Chapter 257

Hiccups POV:

It's been eight weeks since the Bog-Burglars visit and, in that time, not much has happened other than me enjoying some down time with my family and continuing my chieftain training. Of course, it hasn't just been peace and quiet for me since I needed to keep my ninja and combat skills sharp and although the training mirror was good it wasn't enough so I had done some bounty hunting jobs going after the most wanted crooks in the archipelago. The people paid a good amount of money to have them handed over to them to face punishment for their crimes with their punishment mainly being execution but considering their crimes, anything less would be going too easy on them. Doing this I made some good money, boosted my reputation with some of the larger tribes and above all else, got some dangerous criminals taken out of this world.

It was during these times when I needed to drop off one of my bounties that, I'd been able to pay a visit to some old friends on the island of Traders Paradise where I hadn't been to since the defeat of the pirate John Raven years ago. (AN: Chapter 57) Fortunately, Chief Trecker and his people still remembered me and were still grateful to me for what I did for their families and were happy to do business with me. I spent a good few hour browsing the various stalls they had set up there and ended up spending all the reward money for the bounty I brought in on books, maps, artwork and other such things. Sadly, it was here that I ran into the chief of the Grown Hills tribe, Chief Nigren who was trying to recruit some travelling traders to set up some stalls on his own island.

He of course took the opportunity to try and talk me into building a ship shed for his own island along with a bath house for both his own people and those who come to do business. This time however I truly did consider it since it would help strengthen the bonds of our tribes and my dad had been telling me how important it was to have a good relationship with tribes like the Grown Hills tribe. Still though, it wouldn't be the least bit easy since I'd need to make a whole new design for both the ship shed and the bath house considering they'd need to be larger than usual due to the amount of people who come to the island. Still though, I knew Chief Nigren wouldn't give up easily as he still sends me letters with offers using traders who he knows will visit Berk on their trade routes.

It's because of this that I'd been working on various designs for a large-scale ship shed and a multiple roomed bath house with a few places for guards to deal with peepers. The toughest part concerning the designs was with the ship shed needed a lot of work since it needed a large number of ship-ports for the various ships and a good crank and pully system to pull the ships into the sheds since it would take a lot of men to handle it. The bath house was not that much easier since my bath house and pool were both heated by the fireworm nest, so I've needed to design an entire new system to heat up the water. I originally intended to use feverstone but then remembered how they needed to constantly be rubbed together to keep hot and this wore them down quickly plus they wouldn't be able to survive the winters in that tribe's area.

This would mean I'd need to deal with Chief Nigrens people coming to my island to get more of the feverstone and that would lead to major headaches as they'd no doubt try to convince me of other things on behalf of their chief. It's because of this that I'd been working on a furnace system that would heat up the water while also avoiding people needing to get near the heat of the fire since I didn't want it to be like the bath house in Rome where slaves would either pass out or die from the heat. The system that I was working on was a system that would allow people to simply toss wood down into a shoot that would land into the fires, preventing anyone from feeling the immense heat. As for the fires themselves, they would be set up in multiple large rooms with vents to provide heat to all the baths with a window looking into the rooms so people could look at the fires with forge pumps at the bottom to strengthen the flames. The floors of these rooms were made of gronkle iron with large holes in it for the ashes of the wood to fall through into a large room below it where the ashes could be collected for fertilizer for the farmlands like I do with the ashes from my fireplaces. All in all, these were some of the most complicated designs for buildings that I have ever done and constructing them was not going to be any easier, getting the materials, setting up the plot of land where they'll be built and of course, dealing with Freya who no doubt would try to flirt with me every chance she gets.

When I spoke to my father about this job, he told me I should go and do it since it wouldn't hurt to strengthen the bonds between our tribes after they were damaged by Ulrik unintentionally having Astrid brainwashed. (AN: Chapter 168) At first, I thought he was joking since he knew how I felt about Ulrik and Freya but he claimed that a chief needed to put his personal feelings aside to strengthen bonds for the good of the tribe. He told me I could also use this opportunity to expand Berks influence with travelling traders since this could allow me the chance to convince them to drop by Berk so we could do business with them and help Berk see some new things to our island in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't deny that new traders would be of great help to Berk since although we could get many things from the Bazaar, people would like things from closer to home.

After that I arranged a meeting with chief Nigren who was overjoyed that I'd finally agreed to help his tribe by building the ship shed and bathhouse for his island. When I showed the designs to his construction workers and architects who were more than impressed with my designs for both the buildings and the various systems to make them work properly. They all kept asking me who taught me and where I learnt these various construction methods to which I replied that I had many teachers and had gone to many places where I learned many things. After that we began discussing where the buildings would be placed and began examining the area in which they were to be built and hammered out any details on what would be needed to be done.

Once all that was we all got to work on gathering the supplies which as anyone could guess consisted mostly of marble which is not easy to come by in the archipelago since we Vikings mostly just used it for paths and even then it wasn't done often. Sadly, it's because of this that we had to build multiple quarries on islands that we knew were rich with marble and spent over as week gathering it and the only reason it went so fast was because of my mystic pickaxe and spade to collect it. I also needed to have my gronkles work overtime to make the gronkle iron we needed and having my wood cutter dragons gather the needed wood from the Grown Hills tribes' forest.

After a week of gathering and processing the needed materials for the buildings, we spent two weeks working on the ship shed and another three working on the bathhouse. It was because of these construction projects that I'd spent the majority of my days on the Grown Hills tribe's island and although my construction kept me and my dragons busy, we did take breaks in which me and Toothless would take flights to relax. I'd also used these opportunities to do what my dad requested and formed trade agreements with multiple travelling traders and Berk so they'd stop by the island on a regular basis in exchange for advanced knowledge on when the bazaar was held so they could pick up some foreign products not available int the archipelago. It was all going pretty well since I brought my family at times so they could do some shopping while I worked on the construction and it gave Brant a chance to practice ninja movements through large crowds.

It wasn't all good though as whenever I went out into the town to do business with the traders, the majority of the tribes men would glare at me because of what I did last time I was here. It was also easy to tell that their wives were now keeping their husbands on much tighter leashes since whenever one of them looked like he wanted to speak his mind about what I did, the women next to him would give him a glare and in some cases a knock on the head. Along with this some of the women were now tending the stalls instead of their husbands who were either doing the shopping or cleaning the home which were originally jobs they had their wives doing despite how degrading it was for them.

If that wasn't bad enough, some of the single men were giving my wives looks that clearly showed they were imagining what they looked like without their clothes with some guys making comments about how they'd love to have them in their beds. It was only thanks to my ninja training under the ancient one that I was able to keep a cool head and not go over and crack their skulls for speaking that way about my wives. I didn't get any peace when I was working either as some of the construction workers had wives who were freed from their brainwashing and others were hoping to ask about my adventures and the various forms of architecture, I've seen. As expected, there were also my local fans, all eager to hear about my adventures and the places I've been to with many of the girls flirting with me.

Then of course there's Freya who once again was proving to be the biggest headache for everyone, trying to be friends with my wives, acting motherly to my kids and flirting with me nonstop when I'm trying to work or out on a stroll on my break. Her brother on the other hand had kept his distance from both me and my family which is something I could understand since from what I heard, his father threatened to strip him of his heirship if he caused any trouble for us while on the island. I figured this would be more than enough to keep him at bay but just to be on the safe side his father had him escorted wherever he went to ensure he wasn't tempted to try anything. Speaking of Chief Nigren, he'd been a headache in a whole new way that drove not only me crazy but all the men who were helping with the construction of the buildings. The reason for this is he would drop by at least three times a day to come by and pester us for details on how much longer it'd be before they'd be done.

Now finally after weeks of work, both the ship shed, and the bath house were finally complete and that brings us to now, with me and Toothless standing next to Chief Nigren in front of the newly completed bath house with a large crowd in front of us. Chief Nigren smiled at me before he turned to the crowd and held out his hands as he said.

"TODAY, WE ARE ALL GATHERED TO WITNESS THE OPENING OF OUR VILLAGES NEW BATH HOUSE AND ALTHOUGH IT MAY SEEM ODD TO SOME OF YOU, I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT AFTER TESTING THE BATHS MYSELF, IT IS AN INCREDIBLE AND RELAXING EXPERIENCE!" He then gestured to me. "AND HERE TO TELL US ALL A BIT ABOUT THIS AMAZING NEW BUILDING IS NONE OTHER THAN THE GENIUS ARCHITECT WHO DESIGNED THIS GREAT BUILDING AND HELPED WITH ITS CONSTRUCTION NUMEROUS WAYS, HICCUP HADDOCK OF BERK!" Everyone applauded as I stepped forward.

"Thank you chief Nigren." I stepped forward. "THIS BATH HOUSE HAS DEFINATLEY BEEN ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT THINGS I'VE EVER DESIGNED AND I KNOW THAT SOME OF YOU WEREN'T TOO BIG ON THE IDEA OF IT BUT I CAN ASSURE YOU ALL THAT THERE'S NOTHING BETTER THAN SOAKING IN A TUB OF HOT WATER AND JUST MELTING THE STRESSES OF THE DAY AWAY!" I then gestured to the left and right sides of the building. "ON BOTH THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE OF THE BUILDINGS ARE GIANT POOL BATHS WITH ONE TO BE USED BY THE WOMEN AND THE OTHER TO BE USED BY THE MEN AND IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT PEOPLE PEEPING, CHIEF NIGREN WILL BE ASSIGNING GUARDS TO CATCH ANYONE WHO TRIES SO DON'T WORRY!" I took a breath. "AND IF YOU'RE NOT TOO BIG ON BATHING WITH OTHER PEOPLE, DON'T WORRY SINCE I'VE ALSO BUILT A FEW PRIVATE BATHS FOR FEWER PEOPLE BUT IT'LL COST YOU A LITTLE EXTRA." I heard various mutters about this. "AS FOR YOUR BELONGINGS SUCH AS CLOTHES AND OTHER POSSESIONS THAT YOU CARRY WITH YOU, DON'T WORRY AS I'VE BUILT ROOMS WITH SHELVES IN THE WALLS WHERE YOU CAN PLACE YOUR BELONGINGS UNTIL YOU LEAVE AT NO EXTRA COST." I then stepped aside with chief Nigren as we gestured to the open door. "NOW I INVITE YOU ALL INSIDE TO ENJOY THE BATHS THAT ARE FREE TO ENTER FOR TODAY IN HONOR OF IT BEING THE GRAND OPENING!" Everyone cheered and began making their way in as me and Chief Nigren watched. "Well I think this business will be doing well in the future." Chief Nigren chuckled.

"No doubt about that lad and don't you worry, I won't forget your cut of the profits." I looked at him. "Half the profits until you made back the money you spent to buy the materials needed to make both the bath house and the ship shed and then it'll be a quarter of the profits." I nodded knowing I really didn't need the money, but it was a way to keep chief Nigren from getting any more ideas for businesses too fast in the future. "So, are you going to come by to collect your share yourself or have someone do it for you?"

"Neither, I put in a three of my load shark automatons into a special dock in the ship shed so you'll just need to place my share of the profits in them, pull a lever to release them and they'll do the rest." He nodded.

"One of these days you've got to tell me how you make those things." I chuckled.

"Now that's something I'm not willing to share with anyone." He nodded as we continued to watch the people push and shove their way into the bath house.

3 weeks later

It's been three weeks since the opening of the bath house and ship shed and in that time things have been pretty quiet with me just being able to enjoy a little down time after all the construction work and dealing with the people of the island. It wasn't all a headache though since although it was a lot of work it was also something that had benefitted Berk since we'd been able to form some good trade agreements with some excellent traders which has benefitted Berk. Along with this I'd been able to make back half the money I spent on materials after the second week alone which showed how popular the two buildings had been among the people. Sadly, it wasn't all great as Freya would often sneak one of her own messages into my loadsharks asking if she could visit and multiple other things which were mainly flirty comments and it was a headache and got to the point that when I got a letter from her I just tossed it in the fire. Despite all this though, I figured having a few businesses wouldn't be so bad since it was a way to use the gold in my vault and also have a good way to pass the time on some days.

These were the thoughts that were swirling around in my head as I sat in my private room in my own home with my back against the against the backrest of the couch as I enjoyed the peace and quiet with a good book. I took a breath knowing that these were worries that didn't really matter since they were just thoughts of hobbies that I could deal with at a later time. For now, though, I had other things to think about like how Brant had come so far in his ninja training for someone so young, my ninja felt it was time for him to be rewarded for all his efforts. It's because of this that tomorrow I intend to take him to the forge and allow him to enter my weapons vault where he will see if he's ready to wield at least one of the weapons within. I wasn't afraid though since I'd seen how hard he's trained and how hard he works to be able to make the family proud and be able to protect both himself and Chara from any threats that come after them. I know he wasn't my blood, but I was proud of him and I take great pride in him as if he were my own child by blood and knew that there had to be one weapon that would choose him. Tonight though, I was happy to just sit down and enjoy a bit of quiet time where nobody would bother me unless it was something important, but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was talking about me and planning something that would annoy me. (AN: Can't tell you all how many times I wished for this kind of moment during my lunch break.)

Grown Hills tribe

Nobodies POV:

In the village of the Grown Hills tribe, things were pretty quiet on the streets with everyone in their homes enjoying a quiet night in with the only people out being the guards and those on their way to the bath house for an evening soak. One person already in the bath, in a private bath reserved for none other than the chieftain's family and enjoying the hot waters of this bath is none other than Freya, the only daughter of chief Nigren and sister of Ulrik. She was enjoying a soak in the tub while thinking about Hiccup and knew that she'd have to up her game if she would stand even the smallest chance of becoming one of his wives. She sighed and lay her head against the edge of the bath while thinking about the life she would have with Hiccup if he'd only open his eyes and see how perfect she was.

She was beautiful with a great body, knew how to cook, how to handle business and money along with knowing how to keep misbehaving kids in line. If she were to marry him she'd finally have the life that she believed she truly deserved where she would have whatever she wanted with the snap of her finger. A truly wonderful life that's filled with glamorous parties with nobles, being showered with jewels and fine furs, a truly glamorous home filled with servants to tend to her every need and of course a handsome husband who would ensure her happiness. She sighed and sank into the water while thinking back to the gold she'd seen being loaded into those weird metal sharks by her father who claimed it was his share of the profits from both the Bath house and the ship shed. She knew that this was just a few gold coins compared to what Hiccup had in his vault and more was to come since everyday people would race to use the ship shed and people were lining up to use the bath house since it was so luxurious and relaxing after a long day.

This was proof to her that Hiccup had the potential to be a great business owner if he'd just open a few different building like the ship shed and bath house with different kinds of uses then he could easily amass a fortune from a single island where he set them up. If he were to expand his business' and build these sorts of buildings on other islands while charging the same amount her father does for entrance, then he'd make more money in a month than her entire tribe does in a year. Perfect for the man who she intends to make her husband but before she could do that, she needed to think of a way to make him take notice of her and gain what she believed to be her rightful position as one of his wives and slowly begin becoming his number one wife. With this in mind she, she sighed and closed her eyes while she began thinking of ideas to capture Hiccups attention, what she should put in her next letter to him and what her life will be back when she's finally claimed a position as his wife.

Morning

Hiccups POV:

Morning had come to my island and now I was standing in front of the golden dragon head in my forge with Brant at my side as he looked at me confused. I smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder as I said.

"Brant, you've come a long way in all your training and now you can no doubt take down the majority of human opponents like the slavers who took your birthparents who I know are proud of you and are looking down at you from Valhalla with smiles of pride." He smiled.

"To be honest I rarely think about my birth parents these days since being raised by both you and your various wives has made me a truly happy person dad." I smiled.

"Just don't forget those who gave you the sweet breath of life." He nodded.

"I never do but I know that I am who I am today thanks to you and the ninja masters who have taken the time and patience to train me."

"Don't sell yourself short Brant, you've come this far mostly due to your own efforts and determination which is why I've brought you into this room today." I gestured to the golden dragon forge. "Today, you will be allowed access to the weapon vault of the golden dragon where you have the chance to be chosen as the wielder of one of the weapons it holds but if none choose you then don't worry as there will come a day when one shall choose you." I could tell he was trying to be mature and stay still but I could easily see the excitement in his eyes, making me smile. "Now come on, I'll let you into the mystic weapons vault so we can see what kind of weapon or armor you get." He nodded as I walked up to the door and opened it before allowing Brant to walk in as I heard him whisper.

"I'll make you proud dad." With that said he walked in as I backed away, allowing the mouth of the dragon to close as I whispered.

"You already have son." With that I began waiting for my son in all but blood to come out.

Inside the golden dragon vault

Nobodies POV:

Brant wondered around the various displays showing different weapons and various types of armor while admiring the craftsmanship of each of them and knew his father had put in a lot of effort into each of them. The thing was he wasn't looking for something that wasn't too complicated since he was a simple kid who preferred the simpler things knowing it wasn't the power of the weapon that made it powerful but how one wields it. These were the thoughts wondered through his mind and it was then a weapons pedestal began glowing behind him, catching his attention. He turned and saw the pedestal was shining brightly before he made his way over to it before reaching towards the weapon and knew the weapon had chosen him since all the other items had blocked his hand with an invisible wall. He slowly took hold of the handle and felt a surge of power go through his body as a bond between him and the weapon that had chosen him as its wielder while knowledge of its abilities and how to use them filled his mind. When it finally stopped, he smiled at his new weapon and with it in hand, he walked out.

Hiccups POV:

I was leaning against the wall while whistling a tune to pass the time while I waited to see what type of weapon Brant would walk out with and it was then the muzzle of the dragon opened. I got off the wall and smiled at the sight of my boy walking out with a proud smile on his face but it was then my eyes landed on the weapon in his hand and I couldn't help but feel it was a bit poetic. In his hand was the first weapon I ever forged in the forge, a long spear with a collapsible pole, the first weapon I ever forged goes to the first son I ever had, even though he wasn't my own blood. (Chapter 248 is where the weapon was made) The reason I felt this was rather poetic is that when I molded the weapon into what it is today, I had helped mold Brant into the young man he is today and I couldn't be more proud of him. I walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder as I smiled and said.

"I knew you'd get a weapon worthy of you." He smiled. "Now why don't we go to the training room and see what my first creation can do with it being wielded by my first son?"

He smiled and followed me out of the room so we could begin his proper training with his new weapon but as we walked out, I caught sight of two leather bags and felt my heart clench a bit. These bags contained the remains of Pirus and Ventus, the dragon and phoenix turned into a pair of duel swords that eventually came to be in my possession before they were destroyed in the final battle against Akuhei. I had been meaning to melt the pieces down and forge them into a new set of swords, but I didn't have the heart since the spirits of the blades had left this realm when Akuhei destroyed them. I shook off my sadness and continued to lead Brant out of the room so we could get a better understanding of his new weapon and its capabilities.

Nightfall

Night had fallen over the island and with it came the silence of the evening that I had always used to reflect on the events of the day which had been eventful after Brant got his weapon. We had spent the entire day going over its abilities and these abilities would prove more than useful for my son when he's in battle which is a day I hope will not come for a long time. Anyway, the first ability I learnt it had was its ability to collapse the pole from its long spear form to make the pole as long as a short sword but make the pole remain as smooth as it always was so it didn't look collapsible. Along with this it could also pull the blade into the pole making it simply look like a non-lethal bo staff which'll come in handy when he's simply sparring with others. Along with this he can also summon the weapon back to his hand whenever he wills it, even at long distances but we were unsure of how far the distance would be before it couldn't be summoned.

Then there's the blade on the end of the pole and this blade was no joke since it had no trouble cutting through gronkle iron like a hot knife through yak butter but Brant could dull it, so it didn't kill but it did hurt and it did bruise. Along with this when it did cut, the blade could release a poison that leaves the victim paralyzed for an hour so a single cut and they're down for the count. The last ability I was shown this weapon possesses was how a large piece of the blade, starting at the tip could break off when stabbed into something and the blade would almost immediately grow it back like a lizard tail. As for the piece that had been broken off, that was where the real danger lies as it would remain there until Brant pulled it out and it had to be him since if anyone else tried to even get close to it, then it would sink in even deeper, eventually going right through the victim and impaling whatever was in its way while doing so. It could also extend to be as long as his forearm so he could turn the weapon from a spear, into a naginata which he'd proven to be more than skilled with. All in all it was a weapon that would serve my son well in future battles but I pray to every god and goddess I know that the battles would wait for when he was a fully grown adult, even though he'd already proven to be skilled with it in the training room.

As I lay there on the ground in my favorite clearing in the forest, looking up at the night sky through the branches of the trees, these were the thoughts that wondered through my mind. It was then a familiar red-haired girl leaned over my face and asked.

"What are ya doing out here Hiccup?" I sighed.

"Just doing some thinking Mebh." I then raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be a wolf right now?"

"I'm just out for a quick walk before heading home for a nighttime run and wanted to ask when we can get some fresh prey for the pack to hunt down?" It was then a voice said.

"The pack is getting wrestles without some sort of prey to hunt." I turned to see Robyne walking up to us.

"I intend to go on a hunt to capture some boar's tomorrow afternoon to give Brant a chance to practice with his new weapon." Mebh then asked.

"Is it true his new weapon came from that magic forge of yours?" I nodded.

"Yeah, and it has some pretty impressive abilities that will help in the hunt tomorrow."

"Think we could go in and get our own magic weapons?" I sighed and sat up.

"Maybe when you're older and have gone through extensive combat training with Bill and Moll's approval." I stood up. "Now you two should head back to your home since I'm sure the pack is getting restless from waiting for the both of you to lead them out this evening." They nodded and took off into the woods while I made my way back home for a goodnights sleep and wondering what challenges tomorrow and the future days held.

AN: And here's another chapter for you all to enjoy and yeah, I know it's not very exciting and pretty short but I'm doing my best to do a little less big time adventures and a bit more down time with peace but these peaceful ones aren't easy to make long chapters out of. Anyway, if you have more ideas for peaceful adventure time then please let me know and I will see if I can use it in the future chapters. By the way, I've been thinking about making a new list chapters with one having the names of the islands non-beast inhabitants like the wolf walkers to help people keep up if they forget who somebody is and another with the weapons from the golden dragon and who their wielders are. If you think I should, just let me know in a review and I will get to work on them immediately over the weekend and with that out of the way, till next time guys, have a nice day and remember to review.