older siblings as Blanca walked in with Xiu who looked curiously at the crowd. She placed Xiu on the bed who slowly crawled up to Astrid who lowered Zephyr down to her level so she could see her new sister, but all Xiu did was stare at her with curiosity. I picked Xiu up and handed her over to Blanca as I said.

"Alright, let's give Astrid and Zephyr some alone time now since they both need their rest." They all nodded as I took Zephyr and placed her in the crib, I made for her and then kissed Astrid on the forehead. "Get some rest milady." She nodded and lay back while we all left the room. "I better write a terror mail to Heather, Dagur and Mala to let them know Astrid's given birth." Gothi then hit my shoulder with her staff and wrote on the floor making me nod. "Don't worry Gothi, I'll let both mine and Astrid's parents know first before I send out the terror mail." Brant then walked up.

"I'll do it dad, me and Twilight haven't gone on a flight today." Twilight growled and leaned down showing how eager she was making me chuckle.

"Alright you two but remember to be careful since you've only been flying together for a month." They nodded and I smiled. "Alright, go inform your grandparents about the new addition to our family." They both rushed down the stairs and he mounted Twilight, not even bothering to wait till they were out the door before they took to the air while I turned to Toothless who was staring at the door making me chuckle. "Don't worry bud, you'll be able to meet her in a few days when she's old enough." He nodded but I could tell he wanted to meet Zephyr now. "You know, we haven't gone for our regular flights today either with how worried I've been about Astrid and Zephyr so why don't we go out and make up for lost time." He growled and rushed towards the door with me smiling as I turned to Chara and Egil. "You guys take the day off from training and go have some fun." They both smiled and nodded before running off to do their own thing while I took off after Toothless for a little flight time.

Six weeks later

It's been six weeks since Zephyr was born and since then a lot has happened, starting with Astrid recovering from the exhaustion of bringing our daughter into the world but Gothi advised her to avoid training for another four weeks and to just take it easy while spending time with Zephyr. Besides that, both mine and Astrid's parents have met their new granddaughter who they already adored her beyond words as did her siblings including Xiu who would always try to reach out to her when she saw her, and it was adorable. They weren't the only ones who'd met her as Heather, Dagur and Mala had also come to meet her with Dagur bringing her a stuffed Eruptadon toy for her with them bringing Tera to meet her new cousin. It was during this time that I learnt Tera had begun walking and had begun talking in baby talk, so it was hard to understand at times, but she did call me Uncle Hiccup when she saw me. It was sweet how she would slowly walk up to me and want to be picked up by me while calling me Uncie Hiccup and how she'd play with Shattermaster who would keep nuzzling her. Along with that we'd received multiple gifts from our tribes' allies for Zephyr who was grateful for all the gifts she was given and was happy to share the toys with Xiu and Zhang Yong who now guarded both my baby girls.

Now I was enjoying a little training time with my two eldest kids in the form of taking on a low paying bounty by taking on a small group of bandits who'd made their home on an island and had been raiding ships that pass by. I wanted to bring Egil since it would be a good training exercise for him but my wives thought he was too young and hadn't trained enough to go on a solo mission with his siblings, so I left him behind since in addition to trusting the words of my wives, I was also terrified what they'd do if I did. I had to admit, I did agree with them after giving it some thought and it was hard enough sending Brant and Chara on their own solo mission without me which is why I chose a low bounty since the lower the bounty, the lower the risk.

This brings us to now with me and Toothless sitting on the front deck of my ship while laying against Toothless while looking at the base camp of the bandits who the kids were dealing with through the eyes of my golden falcons. I was watching as the kids were scouting out the camp from their places in the shadows and figuring out the best way to deal with these guys with Brant being the team leader since he was the oldest and had the most training. I was looking forward to seeing how they'd handle this mission solo since this would be the first one, they'd be doing where they were to remain hidden. I was looking forward to seeing how well they'd perform on this mission and how they could improve but just be safe, I had all my ninja forces hiding in the shadows and treetops to back them up if needed. I rubbed Toothless head and said.

"Well let's see how well the kids do with this mission bud." He crooned before we watched them begin to plan how to deal with these guys.

Nobodies POV:

The duo of young warriors had just left their targets base and were now in a small clearing going over what they learnt about their foes with Brant looked at his sister and said.

"Alright, they have guys who patrol the beaches to keep an eye out for ships, men on their ship who they send out to do attacks and they all do regular shift changes." Chara nodded. "We can thin out their numbers this way by taking advantage of this by first dealing with the ones on the ship and then taking down the ones on the beach where there are fewer men and when it comes time for them to change shifts, the ones who come from their base can be ambushed in the forest and after sometime, the men at the their base will come looking for the ones who were meant to return from the beach."

"And we thin their numbers a bit more before attacking their base?" Brant nodded. "So, the classic divide and conquer strategy?" Brant nodded.

"It may be an old tactic but it's a good strategy to deal with these guys." Chara nodded in agreement. "Now from what we've seen they do the changes every hour and since they just did theirs, we'll have an hour before they come through the forest.

"Alright, let's get ready for our first attack." They then left to prepare for the attack on the ship.

Half-an-hour later

The kids were now hiding in the tree branches on the edge of the beach and looking at the docked ship and saw a few men on the top deck with men sitting around a small campfire a good distance away. Not far enough that they wouldn't be able to call for help from those on the ship, but it was also far enough that they wouldn't notice a few kids attacking their friends on the ship. Speaking of which, presently, the kids were up against the side of the ship that was facing away from the small campfire where some of the men were enjoying a couple of drinks. This would work out well for the kids who would have to take care of them later since they'd be easier to deal with since they'd be more intoxicated.

Presently, Brant was hanging onto the side of the ship, right beneath the decks railing and waiting for a single guard to pass by so he could be dealt with. It was then the guard walked up to the railing and then turned his back to it which is when Brant made his move and quickly jumped onto the railing with his spear in hand. He took the pole in both hands and brought it over the bandits' head with a hand on either side of his head, pulling back his pole against the mans neck chocking him as he pulled him over the railing. He quickly pulled his body out from beneath the bandit before they could hit the ground and kept him pinned to the ground but before he could begin struggling, Chara stabbed him in the arm with a purple kunai, knocking him out. Brant looked up at Chara and gave her a nod of approval making her smile before she looked up and saw a man leaning on the railing. She quickly pulled out a purple kunai and connected it to the chain on her right wristband and threw it up at the bandit, striking him in the arm, knocking him out before throwing the ring on her left wristband, grabbing onto his neck and pulling him over the railing. They quickly caught his body before he could hit the ground and make a sound and gently placed his unconscious body on the ground.

With those two dealt with, the siblings climbed up the side of the ship and saw only two men remaining on the deck on the other side and looking out at the beach. The three quietly climbed onto the deck and Brant signaled his sister to get ready to deal with one man each and then held up three fingers, lowered one finger and then another before they each rushed forward. Chara stabbed her target in the neck with her purple kunai knocking him out and Brant used his spear to hit his target in the back of his neck, knocking him out cold. Once they were dealt with, the kids brought the two men they pulled overboard back onto the deck and tied all the men up to make sure they didn't go anywhere.

With the deck now empty of anyone to stop them, Brant led his siblings towards the lower decks to see if there were any men beneath and found a large storage hold with a couple of men wondering around between the crates with a small group of five men playing a game in the center. Thinking fast, they each took to the high ground and got on top of the crates where they'd be able to look down at the men who were patrolling. Brant signaled Chara to split up so they could cover more ground and deal with the men faster and took off to deal with the guards who were patrolling.

5 minutes later

The kids were now gathered in the center of the storage hold and smiling at the multiple men who were now tied together either unconscious or paralyzed, including the men they captured on the top deck that they brought down in case someone came to check on the ship. Brant nodded and looked at his siblings as he said.

"Great work guys." Chara then asked.

"So, what do we do with these guys now?" Brant shrugged.

"Just leave them here for now, dad will collect them with the ship when we're done with the other bandits." They nodded before the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs could be heard along with a voice saying.

"You guys better not be having a drinking party again when you're meant to be on duty." Brant turned to his siblings.

"Back on the crates!" They each quickly took to the high ground and took off towards the door and found a single bandit walking in and looked around.

"Where are you, you ship rats?" He walked forward a few steps before Brant jumped down behind him and he quickly turned around to face him as Brant smiled.

"Hi." He quickly swung his spear around to gain speed and then hit the bandit in the side of the neck, knocking him out cold before Chara jumped down from her places. "Let's put him with the others and then go deal with the men on the beach." They nodded and carried their unconscious victim as Chara asked.

"Do you think our missions without dad are always going to go this smoothly?" They shrugged.

"It depends on what we're up against but we shouldn't let our guard down since there's no telling what might happen." Chara nodded.

"Isn't that the truth, Odin knows how often that's happened on his adventures."

"I still can't believe all the incredible things he's done." He smiled. "The threats he faced though are why I want to be as strong as he was since it meant I'd be able to protect you and those I love from those who'd try to hurt us." Chara rolled her eyes as they dumped the bandit on the floor next to his friends.

"I can take care of myself now you know."

"I know that Chara but when you were born, our father told me that as the older brother it was my duty to protect you and you're the only blood relative I have left." He walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Besides that, you may have the making of a strong warrior, but you'll always be my sweet little sister who I want to protect." She smiled and hugged her brother.

"I know big brother, I know." She then pulled away before a mischievous smile came to her face. "I also know that protecting me is just the first reason you want to get stronger, and the other reason is you're hoping to impress a certain blond haired wolf walker girl who you keep staring at when she passes by." Brants face turned red as Chara chuckled. "Come on, we still need to tie up this bandit and deal with the men on the beach." They nodded before he smiled. "It's nice to have a brother and sister." He nodded and they got to work.

Half-an-hour later

It's been half-an-hour since the sibling spat and since then the kids had dealt with the men on the beach with little difficulty since Chara was able to hit most of them who were at the fire with a poison kunai while Brant dealt with those who had been lured away from the fire. Those men were now back on the ship, in the storage hold with the other men they'd taken down and like the others, they were now tied up and unable to move if they came to. Now the kids were in the trees and waiting for the men who would be heading down to the beach to relieve the men who were on the beach of their guard duty. It had already been ten minutes since they arrived and they hadn't done anything other than wait in the trees, sitting or lying on the branches while doing a little stargazing. It was fortunate for Brant and Chara that their ninja training involved training in patience since there's no telling how long a ninja would have to wait for their target.

It was then Brant and Chara sat up from their positions since their senses were better than the average person as they'd had training to enhance their senses. It was then the group of ten men made their appearance and Brant signaled his sister to get her kunai ready and she quickly readied three in each hand. The second the men were in the right place Brant signaled her to throw it and she quickly tossed them at the front of the men, all kunai spread out in the ground in front of them. The men at the front didn't get the chance to react before the kunai let out their gas, creating a small cloud of the gas that covered five of the men who fell to the ground unconscious while the others looked in shock. Brant then used their shock as an opportunity to strike and jumped from his branch kicking two of the remaining men in the back and pushing them into the cloud. He then extended his spear to full length and charging at the two closest men with the ends facing his sides before he slammed the two in the backs pushing them into the cloud. Brant quickly swung his spear around and struck the remaining man in the stomach with the pole, knocking the air out of his body and forcing him to lean down before he pulled his spear back and slammed it down on the back of the bandits' head, knocking him out cold. He turned to Chara who was smiling at him as she said.

"That's those guys down for a few hours." He nodded.

"Now we just need to tie them up and then handle the remaining men at the base and then we can signal dad to come collect us and the bandits." She nodded.

"Let's hurry and do this, it's late and I want to go to bed."

"I thought the masters were teaching you to stay awake and push through exhaustion."

"They've only been training me to do that for three weeks and the training normally gets cut short by mama Blanca who wants me to go to bed since I'm still young." Brant nodded.

"Can't tell you how many times I wanted that when I was training under the Ancient One."

"Was the training really that tough?"

"You have no idea, but it was worth it to enhance my skills and strength." She nodded. "Now let's go put our combined skills to use and capture the remaining bandits." She smiled and pulled her mask over her face.

"Let's do it." With that said they both took off into the forest so they could attack the cave where they knew the bandits had set up their main base.

10 minutes later

Both Brant and Chara were now hiding in the shadows of two trees and looking at the entrance to a cave that had four guards standing by the entrance armed with spears with two torches standing at the sides of the cave entrance. Brant signaled Chara to show her that he was going to lure two of them away and deal with them and she was to deal with the two remaining men. Chara nodded before Brant threw a couple of stones into the woods and making a few sounds alerting the guards with two of them rushing into the woods to see what it was with Brant following behind them. The second they were out of hearing range Chara threw two purple kunai with each one hitting one of the guards in the arms who dropped to the ground unconscious. While this happened Brant was silently following the two remaining guards who were looking around for the source of the sounds that they heard, not knowing that Brant was following them. It was when they decided to split up and turned away from each other that Brant made his move, splitting his spear into two and swung both poles around to gain momentum and making a whistling sound which caught the attention of the men. They both turned to face him only for the poles to strike them both into the sides of their heads and slamming them into each other, knocking both men out before they fell to the ground unconscious.

With the outside guards dealt with Brant and Chara quickly rushed into the cave while doing their best to remain quiet. They ran down the tunnel within the cave searching for any sign of the commander of the bandits. As they ran down the tunnel though they did run into a few bandits but they'd bring them down with a purple kunai to the arm or a strike from the spear before their foes could even guess what was going on, notice the kids or warn their allies. They continued on this path for five minutes before they finally reached the end of the tunnel and what they found made them stop, knowing that to act recklessly would mean trouble.

The reason for this is they were standing at the edge of a cliff, leading into a large cove full of tables, with beds and crates pressed up against the wall and in the centre was a large bon fire. Both Brant and Chara began looking around for ways to further thin the numbers of their opponents knowing that to take them all on at once would be a challenge even with all their training. Fortunately, their training also allowed them to know how to use their surroundings to their advantage and there were quite a few things being held by ropes. Brant and Chara turned to each other and smiled knowing exactly how they could use this to their advantage and took off in different directions to begin causing trouble for the bandits. For the next ten minutes things became utter chaos for the bandits within the cove due to the kids doing various things to cause trouble for them. There crates falling on them after being pushed by Brant who cut the ropes holding them, barrels rolling down onto the floor and into the men who were getting water from them thanks to a kunai from Chara cutting the rope holding them steady, a few men falling into the cave after Brant cut the rope holding the fence they were leaning on, top bunk beds falling down onto the man in the bed beneath it thanks to a purple kunai from Chara leaking acid onto the supports and the occasional man just being knocked out by one of the two.

Now after all that chaos, there were only six men left all of whom were now in the centre of the cove looking around with their weapons drawn having realized what was happening wasn't simply unfortunate accidents but an act of sabotage by someone who they didn't see. They all looked around hoping to find the ones who'd been taking down their allies but Brant and Chara were keeping to the shadows and hiding behind some over turned crates. Both were patiently waiting for the right moment to strike like they had the entire evening when confronted with enemies who were on guard. It was then Chara saw an opening and took it quickly throwing a single kunai into the centre of their group that immediately began spraying its gas which coated them and took out five of the men except one who escaped the gas. This man didn't last long as Brant quickly rushed up and pole vaulted towards him, slamming his feet into the bandits chest, throwing him back into the wall. Both Brant and Chara looked at their downed victims with smiles before the sound of slow clapping echoed through the cave and they quickly took their stances, but lowered them when they saw it was their father with Toothless at his side and his ninja following as he said.

"Great job kids, I'll take care of the rest." Hiccup released his shadow wolf which split into ten and then all of them rushed to pull the bandits into their masters shadow while he took off his spiderpack and signalled his ninja to begin loading the items before he walked up to the kids. "You both performed great in this exercise and I have to admit, you surpassed my expectations." He turned to Chara. "Chara, you showed excellent stealth, speed, aim and strategy during this attack." She smiled at the praise as Hiccup turned to Brant. "Brant you on the other hand showed good strategy, skill and leadership." Brant smiled at the praise and Hiccup then looked at them both. "You've both made me proud tonight and remember that these experiences and skills will serve you well in the future when you're both out in the world having your own adventures or fighting to protect those you care about." They nodded. "Now let's load up the loot into my spiderpack and go collect the bounty for these bandits." They nodded and got to work while Hiccup looked back on how the kids performed and how they could improve since just because they accomplished their mission, doesn't mean there wasn't room for improvement but these were things to worry about when they get home and he's calmed his wives down who had been worried since they left.

AN: And this brings an end to this chapter, I wanted to make one to show how far Brant and Chara have come in their training with the arrival of the new additions to the family. Anyways, I hope to see some new reviews for this chapter and hope you all have a nice day and enjoyed the chapter.