Chapter 59
Hiccups POV:
It has been four weeks since my battle on Lava-lout Island and as expected a lot has happened since then besides long-lost relatives reuniting with families and forging weapons to replace the ones I supplied to the armadas. For the first week after I got back it was none stop celebration at the return of Berkians who were thought dead. I admit it felt good when I saw families reunite and have heart-warming reunions knowing I had played a part in reuniting them. I did however feel for some of the men who reunited with their wives who were pretty angry with them for disappearing for so long and drug their husbands' home by the ears. I knew they were happy to have them back since they sent their children to stay with friends at night and if the noises coming from their huts were anything to go by it was the right thing to do. As for me the families made it quite clear that they were grateful for what I did since the day after the reunions I was up to my neck in pie, fresh bread, smoked fish and unfortunately female admirers. Seriously during the celebration, I couldn't even go get a drink from the food table without some man slapping me on the back in congratulations, a woman shaking my hand and giving me a teary-eyed thank you or a young girl taking a place at my side and rubbing up claiming she wanted to thank me for either saving the archipelago from the Lava- louts bringing back their father, older brother, etc. It was insane how now I couldn't even say hi to my father now without being intercepted by a girl.
Then there's the other tribes who now knew about my dragon training and were grateful to me for returning their people to them safely. Seriously they sent multiple rewards using traders to deliver them and there were a whole lot of kinds of rewards they sent me. There was gold and jewels that I sent to my vault, medals for saving their people that I hung in a glass case in the trophy room, new books which were now in my library, art work that now rested in my art gallery and of course many, many, many marriages offer's. It was annoying since I had more marriage offers than there are dragons on Dragon Island and while most of these offers consisted of letters some consisted of girls actually coming to Berk with their families who claimed that they were just there to renew old peace treaties with our tribe or visit their relatives. The daughters however were always eager to meet me and tried to get as close to me as possible by practically locking themselves to my arm, following me wherever I went like loyal dogs, asking me to take them on flights and watching me help Gobber in the forge but I'm pretty sure it was because when I work in the forge I wear vests which expose my arms. I knew that some of the villagers were getting sick of it to since Gobber kept complaining about the girl's mothers coming to the forge to ask about my interests to give their daughters an edge, my dad complained about the fathers coming by to talk him into signing betrothal contracts between me and their daughters and Snotlout complained about me hogging all the beautiful girls.
There is also the chest and egg I found in the volcano that I had to say held some surprises for me. In the chest I found a dragon eye lens and a bell of Frey, which meant I was one step closer to unlocking the secrets that they held. As for the egg I had a good idea to what type of dragon would hatch from it if what was on the dragon eye lens was any indication. The lens contained information on an alpha class species of dragon known as the green death that was which is a distant cousin to the Red Death. It's said to be less aggressive and manipulative than the Red Death and prefers to keep other dragons out of its diet. I knew if I was able to raise this dragon like I did Glacia then it would a valuable asset for future battles and I had the feeling that Glacia would make a wonderful big sister. I just hoped I'd be able to avoid another Red Death, especially if it was one I had raised myself since that would be like killing my own child. Still though I just hoped it would not come to that. The egg now rested in one of my islands hot springs like Glacia's egg was when I was back on Berk and I could tell it would still be a while till it hatched and I spent some of my time sitting in said hot spring with the egg in my arms since I just enjoyed the feeling of the life it held.
Now I was on my ship sailing to the land of the Feather People, which I read about from some of the hysteric's tribe's visiting members. They claimed that there former chief Bigjob sailed to a faraway land and came to a land that was home to friendly natives he called the 'Feather people'. They are said to be great arrow makers and very skilled in crafting things. This is one of the reasons I was hoping to find their land using both my crystal map and some regular maps and notes I got from a trader from the Hysterics tribe. On my ship was Toothless and my Scauldrens since from what I heard the people were big on animal hunting and I didn't want them to hunt any of my animals. Also when it came to my dragons I wanted to keep the group small since I didn't want the people to see me as a threat. I looked out at the open sea and couldn't help but see the endless world waiting for me to explore it. There was still so much of this world for me to search and I was looking forward to finding and exploring every inch.
3 weeks later
Land had finally come into view in the distance and I was looking forward to getting there since I used my crystal map to see if I could get an idea of the terrain. From what I could tell it was mostly forest that means there would be plenty of firewood but I was curious about what types of animals they had to hunt. I figured there'd still be plenty of creatures for me to hunt and if there weren't then I could always go fishing for food. Once we docked I got off my ship and smiled at the woods wondering what was hidden in those trees. It was late so I decided it would be best to just check a small area for anything I could eat before I turned to my scauldrens and took their harnesses as I said.
"Watch over the ship while we're away guys." They growled before I turned to Toothless. "Let's see what this land has to offer us bud." I then mounted him and we took off.
Nightfall
I was sitting down on the beach we had docked at staring at the flames of my campfire as I roasted a turkey bird over the flames. Toothless was busy chowing down on some fish as I watched my dinner cook wondering what this land had to offer and if I'd be able to find the feather people hidden somewhere in those woods. If they did I hoped to be able to study their customs and hopefully integrate the parts of their way of life that I find useful into the way I live. I was actually hoping to study the way they make their arrows and to see if their arrows are as good as I've been lead to believe because if so I might be able to use their method in the future. Even if I didn't find them then at least I'll be able to study the landscape and hopefully find something useful in the land. These were the thoughts that occupied my mind as I listened to the wood burn and watched my food cook. It was then Toothless turned to face the trees and began growling as I went for my sword and asked.
"Something wrong bud?" He just looked into the trees and growled and soon enough my scauldrens joined him which showed me that something was definitely wrong so I stood up and looked at the trees. "Who's there?"
I didn't hear any reply but my dragons kept growling and I trusted their instincts so I stood up and made my way towards the trees with my sword drawn. I kept my guard up as I looked around for anyone and still saw no one but it was then I heard a silent whimper from behind me. I turned around and saw a small child curled up by a tree and when they saw I was looking at them they curled up even tighter and put their hands over their head in fear. I sheathed my sword and kneeled down in front of them and asked.
"Are you alright little one?"
They just whimpered and curled up tighter before I heard their stomach growl and decided to use the same method I used on Gukumatz daughter to try and calm the child down. I reached into my saddlebag and pulled out a stick of boar jerky as they watched before I took a bite out of it. I chewed the jerky and savored the flavor before I swallowed and offered the remaining piece to the child. They looked at the piece of dried meat hesitantly but I gave a slow nod before they slowly reached out before taking it and eating it. I could tell they were still hungry so I slowly wrapped my arms around their body and lifted them up, as they seemed to freeze in fear. I gently carried the child who I could now tell was a boy over to the camp sight but when he saw my dragons they immediately let out a small scream and tried to bury himself into my chest plate. I gently rubbed the back of his head and gently whispered to him how there was nothing to worry about. Once we sat down by the fire he took his head off my chest plate and looked at Toothless who was walking up but when he leaned away Toothless gave him a gummy smile making him laugh a little as I smiled. I took the boy off my lap and sat him next to me before taking a leg off the turkey and offered it to the child who began eating it. I took the other leg and joined him in enjoying the meal. Once the meal was done the boy and I sat in silence until he eventually fell asleep. Once he was asleep I gently picked him up and lay him down on my spare sleeping bag and put a blanket over him before lying down against Toothless and went to sleep.
Morning
I was up in the air on Toothless with the boy sitting in front of me with my arms around him as he laughed in joy seeing the land below us. The reason we were up here is because I was hoping to find the child's tribe and return him to them since they're probably worried sick about him. He turned back to me and began pointing towards some smoke coming from somewhere in the forest as he babbled in a language I didn't understand but I could tell he wanted me to go there. I smiled before we flew towards the smoke hoping to find the child's village. It didn't take us long to get there and I saw multiple houses that were a few dome shaped houses which had walls that seemed to made of bark but my attention was on the very large and long house in the center. I saw multiple people coming out of it many of which looked up to see me and then ran back inside before some came out with weapons so I had Toothless land outside the gates so I could show them we weren't here to cause trouble. I dismounted Toothless before lifting the child off the saddle. The child then took my hand and led me through the gate as I signaled Toothless to stay outside till they all knew we weren't a threat. He sat down as the child pulled me through the gates where a large group of people was waiting.
The child pulled me towards them before letting go of my hand and standing in front of me before talking to the people. It was when he finished they all stepped aside to allow a man who I'd say was middle aged, had two braids coming down the front of his shoulders and what seemed to be a bear claw tied into his hair. His clothes looked to be made of some kind of animal hide with tassels on the bottom of the arms, leather pants with a piece of cloth with the image of a bird on it tucked over a belt. (AN: They're called Breechcloths.) He walked up to me and raised his hand before he said.
"How!" I cocked an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry but do you speak Norse?"
He raised an eyebrow before turning back to the crowd and yelled into the crowd before an elderly man walked out. He had black paint going over his eyes resembling a mask, a black furry hat with horns sticking out of the sides, what looked to be a wooden chest plate made of sticks which was the only thing on his torso, the same pants as the other man but with some horned animal on it. He walked up to me and lifted his hand and said.
"How!"
"Once again I am sorry but don't understand what you are saying." He cocked an eyebrow before nodding.
"So you are one of the palefaces from across the great waters who comes from a distant land." I was surprised that he could speak my language.
"You can understand me?" He nodded.
"You are not the first of the pale faces to come to our lands but you are the first to come to our land and sore above it on a great beast."
"I'm sorry if I scared anyone but may I ask who you are?"
"I am the village shaman Spirit Roamer." He then turned to the man who came up to me first. "This is chief Iron Bear." He turned back to me. "Now what is the name you have been given and what is it that brings you to our lands?"
"My name is Hiccup Haddock and as for why I'm here, a former chief came to the land once and spoke highly of a race of people he called 'feather people' and I wanted to see if I could meet you people for myself."
He nodded before turning back to chief Iron Bear and began speaking to him as the chief nodded at his words. Spirit Roamer turned back to me and said.
"Chief Iron Bear wishes to see the beast you rode upon."
I nodded and turned back to the gate and whistled before Toothless walked in looking around at the people as they all looked at him in shock. He walked up next to me as I scratched him on the back of the neck making him croon in pleasure making some of the children giggle. Chief Iron Bear then said something to Spirit Roamer before he turned back to me and said.
"Chief Iron Bear wishes to thank you for the safe return of one of our tribes' children and would like to know if you could allow him the chance to soar above the land on your beast." I smiled.
"Bringing the child back was no problem and please tell the chief that I'd be more than happy to allow him a ride on my dragon but his name is Toothless."
He nodded before turning to the chief and talking to him as I mounted Toothless before the chief walked up and I helped him onto Toothless giving him a place behind me before we took off. As we flew over the woods Chief Iron Bear looked down at the land. I smiled as he leaned back and enjoyed the feeling of the wind rushing past us before I signaled Toothless to take us up to the clouds. I chuckled as we went above them and enjoyed looking at the clouds as if they were a majestic landscape. We stayed up in the sky for ten more minutes before coming in for a landing in the village and I could tell Chief Iron Bear enjoyed the ride. When we landed Chief Iron Bear dismounted first and turned to Spirit Roamer and said a few words before Spirit Roamer turned to me and smiled as he said.
"Chief Iron Bear thanks you for allowing him the opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream and wishes to extend an invite to you to join us this evening for dinner tonight." I nodded.
"I'd be honored but while we wait would it be alright if I explored your village and ask a few questions?" He nodded.
"That would be just fine."
Nightfall
I was sitting down in the middle of the village in front of a large bonfire as men danced around it following Spirit Roamer and chanting what they said was them asking the spirits to bestow their protection upon the village. In the short time I've been in this village I learnt that the large building was known as 'the long house' while the smaller ones were 'wingwams'. The long house was where the majority of the villagers slept and where they kept most of their belonging while the wingwam's were where some of the villagers who preferred solitude stayed. One of these wingwams belonged to Spirit Roamer who prepared most of his rituals and prepared medicines there. As for the people of the village most of them took kindly to me but there were some who didn't seem to trust me but that was expected. Then there were how the people took to Toothless and in some ways, it was pretty funny. The adults would often examine him while the children would play around with him laughing as they dangled from his paws or pulled on his earflaps making him have a funny face which made me laugh and him glare at me. I also got the chance to study their arrows and crafts so I could get an idea of if the rumors were true and when I did I saw the rumors were understated since their crafts were amazing. I hoped I could convince them to show me how they're able to craft items and their arrows.
It was then the chanting stopped as the men surrounding the fire turned to fire and bowed to it signaling an end to the ceremony before Spirit Roamer walked next to me and sat down while taking off his ceremonial mask. He smiled at me and asked.
"What did you think of our ceremony Hiccup?"
"It was quite impressive and really interesting."
"Now Hiccup may you please tell me what brought you to our lands besides the desire to meet our people?" I smiled at him.
"Well I was actually hoping to learn from you all like your way of life, how you craft items and more." The smile disappeared from his face and was replaced with a straight face.
"That is complicated Hiccup for to learn our ways you'd have to become a member of our tribe."
"If I do will I have to move into the village for the rest of my life, marry a female from the village or kill anyone?"
"No, you shall not have to move into the village if you do not wish to, marry any of our women or kill anyone besides some animals for food." I nodded.
"What will I have to do then?" He turned to Iron Bear before looking back at me.
"I shall discuss your initiation tonight with our chief and let you know in the morning." I nodded before I enjoyed the remainder of my night watching the dances and enjoying the food.
Morning
I was sitting naked in what I was told was called the sweat lodge with Chief Iron Bear and Roaming spirit in a circle around a fire as I sweated and looked at their faces and doing my best not to look down. I sweated and let the droplets go down my body and into the ground as they spoke in their own language. I didn't understand a word they were saying but never the less I didn't interrupt them since it might be important. Once they were done Roaming spirit turned to me and said.
"Thankyou for your patience Hiccup." I nodded to him. "Now onto you joining the tribe." He turned to Chief Iron bear who nodded before he turned back to me. "In order to join the tribe, you will need to pass initiation first."
"What do I have to do?"
"You have already passed the first test by gaining the chiefs approval and proven to be a caring soul by returning a lost child to us."
"I was just doing what I felt was right when it came to the child but what else do I have to do?"
"You must learn our language, prove to be a strong provider and finally discover your spirit guide."
"I know I can learn the language and if proving to be a strong provider means hunting and helping out around the village then I will be able to prove myself but how do I discover my spirit guide?"
"When the time comes you will know." I smiled at him and stood up.
"Let's get started." They stared at me for a moment before I looked down at myself for a moment before looking back up. "Let's get started after I get some pants on." They laughed before we began.
3 weeks later
In the past three weeks I have learn to speak the language of the people and proved myself to be more than a capable provider with the amount of game I brought back. At first there were a few complaints saying I was nothing without my armor and Toothless so to prove them wrong I hunted in only my pants and boots while using only weapons they supplied me. I still brought back a huge amount of food for the tribe and it was more enough to shut them up when it comes to me being nothing without my armor and Toothless. Now was standing in front of what Spirit Roamer said was a soul cave where members of the tribe came in order to meet their spirit guide and gain their new tribal names. I was nearly completely naked except for pants I was given along with paint that decorated my body as a part of the ceremony and over my shoulder was a satchel containing what I'd need. Toothless was back in the village as part of the ceremony I had to venture to the cave on my own to fully embrace the nature which the spirits have given. I looked into the cave and sighed before I said.
"Let's see what my spirit guide is."
I walked into the cave and began looking around at the walls seeing ancient cave paintings decorating the walls of animals, people and symbols. When I reached the end, I found four different totems surrounding a single fire pit in the center of them. I walked up to the fire pit seeing it had been set up the night before with different powders covering the wood to aid me in the ritual. I picked up the spark rocks and began hitting them together over the firepit to form sparks to ignite the flames of the fire. When a flame began to glow, I put my satchel down in front of me and pulled out the simple palm sized stone and string which I put it in front of the fire followed by taking out a bowl with a canteen and poured the clear liquid into the bowl after placing it next to the rock. Finally, I took a small bag of powder out of my satchel and looked down at it before turning to the growing fire which had taken on multiple colors and gave out a sweet smoke due to the powder on the wood. I poured the powder in the bag into my hand and quietly chanted before I tossed it into the fire making it light up even brighter and gave a large burst before it returned to normal as the smoke got worse. I breathed the smoke in as I looked down at the bowl for a second before took the bowl with both my hands, brought it up to my mouth and drank the liquid. It tasted like mixed berries and grass but felt warm as it went down my throat before I put the bowl back down on the ground before staring at the flames of the fire as the smoke began to spread out around the cave. The flames kept dancing before the form of animals began to appear in the flames and seemed to pull me in before everything went black for a few seconds.
When I opened my eyes I was in a blue forest shining in the light of the full moon. I saw a long path and made my way down it passing multiple animals that were glowing yellow but when I passed they just stared at me as I walked past. I eventually came to an open field with a village made up of Teepees. I walked through the village but didn't see anyone except a single elderly man who seemed to be watching my every move. He kept staring at me until I continued down the path eventually coming to a desert landscape with a large hill. There was the occasional coyote and other desert roaming animal before coming to a large town, which seemed to be carved out of the mountain. I followed through the town once again passing an elderly man who kept staring at me until I eventually came to the top of the mountain and saw a bald eagle flying the land. I don't know why but I felt drawn to it for some reason until it came to fly towards me before it circled around me and came to land on my arm. I stared at it for asking.
"Are you my spirit guide?"
It just began to glow before a bright light blinded me. When I opened my eyes and found myself back in the spirit cave except this time the stone I had placed in front of the fire had taken the shape of an eagle with its wings spread out with the rope thread through it forming a necklace. I knew this was part of the ritual to show what my spirit guide was to others and to show what it stood for. I didn't know what it stood for since that was something only a shaman could answer. Knowing that now my time in the soul cave was done with the fire was extinguished I stood up and began collecting my things so I could return to the village and gain a new name.
When I arrived back as expected Toothless was happy to see me, as were the tribes people who were eager to see what my spirit guide was. Spirit Roamer walked past everyone smiling at me before he lead me away to his wingwam where he sat me down to discuss my trip to the realm of the spirit guides. Soon after we made it into his wingwam we sat down around a small fire and I began my tale.
4 hour later
I was sitting down and watching Spirit Roamer perform with some tribe's men around the fire in celebration of me becoming a new member of the tribe as I went over what had happened in his wingwam. For starters I had learned that my spirit guide was the eagle of protection meaning I was destined for great things and to protect those in need. We had discussed my travels before I met my spirit guide and he said it meant that I had a long journey ahead of me but went onto explain the men I saw in my vision were actual shaman from tribes he had once visited. He didn't know what it meant but he would see if the spirits could perhaps provide the answer but it would take time and all I could do in the meantime was have faith in my spirit guide and the spirits of the land. I trusted his word on this since if there is one thing I've learnt in my life it's that the mystical beings of the different lands have a reason for everything. I watched the people dance as my mind kept wondering to the soul cave and what I saw in it along with my new tribal name Soaring Eagle due to my spirit animal. I was brought out of my thoughts when a man covering a large cut limped into the village gasping for air. Everybody was too focused on the dance to notice him so I ran up to him and caught him as he fell before turning to the people and yelling.
"STOP THE DANCING! WE'VE GOT AN INJURED MAN OVER HERE WHO NEEDS SOME SERIOUS MEDICAL ATTENTION!"
Everyone stopped watching the dance as the men doing the dance stopped and turned to face me to see what I was talking about. When they caught sight of the man in my arms all joy left them as some men came to help me with their wounded comrade. We got him into Spirit Roamer's wingwam where he immediately began tending to his wounds while me and the other men were sent out so he could work. Before we were sent out I got a better look and the markings on his chest and couldn't help but wonder what type of creature could've done such a thing. I just hoped that man would live to see another day since it would be sad to lose a life on the day I just became a member of the tribe and I also wanted to know what could have happened to him. These were the thoughts that clouded my mind as I went to the long hut to get some sleep.
Morning
I was enjoying a breakfast of roast fish in front of the fire with a few of the other tribe members. My mind however was on the man who came into the village last night who I learned was named Wolf Fang. The scratch on his chest was like nothing I had ever seen before and knew whatever attacked him would have to be pretty strong to do that kind of damage. It was then Spirit Roamer sat down next to me and he did not look good if his pale face and the look of fear in his eyes was anything to go by. I put a hand on his shoulder getting his attention as I asked.
"What's wrong Spirit Roamer?"
"Dark times have come my friend and the attack on Wolf Fang along with his hunting group was only the beginning."
"What do you mean by that and what happened to the rest of Wolf Fang's hunting group?" He looked down.
"They were killed by a monstrous spirit know as the wendigo."
"The wendigo?" He nodded.
"A creature that was once human who resorted to cannibalism allowing themselves to be taken over by an evil spirit and turned into a wendigo." He looked into the flames. "A monstrous and cannibalistic creature with an unending hunger for human flesh."
"So it was a wendigo that attacked them?"
"Indeed and if a wendigo is upon our land then there is a great danger upon our tribe." I stood up.
"Not if I can help it." I looked down at Spirit Roamer. "How do I kill a wendigo?" He looked at me in shock.
"Soaring Eagle you cannot honestly be thinking of going after that beast." I gave him a serious look.
"I am now a member of this tribe and will do anything to protect the people and besides." I smiled at him. "What kind of trip would this be if I didn't fight some type of dark monster for the protection of others."
"If you are serious about this my friend then you should know the only thing that the wendigo is vulnerable to is fire and to kill it you must free the human within it."
"What do you mean?" He sighed.
"The human they once were lives frozen within the chest of the beast so free the person by killing the wendigo and allow their spirit to soar free once more."
"I understand."
"I wish you luck Soaring Eagle and never forget to trust your spirit guide." I nodded.
"I will." I then walked up to Toothless who was chowing down on his fish. "Bud we've got a hunt to prepare for." H crooned before we walked off to prepare.
AN: Hey all I hope you enjoyed the chapter but don't expect too many fights in the next chapter since there were few spirits in the Native Americans history who actually caused harm. Till next time keep your reviews nice and have a nice day.
