Chapter 182
Hiccups POV:
It's been six weeks since I planted the new island piece and if I had to describe those weeks in a single word all I could say is that word would be 'calm' except for the beginning. It all began when I went to see my mother after she woke up from her faint and I had to say that was not a pleasant visit since to begin with my mother yelled so loud she put my father to shame. She kept going on how I could've been killed by going up against a god, how I should've gotten out of China the second the dragon kings were free, how worried she was about me and other such things before she ended with a hug where I'm sure she bruised my ribs. After that she forbid me from going on any more trips for at least a year, but she cooled off eventually after three weeks and told me I could travel again but I had to wait a few more weeks.
This led to me just enjoying a few weeks of peace on my island with Blanca, Astrid my dragons and my animals which was nice since it gave me a bit of time to help my new dragons settle in and I wasn't just talking about the four dragon kings. Three days after they arrived, they began circling above area where the caves in which they had set up their nests while I watched from my place in the gazebo where I was originally enjoying a quiet cup of tea and some alone time after training with my ninja. I watched them fly I began wondering what the they were doing and was surprised when their bodies began to glow before a small light formed in the center of the circle, they were flying in.
I watched as other colored lights appeared one by one and grew into disc shaped portals that showed places I recognized as places in China I'd either seen or read about and knew they were places where the dragons of China could be found. It was then they each let out a loud roar that I'm pretty sure could be heard even on Berk and it made me wonder what they were trying to do. I got my answer when my dragons from China flew into the valley and looked up at the portals as other dragons of their species flew through the portals coming to land around the area. When I counted around twenty-five of each species the four kings stopped flying and came down to land in the water before all the dragons bowed to them. I smiled since with this would make my dragon studies a little easier and after seeing the inside of the caves that the four dragon kings lived in and how big they were I knew there'd be no trouble housing them.
After that the various new dragons just needed to settle into the caves under the rule of the four dragon kings who appointed my original Chinese dragons as their subordinates to help control their respected species and avoid any fights between them. I admit there had been some fights between the local dragons and the Chinese dragons but nothing too serious that couldn't be handled easily. I had to admit it was nice to have the dragons soaring around the area with the tidal classes swimming in the lake since it gave the valley a bit more color.
Besides that, I was able to begin examining the other gifts from the gods I received starting with the harness that I put on Shāndǐng after informing him what it would do. He accepted the harness without hesitation and turned into a beautiful chestnut colored horse with a black mane so all in all he looked pretty good for a horse. Then there's the carriage he pulls for me which as expected was a whole lot bigger on the inside then it is on the outside with more than simply a few benches to sit on like normal carriages.
To begin with when I first entered it, I found myself in a large square room that was fourteen feet long and fourteen feet wide with the walls being lined with wooden benches that had gold yellow colored cushioning attached to the seats. There were a few cushions that were placed on the benches with them being both big and small, each with covers that were nice, and they were all differently patterned in some way. Beneath these benches were draws that were mostly empty except for a single shelf in the middle of each of them so I could store a few things in them. In the wall there were also long rectangular windows that were five feet long, two feet tall and set up three feet away from each other with shutters that close and open when I pull a line on their right and when I look out them it looks like I'm looking out the one window on the carriages outside.
The walls were a nice bamboo yellow with clouds painted in Chinese painting style on the walls giving it a nice Chinese home like feeling. In the middle of the room was a floor table with a few floor pillows to sit down on so whoever's travelling will be able to sit down and enjoy a game or something. On the floor were multiple carpets covering the entire section, so the wooden flooring couldn't be seen by anyone, but the carpets ended near the back of the room. Also lighting up the rooms were paper lanterns with dragon patterns painted on them that were hanging from the ceiling and going down it in a straight line to the very end.
Near the back of the room was a kitchen area with a table that reached slightly above my waist in height lining the walls so I would be able to prepare some meals. In the middle though there's a stone fire pit with a metal pole hung up above it with the pole holding a pot so I would be able to cook some foods when travelling. Above the tables were multiple cabinets or shelves holding various things like how one cabinet holds multiple water jugs and exotic drinks that kept cool no matter what. Another cabinet was so cold there was ice forming on the sides of it, so I knew I'd be able to store fresh meat and fish inside it for long journeys. Also, on one of the walls beneath one of the cabinets was a built-in spice rack so I wouldn't have to worry about seasoning my food to give it a bit of flavor.
Past the kitchen was three steps leading up to another floor with three doors with each leading into bedrooms with the two on either side of middle room looking the same while the one in the middle was the master bedroom. To describe the two guest rooms, each has four beds with two beds on either side of the room, that have simple green blankets with light yellow pillows, a small window three-foot-long window between the beds on the side that faces out into the country. At the back of these rooms are two cupboards with three draws at the bottom of them and on either side of the beds were wooden side tables while in the middle of the ceiling's were simple paper lamps to light up the rooms. On the opposite side of the rooms facing the cupboards were doors that leads into washrooms with simple wooden flooring, on the right wall is a mirror with metal bowls and washcloths, at the top of the walls facing outside are holes to let steam out and against the left walls corner at the back was a small wooden tub with a towel rack next to it.
The master bedroom however was a lot different since the window looking out to the open world was right above the king-sized bed that had the same sheets and blankets as the guest rooms but this one was decorated with Chinese dragons patterns stitched into it. Against the right wall was a single cupboard and across from it was a desk for me to work at. Next to this desk that leads into the washroom that looked like the ones in the guest rooms except the bath was rectangular in shape and reached from the right wall to the left wall.
Besides that,I'd also been doing some studies of what the dragon pendant could do and discovered an upgrade it gave my prosthetic arms original abilities. To begin with the rotating blade beneath the tree of life insignia on top of the hand got a major upgrade in which the small golden blades were replaced by the four different colored blades I used to free the four dragon kings. Now these blades could cut through solid gronkle iron like a burning knife through yak butter meaning I'd have no trouble cutting my arms free when they're tied behind my back. Along with this the same blade could be launched out of my disc launcher and cut through things easily but the launched blades would disappear a few seconds after hitting their targets. It was nice to know the dragon pendant gave me more than just the ability to summon an army of fifty warriors to help me in major battles.
Speaking of the new addition to my army I'd been doing some work with them to check out their capabilities and I was not disappointed with what I found. To begin with when I summon them a small section the ground falls to form a ramp that they march up out of in a square formation all holding their weapons. As for the troops themselves, they take the form of typical soldiers from the Chinese royal army, but they were made of pure jade and starting out they are all armed with crossbows made and loaded with the same jade as their bodies. Sadly, their crossbows are only good for one shot each but still despite how they could only launch a single I knew it would still be effective since fifty arrows coming down on an army would do some damage to enemy forces. When the crossbows have used their single shot, they grow into spears with crescent blades on either side of the spears head meaning they'd be able to continue the fight.
Besides all that my main project was helping the new baby pandas settle into their new lives out of China and out of their cage by setting them up with their own little pen in the bamboo forest. Their pens walls were made of bamboo poles with a small bamboo cave for them to sleep in, a water bowl for them to drink from and I'd place bamboo pieces on a gronkle iron plate. I made sure one of my snake guardians or Nagareboshi kept an eye on the little guys to make sure they kept safe since the last thing I wanted was for them to get hurt. As for Blanca and Astrid's reaction to the cubs, they both thought they were precious and would spend time in their pen playing with the pandas after I'd given the name Zi Chi to the girl and Zi Bo to the boy.
I'd also been able to spend some time working on a few new automatons designs I came up with and even put some together for future use. The first one I worked on was my 'Stinging Stingray' which as the name implies takes the form of a stingray that's about seven feet wide and five feet long. Their tails have drill at the end that rapidly rotates, allowing them to drill their tails into the hulls of ships before the drill opens up and the stinging stingray can drop a few specially designed bombs into the ships lower deck. These bombs have fragile shells that will go off a few second after being released and depending on what my intention was towards the ship was since it could be bombs loaded with spark stone so it would blow a hole in the ships side or release my knockout gas subduing those below deck. Along with this the tail could also open up the drill and launch spikes loaded with acid that would eat away at the ship from below the water. On the front of the fins I put in retractable hooks that allow them to latch onto the ships sides while they use their tails to drill into the hull.
The way they work is their outer shell is made of pure gronkle iron mixed with depths sapphire making it possible for them to dive down deep into the waters with no problems. Built into their heads is the life stone that allows them to function while at the front of their heads are peer stones mixed with gronkle iron allowing them to see and connected to my eye so I could see what they see. The drills on the tails are made of the same material as the bodies but are incredibly sharp so they'd have an easier time breaking through the hulls while the tail itself is made up of joints allowing it to move more flexibly. At the beginning of the tale in the bodies are three chambers connected to the inside the tails inner part that was built like a pipe allowing the bombs or acid to go down and be dropped into the ships. Along with this the hooks in the fins are made out of latch stone to make gripping the ship easier and for when people try to grab them I also installed two fist sized Zeus stones into their bodies in separate containers that can push the Zeus stones up into the main body electrifying it. This ability also comes in handy for catching fish since when the Zeus stones are used they electrify the water killing the fish around it so they are easy to collect. Right now, I've only built three of them and keep them by the dock, hung up on the side of the walls ready to be deployed when I needed them.
Another automaton I made was an automaton that was twice the size of my thumbs top joint and that I named 'The Boom Beatles' and I gave them this name for a reason since they may be small, but they can create strong explosions. I make these automatons in no less than groups of fifty that I then line up in a special canister that has a large pipe in the middle that they hold onto. When I need them, I pull the pipe out and activate them before sending them all towards different targets and when they're all in place I detonate them causing large explosions all around the area. In other words, these automatons sole reason for creation was to help me catch enemies by surprise when they're hiding in their own secret bases. The way these beetles are designed is they have thin shells made from a mixture of copper and feather stone with wings made of feather stone allowing them to fly. Their heads held tiny peer stones allowing them to see while also allowing me to see what they see and a tiny life stone allowing them to function. In the backs of their shells are small spark stones that give the beetles their ability to cause explosions that may not be too powerful but enough to do some damage and cause some panic. Their legs are also made of latch stone so they can grapple onto surfaces giving me more options on where I could have them plant themselves before I set them off.
Presently I was in the African savannah, watching Mfalme chasing a leg of boar meat that was being moved by Davu who was carrying it by thin threads while flying twenty feet up in the air. I smiled as Mfalme pounced on the leg and sunk his teeth into it and began chomping down on the meat making me smile since he'd grown in the time, I've had him and he has the making of a strong male lion. I frowned thinking about this since I knew it would be the day that I release him into the savannah to form a pride of his own which I knew would not be easy for him but I knew it had to be done. It was then I was brought out of my thoughts when the sound of slithering came from behind me and using the eye of the dragon, I saw it was one of the female snake guardians. I let out a sigh as I turned to her as she bowed and said.
"Forgive he intrusion master but your father has come to the island and awaits you at the house in the library." I nodded as I signaled Davu to continue to watch over Mfalme as I walked towards the direction of my house.
Five minutes later
I walked into my library to see my father looking at the bookshelves while stroking his beard in thought until he saw me walking up to him as I said.
"Hey dad, what brings you here to my little slice of paradise?" He turned to me.
"I've come because I need you to travel somewhere Hiccup." I raised an eyebrow.
"Well this is rare; you normally don't like me travelling at all and now you want me to go somewhere when it's so close to winter." He sighed.
"Hiccup we got word from our ally tribe the Boiling Cove tribe, they recently had an avalanche that destroyed their store house and injured a lot of them so I came to ask you to go there and deliver supplies as a sign of good faith."
"And why me exactly?"
"Because your ship is fastest and I'm too busy on Berk preparing for the big freeze to go visit our allies in the freezing cold North."
"In other words, you don't want to freeze your beard off and since I have an immunity to the cold meaning the freezing weather won't bother me you decided to ship me off to the North where people are known to get frostbite on places they never knew they had." He sighed.
"I know it sounds that way Hiccup but the Boiling Cove tribe has been our allies since Berk was first founded so we can't turn them away and it'll give you the chance to get some chiefing experience for when you become chief." I sighed knowing I wasn't going to get out of this.
"So, what do you want me to deliver to them?" He smiled.
"A few crates of food, firewood, medical supplies and I was hoping you could give them some alpaca fur blankets and things to help them through the winter." I nodded.
"Give me a day to round up some dragons, plan a route, load up my ship and explain things to Blanca and Astrid." He chuckled.
"You're getting pretty close to Astrid son; can I expect a wedding in the future since I know that wife of yours has no problems with you takin more wives."
"Dad, please can we go back to the supply delivery and my social life later and by later, I mean never." He just chuckled and nodded.
"Come by Berk for the supplies when you're ready." I nodded.
1 day later
I'd spent all of yesterday preparing for the trip by planning out the route using my crystal map, letting the islands inhabitants what's going on, loading up the ship with the supplies, picking out a dragon team and of course letting Blanca and Astrid know. As expected the girls wanted to join me claiming I might need their help even though it was a simple delivery mission but they just told me I had a habit of getting into trouble no matter where I was. This got me a chuckle until I saw the look they were giving me and knew that arguing with them would be a waste of time so I agreed and was grateful I'd already designed them both winter gear since I didn't want either of them freezing.
Now was on my ship in my regular gear with the exception of my boating armor being worn beneath it instead of my regular armor looking out at the ocean. Toothless was next to me looking out at the ocean while the other members of my dragon team were up in the air circling the ship and this team consisted of Berg, Shard, Frostburn, Blizzard, Frostbite, Avalanche and Snowbell. I selected these dragons since they were made for cold weather so they would be helpful in unloading the supplies, helping out with village repairs and other things. I also brought Hubbard to pull my sleigh since it would be nice to just enjoy a little ride around the snowy grounds when I have some free time.
I turned back to look at Blanca and Astrid who were on the other side of the ship wearing the winter wear I'd made them to ensure they'd be alright despite the coming cold. Astrid's clothing consisted of a red shirt like the one she normally wears but I'd given it long sleeves lined with alpaca fur, I'd also altered her signature spiked skirt by lining it with alpaca fur and giving her shirt a fur hood, metal shoulder pads, warm leather gloves lined with alpaca fur on the inside, tight navy-blue pants also lined with alpaca fur and brown leather boots with spiked underside to help her get a grip in the snow and alpaca fur insides to keep her warm. (AN: Picture her attire from HTTYD 2 with a few additions.) When I first showed it to her she smiled and tried it on before jokingly saying how she wished she had this gear on Berk during the winters since it was comfortable, warm and she looked good in it.
As for Blanca's winter attire, I made her a coat made of white fluffy alpaca fur, an icicle blue silk scarf lined with alpaca fur, a pair of grey winter boots made of leather, lined with alpaca fur on the inside and metal spikes at the bottom, a thick pair of grey pants lined with alpaca fur on the inside, light grey leather gloves lined with alpaca fur and a pair of white alpaca fur earmuffs. She claimed it was comfortable and kept her warm so she could use it and I had to admit she looked good in the winter attire and it didn't hurt that she looked good in it. I just hoped their gear would be able to keep them both from freezing up since the Boiling Springs tribe's village was set up in one of the coldest parts of the archipelago.
I turned away from the girls and looked back to the ocean as I thought about what I knew about the Boiling Springs tribe which I admit wasn't much since they may have been one of Berks oldest allies but they preferred to stick to themselves. Besides that, I knew that their tribes name came from the multiple boiling hot springs around their island which allowed them to live there since it gave them hot water to bath in and to help prevent people from freezing. Along with this I knew they were a fishing town who focused mainly on deep sea fishing which is what they used to barter with other tribes for other supplies like vegetables, wool and other things. As for the ones who run the island, their chief is Fen the icicle beard with his wife Agatha the cold grip and their heir Artie the chilled but other than this I didn't know anything else about them so I was looking forward to seeing it. Still it would take us three days to get there at the max speed of my ship, but I've been on longer trips and at least this time I had some company who could actually talk back to me.
Three days later
We were still sailing across the ocean except now it was freezing cold to the point that there were small glaciers forming out of the water and snow was falling from the sky which is why I switched out my boating armor with my winter gear. I am happy to say the winter gear the girls were wearing kept them warm and they even told me that they couldn't feel a bit of cold on their bodies except their faces that weren't covered. I knew there was a good chance that the girls would gain the attention of some of the men in the village since they were both attractive even when their bodies were covered by their gear. This made me worry since even though they could handle themselves I didn't want them to be the cause of a war between Berk and one of its oldest allies. It was because of this, just to be safe I'd brought along a few new Scouter automatons to help me keep an eye on them and made it clear to my dragons and Hubbard that the girls were never to be left alone since they'd help drive anyone who got any ideas.
It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by the sight of a large island in the distance and used my eagle eye to get a better look before smiling, seeing a dock on the waters and a village above on the cliffs. I knew this was the village of the 'Boiling Springs tribe' so we would be there soon and if how Toothless was running around was anything to go by he could tell we were close as well. I'm guessing the girls noticed how Toothless was acting since they walked up to where I was giving me questioning looks but I just chuckled and said.
"He knows we're getting close to dry land meaning we'll be taking more flights than we normally do while on a ship." They nodded as I turned back to the island. "We should be there in a few minutes." Astrid then asked.
"So, what's the plan?"
"When we get there, I'll explain things to the chief before we begin having the dragons help unload everything." They nodded.
10 minutes later
We approached the dock quickly and saw a small crowd of people had formed on it to greet us making me smile since it meant we'd have an easier time sorting the supplies. I brought the ship up to the side of the dock and willed it to stop before lowering the gangplank and making my way down it with Blanca on my right and Astrid on my left. A large man who matched my father in height stood at the front of the group wearing a grey fur coat with hood, black gloves with matching boots, a leather belt with a metal belt buckle that had a snowflake and two hammers above it with the heads meeting on top of the snowflake. The most noticeable feature about him was his beard which was ice white and sticking out in places making it look like icicles were sticking out his beard. It wasn't that hard to figure out this was the chief of the village,Fen the icicle beard and now I knew how he got the name icicle beard. He walked up to me and said.
"I am Chief Fen, leader of the Boiling Cove tribe."
"I am Hiccup Haddock, son of Stoick the Vast and heir to the Hairy Hooligan tribe." He nodded.
"I take it Stoick got my message then?" I nodded.
"He sent me here with supplies to help out your tribe through the coming winter." He smiled.
"He's always been a good friend that man." He then looked at Blanca and Astrid. "And who are you two lasses." Blanca bowed.
"I am Blanca, Hiccups wife." She stood back up as Astrid said.
"And I'm Astrid, Hiccups friend." He turned to me with a smile.
"So, tell me lad, is it true you train dragons?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise making him chuckle. "Don't be surprised lad, word gets out even all the way out here." I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah it's true and I brought a few of them with me to help out unload the supplies so I'd appreciate it if you'd let your people know not to attack them." He nodded.
"It'll be done lad, but may I ask what you brought us?"
"A few crates of wood, food, medical supplies and alpaca fur." He raised an eyebrow.
"What's an alpaca?"
"It's a type of animal used as livestock in a distant land with fur that's incredibly soft and warm." He nodded.
"I'm looking forward to using it." I nodded.
"We'll unload the ship first and you can tell us where you want the stuff after." He nodded. "Could you show us where we can drop off the stuff until it can be sorted."
"You can put it all in the village center till it can be sorted." I nodded before returning to my ship with the girls following as Blanca asked.
"What can we do to help?" I smiled at her.
"You can supervise and sort the stuff being brought out from below deck." I turned to Astrid. "Astrid, you and Stormfly supervise the drop offs." She nodded. "Me and Toothless will lead the dragons to the drop off area while carrying loads ourselves." They nodded as I opened the hatch allowing the dragons and Hubbard out before letting them know what was going on before we got to work.
Nightfall
I was in the bedroom in my ship lying down with Blanca sleeping soundly with my right arm wrapped around her waist and her head on my right shoulder. Sleep didn't come as easily to me since I was busy going over todays events in my mind starting from shortly after we arrived with the supplies we were sent to deliver. Once we'd unloaded all the supplies, we began sorting them out while getting teams of local people together to sort the supplies out and where they needed to go. This wasn't so bad but what happened during this time made my blood boil slightly since it was during these times that some of the men began looking at the girls in ways I did not like.
When I saw how the men were looking at them though I admit I was not happy, but I took a breath and reminded myself of where their loyalties lied. I knew they didn't have it any easier since there were girls who were giving me the same look that the men were giving them and although they hid it, I could still see the annoyance in their eyes. Now I would say that delivering the supplies was all we had to do before we could go home to the island but sadly that's not the case as chief Fen asked that we stay to help with making repairs to the damage of the avalanche, digging up houses and answering a few questions his people had to ask me.
I knew he had questions himself and might have an ulterior motive but either way he was the chief of one of Berks oldest allies so I couldn't turn him down. I sighed and gently stroked Blanca's hair knowing I was probably just overthinking things again and Chief Fen honestly just wanted some help preparing for the coming winter and to help ease his people's curiosity. I just hoped nobody would ask me to train them dragons, ask to buy Hubbard and my sleigh or my ship, any of the little ones to take them on as an apprentice and other things like that. I let out a silent groan knowing it would not be an easy time on this island but with Blanca, Astrid and my dragons at my side, hopefully the days would be at least bearable. With these thoughts in mind I drifted off to sleep with the snake I love in my arms.
AN: Yeah not very exciting but this was more of an informative chapter to explain the other gifts Hiccup got from the gods while also preparing for the next chapter. If you think this trip is simply going to be fangirls, reconstruction, helping out a village, dealing with children fans and other such things then you're wrong. There's going to be trouble on this trip in the form of something I don't intent to share due to it being better to keep you all in suspense so you can enjoy the new chapter more. And now to answer the questions from the last chapters reviews.
Arraia:
You'll see at the end of the story which won't be for a long time I hope.
Guest:
We'll see.
MANALO:
Things have been crazy and wifi has been on the fritz so I haven't seen the series but will when I get the chance.
Edmonton58:
I used to love that game series but no it won't be a crossover with that.
Guest:
We'll see about that.
