Chapter 139
Hiccups POV:
It's been six weeks since my little adventure in the village of Chilblain and in that time a lot has happened with my island, my dragons, my animals, the village and me. To begin with Gina had given birth to an adorable baby boy who I'd named Jojo since I liked the name but she wasn't the only new mother as Kisa had given birth to a beautiful baby girl I named Cuali since she looked like one. Along with this the three chicks of Ikan and Akna had finally matured enough for me to see two boys and a girl who I'd named Izel for the girl while the boys were named Aapo and Gabor. Besides them I'd spent some time helping the new dragons settle into their new homes with the majority moving into Volcana's section since they liked the heat from the volcano.
Besides that, I'd been helping out in the village with how people are able to get around by taking a page out of Chilblains village architecture by helping building elevated wooden paths above the snow but I had a few improvements but I could only make these improvements when the thaw came. Along with this I had built a few more of my bronze spiders and stinging wasps so I now had ten spiders and ten wasps but they were all in the armory till I could use them but I did have plans for them. Aside from this I also found out what the problem with my wolves was and it was a night that I'll always remember considering what happened.
Flashback
I was asleep in bed on the night of a full moon only to be woken up by the sound of a howl echoing through the island and normally I would ignore it since it was normal for my wolves to enjoy a howl but there was something different about this one. I couldn't tell what it was though so I decided to go investigate what was happening with them and got out of bed to go and check out what's happening. When I made it to the cave they lived in I found it completely empty and after checking Adal's ice cave I not only found it also deserted but that it was practically a blizzard outside making me grateful for my immunity to the cold. It was then the howling began again and ran to see what was happening by following the sound of the howls.
When I arrived at the source of the howling I found a familiar scene of Adal sitting in the middle of the clearing on a rock with my wolves including Maelstrom surrounding him. This was the same scene I saw when Adal first matured and became more powerful. As I watched them from behind a tree I couldn't help but wonder if he was going through another maturing stage in his life since he was already powerful as he is. It was then he let out another howl that brought an iced over lake with a chill that I could actually feel despite my immunity to the cold. I then saw ice grow out of the ground beneath my wolves that kept howling along with Adal until they were completely frozen in ice with Adal still howling. For a few seconds I held my breath wondering what was happening until the ice my wolves were trapped in began to form cracks that seemed to have light shining out of them. It was then the ice burst open to reveal my wolves that all looked the same but now they had grown to the size of horses, as the wind seemed to pick up.
They all looked up at the moon howling, as a small whirlwind seemed to form around the clearing picking up the snow forming a small snow cyclone. When it finally stopped my wolves, all lowered their heads and bowed to Adal and that was all I needed to tell that Adal was officially leader of the pack. I slowly walked out from behind the tree and made my way towards them as the snow crunched below my feet drawing their attention towards me. I only took three steps before I found myself pinned to the ground by Snowflake who proceeded to cover my face in her saliva making me chuckle in both amusement and joy at the fact that she hadn't changed. When I pushed her off I saw that all my wolves were now surrounding me and my eyes landed on Adal as I said.
"I'm guessing you're responsible for everyone's little growth spurt." He just tilted his head making me chuckle as I walked up and rubbed his head. "I knew you were responsible." I then turned to my wolves. "We're going to need to begin training in the morning so get some sleep." With that said I lead them back to their caves before returning to bed.
End flashback
The next morning, I began training my wolves in my coliseum running them through many different forms of exercises and tests to see if anything else had changed besides their size. From this I learnt that their strength had increased to new heights to the point that they could each pull a fully-grown catastrophic quaken as if it were nothing. Along with this I learnt that when howling together they could create a very powerful, very cold blizzard that can freeze whatever's around it. I learnt this from experience when I got too close to the blizzard and ended up being trapped in a block of ice but thanks to my immunity to the ice I was able to walk through the ice as if it were nothing but I knew that for anyone else it wouldn't be so easy.
Presently I was wearing my winter armor with grootslang coat with Toothless at my side in the portal room walking towards the portal going to Defenders of the wing island making my way to the village to visit Dagur and Mala. I smiled at the thought of seeing them both again since it's been months since the last time I saw them was at that dragon circus. (AN: Chapter 124 if you don't remember.) It was then I broke through the portal with Toothless to find myself in the middle of the snow-covered village but before I could take another step into the village an all too familiar voice screamed out.
"BROTHER!" I turned to face Dagur who was smiling wide at me with Mala next to him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I smiled.
"Oh, what I can't just drop by for a visit from time to time." He chuckled as he pulled me into a hug.
"It's so good to see you again." He pulled away. "What's been going on with you?" I shrugged.
"Not much has happened Dagur, I've just been enslaved by a woman who was enslaved by a plant demon, helped save Camelot from an insane disgraced knight and his army of metal beings, discovered a species of alpha class dragon that was thought to be a legend, took on an evil queen with an army of humanoid leopard creatures along with multiple other creatures in a new land before receiving the blessing and multiple gifts from the gods of that land and taking on one of the biggest fires Berks ever seen." They stared at me for a moment before Dagur chuckled.
"So, business as usual?" I smiled and nodded.
"Pretty much but I have to say the gifts I got from those gods are definitely going to come in handy, especially one of them when it comes to telling everyone about my adventures." Mala then asked.
"And what exactly is this gift that shall help?" I smiled and raised my prosthetic hand as the tree flipped over to reveal the spider.
"This spider is the gift and although it may be small, it holds a great power." Dagur then asked.
"And what is this power, brother?" I smiled.
"The power of illusion." As soon as I said that I activated the power and made an illusion turning the entire village into the village I stayed in when I was in Africa complete with a savannah shocking not only Dagur and Mala but also everyone in the village. "Making an illusion of my battles is much easier and entertaining than just telling the story about what happened." I then ended the illusion. "Pretty handy but it does have its downsides." They just stared at me as Dagur said.
"We clearly have a lot to talk about brother." I smiled as I replied.
"As long as you don't act the way my parents did then I'm happy." Mala replied.
"What was wrong with how your parents reacted?"
"Well for starters I was afraid they'd never let me out of the hug and when they did they insisted I visit Berk at least once a day."
"They're just worried about you Hiccup, like most parents are when it comes to their children." I sighed.
"I know but that doesn't make it less of a pain." Dagur then said.
"We can discuss this later since for now I'd like to hear about your latest adventures." I smiled at him.
"Sure thing brother." I then created an illusion to show them what happened.
Nightfall
I was enjoying a meal with Dagur, Mala and the defenders of the wing after spending my day using my illusions to show them all what my latest adventures entailed and of course showing them the beasts, I went up against in my other adventures. I smiled at the memory of Throk's reaction to how Chronis looked since it reminded him of a monster his parents used to tell him would climb out of the volcano and eat him up if he didn't eat his vegetables when he was a child. I took a bite out of the bread I was eating as Dagur turned to me and said.
"I have to say brother your descriptions of the beasts are nothing compared to seeing what they actually looked like." I smiled.
"Why do you think my parents were so determined to keep an eye on me." He chuckled.
"Well I think me and Mala will know what that's going to be like in a few more months." I paused mid bite and turned to face him as he smiled.
"Oh yeah, how is your pregnancy Mala"She smiled.
"It's going well thankyou Hiccup." Mala then smiled and continued.
"Any idea when the little ones due?" Dagur answered.
"Shortly after the thaw and I can hardly wait."
"I can't blame you but when you need a babysitter, please don't call me." They looked slightly hurt at this until I continued. "A child with your combined skills, strength and the Berserker berserkness is something I doubt I'd survive." They both smiled and chuckled at this before Mala said.
"I can understand but don't worry, like his or her father they'll grow out of it." I nodded.
"I hope so but I pray that they aren't like their father when he was young." Dagur replied.
"Oh, come on I wasn't that bad." I raised an eyebrow as if asking him if he was serious. "Was I?"
"Dagur you tried to drown me when we went swimming, you caged fishleggs for a week with no food and then forced him to eat rotting fish heads and at the last treaty signing your father was at you used me for a knife throwing target." He rubbed his chin.
"Good point but come on I'm sure you'll be able to handle them and I know they're going to want to spend time with their Uncle Hiccup on his amazing island." I smiled and shrugged.
"Well I'll be happy to try look after them from time to time and come by for birthdays and holidays." He chuckled as Mala said.
"He or she is definitely going to love visiting with all the treasures and environments you have." When she said this, I couldn't help but chuckle confusing them. "May I ask what is it that you find funny?" I turned to her.
"Sorry Mala, it's just you reminded me of something a friend of mine once said to me." She gestured for me to continue. "He told me that I was lucky to have such wealth when in all honesty my wealth is more of a curse and is pretty much worthless to me." Dagur looked at me as if I were crazy.
"How is your wealth a curse and how could it be worthless." I sighed.
"Dagur you did see what happened to me in Arabia when word about my scorpion spread?" He nodded before he realized what I meant.
"Oh, it's a curse because it means you've often got traders trying to get your attention?" I nodded.
"But that's the least of my problems it causes." He raised an eyebrow. "It makes it hard to tell who my real friends are since I can't tell if they like me for me or for my wealth and because of this it's made my fortune a curse."
"I can understand that but how is it worthless to you?" I looked at him.
"Brother what good is wealth to someone who has nobody to share both the wealth and their life with?" He raised an eyebrow. "The greatest curse of it all is the wealth makes it impossible to find a girl who sees past the gold, the island, the blessings and everything else and sees just Hiccup and loves me for just being me." Dagur put his hand on my shoulder in comfort as Mala said.
"Do not worry Hiccup, I know there's someone out there for you." I looked down and shook my head.
"I know but every time I meet someone who I feel that I might be able to share my life with, they're taken from me before we even get the chance." Dagur then said.
"You're talking about that Hadasa girl, aren't you?" I nodded.
"Her and an ice woman I met in Japan but both were taken from me before we had a chance."
"Don't give up hope brother, after all I doubt the gods will allow someone who's gone through so much for them to go on dateless." I chuckled at this. "So, any ideas where your next adventure will take you?" I turned to him.
"I've been planning to check out a place called China, I heard they have some dragons down there and I'm thinking that it be a good place to look for new breeds and if not, I can still enjoy a trip." He smiled but I saw Mala frown as she said.
"Doesn't it take near a year's worth of travelling to get there?" I smiled at her.
"Not from Japan." She raised an eyebrow. "I have a place down there from my battle with the demon lord Akuhei and it's only an hour-long flight from the sea so from there I use my ship to sail to China."
"How long should it take then?" I rubbed my chin.
"Most likely a week at minimum." I shrugged. "With my ship though I shouldn't have any problems and I already know the language from some books I've been studying." She nodded as Dagur said.
"Perhaps you'll be able to enjoy a peaceful trip this time." I chuckled.
"I can only hope but knowing my luck I'm going to wind up in another life risking adventure to save the land and it's inhabitants."
"Hey who knows brother, you might end up finding yourself a woman rather than an adventure." I raised my goblet to the sky.
"From your lips to the all fathers' ears brother." With that we continued our meal.
One week later
It's been a week since I last saw Dagur and Mala who I learnt were going to be parents and, in that time, not much has happened with me other than me tending to my island and training my wolves. Other than that, I've been trying to figure out how to tell my parents since despite the fact that I always come out alright they worry about me getting caught up in some new adventure. This would of course lead to me reminding them that they can't stop me from travelling since I had my own island and home along with a way to create portals to multiple places in the world. I was hoping this would be enough to shut them up about trying to stop me or convince me to not go since they would only succeed on giving me a headache.
This brings me to where I am now which is making my way up to my parents hut since my dad told me they wanted to speak to me about something but didn't say what it was. I shrugged knowing I would find out what they wanted soon enough but for now I needed to see what they wanted to talk to me about. I knocked on the door before the muffled voice of my father telling me to come in before I pushed the door open to find both my parents sitting at the dinner table. I walked up to them and asked.
"You two wanted to see me?" My dad looked at me and sighed before gesturing to the chair across from them.
"Sit down son." I groaned and ran a hand through my hair as I sat down.
"Alright let's just get it over with." They looked at me confused.
"Get what over with?" I held up my hand.
"Dad I know the look in your eye when you want to tell me something you know I'm not going to like and am more than likely going to yell at you for so let's just skip trying to hide it and just tell me what it is." My father grumbled before my mother said.
"We're worried about you Hiccup!" I shrugged.
"Yeah I got that from you nearly suffocating me with your hugs and having trouble with me leaving Berk to enjoy some down time on my island." My dad replied.
"It's not about your adventures since although we wish you'd avoid them we know we can't stop you and I will admit that in some cases they have helped Berk." I raised an eyebrow. "Like that bazaar you hold on your island every few weeks since it gives people something to look forward to, the herbs and new healing methods you bring back to the healers since they've helped save more than a few of our people, the new foods you bring back are always delicious and exotic compared to our regular food and I admit I do like that songbird you gave me and your mother, I also appreciate how some of the new forging methods have helped make weapons with sharper points-" I held up my hand silencing him.
"Speaking of points, do you think we can get to yours?"
"Sorry son I'm babbling." Mom then said.
"What your father is trying to say is we think it's time you took some time off to just enjoy meeting some people and find yourself a wife." I groaned in annoyance.
"Come on it's not that easy since the girls I attract often just want me for my wealth or the fame."
"There must be some girls out there who like you for you."
"There have been but every time I meet someone who I feel that I might be able to share my life with they're taken from me before we even get the chance to truly get to know each other." My dad just sighed.
"We're sorry son and we understand that these things can be hard but perhaps it's better if me and your mother did something." I didn't like where this was going.
"What do you mean?" My mom replied.
"We think it best if you allowed us to find you a wife." Hearing this I felt my blood run cold.
"What?" My dad held his hands up.
"Don't worry, we didn't do anything yet, we're just considering it and wanted to run it by you first." I let out a sigh of relief before looking up at them.
"Good because if you did anything without warning me I'd drag you both to Arabia and leave you both in the desert locked in winter gear and no water." They both gulped at this before my mom said.
"Well we've been thinking of sending word to the other tribes to send over possible wife candidates for you to meet with." My dad then said.
"We know you might not like the idea but a lot of people meet their life partners this way." I sighed and shook my head.
"I know you're both looking out for me but it's going to be hard for me to find a wife who'll accept my lifestyle of travelling and getting pulled into adventures." They nodded before my dad said.
"You never know son, I mean I never thought I'd find someone who'd like me for myself and would only date me for the chieftainship but then I saw your mother and it was love at first fight."
"Don't you mean first sight?" He shook his head.
"No, when we first met we were helping fight off some invaders and I saw your mother taking on a man and knock him out with one punch." He then smiled as he let out a sigh. "The way your mother took out those men were what fall in love with her." My mom glared at him.
"You said it was my charm and beauty!"
"It was all that my dear and so much more." My mom then looked down.
"The way you held your hammer up made me think 'he's the guy' and when you swung it I got goose bumps." It was then they looked at each lovingly, now normally I'm all for romance but this was my parents and I was sitting right there so I asked.
"Would you two like me leave and give you some privacy?" They both shook their heads and turned to me as my dad turned to me.
"Sorry son."
"It's alright but if you two are going to have some alone time please keep it to your room and not the dining table." They both chuckled uneasily confusing me. "What?" My mom replied.
"Well you see Hiccup when we were young we were pretty adventurous and often got into things one of which lead to you being born but what we never told you is you were conceived on" She didn't finish and pointed to the table as realization hit me and I immediately jumped out of my chair sending it toppling over as I backed away from the table in disgust.
"Seriously, I've sat down and eaten at this table for years." My dad then said.
"We can go over this later for now we need to discuss the possible brides and when a good time for them come visit after the thaw."
"Well I don't have any plans for after the thaw yet but for now I'm planning on travelling from Japan to check out China." They both stared at me before my dad asked.
"China?" I nodded.
"Yeah, I hear it's a country that has incredible architecture, rich in culture and has some pretty skilled warriors that I'd like to put myself up against." My mother then asked.
"Why would you want to go up against those warriors?"
"To help improve my skills as a warrior to better protect the tribe of any threats." My father stroked his beard.
"As a father I would rather you not endanger your life but as a chief and a warrior I can respect that." I nodded. "So when do you intend to leave." I shrugged.
"In about a weeks' time so I have time to collect some more wild boars to let loose in my forest for my wolves to hunt down and get everything in order." They nodded as my mother sighed.
"Just be sure to come and say goodbye to us before you leave." I just nodded and left.
Sixteen days later
It's been sixteen days since I had the talk with my parents about me finding myself a wife and in that time not much has happened since I spent one week preparing my island for when I was gone before I left for Japan with Toothless. When we arrived, we were greeted warmly by Borudā o funsai and Kakusareta hisui who continued in their duty of guarding my palace. While we were there I took some time to enjoy some down time since I rarely got to come here and ended up spending two days enjoying the peace before we took off to the beach that was a three-hour flight from the palace. When we got there, I set my ship into the water and we've been sailing ever since.
Presently was on my ship looking out at the endless ocean with Toothless at my side as I went over everything that's happened in the past week until I noticed something floating in the water up ahead. I used my eagle eye to get a better look at what it was and gasped when I saw it was a group of three men floating on what looked to be the wooden remains of a ship. I quickly willed my ship to sail towards them before it pulled up next to them as I threw a rope down towards them and they all eagerly grabbed onto it before I willed the rope to pull them up onto the deck while I signaled Toothless to get below deck since I didn't want them to see him and be scared of me. When they were all on deck they fell to their hands and knees while breathing heavily until the one in the middle looked up at me smiling before he stood up and bowed as he said in Chinese.
"Thank you for your help kind stranger." I smiled at him.
"Don't mention it but could you tell me what happened?"
"We were on a fishing trip to collect food for our village but a strong current swept our ship onto a reef that tore our ship apart." He then sighed and looked down sadly. "We lost a ship and still don't have any catches to feed our village."
"I take it things are rough these days." He nodded.
"Indeed, our country has been thrown into chaos causing our regular fishing spots have gone dry while the trade routes on land have been closed down due to the issues with the suppliers."
"Could you tell me what's happening?" He shook his head.
"I am sorry but my village is isolated from the rest of China so we do not get that many people who come by to begin with and recently none have come past in months but the last one to visit us told us that chaos has begun to rain upon China." I nodded as he looked down. "Because of this it makes it near impossible to feed our families." I saw tears form in his eyes.
"Can you navigate so we can get to your village?" He looked up and nodded before we began our journey to their village.
8 hours later
It's been eight hours since I pulled the men on board my ship and it's been pretty busy for me but it was worth it. For starters we had docked at the village of the men who were happy to see their families but I wasn't so happy to see the village. The reason why is its people were mostly skin and bones with children who looked so sick it seemed as if they'd drop dead at any moment. Many came to me asking if I had any food and if I did they begged me to share it but the three men tried to make them stop which I was grateful for since it gave me the chance to tell them that begging was not necessary. I then had my ship open up and help unload a few crated of food, water and medical supplies to help care for the villagers which brought tears of joy to a lot of them.
Sadly, when things were being unloaded one of the male children got curious about my ship and stumbled upon Toothless giving the poor child the scare of his life. Fortunately, I was able to calm him down long enough so he didn't cause the village into a full-scale panic and I think it helped when Toothless gave him a gummy smile making him giggle. From there I was able to reveal Toothless to everyone who were at first hesitant to come near him but when he started helping unloading the crates and saw the children pat his head they warmed up to him. After that things calmed down a bit with people enjoying the food I gave them since I learnt some of them hadn't eaten anything but scraps for days while I told them of how I came to be friends with Toothless using my golden spider to show them. This of course led to me telling them of my other adventures and getting much admiration from the people, especially the children who saw me as a big hero but I was just a guy trying to do the right thing.
The village head told me if there was anything I desired then I was free to it but I told him I just wanted to rest for the night and a bit of information on places I might be able to find out what's happening in China. He advised me that the best place to find answers would be in Beijing, home of the forbidden city where the Chinese royals had lived for over a hundred years and was even kind enough to give me a map claiming it was the least he could do for helping his people. Now I was sitting in my ships map room going over the map to this city of Beijing and figured it would take me about a four days of nonstop flying but it wasn't that bad. I knew that it wouldn't be too much trouble though unless we ran into some issues, which I knew we most likely would but I knew with Toothless, I'd be able to handle it.
4 days later
It's been four days since we arrived in China and in that time not much has happened since me and Toothless had mostly just been flying over the country while enjoying the view, watching the clouds go by, landing to enjoy some down time and check the map while also asking some travelers for directions to make sure I was on the right path. Now I was staring out at a city from my spot on a mountaintop next to Toothless who was also looking out at the city as I smiled and said.
"We made it bud." He just crooned as I turned to him. "Stick to flying behind the clouds bud since the last thing we want to do is cause a panic in such a large city." He growled and nodded before I signaled him to take off as I made my way down the hill.
1 hour later
I smiled as I walked down a street that held many stalls with merchants ready to sell their items and I was hoping to see if anything caught my eye so I could buy them. I knew I could afford it since I went to a small business that dealt with foreign currencies and exchanged some of my cold for local currency. After that I made my way down past the stalls with the merchants looked at me strangely but when they saw me throw a few gold coins from my pocket into the bowl of a beggar they were all eager to get my attention. I sighed and shook my head seeing how this was just like Arabia or the bazaar and continued to browse the stalls until I saw a child pushed some people out of the way with one man falling over and onto a basket of eggs. I didn't like this so when the child ran towards me I stepped in front of him and picked him up under the arms making him struggle as he said.
"Let me go!" He struggled. "They are after me!" I raised an eyebrow.
"Who's after you?" He pointed behind me.
"Them!" I turned around and saw six men all dressed in the same outfits, which consisted of a navy blue pleated skirt covering their legs, a dark orange vest with navy blue sleeves and a helmets that looked like my kappa shell helmet except in the same navy blue color with black lining the edges and two grey feathers sticking out of their tops while their long black hair was braided behind their backs reaching the middle, I placed the child down and pushed him behind my back as I asked.
"What's going-"The one at the lead pushed me aside as he said.
"Do not interfere!" The boy backed up against a stall as the men walked towards them but as the lead one got close I stepped in front of him while holding out my prosthetic hand at his face stopping him.
"You look tired, why don't you take a nap?" He raised an eyebrow but before he could reply I let out a puff of my knockout gas in his face making him step back coughing as I pushed him back into the other men while I turned back and grabbed the boy. "Let's get out of here."
With that said I ran down the street with the child in my arms before turning down an alley while the men quickly pursued with one staying to help their now unconscious friend. Knowing it might not be easy to avoid them I looked down at my prosthetic hand and smiled as an idea came to my mind and quickly dived into an alleyway before stopping. The child looked at me in confusion as I examined him and saw he was wearing an outfit that consisted of a long sleeved jacket that was buttoned up with rectangular material closing it at the top with gold lining the end of the sleeves and collar while the rest was dark purple and wearing matching pants along with what looked like slippers and a belt made of material. The boys hair was shaved off at the front while the back was pulled back into a braided ponytail and as for age I would say he's around twelve years old. I'm guessing the child was beginning to get impatient as he asked.
"What is it you are waiting for?" I smiled at him.
"Just watch!" As soon as I said that I made an illusion of me carrying him like I did before and sent it running out of the alley and down the street as the child stared at me in shock. "I'll tell you later." Hearing the men from before running down the street I grabbed the boy and pushed him against the wall facing the direction the men were coming from before pressing my own body against the wall and watched as they ran right past us making me smile as I turned to the child. "Are you alright?" He nodded.
"How were you able to make copies of us like that?"
"They aren't copies but an illusion I'm able to make thanks to a little magic I received but that is a story for another time since my illusion won't last for long and they'll be after us again." He nodded. "My name's Hiccup by the way." He smiled.
"Chin Wu is my name and judging from your appearance, clothing and name you are not of this land."
"If by that you mean I'm not Chinese, you're right but for now we need to get out of here." It was then a voice from the entrance of the alley said.
"There you are!" We turned to see the men all standing there blocking the entrance making it tough to get out, however I knew I could take them as they began walking towards us but before I could draw my weapons an elderly voice behind them yelled.
"STOP!" They all stepped aside to reveal and elderly man with a long beard and moustache wearing a brownish red robe with gold lining the end of the sleeves and bottom and a strange hat with his hands in the baggy sleeves and his head bowed and behind him a decorated litter with lavender curtains inside. "Your humble servants worry for you in your absence during these chaotic times." They all bowed confusing me.
"I didn't know attackers are so polite in China." Chin Wu walked up next to me as he said.
"They are not my attackers, they are my bodyguards." I raised an eyebrow.
"Bodyguards?"
"The emperor is not allowed to leave the palace!" My eyebrows shot up in shock as I asked.
"Emperor!"
Chin Wu walked past the men with on dropping to his hands and knees allowing Chin Wu to use him as a step to climb into the litter with the door closing behind him. I stood there staring as the old man leaned towards the window while I assumed Chin Wu whispered something to him before he turned to me. The elder walked up to me and bowed as he said.
"The emperor wishes for you to accompany him to the forbidden city." I nodded.
"Alright!"
"Please wait a moment while another litter is brought."
"I'd be happy to walk but if you insist then thanks." He nodded before a litter like the other one came by and I hopped on before we began moving.
Fifteen minutes later
I was led into a large room with red pillars holding up the ceiling, paper lamps with tassels on the ceiling, large vases against the wall, on the wall were tapestries that were decorated in various ways. At the back of the room was a large platform with a back with chines words carved into it making it look like a throne and sitting cross-legged on this platform was Chin Wu with the elderly man standing next to him. Chin Wu smiled at me as he said.
"Hiccup, you were very brave to protect the emperor." He held his hand out. "Here is your reward." Two men wearing dark green outfits like the old man's brought in a wooden chest in and opened it to reveal gold, jewels and jewelry that seemed to shine.
"I am grateful for the offer your majesty but I can't accept this for I was only doing what I would have done for anyone in need." The elderly man bowed and said.
"An honorable reply young man." I smiled before I frowned.
"I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name."
"My apologies for the late introduction." He bowed. "I am Ling Cho, the emperor's teacher and chief advisor." I knew bowing back was custom so I bowed as I said.
"It's nice to meet you Ling Cho." Chin Wu then said.
"Hiccup, I was hoping you'd explain to me the magic you used to create illusions of us." I smiled.
"I'd be happy to your majesty but first I would like it if I was allowed to summon my travelling companion since he worries and I wouldn't have all I have now if it weren't for him." Chin Wu nodded as Ling Cho asked.
"Where is your companion if I may ask?" I smiled.
"I can call him from outside so if you shall allow me to leave the room I shall be happy to summon him." Chin Wu nodded as he stood up.
"Let us go out and meet this companion of yours." With that said we walked outside before I turned to them.
"Before he arrives I ask that you keep in mind that as long as no one threatens him or me then there's nothing to fear." They each raised an eyebrow but nodded as Ibrought my fingers to my lips and let out a loud whistle confusing them. "He'll be here soon." Before either could say anything, a familiar whistling sound echoed through the area as Toothless flew down and landed in front of us making them both steps back in shock as Toothless nuzzled me making me chuckle. "Your majesty, Ling Cho meet my travelling companion and best friend, Toothless." He turned to them and tilted his head as they stared in shock. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you unless you threaten one of us." Ling Cho then asked.
"What is this creature you call your companion."
"He's a night fury, a species of dragon native to the archipelago so I don't really expect you to know of his kind." Chin Wu then said.
"We clearly have much to discuss so for the time being you and Toothless shall be my guests." With that said we were once again lead into what I now knew to be the throne room.
Sunset
It's been hours since I was brought into the Forbidden City and in that time I'd been keeping busy in the throne room using my golden spider to show both Chin Wu and Ling Cho my battles against the monsters I'd faced, my meetings with the gods, my weapons and of course how I met Toothless. Now I was still in the throne room after showing them my final battle in Africa and I could tell by their wide eyes and gaping mouths that they were impressed with all I'd gone through. I chuckled at the way they looked before I said.
"Well I hope that answers your questions but if you have any more I'll be happy to answer them." Chin Wu looked ready to ask but Ling Cho cut him off.
"I am afraid questions shall have to wait as for now it is time for dinner." I nodded as Chin Wu said.
"You and your companion shall join us Hiccup." I smiled.
"I'd like nothing more your highness since we haven't eaten since breakfast." Toothless crooned at the mention of food making me chuckle as we were lead out of the room.
Next day
It's been a day since I finished showing Chin Wu and Ling Cho my adventures before being invited to join them for dinner and since then things have been peaceful. The dinner was an enjoyable affair since I had wanted to try out some of the local dishes and I had to say they were delicious. After that I was given one of the guesthouses for my stay here in the Forbidden City but I had the feeling they were hiding something from me. Now I was with Chin Wu taking a walk through the grounds when I noticed a servant writing the words 'The emperor is not allowed to leave the palace' on a chalk board confusing me as I asked.
"Why is he writing that down instead of you?" Chin Wu stopped and looked at me.
"The emperor cannot make mistakes so when I do something wrong, one of them is punished for it."
"I can't remember the number of times I wanted that when I was young." I gave a small chuckle. "Must be nice."
"Not really." I raised an eyebrow. "I am a prisoner in my own palace."
"Is that why you were running away when we first met?"
"I am not even allowed to see my own country." He looked down. "Nobody here respects me and only do what I say because I am the emperor but they do not take me seriously because I am young." I knew the feeling of wanting respect from my youth so I placed my real hand on his shoulder making him look at me as I kneeled down to his level.
"I know the feeling of wanting respect from when I was your age but as I got older I learnt that respect isn't given, it's earned but don't make the same mistake I did when I was young."
"And what mistake was this?"
"I kept trying to rush things by throwing myself into danger to prove how brave I was and all that got me was a lot of scorn from my people." He tilted his head. "Earn respect by seizing your moment but until that time comes be patient, wait for it and prepare yourself for it."
"But how will I know when my moment has come." I smiled.
"Don't worry, when that time comes you'll know it in two places." I lifted my prosthetic hand and pointed at his head. "In here" I pointed at his heart. "and in here." He smiled at me before a voice behind me said.
"Wiser words have rarely ever been said in the Forbidden City." We turned to see Ling Cho approaching us. "I hate to interrupt but his majesty is needed in the throne room for Commander Chong Su has arrived with grave news from the North." Chin Wu nodded.
"I shall be there momentarily." He then turned to me. "Hiccup, may I ask that you join us as your aid might be needed." I nodded.
"I'd be honored your highness." With that we took off.
Half-an-hour later
I was now in in the throne room where Chin Wu was sitting on his throne with Ling Cho on his right and me on his left and in front of us was a bearded man wearing bronze colored armor with his left arm in a sling. This was commander Chong Su who came with news that an enemy has taken more territory in the north and the estimated number of enemy forces. Presently they were discussing possible battle strategies to help reclaim the land they'd lost to someone who they simply referred to as 'The General' and nothing more. It was then Chin Wu turned to me and asked.
"Hiccup, you have been gone through many battles in your life against great opponents so perhaps you have some strategies that might help us claim victory and the land we've lost to the generals forces." I turned to him.
"Well before I can I would like to know who this general is and what it is he wants." Ling Cho replied.
"I feel it best to start at the beginning when his majesties father ruled the kingdom." I nodded. "The general was once a trusted general in the army who lead many charges against threats to the empire and when he grew too old to lead these charges he helped train the troops." He lowered his head. "We were friends back then until I discovered he had been practicing the dark arts to gain power and take the throne for himself but before he could try he was stopped when I reported him to the emperor who sentence him to death." He then clenched his fists. "Sadly he had many soldiers who were loyal to him and helped him escape taking all his followers with him which made up a third of the royal army and he has gained the aid of many bandits who have joined him in exchange for power forming a force that makes up two thirds of the royal armies original numbers."
"How did he get so many followers?"
"He trained them so they feel more loyalty to him then the crown." I nodded. "Before he left however he was able to kill the ruling emperor." He turned to Chin Wu. "Chin Wu's father and a dear friend of mine." He then looked to me. "Ever since then he has been using his forces to take control of villages, enslaving the people but what he has them do we are unaware and with every battle he is able to gather more power." He looked down sadly. "He has outnumbered and with his gift for strategy outmaneuvered on many battles which has left many of our soldiers wounded, killed or enslaved while throwing our country into chaos." I raised an eyebrow. "The kingdom is divided because of the Armed Forces following the general and those who are loyal to the crown while the demons add to the chaos by using it to abduct citizens for their dark purposes which only adds to the chaos." Chin Wu then said.
"I have been trying to spread my forces out to protect the villages and the inhabitants while also fortifying my kingdom but with the lack of soldiers and our limited resources we have been unable to bring order back to the land." He then looked at me. "I was hoping you'd be willing to help us in our battle against him and restoring order to our land." I nodded.
"I'll be happy to aid you in the coming battle but I'm going to need more information on where his forces are and what I'm up against." They nodded.
"If this is what you need then the emperor shall have your request granted." With that we began going over what I needed to know to take on the general and his forces.
AN: Hey all I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and for those of you who think I've left you hanging on things then I'm sorry and want you to realize that I don't leave you on Cliffhangers just to torment you. In this case I just can't continue the chapter unless I wanted to finish the entire Chinese adventure in just one chapter and that is not something I can do in one week. Anyway the love story shall be in the next chapter so keep an eye out for it and remember to review kindly.
