The twelve labors of a Hiccup
10: The Cattle of Geryon
Hiccups POV:
It has been four days since I got back from my trip with the Argonauts and to say I was annoyed would be the biggest understatement in all of Greek and Viking history. Ever since I got back Athens celebrated the return of one of Greece's greatest hero's. This time I was summoned by the king himself as he was curious about my past adventures. Long story short I was at the palace the entire day informing him of all my adventures from killing the Nemean lion to my latest one with the Argonauts. By the end he requested that every time I return to Athens from one of my adventures I come to see him and tell him of my adventures. I was happy to comply since he was a nice guy and was put me in his good graces and under his protection meaning nobody could threaten me without facing him as a consequence. It was the nobles who really got me annoyed since when they found out about my fight with Hippolyte and the amazons along with my battle with the giants they were more persistent about me being with their daughters than ever. I couldn't walk five steps out the door without being stopped by a nobleman wanting to talk to me about wanting them to meet their daughters. Some even offered me marriage contracts which meant if I married their daughter I would get something in return. The biggest offer I got was from one of the richest men in the city which was I married his daughter I would get twenty acres of land, twenty bags of gold, forty cattle and a large palace. He was not happy when I turned him down but all it really did was increase his daughters efforts to ensnare me since now whenever I take a walk in the park or the market place she always runs to catch up to me so she can walk besides me and talk to me while holding onto my arm while she also pressed her more feminine parts into my arm. It was both annoying and embarrassing for me since it always made me blush along with encouraging other girls to try the same method on me. I was honestly considering asking the king if he could lend me some of his guards to keep the girls away from me.
Presently I was in the forge which these days was the only place I could get some peace since the Aetes forbid the girls or their parents from coming in unless they were here to buy something. Thanks to this the business did do a bit better since they started buying stuff to see me until they learned that as soon as they had bought the item they had to leave. Right now I was setting a sword down on the rack when an elderly man walked in and asked.
"Are you the hero known as Heracles?" I turned to him and nodded. "The tales of your conquests have spread far and wide all over Greece. I have travelled a long way to ask you for your help." I raised an eyebrow.
"What do you need?" He smiled.
"My cattle has been stolen by the three bodied giant Geryon." Hearing his description of the giant was more than a little confusing.
"What do you mean by three bodied?" He looked down.
"Geryon has three torsos connected at the waist all supported by four legs." I know this would have sounded a bit unusual to most but I've see stranger things in Greece since I got here but one thing bothered me.
"Why would Geryon want your cattle?"
"Many people believe my cattle to be the most beautiful in all of Greece and that is both my blessing and my curse. Word of them reached Geryon and he came to steal them from me and succeeded in the night while I slept. I awoke in the morning in time to see him board his ship with them and sail off."
"Where can I find him and where can I find you when I've got them back?" He smiled at me.
"He lives on the island of Erythia but be warned he has the Orthros, a two headed dog helping him guard the cattle which is one of the reasons I do not try to get them back myself. I will come and check the forge for you in a week and keep returning to see if you have returned."
"I'll take care of it. Don't worry about me." He smiled at me before continuously thanking me before he left. Aetes put a hand on my shoulder and said.
"Another adventure already? You really like to travel don't you?"
"I just want to get out of here so I can get away from the woman of Athens and their parents."
"I understand. Being a hero and strong resourceful man can be a curse for some. Just be careful on this adventure my friend." I nodded before I left to prepare for my trip.
7 days later
We have been on the ocean for six days after I spent a day preparing for the long journey to Erythia and now it was finally insight. I decided it would be best to dock close to the island but not too close so my ship could be seen. This way I would be able to scout the island on Toothless for the cattle along with the giant. I was now on the top deck in my regular armour rubbing Toothless' head as I asked.
"You ready bud?"
He gave a growl of confirmation before I mounted him and we took off. As we flew over the island my mind began to wonder as to why whenever I decided to go home something stopped me like there were these chains tying me to Greece for some reason. It just made no sense since I've been here for so long and was starting to get homesick for my dragons and animals. I also began thinking of moving out of my cave since I admit it was nice and it was able to support me for a long time but with Glacia growing along with my collection of animals and dragons growing I would definitely need more space to hold all of them and for them to roam. I've been considering finding my own island close to Berk but there were none close enough and the ones that were near enough weren't big enough or had the resources I needed to build myself a home for me and my dragons.
It was at that moment I saw the cattle and watching them was the giant. I had Toothless glide a little lower so I could get a better look at what was happening down there. I saw the giant who from the top looked like three men in one set of pants. Each head had red hair and beards and each were glaring down at what seemed to be a two headed brown wolf which was whimpering under the glare as a larger black and brown dog with two heads and a black snake for a tail growled at it(AN: Think of a big Rottweiler dog with two heads and a black snake for a tail.). It was then I heard Geryon yell with all three of his heads.
"YOU WORTHLESS MUT! CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT? I KNEW I SHOULD'VE HAD ORTHROS KILL YOU LIKE HE DID THAT WOLF YOU CALLED MOTHER AFTER IT GAVE BIRTH TO YOU! WHY MY FINE GUARD DOG ORTHROS EVER MATED WITH THAT PATHETIC BEAST AND HAD YOU I WILL NEVER KNOW! I'M JUST GREATFUL HE KILLED HER AFTER YOU WERE OLD ENOUGH TO STAND!" He then gave the two headed wolf a hard kick which sent him or her flying ten feet away before he whimpered as Geryon yelled. "DON'T THINK YOU'LL BE GETTING ANY DINNER TONIGHT YOU WORTHLESS RUNT."
Before he marched away as all his heads muttered while the Orthros just growled at it before following Geryon. To say I was disgusted at such cruelty would be the biggest understatement in both Greek and Viking history. Judging by the size of the two headed wolf I could tell it was still young. At most a few months old meaning I might be able to train it to obey me and not Geryon. If the ribs I could see on its body were any indication to its lack of food then a large chunk of meat could be the first step to earning its loyalty starting tonight.
Nightfall
I had Toothless land silently in a field thirty feet away from Geryons hut where the wolf orthros was kept by tying him or her to a wooden stake in the ground. When we touched the ground the wolf orthros lifted its head up and looked around as I took out a big piece of meat I brought for it. It growled at me but I held my hands up and said.
"Easy now pal. I brought you some food since that giant clearly doesn't feed you."
It just growled at me some more before I tossed it the meat. It stopped growling before it sniffed the meat for a moment. Then bot heads each took a side and began pulling it apart to eat it. I smiled at the wolf orthros eating since it was clear it needed more food if the fact that I could see ribs its ribs were any indication to how neglected it truly was. As it ate the meat I brought it I saw that this wolf orthros was a male. As it finished off the meat I brought he looked up at me with his ears lowered as if he was asking me for more. I kept my eyes on him and said.
"Sorry buddy but I don't have any more meat with me. I'll bring more tomorrow night when I come to visit okay?" He just growled with both heads before walking back to the wooden stake and lay down. While he did that I returned to Toothless before we took off.
Ten days later
I was once again flying on Toothless looking down at Geryon and the Orthros minding the cattle as the wolf orthros remained tied to the stake with no food or water. I had been bringing it both every night for the past ten days and I could tell it was trusting me now more than it trusted Geryon or its own father. It already let me feed it by hand without biting me and its ribs had begun to stop showing so clearly which was good because that meant it was getting healthier. He was also becoming a whole lot friendlier with me since when he first met me he would growl and glare at me with both his heads but now he would wine whenever I left him and would lick my face when I was close to him. I knew that I needed to get the cattle soon and the wolf orthros as well since there was no way I was going to let Geryon keep him with the way he treats him. This afternoon I was planning to take the cattle along with the wolf orthros since from what I overheard Geryon and Orthros were planning to go out this afternoon.
I waited till afternoon came and Geryon along with his Orthros had left before I landed on a small hill away from the wolf orthros and overlooking the cattle. I was currently wearing my regular armour which now had a bow and quiver on it just in case something came charging at me and the Nemean Lion pelt over it like it always was when I was in Greece. Reason being so people would know who I am and know not to mess with me but unfortunately it also attracted the attention of the ladies. Anyway right now I was slowly making my way down to the wolf Orthros but unfortunately Geryon's farmhand was tormenting the wolf orthros at a distance. I felt no regret in hitting him with a mini speedstinger venom arrow from my wrist bow. I pushed his paralyzed body out of the way to the ground smiling at the wolf Orthros who was barking happily and wagging his tail at me. I smiled at him as I kneeled in front of him before saying.
"Don't worry! I'll have you out of here soon!"
It was at that moment I heard a growl behind me. I turned around and saw the Orthros glaring at me with his teeth from both heads bared at me as the snake it had for a tail hissed at me. I stood up and turned to face the Orthros who began charging at me. Before I could react it had pounced at me but I was able to use my legs to throw it over my body. I saw it fly into a large boulder behind me before I heard a sickening crack followed by the Orthros falling limply to the ground. I walked up to it and placed a bare finger on its throat to check for a pulse and didn't find one showing the Orthros to be dead. It had snapped its necks when its heads hit the boulder.
It was at that moment that I heard a roar of anger and stomping feet. I turned around and saw Geryon charging at me with each torso holding a spear and shield and each head wearing a helmet. He charged towards me as his heads simultaneously yelled.
"I KNEW SOMEONE WAS FEEDING THAT RUNT AND NOW YOU'VE KILLED MY DOG! WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"
I quickly took out an arrow before I took aim but before I could let it fly Geryon's right torso threw its spear at me. I duck and rolled out of the way before shooting an arrow back which impaled itself in the right torsos chest killing it as it leaned forward and dropped its shield but the other two kept the legs moving. I took out another arrow and let it fly towards Geryon hitting the torso on the left in the chest making him lean back limp after dropping his shield and spear. This left one torso left who was looking angrier by the second as he charged at me. I took aim at the torsos chest as I pulled the arrow back as Geryon towards me I let it fly. As he was only ten feet away the arrow hit him in the chest before he fell to his knees then to his side. He was dead so he would never bring trouble to anyone ever again. I had to say slaying monsters was really becoming a regular thing for me here in Greece.
I turned to the wolf Orthros and untied the rope around his necks letting him go and as soon as I did he pounced on me and began licking my face as I tried to hold him back making me laugh. When I was finally able to get him off me I stood up and rubbed his heads before I said.
"Okay boys I need to go and get my ship then load up the cattle okay?" The heads just barked before I walked back to Toothless while the Orthros followed me. The Orthros growled at Toothless when he saw him but after I rubbed his heads. "Easy boys we're all friends here."
He stopped growling at Toothless before sniffing him and calming down. I smiled before I signalled Toothless to shoot out a plasma blast into the sky to signal Scaulder to bring the ship in. I smiled as I watched the ship brought in before I walked down to meet Scaulder. When I arrived he had docked the ship onto the beach before swimming to the side of the ship. I smiled at him as he lowered his head to my level as I rubbed his chin and said.
"Great job pal. Now we just need to load up the cattle and see if there's anything else in this area worth taking." He growled in understanding before I had him lift me onto my ship before I walked down and lowered the gang plank at the front of the ship which lead to the live stocks hold so I could load up the cattle.
3 hours later
The cattle were now all on the ship and settled in with my own cattle while my new wolf orthros was in a bed which one of my wolves normally slept in. While I was checking out the area I found Geryons hut and found out he had been quiet busy when it came to stealing since I found two large chests full of gold drachmas and jewels which were now on my ship in storage. Behind the hut I found the body of my wolf orthros mother since I recognised the skeleton of a wolf which still had some rotting flesh on it. From the teeth marks on the bones it wasn't that difficult to figure what that orthros used it for. It was truly disgusting what that beast did to the animal that gave birth to its cub. I decided it would be best to give the wolf a proper burial and grave overlooking the ocean. From the corpse of Geryon I took his helmets, spears and shields as trophies of my victory over him and added them to my growing souvenir collection. One thing was for sure and that was when I get home my trophy room is going to be a lot fuller with everything I'm gathering. Now we were on my ship sailing back to Athens as my mind began to drift back to thoughts of my own village wondering what was going on back on Berk.
Back on Berk
Nobodies POV:
Life in the village had continued normally for the Vikings who called it home with the added help of the dragons Hiccup had left behind to help out. Stoick as usual was helping the villagers wherever he could and providing chiefly advice where needed. Gobber was in the forge working on a new batch of gronkle iron weapons since before he left Hiccup was all too happy to make a large shipment of Gronkle iron for his old mentor before he left. Everyone else in the village was just doing their own thing except for Snotlout and the twins who were in the forest trying to do something they would fail at should Hiccups dragons have anything to do with it and they did. Before Hiccup left for Greece he told Angel and Diggs to keep an eye on the village and should anyone cause any trouble in the forest to bring them back.
Snotlout and the twins were currently hiking through the forest before stopping for a rest by sitting on some fallen logs. It was at this moment as Tuffnut rubbed his right foot that was resting on his knee he asked.
"Hey why are we out here again?" Snotlout glared at him.
"Because you muttonhead we're looking for Hiccups hideout." Ruffnut then asked.
"Why are we doing that again?" Snotlout growled in frustration.
"Because you two if we find it then we can find his notes on training dragons and then I'll be the best again and you two get to have a dragon to blow stuff up with. Plus Hiccups probably got a huge fortune which I doubt he'll mind if we take a bit for ourselves."
Both twins gave a simultaneous Oh before they continued on their search unfortunately for them Angel was resting in the tree branches above them and heard everything they said about what they intended to do if they found Hiccups place. To say she was not happy would be an understatement so she took action grabbing Snotlout by the back of his shirt using her mouth and the twins using her front claws before taking them back to the village.
When Stoick saw what was happening to them he walked up to Angel who had just dropped them in the centre of the village and was now glaring at them. Stoick looked up at the changewing before looking down at Snotlout and the twins before asking.
"What's going on here?" Snotlout then stood up.
"Well me and the twins were just out training in the forest when Hiccups nutty changewing dragged us back to the village." It was then Tuffnut stepped in.
"We were training? I thought you said we were trying to find Hiccups hideout to steal his dragon training stuff and his treasures." Snotlout glared at him and muttered.
"Shut up you idiot!" Unfortunately Stoick heard what Tuffnut.
"So you were planning to raid Hiccups home while he's away. If Hiccup was here I'd let him decide on the punishment but since he's still travelling I'll have to do it." It was then Gobber walked up behind Stoick.
"No need Stoick. Hiccup gave me a list of punishments for any wrong someone would try to do him while he was away." Gobber took out a small book and began flipping through the pages before he stopped on one page. "Here we are. Trying to find and break into my house to take some of my things. Punishment is cleaning out Gobbers outhouse with bare hands after Gobber uses it after having undercooked mutton for breakfast. P.S. Gobber if you are reading this then lay off the undercooked mutton because it causes nothing but suffering to anyone who goes near your outhouse. Signed Hiccup." Gobber raised an eyebrow. "The lad really does come prepared while he's away." Stoick just nodded.
"Well the punishment's decided and fortunately I saw what Gobber had for breakfast so his outhouse is ready." Before Snotlout or the twins could complain Angel growled at them making them get up and get moving to start their punishment.
Seven days later in Greece
I had just arrived back in Athens and I could tell my wolf Orthros now named Maelstrom which means sudden storms which cause all sorts of chaos and were said to be the product of Loki's pranks, was happy at the thought of being back on dry land. I had a feeling that when the people of my village saw him they'll probably think he's a product of Loki like Fenrir and besides I could tell that he's going to be a fierce and loyal companion of mine like my other wolves. I just hope I could get them to accept him into the pack as one of their own because the last thing I want is any fights breaking out among my wolves. Right now he was resting in one of the beds meant for my wolves while I docked the ship so I could hopefully find the elderly man and return his cattle.
Once my ship had been docked I walked into the city and as usual got a lot of attention and this time it was because everyone had heard how I was going to face Geryon. Many of the soldiers who patrolled the city looked at me in shock and started pointing fingers at me before they started whispering. I guess they figured I wasn't going to come back alive and I really can't blame them since Geryon was well known throughout Greece and known to never let anyone who tried to steal from him leave with all their limbs intact or leave at all. Some of the girls were smiling at me with half lidded eyes which as always I ignored until I got the forge. When I got there I found the elderly man waiting for me outside and smiled at me. He walked up to me and said.
"Welcome back Heracles. I hope you were not wounded but were you able to get my cattle back." I smiled at him.
"They're currently on my ship waiting to be picked up. As for Geryon him and his dog are never going to cause you any trouble again." He smiled before taking my hand and shaking it while he kept thanking me. I simply smiled before I took him to the docks to pick up his cattle.
Four hours later
The elderly man was now on his way back to his farm with his three farmhands helping him escort the cattle back but his cattle was six cows short since he gave me three males and three females as thanks even though I told him it wasn't necessary but he insisted so I accepted. After that I went back to the forge to talk with Aetes who was all too happy to hear how my trip went. Unfortunately so was everyone else who was out for a walk this fine day, which meant I had to go through a lot questions, demonstrations and a lot of fan girls when I was done. Fortunately Maelstrom came with me not liking being stuck on the ship when he could run around on dry land. The guards at first thought he was a monster attacking me but I stopped them and told them he was with me and would only attack if he was provoked. They lowered their weapons at this but kept their eye on both of us. As we walked back to the forge we did get more than a few stares and when we did arrive I had a hard time containing my laughter when Aetes actually turned to greet me but when he saw Maelstrom he yelped, walked back and fell over his anvil before his leg knocked over a hammer that was on the anvil which barley missed his lower front. Long story short I was definitely bringing Maelstrom with me whenever I came into the city since he kept the fan girls and their parents away.
AN: Hey I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and for those of you who don't know there is a new Poll out so please vote.
