CHAPTER 28: Visitor

It had only been a matter of hours since the Ancients marched onto the island. With their presence fully on the island as the annexation took place, occupying the island, with all of the jubilant local vikings from before still applauding and hugging them, a large boat was emerging on the shores of the annexed island. This boat had a few smaller boats sailing besides it almost as if they were protecting the left and right flank.

As this mysterious boat came up to the sandy shores, the bulk of the village had been taken over and occupied. Some of the Ancients had already started rounding up certain vikings to place them under a detained status until further notice, and all of it was done behind the doors so as to not ruin the perception of the jubilant vikings clapping their arrival.

These rounded up vikings from the island, rounded up mercilessly by the Ancients as they went hut from hut looking for unvikings, were firmly kept within their huts and then subsequently marked with a coat of black paint on their torsos with a big X, so as to mark them. The X markings that the Ancients painted on the bare torso of the rounded up Northern Market vikings, after forcing them to take off their gear, were intended to make it easier to identify them as they came under the 'unvikings' banner.

And after that point, they'd only be kept in their huts for however long, much like Kurt the Kourageous was being kept inside the hall, until further notice. But the X black paint markings were intended to be markers of those deemed as unvikings.

One criteria that the Ancients decided to utilize in identifying an unviking was obviously those vikings who opposed their arrival, who opposed their ideology, and so on. But another criteria that the Ancients decided to use in identifying who was an unviking was physical incapabilities. For example, any viking who was injured to the point they were missing either an arm or a leg from a past battle or just an injury which caused them a loss in some area.

The Ancients concluded that any viking with a physical disability was extremely prone to being unvikings because their inability to fully incorporate, as they saw it, into the viking life, would only serve to be weakness that'd enable the rise of vikings like Drago and Grimmel again. No viking, in their view, can be vikings that can prevent that sort of rise if they're physically limited, irrespective of whether they agreed with Yurlin's ideology or not.

After all, Drago Bludvist himself was missing an arm. But the Ancients hadn't used that as the main foundation for their decision - they just genuinely believed vikings with physical disabilities, in being unable to live the viking lifestyle as they should, were completely at risk of ensuring a repeat of the rise of someone like Drago or Grimmel.

Whether it be women, kids, or fathers on the Northern Market island, the vikings the Ancients had unfairly and without justification identified in their opinions as 'unvikings' were forced to take off their upper gear, exposing themselves to the cold, so they could paint a black x on their chests as a form of marker. This was only just the start - the annexation was set to escalate the treatment of the 'unvikings' by the regime of Alfa Yurlin to a greater degree.

The giant boat on the shores of the Northern Market island had hit the shore. The smaller wooden boats around it were suddenly leaking with sprinting Ancient vikings, eagerly rushing their way to the back entrance of the giant boat, splashing their gear in the process as they ran through the shallow waters.

They looked like the delegation of council vikings assigned with the job of guarding the leader, Yurlin himself. It was surprising to see them here for the simple fact that no indication was given of Yurlin potentially arriving here - it was unlikely the Ancient Chieftan was actually going to come here especially during the course of his annexation.

But the big back entrance of the boat opened, surrounded by dozens of guard vikings as their boots were submerged halfway into the shallow sea waters leading up to the island. Emerging from the boat, along with a circled formation around him of Ancients, was none other than Alfa Yurlin himself. The big prominent leather coat stood out among his guards giving him a clear distinction.

The Ancient Chieftan had heard of the jubilant response from a good portion, not all, but a good portion of the Northern Market vikings here at the arrival of his vikings, which even surprised him. So much so that he'd decided to take his chances and have a walk around of the island, in light of the relatively positive response his vikings received. Had the response been much more resistant he wouldn't have bothered for safety reasons.

Plus, he wanted to come here to formally declare the annexation, that this island was to become a province of Ancient Island. For the first time in history a tribe on the archipelago was going to be just more than one island, totally unprecedented.

Yurlin hopped his boots into the shallow waters, dragging the lower parts of his black leather coat through the water in the process. He wasn't bothered at all. The Ancient Chieftan slowly walked his way through the shallow shores up to the emergence of numerous huts, albeit he couldn't see them that well given the huge entourage of Ancient vikings around him, including in front.

Five minutes had passed and Yurlin, with his entourage of vikings, emerged within the central village walking around. His palms were crossed together behind his back as if he was taking a casual stroll - he studied every single hut, looking each one up and down as he walked past them. Part of the reason why he couldn't quite see the huts around him that well, alongside the entourage, was because of the huge cheers of a good number of Northern Market vikings.

The Ancient Chieftan was very tightly surrounded by his entourage, but he could hear cries of joy from the local vikings on the island as they struggled to get a look at Alfa Yurlin. He waved his arms at the cheering vikings as he continued forward. Much like his original flock of troops before, heaps of flowers were being thrown his way and a good chunk of the vikings were just desperately tugging among themselves to get as close as they could to Yurlin.

He was genuinely surprised, much more than his troops were earlier, at this reaction. It had given him an even bigger boldness for the future, because if vikings were reacting this way to him 'liberating' their island, he felt he could get away with the same action elsewhere and get a positive reaction for it.

He continued smiling and waving at the hundreds of sweaty vikings around the entourage, as he headed for the hall. Upon arriving at the building, with its vast size and its level of importance, he stopped and took a look. Studying the structure, once again with his hands behind his back as he walked, he looked incredibly curious and intrigued. It was just a hall, but given the island just now had been annexed, Yurlin took the opportunity to study as much of the infrastructure on the island as possible before heading back home.

As he looked at the hall, with his entourage vikings still tightly around him for security, and with the sound of cheering vikings, the ones from this island who'd secretly supported his ideology, Yurlin couldn't help but think in his head about how much he'd got done in just a matter of a short time since becoming Chieftan of his tribe. It made him crack a smile at the hall itself as he continued looking at the building.

He'd only been Chieftan of the Ancient Tribe for 5 years. He was 35 years old at this point, not much older than Hiccup. In that five years, he'd smashed his tribe's original institutions as a pacifist, quiet unknown tribe and turned it into a machine intent on conquering the enemy of his ideology, Drago Bludvist, and in the process, sorting out the undesirables known as the 'unvikings', to which Yurlin genuinely believed it to be his destiny to deal with them.

And in doing all of this, he'd not only built a name for himself, to the same sort of fame as Drago himself and Grimmel, he'd also given his tribe a reputation as one to not be messed with, something the Ancient vikings themselves were very prideful of, particularly now that his tribe was bullying and making territorial demands.

And the best part of it all for Yurlin, in his goal to ensure the 'First Tribe' as he proclaimed it, went on for thousands of years from now, was that he was going to be Chieftan well into his 70s, 80s, 90s. He knew this was to be the rest of his life. He felt he was the man set to lead the charge in returning the world to how it was seven generations ago, and he absolutely wanted to be alive to see the battle between his tribe and the Warlords happen, to which he was under the full impression that he'd come out on top, and with it, the much needed living space he sought.

He first started this journey when he was just 25 years old ten years ago, right on the day after Grimmel had fallen to his death in the ocean at the hands of Hiccup. He'd written his 'The Solution' book that night venting his anger at the state of the world, and the archipelago, and who he blamed for all of it, and the journey had culminated in him becoming the most feared viking on the archipelago since the likes of Drago and Grimmel.

All of this caused Yurlin to smile as he looked at the hall. More than ever, he felt like his whole life now was devoted to seeing his cause through, for, in his belief, the better of the archipelago and ultimately, the world.

Similarly set up like when he made his declaration at Ancient Island, Yurlin was stood on a big wooden platform in the village of the Northern Market island, directly in front of the hall doors. He was completely surrounded by his group of Ancient viking guards. Those Northern Market vikings who disagreed and hated Yurlin had long fled the island in the cold seas, as did their children on those small wooden boats. The island was set to be declared a province of the Ancient Tribe, essentially absorbed into the tribe itself.

"As leader and Chieftan of my tribe, the Ancient Tribe, I can now announce history, of many firsts to come on this archipelago - the entry of this island as the new bastion of the Ancient Tribe, the First Tribe!" yelled Yurlin.

His echoing monstrous power of a voice had broken across the air like a tornado. The hundreds of remaining Northern Market vikings cheered and roared with pleasure at the declaration made by who was now technically their own Chieftan.

"You know," continued Yurlin, making various hand gestures as he spoke from the thrust of his throat, "many will claim that we embarked upon this 'take over' as they call it with brutal methods. I couldn't disagree more. Shortly after my troops and myself entered upon this island, we were met with a collection of cheers and love that I hadn't ever experienced before other than from my own vikings. In the course of my struggles in this journey I have won over the love of my vikings, and the reaction we have received today from you all shows more than ever how right I was in embarking on this. Not as a brutal madman as some overseas view me as, but as your liberator and your savior."

The cheers continued growing as Yurlin finished.

"Our enemies call it a takeover, I call it the first step towards peace and liberation. I will be more than happy, as Ancient leader and Chieftan, to walk the soils of this island as my vikings will as we become one, as a free Ancient viking. The seas may separate our two islands, but from this day forwards we are aligned and one, this island is now Ancient Island as much as ours!"

"OUR..." yelled Yurlin, raising his hand up in a salute towards the crowd.

"YURLINN!" replied the crowd, returning the salute.

"OUR!"

"YURLINNNN!"

The cheers broke out across the vicinity as the chants from Yurlin and the crowd broke out. Inside the hall an isolated Kurt the Kourageous could hear Yurlin's voice as the Ancient Chieftan chanted with them. He knew shortly he was set to be deported as he saw it, to Ancient Island, for a fate that was so unpredictable that he couldn't care less, he obviously cared about his life but he felt defeated.

All he could do was be prideful internally of the fact he did everything he could to prevent this happening to his island. It wasn't his island anymore now, it was Ancient Island, a province state, and he was now merely a prisoner on what was declared by Yurlin as Ancient Tribe territory.