Chapter 136

Hiccups POV:

It's been three weeks since I left Africa and, in that time, I'd been keeping myself busy on and off my ship with flights on my dragons, practicing my combat skills, playing with Mfalme and unlocking the secrets of some of the gifts I was given by the gods including Davu. I had mostly made progress with Davu, my grootslang coat, and the spiders' illusion capabilities since I couldn't study my club without risking the damaging of my ship and my drum without causing a storm. With all I had learnt my opinion of the gifts had only improved since I'd learnt some new capabilities of my coat and Davu like how Davu is able to wrap his wings around me while turning into his tree camouflage he could hide me in him while still allowing me to see outside so it would be good for hiding in plain sight.

I had made the most progress with my coat however, discovering new abilities and these abilities were without a doubt going to be helpful in the future. To begin with I'd learnt it could change color depending on the armor I was wearing and it would change to match the color of the armor. Along with this I learnt it could do a lot more with my armor than just copy its color, which came as a massive surprise for me, but one I was grateful for. I learnt this when I was in the armory studying some of my suits of armor for any damage only for the pendant on my coat to blast them with some sort of light and then they were gone. At first, I was shocked until I thought of remaking my regular armor and my coat closed up, glowed and reopened to reveal I was no longer in my boating armor but my regular armor. I tested it a few times with my other armors and found I could easily switch them and with each transformation my coat transformed into the form that fits it the best and even make it so I was only wearing my clothes and no armor so just my pants as I often go shirtless under my armor most days. I planned to try doing the same thing to all my foreign armors when I get home and also some of my clothes to see if I get the same results as I do with armor. As for getting my armor out and back into the stands all I had to do was focus and the light would shine again except it would leave the armor on the racks.

I'd also learnt a bit more about its ability to deal with weapons when I was doing a checkup on my armory and accidently knocked an axe down. The blade landed against my back but I didn't feel a thing other than a small poke before it clattered to the floor showing the protection abilities of the coat were a lot stronger than I expected. To add to this ability when I turned around and picked up the axe I found the edge that it me was actually flattened like it hit something hard.

I tried it out with multiple weapons after taking off my coat since I didn't want to get hurt by accident and learnt that when the weapons were either dented or shatter on impact even though they were gronkle iron. In other words this coat was like a coat of armor that was incredibly strong despite it being so thin and light which is an ability I knew would be helpful in future fights. but I was in no rush to test it. Along with this I learnt the sleeve covering my prosthetic automatically rolls up when I turn it into dragon claw form and also could hold my charged crystals that it could then load up into my arm if I just thought of it.

Presently I was on my top deck looking over the ocean with my island in sight as I gently patted Davu's head as he stared out towards it. I smiled when I saw the look of what I assume is curiosity on his face before I said.

"That's it Davu, that's my island and your new home but there's going to be more to it soon." I pulled out the new island piece that looked to be made out of diamond. "All I have to do is place this little thing with the others and we'll have a new section which I'm looking forward to seeing." Toothless walked up and crooned. "Don't worry bud, you'll be there with me when the new piece sinks in and new section rises like always." He growled and nodded. "Sadly, it'll have to wait till after we've greeted the islands inhabitants and done some introductions and unloaded everything." He growled and nodded.

3 hours later

It's been three hours since the island first came into view and in that time a lot has happened besides us docking after three weeks at sea. To begin with when we first docked many of the island's inhabitants were waiting to greet us including my wolves, jaguars and dragons. When the greeting was done I was covered in dragon drool but I was used to it after receiving so many of the same greetings when returning from trips. After that was all done we began unloading everything off the ship so it could be sorted into the proper rooms and with everything I gained it took a while but it was worth it. The mask I received from Rashidi was now hung up on the wall in my art gallery while the shield and spear were there in a glass case. The herb seeds Rashidi gave me were waiting in the green house on a table where I kept seeds until I could plant them among the other herbs.

As for my trophies, the pelt of the isitwalangcengce was spread out on a large but three feet tall pedestal in the trophy room with the skull of the Grootslang on a similar pedestal that was only a foot tall. The harness that held the ninki nanka was between the two of them on a three-foot pedestal with the chain circling the actual harness. Finally, the uniform of the leopard man was on its own pedestal that reached my waist in height but I had plans to make a model of the leopard man to put it on but that will take time. All the pedestals were made of white marble that I'd been keeping in storage in case they were needed since I often came home from trips with new trophies.

Along with setting up my trophies I'd also been pretty busy taking care of the treasures I brought back with me and unloaded them all onto the slide leading down into the vault. That was the easy part though since the treasures I brought back to me had to be split up into different sections of the vaults such as the jewels which had to be sorted and the treasures I got from the heart of the leopard. It took an hour but it was all worth it since it gave me a better idea of what treasures I had stored in my vault for future uses.

Now I was making my way up to the statue on top of my first volcano with the new island piece in my prosthetic hand and Toothless walking next to me like all the other times I got a new section for my island. We reached the statue and went through the motions with the crystal model rising from the ground and then the piece in my hand being pulled in and fitting in just below my Egyptian desert piece. It was then I heard the all too familiar rumble of the ground and ran to see what new piece of land formed as a part of my island and smiled at the sight of a savannah knowing Davu was without a doubt going to love it and it'd be good for raising Mfalme. I turned to Toothless smiling and said.

"Let's go check out our new private savannah bud." He crooned and nodded as I mounted him before we took off with Davu quickly joining us in the air.

Sunset

Exploring my new savannah took the entire day but I felt it was more than worth it since I spent most of this time relaxing and exploring it on foot and to say I was happy would be an understatement. This new section was incredible with tall golden grass covering most of the grounds with the occasional tree popping up and large boulder in some places. There was of course a large watering hole near the middle of it all so Davu, Mfalme and any other residents I bring in from Africa will have a good place to get a drink. The crown jewel of the savannah however was without a doubt the baobab tree in the center since this tree was not a normal tree despite the fact that it was an actual tree. The thing that made this baobab different was what resided at the top of it and how I could easily get there with ease. The way up was a bunch of thick branches circling around the body of the tree forming a spiral staircase leading up to the top of the tree. The edges at the treetop were full of branches but the center was smooth and clean of any branches except for the ones that grew above it shading the section.

There were three parts on the edges where the wood curved up making walls but there were gaps in between them allowing a good view of the land through the branches with one gap holding a large branch forming a bridge. The bridge lead to a large gathering of branches, which Davu filled with grass, he cut to form his own nest, which had branches, over it covering his nest in shade to keep him cool while the clearing around it also allowed him a good view. It wasn't hard to see that he'd be more than comfortable enough in his new home and I wouldn't mind paying him a visit from time to time.

One of the three walls had multiple indents in it leading up forming a built-in ladder to the top of the wall, which formed a platform above the branches providing me with a lookout that looked over the entire savannah section. One of the other walls had long and deep indents in it forming shelves that held multiple bowls filled with different herbs for making different potions and pastes for various injuries and sicknesses. On the final wall were African paintings depicting my adventures in Africa from when I first arrived to when I left which I thought was a nice touch to my little African hideaway.

Presently I was now in the new section on the baobab trees watchtower looking over the savannah as the sun gently set over it and like always it brought a tear to my eye with its beauty. As I enjoyed the sunset though I was reminded of my childhood on Berk where I was constantly pranked and looked down upon by my own people and how one of the only times I could get some peace was when I was sitting down on the cliff-side enjoying the sunset. It was then a thought occurred to me, nobody on Berk knew I was back from Africa yet before I looked down at my prosthetic hand as the tree of life turned over to reveal my golden spider. I smiled down at it before I chuckled and said.

"Tomorrow it's time for a little payback on the village including my dear father." With these thoughts in mind I climbed down while muttering how I wondered if the old whispering death tunnels were still in good condition since I would need a way to escape detection.

Five days later

It's been five days since I got back from Africa and to describe these days all I could say was I don't think that I've ever laughed so much or so hard in my life. The reason for my laughter is I'd been sneaking onto Berk and pulling more than a few pranks a day on the people around the village as payback for what happened when I was a kid. I knew I was being a bit childish but hey it doesn't hurt to pull a few pranks that would make Loki proud on the people of Berk who tormented me for years. Besides that, I could tell more than a few people also enjoyed seeing my victims get pranked if how some of them dropping to the ground laughing was anything to go by.

To list some of my favorites there was my prank on Snotlout who I pranked by creating an illusion of Ruffnut and Tuffnut with each reading a book. Snotlout was at first shocked by this and asked my illusions what they were doing to which my Tuffnut replied that they decided to give reading a try but didn't like it that much. When Snotlout asked why I had my Ruffnut rub her head and claim that with all the new knowledge they were getting from the books it felt like their heads were going to explode. Snotlout told them that it wasn't possible until I made the illusions heads swell up making Snotlout back up and then pop like a bubble. Snotlout screamed so loud I'm pretty sure my wolves heard it as he ran to the village screaming like a mad man catching everyone's attention. When my dad came down to see what was happening Snotlout babbled like a lunatic to him until my mom slapped him to make him stop to which he thanked her before telling them what happened. Tuffnut and his sister then walked through the crowd to see what was happening but didn't get the chance to ask as Snotlout hugged them while saying that their heads were alright. I could tell they were confused by his actions until he explained what happened which resulted in his parents taking him home to get some sleep thinking he needed it.

Another one of my favorites was one I did to the twins themselves by showing myself to them in the forest when they were on their way to collect wood. I told them that I had found them mystic swords of great destructive power to wield and as expected they were so excited I'm surprised they didn't pee their pants. I lead them to the same swamp where I tricked them into thinking I was so good at dragon training because I bathed in its muck. (AN: Chapter 3.) I made an illusion around two branches in the middle of the swamp and told them that if they wished to have the swords they'd have to go get them themselves. They hesitated at first since that water stunk like a rotting corpse that had been laying in the sun all day but when I told them that I could give the swords to Gruffnut they were all too happy to dive right in and hike waist deep in the stuff to get the swords.

When they grabbed the swords and made their way back to the shore I told them to go back to the village to show everyone their new powers and ran for it while I just laughed my head off when they were out of sight. When they got back to the village they were still covered in the gunk as they chanted loudly how they now had magical sword holding up the swords to reveal the illusion was gone and revealed the branches to actually be poison oak. I didn't feel bad for them though since when I was eight they threw me into a bush of the stuff leaving me bed ridden and itchy for a week so I thought it was fair justice for that time.

My all-time favorite however was the prank I pulled on my parents using an illusion of my mother to trick my father into doing something that got him sleeping outside for two days. I had the illusion tell my dad that lately the house just didn't feel too homey for her making her long for the days when she lived with the dragons. My dad told her that he would do anything to make things more comfortable for her so I had the illusion tell him that she wanted it to smell more like the dragon nest and to bring in some dragon poo to spread onto the floor of the living room. At first my dad thought she was going crazy until I had the illusion tell him that he'd get lucky that night if he did and when he was done she'd give him a great big kiss. After that he ran so fast to do what the illusion asked that I'd never seen him run so fast in my life nor had I ever seen anyone carry so much dragon poo in both arms before. I used the eye of the dragon mixed with my eagle eye to watch him from a safe distance as he covered the entire floor and some of the furniture in dragon poo. He finished just as my mother landed on Cloudjumper from what I assume was a flight and ran out to greet her and told her that he was done, to come in and see and that he was ready for his reward. I could tell she was confused by this until she walked into see what he was talking about and I could tell she was not the least bit happy if her reaction anything to go by. She yelled at him asking if he'd gone mad before she gave him a few kisses with her staff and these kisses left their mark on his head.

Other than that, I'd mostly been enjoying my down time after having such a long journey home from Africa and taking some time to enjoy a bit of peace with my animals, my dragons, helping Davu settle in and caring for Mfalme. Davu didn't cause much trouble with the other dragons since he mostly kept to himself in the savannah but Mfalme was a little more troublesome since he was a curious little ball of fur that often wonders off the second I turned away. This is why I made him a leather collar with a single peer stone connected to my eye dangling as a tag so I could tell where he was whenever he wondered off. I made sure he slept in his basket in my room though to make sure he doesn't go anywhere and get hurt at night since I worried about him but during the day I made sure he mostly kept to the savannah so he could get a feel for his natural habitat.

Now however it was nighttime and I was making my way up to the great hall where everyone was having dinner with my club in my prosthetic hand, my grootslang coat on over my regular armor, Davu and Toothless at my sides and my rain drum under my arm. The reason I was bringing everything is because when I get there I know people are going to want a demonstration of all of them and chances are my dad's going to want to borrow the drum during the dry season since during that time fires often broke out in the forest. Of course, I knew that when I demonstrated the spider's power then my dad and other victims will know I've been pranking them but hey I can tell them it was payback for the torment I suffered as a kid. When we reached the door, I took a breath as Toothless crooned making me smile as I looked from him to Davu and said.

"Let's get this over with boys." They each growled and nodded as I turned to Davu. "Best stay outside for now pal, last thing we need is an unknown dragon causing a panic."

He growled and nodded before hopping up next to the statues while I pushed the door open and walked in with Toothless at my side. When I entered I looked around to see the people all laughing and enjoying their dinner but like always I ignored them in favor of searching for my parents. It was then I saw them sitting with Gobber enjoying dinner before an idea for a prank came to mind making me smile as I walked up to them just as mom looked at dad and said.

"I wonder what that boy of ours is up to now." Before my dad.

"Best not to wonder that Valka, with him you never know what that world travelling son of ours is doing." Gobber than replied.

"Or what kind of danger the lad has gotten himself into." My parents looked at him with cocked eyebrows but he shrugged. "Come on every time the lad goes on one of his trips he always winds up in some sort of battle against at least one form of evil beast or power-hungry lunatic." When he said this, I smiled and used my spider to make an illusion of myself behind him with one hiding behind him and made it say.

"True enough Gobber I do get into a lot of trouble on my trips." They turned to face me as my dad stood up but before he could say anything I made another illusion of myself appear next to him and say.

"It's not like I do it on purpose though since trouble always seems to find me on these trips." All eyes turned to the new illusion making my dad jump back as I made another illusion appear at the end of the table next to my mom and say.

"Yeah, but you cannot deny the payments are always good." They all immediately turned to face the new illusion as I made a fourth one at the opposite end of the table that said.

"True enough and these payments have come in handy in past battles and will more than likely come in handy in future battles that are no doubt going to happen." I then walked up to them after putting my drum down, pulling my club into my arm and telling Toothless to stand back and said.

"With my luck, there's no doubt about it." I had to hold back my laughter at the looks on their faces as their heads spun around looking from one illusion to the next before my dad finally snapped and yelled.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF ODIN IS GOING ON!?" He yelled out so loud I think it echoed off the coast of Berk but I was used to loud noises after living with dragons for so long it didn't affect me so all I could do was let out a laugh and reply.

"Just me having a little fun messing with you guys using one of the gifts I got from the African gods." He sighed and rubbed his head as people noticed I was back but stayed back knowing it best not get near my father was like this.

"Which one of you is the real Hiccup?" I chuckled and snapped my prosthetic fingers making the illusions disappear as I said.

"Power of illusion dad, courtesy of the golden spider given to me by the African god of knowledge and stories, Anansi the spider." Before I could say anything, else dad groaned.

"Why do I get the feeling you've been behind the craziness that's been going on in this village these past few days." I smiled confirming his.

"What, you expect to receive this kind of ability and not use it to have a few laughs at the expense of those who used to prank me in ways that left me injured when I was a boy?" He sighed before his eyes widened as he looked right at me and asked.

"Did you anything to do with your mother telling me to bring dragon dung into the house and spread it on the floor then claim she never asked me to do anything of the sort?" I looked at him for a moment before I burst out laughing as I gripped my knees but my dad just glared down at me. "I'll take that as a yes."

"I still can't believe you brought that." He sighed and rubbed his eyes as Gobber laughed and said.

"Good one Hiccup." My dad just glared at him before my mother shook her head but I could see she was hiding a smile before she said.

"So how was your trip Hiccup."

"You know the usual with me being forced to go up against a few monsters after needing to deal with an insane sorceress who was also queen of her own city which was crawling with humanoid leopard men and was also intent on making me her king." I shrugged. "In other words, pretty average." Gobber then asked.

"And for these things you got the ability to make illusions?" I smiled.

"Among other things." I walked over to Toothless and picked up my drum before bringing it back. "This drum for starters." I then released my new club. "My new club," I gestured to my coat. "the coat I'm now wearing, a new section for my island and of course Davu." They all looked at me confused as my mom asked.

"Who's Davu?" I smiled and brought my fingers to my lips and let out a loud whistle right before there was a roar and Davu flew in landing next to me. "This is Davu, a new species of dragon known as a savannah wing." They continued to stare at him as Davu tilted his head in confusion but I just patted his neck. "Don't worry pal, nothing to worry about." It was then Snotlout made his presence known by saying.

"So, this time you just got a drum, a club, a new coat, some weird power to make fake copies of yourself and a new dragon?" He shrugged. "I admit the dragons and magic tricks are cool but if the only other things you got were a lame club, some dumb drum and a new coat." He then smirked. "Guess the things you fought this time weren't so tough if all you got were those dumb things." I glared at him.

"The threats I faced in Africa were anything but weak Snotlout." I then gestured to my items. "And the gifts given to me are also powerful in their own ways."

"How is coat powerful?" I smiled as I noticed a bludgeon in his grip before walking up to him. "Do you really want to know?" He raised an eyebrow while looking unsure as I held my left arm on the table. "Bring your bludgeon down on my left arm as hard as you can." Everyone looked at me as if I was crazy. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Snotlout shrugged.

"Well alright but remember you asked for this." He swung his bludgeon down onto my arm but the ball shattered on contact leaving only the handle which Snotlout pulled back confused. "What the heck?"

"My coat is made from the skin and bones of the grootslang I killed and the only thing that can break the skin of a grootslang is a magic weapon." I then gestured to the coat. "In other words, this coat is like an incredibly tough armor that's both effective and also stylish plus it has different abilities when it comes to launched weapons like arrows but that's another story but makes it great for defense." Everyone nodded as I pointed my club at him. "This club on the other hand is for offense and has enough strength in a single strike to send a catastrophic quaken flying and also like a portable catapult with its abilities but I'm not going to use them in the Great Hall with the damage it would cause." I then pointed to my drum. "As for my drum, let's just say I would play you a song but I doubt anyone wants to be completely drenched in the middle of dinner."

"What do you mean by that?" I sighed and shook my head.

"It means if I played the drum in here we'd be drenched in rain since it makes rain and the harder I play the harder the rain comes down." My dad then said.

"That'll be helpful during these times." I raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He didn't answer me but turned to Gobber. "Show him!" Gobber took my real hand and placed it on his chin confusing me.

"And dare I ask what I'm supposed to be getting out of this." Gobber replied.

"It's usually supple, tender like a new born baby but when it's fire weather dry as a fifty-year-old yak." I pulled my hand away.

"So, in other words you might need my drum to help extinguish some fires." He nodded.

"I don't want a repeat of the fire of Freya." I winced at this as Gobber said.

"Took out half the village huts before we could extinguish that blaze." I nodded remembering the damage that fire caused when I was child and how over half the village was forced to take up residence in the Great Hall while the huts were rebuilt.

"Don't worry, I'll be more than happy to use it to extinguish the flames." He nodded before I heard a growl next to me and turned to see my mom was too near to Davu who was glaring at her as she turned to me.

"Sorry, I was hoping to get a better look at him." She turned back to Davu. "He really seems like an impressive dragon." I smiled as Davu trilled under the praise.

"That he is." Gobber then asked.

"So, do you think you could tell us all what you did in this new land to get these gifts." This got a lot of cries of agreement making me smile as I held up my prosthetic hand with the golden spider out.

"Now why should I tell you when I can show you." I then activated my spider's illusion powers to turn the Great Hall into the African jungle but before anyone could say anything I held up my real hand silencing them all. "Just enjoy the show folks since you're all about to get the chance to join me on my latest adventures so sit back and enjoy the show." With that said everyone sat down and watched.

4 hours later

It's been four hours since I began the show of how my trip to Africa went and, in that time, everyone had pretty much been quiet with the occasional gasps in shock but other than that there was complete silence. I looked around looking at everyone for a reaction only to see them all staring at me unblinking with their mouths so wide open that there's no doubt they were going to be sore in the morning. I looked around at them as I snapped my fingers a few times trying to snap them out of it but got no reaction whatsoever making me sigh and say.

"Great, I broke the people of Berk." I then turned to my drum and smiled. "Well might as well give it a try."

I picked up my drum and sat down with it between my legs before I began playing it and smiled as the clouds formed under the ceiling and rain began to pour down on everyone. This seemed to be exactly what they all needed since as soon as the water hit them they began shaking their heads in shock and clearing their minds of what I showed them what happened on my adventure and what I was now capable of. I stopped playing the drum as I turned to my parents who were now staring at me in absolute shock before my dad asked.

"Are your trips always like this?"

"No, sometimes it gets dangerous." He sighed and shook his head.

"I'm beginning to wonder why I allow you to go on these trips."

"Because you know it'd be easier to take on a grootslang blindfolded and both hands tied behind your back." He shook his head. "Plus, whenever I do these things I'm always well rewarded with things that can help not only defend Berk in the future but also help it flourish in hard times." Gobber then walked up.

"He's got you there Stoick." He then turned to me. "Hiccup, lad your father does have a point though since if this is what your adventures are like then you're going to give us all more than a few grey hairs."

"You guys didn't complain when I simply told you the stories of my adventures." My mom replied to this by saying.

"We didn't know how dangerous your adventures truly were." I shrugged.

"Hey, at least this way I don't have to answer so many questions." Snotlout then walked up.

"Well I have a question." I turned to him. "Why would you turn that Shara babe down?" I raised an eyebrow and gave him a look that screamed 'are you serious'. "I mean come on she was gorgeous, powerful and you would've been a king of a giant city with an army of leopard guys at your command." He then held his hands out. "How could you turn that down?"

"She wasn't my type since I'm not really into evil sorceress's intent on dominating the land and enslaving my friends." He looked at me before shaking his head and backed up as I smiled.

"Now if you'll all excuse me I'll be heading back to island and going to bed for now." Before I could leave though Ruffnut and Tuffnut stepped forward as Tuffnut said.

"Oh, come on you can't leave now." Ruffnut then continued.

"You've still got to use that spider power thing to show us all your other adventures like you did with the last ones." I sighed and shook my head.

"If I did that we'd be here all night and I'm pretty sure everyone has work to do tomorrow so the shows will have to wait."

They looked like they were about to protest but their parents pulled them back shutting them up making me smile before I began walking towards the entrance with club and drum in hand while my dragons followed. I knew things were not over yet since chances were people were going to want me to do as the twins asked so for now I might as well enjoy the peace while it lasted. With this in mind I walked outside and mounted Toothless before taking off back to my island for a goodnights sleep.

AN: Sheesh two chapters in one week, I am on fire this week so don't expect this to be a normal thing. Also, yes, I know this chapter wasn't that long but I wanted to add a bit of humor with the pranks Hiccup pulled and add on the new powers to the stuff so sorry if you're not happy. Anyway, if you have any ideas for what can happen on Berk let me know through a PM or review since the well of Berk ideas is pretty much dry and the sooner I get Berk chapters down the sooner we go to China and meet Hiccups first wife. In the meantime, though remember to review and please review kindly.