Chapter 63
Hiccups POV:
It's been two weeks since the bazaar and my friends Amira and Aamin's visit to both Berk and my island and in that time not much has happened. I did have a bit of trouble after they left though since it turns out the girls from Arabia only kept away from me on that day because they didn't want to get in trouble with the royals so as soon as they were gone it was back to hiding from the fans. Things did get bad though when a few of them snuck onto my island and got chased by my wolves in the forest and into my house through the wolf's caves. When I found them, I took them back to the bazaar after making sure none were injured but they did get a good feel for my island and knew what my house looked like. This of course made them doubles their efforts to ensnare me and gain a place at my side as my lover. The day they left was one of the best and toughest days I've had to deal with since before I could close the portal I had to round them all up and that took all day. Other than that, the week of 'Freya's rage' has past and for that I'm truly grateful since there was only so much of a shirtless Gobber I could take. The worst part was that on the final day which was also the hottest day of the week I walked into the forge only to find Gobber in nothing but his underwear to try and deal with the heat. That image will eternally be burned into my mind and forever haunt me till the day I die. I still couldn't look at Gobber without walking away or trying to not throw up at the image that came into my head. It wasn't a pretty image to see every time you look at the man who practically raised you but I knew I'd have to deal with it eventually but for now I just did my best to avoid Gobber since it was awkward for the both of us.
It was for these reasons I was once again on my ship with Toothless with my scauldrens pulling my ship at the front towards a new land I had yet to visit. The place was known as Ireland and Gobber had told me a lot about the place since he went there once on a stopover when he was young and his family was visiting some relatives in some place called Scotland. Gobber once told me that the Irelands rolling hills and vales of green were some of the most beautiful and peaceful things he had ever seen and it was these that earned Ireland the nickname the Emerald Isle. The reason I was going there was to hopefully enjoy a nice peaceful vacation where I wasn't going to have to fight any monsters, demons or any type of evil unless it was a normal human being in a simple sparring match. Knowing my luck though I'd be going up against a beast from that land within the first week and it was for this reason I packed some extra weapons along with my eagle shield, scimitar throwing knives, spirit bow and of course my star sword. I just hoped the need to use them wouldn't come since the last thing I needed was to do battle with a supernatural beast while on vacation…... again. I did also pack a few barrels of extra food since if I do go after another evil I might be gone for a few days and in need of the food. There was one thing that made me a little nervous though and that was a warning Gobber gave me before I set sail to Ireland. He told me to keep an eye out for the wee people and to be careful since they may be fine shoe makers but they're also some of the trickiest creatures I'll ever meet. Now normally I wouldn't put much thought into Gobbers tales but with all I've seen I knew that in this tale there might be some truth but he never told me what he meant by wee people so just to be safe I packed a few of my hydra blood arrows. I looked out at the ocean and knew I still had a week of sailing before I arrived so all I could do was pass the time and hope that I'd have a nice peaceful trip.
1 week later
I was looking over the railing of my ship through my spyglass at the large landmass we were approaching and I had to say it looked absolutely beautiful. There were no trees as far as I could tell, only lush green fields on hills that looked absolutely beautiful in the sun light coming down on them giving a beautiful shine which much to my surprise reminded me of emeralds. I looked at them and smiled now knowing why Ireland was nicknamed the emerald isles. They were truly beautiful and so peaceful but I knew from experience that appearance could be deceiving when it came to these types of things. It was, as we got closer to the cliffs I saw something through my spyglass that made my blood run cold. Dangling from a branch that was sticking out from the cliff side was what looked to be small boy who was barely hanging on and above the cliff was a small group of children trying to reach for him. I immediately mounted Toothless and said.
"Let's go bud, there's a kid in trouble that we need to save."
He growled before flying straight to the cliffs at full speed so the child was in sight within seconds and it was a good thing to because it was as he came into sight; the branch broke sending the child falling towards the water. I opened Toothless' tail increasing our speed towards the now falling child. I could hear the child screaming as he fell, which made me all the more determined to get to him before he hit the water. We dived towards the child, as he was ten feet from hitting the water we were able to get under him allowing me to catch him in my arms before we barely scraped the water as we pulled up towards the cliff side. I held the child to my chest as we flew up to the cliffs where all the other children were watching us with their mouths gaping open. We came to land in front of them as they all backed away in fear as I dismounted with the child still in my arms. I tried to put him down but I could tell he was still afraid of him holding onto me as if his life depended on it was anything to go by. I figured the child would calm down if he were back home so I looked at the children who were still staring at me and asked in Irish.
"I don't suppose any of you can understand me?" They all nodded but I could tell they were still nervous. "I'm not going to hurt any of you and neither is my pal but right now I need you to take me to your village to make sure your friend is okay."
They just nodded before they began to walk away as I followed with the child in my arms. We walked for ten minutes before a small village came into view where I could tell people were just going about their lives peacefully. Behind some of the houses I could make out vegetable gardens showing that some of the people were farmers. I looked down at the village and couldn't help but smile at how peaceful it was compared to Berk where every time I walked through I'd see at least two fights between Vikings but as my dad said we've always had something to fight and if not then we were fighting each other. I just hoped the peace in this village was matched by the peace of this land so I might be able to enjoy a nice quiet trip. It was as we got closer the children ran in front of me down the hill into the village most likely to tell their parents about me and what happened. A few minutes later I was proven correct in my assumption when a large group of people, most of which were carrying sharp farming tools like, pitch forks and sickles began gathering outside the village all of which were staring at me or to be more precise staring at Toothless who was trailing behind me. A young woman with brown hair wearing a green-brown dress and a brown apron and a man wearing a yellow shirt with brown pants walked out of the crowd and ran towards me as the child in my arms pulled his head away from my chest and looked at the man and women yelling.
"MAM! DHEAIDE!"
I realized she was his mother so I kneeled down and put him on the ground before he ran towards them before the women scooped him up in a hug before cuddling him while the father joined the hug. While they hugged a large man with a small red beard walked out of the crowd with a man who kind of looked like Gobber except he didn't have the hunch, all his limbs and his moustache was brown and not as long, walked out of the crowd and began walking towards me. Toothless growled at the sight of the sword making the man stop but I signaled Toothless to stand down which was all the sign the guy needed to walk up to me and say.
"The name's Connor and I am the leader of these people!" He turned to the man next to him. "This is Seamus my best friend and second in command!" He then turned back to me. "Now who are you and what's that beast with you?"
"My name is Hiccup Haddock and- "Seamus cut me off holding his hands up and asking.
"Hold on a moment lad, did you just say you're Hiccup Haddock?" I nodded. "As in the former apprentice to Gobber the Belch of Berk?" I cocked an eyebrow.
"You know Gobber?" He smiled before he chuckled, walked forward and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"He's my cousin and I have to say it's a real pleasure to meet you and that nightfury of your lad."
"Gobber mentioned Toothless and I?" He chuckled once more.
"Oh, he had a lot to say about the two of you but I would like to ask some questions." I nodded before he turned to Connor. "It's alright Connor, the lad and his beasty aren't going to be causing any trouble."
"You trust him Seamus?"
"I trust me cousin Gobber and even if only half the stories he told me last time we met are true than this lad is a true hero and can be trusted." I saw Connor was still a little uneasy and I'm guessing Seamus saw this to. "Oh come, the lad just saved one of the wee ones and escorted them back to the village unharmed." He gestured to the child who was now being cradled in his mother's arms before turning back to me. "If the lad wanted to cause us trouble than he would have by now." Connor nodded before he turned back to me and said.
"I'm sorry lad but-" I raised my hand to silence him.
"It's alright!" I smiled. "My dad's the chief of Berk and if there's one thing he's taught me it's that you can never be too careful when protecting your own." He smiled before leading Toothless and me into the crowd to greet everyone.
1 week later
I am happy to say my week here has been nothing but peaceful with no problems like monsters, demons, evil creatures and the only fighting I had to do was in a few friendly wrestling matches that I always won since my first victory was against the village champion. Besides the matches I was enjoying my time in the small village since after the first few days of suspicion the people treated me like one of their own. I'll never forget the small celebration they had to welcome me to their village since the food was good, the dancing was fun and the conversation was pleasant though I spent most of it telling Seamus about the stories Gobber told him about. It was through this that I learned Gobber came by to visit him at the time I was in Arabia. When I confirmed that the stories Gobber told him were true he demanded to know what else I had been up to which lead to me telling him about my other adventures and they spread through the village like wild fire. It was because of this that I spent some of my days lying against Toothless in the fields with some of the village children sitting in front of me telling them my tales. I didn't spend all my time with the village children though. I also spent time with some of the village adults playing one of the native games called hurling that I found to be a pretty fun game to play and was thinking of building a field when I got him. When we took breaks from playing me and the men I played with would sit down and talk about how our lives are going, what we've got planned for the future, discuss women they like and if any of us have advice on how to get a date with her.
Speaking of talking with the people some had told me tales of their legends and about some creatures that were said to roam the land but I just hoped I didn't have to do battle with any of the eviler creatures that were said to roam the land. Knowing my luck though chances are I might have to face some of them but I hoped that when I did, no innocent life was nearby so they couldn't get caught in the crossfire. Then again that sounds like I'm looking for the monsters but I just wanted a nice peaceful trip. Still though if there was some creature causing trouble for some good people then I will fight it and I will stop it. The reason being is because I spent the majority of my life being terrorized by my own people as people just watched or ignored it and because of this I could not stand by and allow some kind of monstrosity to torment them.
As for where I'm staying, the village didn't have any spare houses or rooms but they allowed me to stay in a small cottage they had outside the village. It had been abandoned for years so as expected it was far from luxurious at first but it wasn't anything I couldn't take care of. I just spent my first day dusting off the furniture bringing in some spare blankets and pillows from my ship, using some thatch to prepare the holes in the roof, had Toothless chase out the rats and prepared the fire to cook my food. There was this one thing I didn't like about the cottage though and that was how at times it felt like I was being watched by someone or something. Still though the view of the lush green fields was more than enough to make up for it. Besides that, I liked it since it may not be as spacious or luxurious as my other places but that's why I liked it. It was cozy and was a great way for me to get back to my roots by enjoying the simpler things in life.
Presently I was lying against Toothless in the lush green fields by the cliff looking out at the landscape smiling at what I saw. It was all so beautiful and peaceful that I had to make a mental note to revisit this place sometime. It was the perfect place for me to just sit back and enjoy a little down time. It was then one of the village farmers ran up the hill calling my name so I sat up to see what he wanted. When they reached me, he took a few deep breaths to catch his breath as I pulled out one of my water canteens and passed it to him. He smiled at me and took a few sips before passing it back to me as he said.
"There's a man from one of our neighboring villages has come looking for help."
"What's the problem?"
"He didn't say but from what Connor could tell it wasn't good so he sent me to come and get you." I mounted Toothless and held out my hand to the farmer.
"Hop on, we'll get back to the village if we fly." He nodded and took my hand before I helped him onto Toothless and we took off and it didn't take us long to get back to the village where Connor was waiting with a man with ragged long red hair and beard who looked like he hadn't eaten in days, once we landed Connor walked up to me and said.
"Thanks for coming back so fast Hiccup?"
"When I heard there was trouble how could I not hurry back?" He nodded before gesturing to the man next to him. "This is Beattie from one of our neighboring villages." He turned back to me. "They've been having trouble and I was hoping you might be able to help." I turned to Beatie.
"What's the problem?"
"We've been going through a time of famine and hoping some of our neighboring villages to see if they have any food to spare." Connor then said.
"Our village doesn't have anything we can spare but I was hoping you and you Toothless might be able to help them at least get some good game meat for dinner." I smiled.
"I can do better than that my friend if you can lend me a wagon." He raised an eyebrow so I answered. "I have a few barrels full of food and water on my ship and I'd be more than happy to take them to the village to help the people." Beattie smiled.
"That would be wonderful" He then frowned and looked down. "but I don't think that my village will be able to take it?"
"Why?"
"Our village isn't that rich so we wouldn't be able to pay for the food."
"Good it'll save me the trouble of telling your people that I won't accept any form of payment." He looked at me surprised.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive because there is no way I can just sit back knowing there are people going hungry when there is something I can do to help." He smiled at me.
"That is one of the kindest things anyone has ever said to me."
"We can go over that later." I turned to Connor. "Can you lend me that wagon?" He smiled.
"It'll be ready in five minutes."
"Good and while it's prepared I'll prepare the barrels of food." They nodded before we split up to get to work.
Two hours later
We'd been on the road to the village for over an hour with Toothless flying above us looking for any threats. Half an hour after we left I took over the reins so Beattie could sleep since he needed the rest due to not eating the past few days so I also opened up three of the barrels and gave him an apple, some boar jerky and a canteen of water. He ate them as if his life depended on it but I could tell he needed it after so long without food. I just hoped I had enough food and water for the village so none of the people go hungry while others enjoyed a good meal. I couldn't help but wonder one thing though and that was why they were in a time of famine now since from what I could tell the weather was fine and the grounds were perfect for vegetables. I had this feeling in my gut that there was something wrong that Beattie wasn't telling me but I first had to focus on getting the food to the people. Just to be safe though I had my eagle shield on my arm, my scimitar throwing knives on my upper arm and up my sleeve I had one hydra blood arrow but I hoped I wouldn't have to use any of them.
It was then the village came into view and it did not look good at a distance with so much dead vegetation and cottages that looked ready to collapse and this is what it looked like at a distance. I was afraid to know what it looked like up closely if it looked this bad at a distance. I was right to be afraid since when we arrived and rode through the village it reminded me of the slums of Rome with people on the ground starving and cottages pretty much falling apart. There was something weird though and that was how something didn't feel right about all this since as far as I could tell the weather was perfect for farming and some of the houses looked to have been smashed. I made a mental note to talk to Beattie about this but for now I had a village of hungry people to feed. When we reached the village center Beattie stood up and yelled.
"COME GET SOME FOOD ALL!" Everyone looked up before standing up and began approaching the wagon but stopped when they saw Toothless by the wagon so I stood up and yelled.
"EVERYONE PLEASE DON'T WORRY ABOUT HIM SINCE HE WON'T HARM YOU AS LONG AS YOU REMAIN CALM AND DON'T TRY TO HURT EITHER ME OR HIM!" A few people walked forward hearing this when I opened up one of the barrels and pulled out some food but as they approached I yelled out. "PLEASE FORM AN ORDERLY LINE, LET THE CHILDREN AND ELDERLY GO FIRST SINCE THEY NEED THE FOOD MOST AND PLEASE LET EVERYONE ELSE IN THE VILLAGE KNOW ABOUT THE FOOD!" Some people walked away to let others know while multiple children and elderly walked to the wagon with their hunger overruling their fear of Toothless and soon enough I was handing out food to hungry village children who had tears in their eyes from what I assume was joy while some were in laughter when they saw Toothless give them a gummy smile.
Half-an-hour later
I was leaning against Toothless as I smiled at the sight of so many hungry people enjoying a good meal I supplied them. It was then I caught sight of Beattie with a red-haired man with a moustache walking towards me. When they reached me, they were smiling as Beattie gestured to the man and said.
"Hiccup, this is Alroy the leader of the village!" I reached out my hand for him to shake.
"A pleasure to meet you sir!" He smiled and shook my hand.
"The pleasure is all mine lad and please don't call me sir it makes me feel old so just call me Alroy."
"Alright then Alroy!"
"I have to say lad I'm surprised you were willing to help my people."
"Why would that be surprising since I had plenty of extra food."
"Well it's just that most people do their best to stay clear of villages being terrorized by a fachan." I cocked an eyebrow as Toothless raised his head.
"Being terrorized by a what?" Alroy turned to Beattie who was looking down and rubbing his arm.
"You didn't tell him?" Beattie looked up at him.
"Well I thought if he knew about the fachan he wouldn't help us?" Before Alroy could reply I cut in and asked.
"Hey could someone please tell me what's going on?" Alroy turned to face me.
"I'm sorry Hiccup I believe we owe you an explanation." I nodded. "Well you see the reason our village is having so much trouble is because we're being terrorized by a beast known as a fachan." I cocked an eyebrow. "A giant beast with one leg, one eye, one arm, one giant spiked club and a hatred for all other living things." I turned to Beattie.
"Why didn't you tell me about this thing terrorizing the village?"
"I feared that if you knew you'd refuse to bring your food." I frowned at him.
"I would've come even if I knew about the beast but only now I have a reason to stay longer." I turned to Alroy. "Where can I find this beast?" He looked at me as if I'd sprouted a second head.
"You're not thinking of going up against that beast, are you?"
"I'm not thinking of going up against it, I'm planning on it!" He frowned at me.
"Hiccup this beast is like nothing you've ever fought before."
"Don't worry, I can handle it."
"How can you be so calm about this?"
"In my life I have faced a dragon the size of a mountain, six armed giants, a lion with an impenetrable hide, an insane high priest with a giant stone jaguar under his command, a demon sorcerer from the very depths of the Arabian underworld and more." I raised an eyebrow. "At this point in my life do you really think that another giant beast would faze me?" He raised an eyebrow.
"You must live a very interesting life lad."
"You have no idea!" I shook my head. "Now where can I find this fachan?"
"Are you sure you want to do this lad?" He looked down with a frown. "Some of my best men fought the beast and none of them survived." I nodded.
"And if I don't do this then more people will die sooner than necessary since I might at least be able to stall the fachan long enough to allow some people to escape." He smiled at me but before he could reply a roar echoed through the village followed by the screams of people.
"I'd say you don't have to look far lad because I think it's coming." I turned to Toothless who was standing ready before I mounted him and turned to Alroy.
"Get everyone out of the village while we buy you some time." He nodded before running to gather his people as I yelled. "LET'S GO BUD!"
He growled before we took off at top speeds in the direction of the screaming and roaring. When we came to the source of the roars I saw creature that was three times bigger than my dad with one leg, dust yellow eye, one arm coming out of its chest, a large gaping mouth, one large tuft of black hair coming out of the top of its head and on its back was one large spiked club. I saw it was reaching for a little girl that was trying to crawl away so I yelled.
"TOOTHLESS, PLASMA BLAST!"
He let one loose hitting the fachan on the wrist making it roar in pain and pull its hand back away from the child and look at its wrist as we came in for a landing by the child. I quickly got off Toothless and picked the girl up before putting her on Toothless' saddle as I told her to hold on. I turned to Toothless and said.
"Get her out of here!" He crooned at me but I just patted his head. "I'll be fine bud, so go now before that thing gets madder and tries to crush you."
He gave one nod and a quick nuzzle before flying off and as soon as he did I heard another roar and turned to see the fachan glaring at a fleeing Toothless. I could tell it was getting ready to go after him so I took three of my scimitars throwing knives and threw them straight at its head, piercing the skin and making it roar in pain before looking down at me as I glared at it. It then raised its club and brought it down towards me but I unfolded my eagle shield and held it above me to block the strike. As expected the club struck my shield but didn't even dent it as a large shockwave pushed the fachan back making it drop its club and fall back onto the ground. I could tell I had succeeded in only making it angrier than it was before. I knew I had to think of a way to kill it and it was at this moment I remembered what I had up my sleeve.
My hydra blood arrows were the most lethal item I had in my collection thanks to the poisonous blood they're covered in and with one up my sleeve I had the perfect weapon to kill this thing but its skin was tough and my arrow was wood. This meant I had to find an opening but looking at the creature I couldn't see one until my eyes landed on the creatures' head and I saw the one opening I could use but it was not going to be easy. I charged at the creature as it leaned forward to get up and hopped onto its torso as I pulled out two of my scimitars throwing knives and stabbed them into the fachan making it roar in pain as I held onto them and pulled one out and lifted myself up before stabbing it back into the skin that was higher up. I repeated this process slowly making my way up, holding on tight when the fachan stood up and moving to the back when it tried to swat at me. Soon I was able to get to the top of the fachan's head and pulled out the arrow, letting the leather that it was wrapped in fall as I grabbed onto the fachan's hair and swung down to the beasts' eye while yelling.
"TAKE A LOOK AT THIS YOU MONSTEROUS DEMON!"
I then stabbed the arrow into the eye as hard as I could making the fachan roar in pain and stumble back while I swung from its hair before letting go and began falling as I stabbed two throwing knives into the body to at least slow down my fall. As soon as I hit the ground the hydra's blood took effect and the fachan collapsed dead on its side. I looked at the now deceased monster that was beginning to decompose due the hydra's blood and spat on its face before walking away to inform the people of the village that the monster was no longer going to be a problem.
1 hour later
I was once again standing outside the village only this time I had my spirit bow with me along with a forest arrow notched and ready to be fired, my pan flute hanging onto my waist and the fachan's club now in my ship's storage hold as a trophy. The reason I had my spirit bow with me is because before I left for my trip I fired a forest arrow at a dead tree to see if it would have the same affect it did on living trees. It didn't have the same effects but it did revive the tree making it good as new and when I tried it on other dead plants in a scorched field it brought life back into it. It was for these reasons I was ready to fire as many forest arrows as I could to bring life back into the farmland that was slaughtered by the fachan and with my pan flute the land would be flourishing with new plants and hopefully crops in no time. I was brought out of my thought when I felt a hand land on my shoulder and turned to see Alroy looking at me as he asked.
"Lad I appreciate you killing the beast and supplying us with enough food to help us get back on our feet but may I ask what you're doing now?" I smiled at him.
"Giving life back to the land!"
I looked at the destroyed fields before I let out a small breath as I pulled my arrow back watching the glowing green inscriptions light up the wood before I let it fly into the field. Once it landed it sunk into the ground giving the ground a small glow before it dimmed. I noticed Alroy about to ask a question but I raised my hand to silence him before I said.
"Wait for it!" It was then the grass and flowers that were crushed and killed by the fachan began to grow back healthier than ever within ten feet of where my arrow landed as I turned Alroy who was staring at the new field before he turned to me.
"Well don't stop now!"
I smiled before I took another forest arrow out and fired away and it was safe to say I spent the remainder of my day firing my forest arrows to help the plants grow back, my water arrows into the sky to bring some rain down, which is a trick I learnt before I left and of course playing my pan flute to help the plants grow. As I wondered the fields playing my flute and watching the plants grow I couldn't help but think back to my fight with the fachan and get the feeling that this was only the beginning of a long trip but I just told myself that the peace was nice while it lasted. I just hoped I'd have a bit more peace before needing to deal with anymore of the strange creatures that may terrorize this land and its people. I just hoped I'd come out of these fights in one piece since I'd rather not lose any of my limbs and of course I hoped these fights didn't gain the attention of some of the single women. Oh, who am I kidding I'm going to at least end up with one fan girl to deal with since I'm not lucky enough to get out of these fights without at least one fan girl wanting me as a husband.
AN: Hey all and a congratulation to all of you who figured out the answer to the clue is 'The Emerald Isle' a nickname given to Ireland. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and rest assured there will be some monster fights in the future, not just in Ireland but elsewhere in the neighboring lands of Scotland and England where he will visit next. You may be wondering what monstrosity's he'll face and to answer your question I have only this to say. GET SOME PATIENCE BECAUSE I AM NOT SAYING! On a related note I'm putting up some polls so please vote or I can't write some future chapters.
