The twelve labors of a Hiccup
7:The Cretan Bull
Hiccups POV:
It has been three days since I set sail from Athens two days after getting back from my trip which involved Cleaning out stables and fighting man eating birds and now I was once again on the sea but this time I was heading to Crete to take on a rampaging bull. The way I see it is this should be a breeze since a rampaging bull shouldn't be that hard to deal with since a simple poison arrow should take care of it and I'll be back on my ship before long. There was just one thing that bothered me and that was why people didn't do that in the first place since it was just an angry bull at the end of the day. Then again there was what Aetes told me about the bull that made me a little worried about what the bull would be like. He said according to his cousin this bull was a gift to king Minos from the greek god of the sea Poseidon. Before the bull however Minos decided in order to prove his claim to the throne, promised Poseidon that he would sacrifice whatever the god sent him from the sea. It was then Poseidon sent the bull to be sacrificed to him, but Minos thought it was too beautiful to kill, and so he sacrificed another bull. Poseidon was apparently furious with Minos for breaking his promise and has made the bull rampage all over Crete as vengeance for Minos's broken promise. I didn't believe that a bull could be so beautiful one wouldn't have the heart to kill it so I figured it would be easy to take down.
Since I was going there I figure I might as well take in a bit of the culture the city had to offer and maybe compete in one of their popular sports. This sport is known as bull-leaping, in which contestants grabbed the horns of a bull and were thrown over its back and try to do some acrobatics before landing on their feet. I figured I could give this a try since it sounded similar to what I did with my dragons for fun when they tossed me over their backs when we play wrestled. It was always fun but this was not going to be as easy. From what I've been told there have been a lot of injuries in these contents and even more deaths. I always did enjoy a challenge though. I absentmindedly rubbed Toothless' head as I watched the ocean go by and listened to the waves crash against the front of my ship. I always found the sound of the waves beating against my ship's hull relaxing for some reason and it always helped me think for some reason. It's one of the reasons I wanted to travel outside the archipelago so much since the waves always told me that there was so much more to the world and you'd never see any of it if you were stuck on one island. These thoughts just kept wondering around in my head so long that I hadn't even realised how close we were to the dry land.
Scaulders croon and small spray of sea water is what brought me out of my thoughts as we slowly made our way to a nearby beach. When we docked I hopped off my ship and walked up to Scaulder who rubbed his head into my chest as he crooned while I hugged his head and rubbed to top and said. "Thanks for the lift Scaulder. We'll be back in a bit since reconnaissance of the area won't take too long and if there are any villages nearby I'll see if we can get any information on the rampaging bull." He just crooned before pulling his head back as Toothless walked up behind me knowing we'd be flying soon. I turned around and smiled at him before I rubbed his head and said. "You ready to go bud?" He just gave a nod a growl before he leaned down to let me mount him. As soon as I was all set we took off around the area.
A quick flight around the area showed there was a city which, I would say about five miles away from here so we wouldn't be spotted and bothered. It was still light out so we would have plenty of time to go and explore the city and hopefully get more information on the bull. I might even be able to find where it was last seen and why nobody killed it but I'm guessing the reason was they believed it to be a gift from Poseidon. As I began to think about it a bit more I decided it would be best if I captured the bull and relocated it so I wouldn't get a lot of angry people after me for killing a gift from one of their gods. I knew I might be able to find the information I was looking for in the city. I just had to return to my ship and pick up some drachmas in case there was something that caught my eye in the city. Fortunately there was a small forest where me and Toothless could land and while I went into the city he could return the ship so he could pick me up at the end of the day.
Sundown
Me and Toothless just landed back on the beach where I had docked my ship with his saddle bags full of a few things which were mainly books about Crete cultures and cities while the maps were maps of the local areas of Crete where the bull had been seen. I had to say it was pretty interesting trip into that city and I learned a lot of things like the city was named Knossos and was home to king Minos and once was also home to a beast they called the minotaur. A creature which is said to have the body of a man and the head of a bull. They said this beast was kept by the king Minos in the labyrinth which is a building like a maze. Every year fourteen young people from the city of Athens were to be sent annually to Crete as a sacrifice to the Minotaur which got blood boiling at the thought of innocent people being condemned to such a cruel fate. Fortunately though I found out a couple of days ago it was killed by a man named Theseus which means I wouldn't have to worry about it as the beast was dead and nobody would have to worry about it ever again. I admit normally I wouldn't have paid too much attention to hearing much about such a beast not believing it would exist but then again I have faced some strange creatures since I arrived in Greece. On another note I was able to enter tomorrows bull leaping competition with a grand prize of five hundred drachmas. I didn't need the money but I do love a challenge and it will be good practice for dealing with the Cretan bull.
Morning
I was back in the city in the contestants waiting area waiting for my turn to do the bull-leaping and I have to say I was hoping my time leaping over my dragons would pay off. While I waited I saw multiple people go up against the bull and end up not only go over the bulls back but land on its back. This resulted in them riding the bull before being flung off onto the ground before they were dragged off to have their wounds taken care of. I remember seeing one guy not jump over the bull but be flung over the bull and land face first on the ground before the bull trampled him. When the bull handlers were able to get the bull off him it was amazing the guy was still alive which only made me more worried about the competition. I knew I just had to face the bull and think of it as an angry dragon which was charging right at me. Fortunately I have had a lot of experience with those from when I first set out to live with my dragons.
I just hoped it would pay off here with leaping over the bull because it was now my turn to take on the bull. I walked out into the arena where a large crowd was watching applauding and cheering for me. I saw the black bull on the other side of the arena in a pen banging against the gate. I gave the signal to release the bull before the bull handlers unlocked the gate and before they could walk away it slammed the gates and charged right at me. I ran right at the charging bull so I could get some speed and strength into my jump. As the bull got closer I prepared to take the bull by the horns to launch myself over its back. As we finally reached each other I quickly grabbed onto its horns and jumped as it threw its head back to throw me over its back. I flew what I would say was a good ten feet in the sky as I tucked my knees in and spun forward seven times before I began to descend to the ground I spun so my feet were facing the ground as I spun around and landed on my feet giving a quick sweep of my leg before I stood up as the crowd went wild for me while the bull handlers took the bull back into its pen. I just waved to the crowd as they applauded me before I walked into the contestants waiting area.
1 hour later
I was once again flying Toothless to my ship except this time his saddlebags had a large bag of gold drachmas. King Minos himself presented me with the gold and congratulated me on what he said was one of the most impressive things he's seen at these competitions. I shook his hand when I received my prize and asked him if he had any knowledge where the Cretan bull might be found. He was surprised at my question but never the less answered it which is how I know where I was going next. Me and Toothless would be leaving to take care of the bull as soon as I had dropped off my trophy and drachmas. I could only hope that the bull wouldn't be too big a challenge and I knew I also needed to pick up some ropes to restrain the bull while me and Toothless brought it back to the ship for relocation. It was a good thing the pens also had a caged up pen in case of angry animals that needed to be relocated. I put the drachmas in my chest with the rest of my cash and put the trophy in storage. After everything was sorted out me and Toothless were off again to take down the bull.
2 hours later
We were now flying over the area where the bull was last sighted looking for it. I gave Toothless a pat on the neck and asked.
"You see anything bud?"
He growled before shaking his head before facing forward again. I sighed before I looked over the area for the bull again until I heard what sounded like an angry roar of a wild boar. I looked towards the sound and saw something white running around. I had Toothless hover before I took out my spyglass to get a better look at what the thing was and realised it was the Cretan bull. I had Toothless fly us towards it and as we got closer I began to realise why nobody had tried to kill it since it was a very beautiful bull as far as I could tell and it was clearly as strong as a gronkle since it just knocked a tree over with a single ram. I had Toothless land us on a small hill next to it as I took the chain and a dagger with speed stinger venom in it so I could paralyze it. I gave Toothless a hand signal to stay where he was unless I signalled him otherwise before I went to face the bull.
I slowly approached it with the chains tied to my belt along with the dagger in its sheath. Once I was fifteen feet away from the bull it turned around to face me and let out a huff as it glared at me before it began to scrape its front right hoof against the ground. I knew this meant it was getting ready to charge at me. I got ready to fight it by taking the stand I normally did when I was getting ready to wrestle since I believed the best way to handle this problem was to take the bull by the horns. It was at that moment the bull began its charge at me and when it reached me it was easily half as strong as a filly grown gronkle. It kept pushing me back but I held onto the horns and refused to let go as if my life depended on it. My feet were firmly lodged to the ground as dirt began to pile up behind it as my feet ploughed the ground behind me making it rise up against the soles of my feet as I twisted the bulls head to the side to wrestle it to the ground. It collapsed on its side as we slid across the ground while I held tightly to the horns of the bull with one hand while I used the other to grab my dagger. The bull through its head back trying to make me let it go before it knocked the dagger out of my hands. I tried to grab the dagger but it was then the bull was able to throw me off allowing it to stand back up while I quickly went for my dagger. When I turned around the bull was once again charging at me as I pulled the pommel of my daggers handle off the bull was just about to trample me when I flung the speed stinger venom from the handle into its face. I then watched as the bull quickly froze in place unable to move due to the venom taking effect. I smiled before I crawled out from under it and stood up before sheathing my dagger and taking out the chain to tie the bulls legs together so it wouldn't be able to move when the venom wears off.
Morning the next day
The bull was caged and we were on the open sea once again at last since I was once again celebrated after a nearby farmer saw me with the restrained bull. To say they were happy to see the bull go would be an understatement since the bull kept wrecking their crops and attacking their homes. They threw a big feast in my honour which lasted three hours before I was able to leave and they gave me a bronze bust of a bulls head to commemorate my deed. It wasn't easy in the village since like every other time I did something incredible the girls of the villages swarmed me. I did appreciate the gift and the food they gave me but I was happy to get out of there to get away from the women. The poison had worn off shortly after I got the bull in the cage and it was not too happy about being caged. It started ramming the bars trying to get out but it yielded no results except annoying my cattle on the other side of the ship.
Presently I was on the top deck enjoying the sound of the waves when Toothless nudged my side as he crooned to get my attention. I turned to him and saw a look in his eyes which I could easily recognise. He wanted to go for his morning flight over the ocean like we always did when traveling. I smiled before I mounted him and said.
"Let's fly bud?"
Before we took off from the deck and began our flight. As we flew I just closed my eyes and smiled at the feeling of freedom flying gave me, enjoying the wind in my face as it whistled through my ears. That was until I heard screaming from above me before something fell on Toothless at my front. I looked at what landed in front of me and saw a young man I would say in his twenties with what appeared to be fake wings that looked to be falling apart on his arms. He looked at me and gave a scared smile before he said.
"Hello sir. How are you today." As he was saying this Toothless was already taking us down to the ship.
When we landed I dismounted Toothless but kept a hand on my sword and my eyes on the guy with wings. Toothless also never stopped staring at the guy as I drew my sword and pointed it towards the stranger before I asked.
"Who are you?" Before he could answer a voice from behind me said.
"His name is Icarus." I turned around to face the voice and jumped back because there was a man with wings like the other guy only his wings were in good condition and he seemed to be in his fifties. He walked towards me but kept his eyes on Toothless as he said. "I thank you for the life of my son sir. My name is Daedalus and if you don't mind me asking who are you and what is that creature behind you." I kept my eyes on Daedalus.
"My name Heracles and the creature behind me is Toothless. My nightfury dragon. Now may I ask your sons reason for crashing into me?" Icarus rubbed his head.
"Well you see I flew too close to the sun and it wrecked my wings." I just nodded before Daedalus walked up to me.
"I don't suppose you've heard about me?" I simply glared.
"Oh I know all about you Daedalus. You are a genius inventor and one of the greatest sculptors of Greece. You were also banished from Athens for murdering your nephew." He looked down in what I could tell was genuine shame.
"The murder of my nephew is something I will eternally regret until the day I am to face Hades. I let my jealousy of my nephew take control of me when I should have felt pride knowing how brilliant my nephew was." I could tell he truly did regret what he did to his nephew so I decided to give him a chance after all I was curious about his creations.
"Okay I believe you but could you please explain the wings?" He sighed.
"You might want to sit down. It's a long story." I took a seat against Toothless who just glared at the father and son while my hand never left my sword.
Night fall
After Daedalus told me about how king Minos had him and Icarus imprisoned in a tower by Minos who had become jealous of the secret of the labyrinths construction. He wanted to make sure that no one else would ever have access to Daedalus or his inventions. The tower wasn't enough to hold them though. Daedalus created the wings which allowed him and Icarus to escape. These wings were made with feathers, but were glued together with wax however these wings had two exceptions which were if you too low you would soak the feathers and cause you to fall and if you made the mistake Icarus made and flew too high, the sun would melt the wax causing the wings to fall apart. After that we started talking a bit more me being a fellow inventor and artist. For saving his sons life he even offered to tell me the secrets of the labyrinth which he believed to be his greatest creation. We then began to discuss different ideas we had and I had to say it was nice to discuss things like this with a fellow inventor since there weren't that many in the archipelago. They even helped me complete some designs I had on my ship which I drew up while I travelled and if all went well these designs would really help me out in the future especially this one invention for a flaming sword I was planning to make to help me train dragons. In the end I offered him and Icarus a lift to Sicily where they could hide from Minos who would no doubt want them back and they accepted my offer. We would be there in two days at this speed and when we got there I would leave them with a bit of gold to last them for a few days.
Two days
We had just arrived on Sicily at the city of Catania and I was now saying goodbye to Daedalus and Icarus. I had to admit in the time I was with them it felt good to be able to talk to someone who I could discuss my inventions with. As we stood on the dock I looked at Daedalus and said.
"I know it hasn't been long but I really have enjoyed our time together. It was nice to have someone to talk to about my inventions and not insult me or be completely confused by my creations." He smiled and put his hand on my shoulder.
"Never let those who insult you get the better of you Heracles. It's our type of people who are paving the way for a better future and advancing mankind. Just remember if you ever need help with anything I will be more than happy to help and all you have to do is come and find me. I'll still be here in Sicily."
I smiled at him before we said our final goodbyes before I took left on my ship. As we left my eyes never left Catania until it was nothing more than a tiny spec in the distance. Once it was fully out of sight I walked away to check on the livestock.
Nightfall
The Cretan bull was still pretty angry and kept smashing its head against the bars whenever I was checking on them. I was just grateful it only did this when I was nearby or it could end up really hurting itself. It was when I entered my room that I was surprised to find somethings left on my desk. When I unfurled the first one that was addressed to me I saw it to be a message to me from Daedalus which read. Dear Heracles as a father I can never thankyou enough for saving my sons life but as a fellow inventor and artist I offer you this as a small sign of my gratitude. Best regards Daedalus. I put the note down and couldn't help but smile at the kindness of the elderly man before I went over what he left me. He left me the designs for the labyrinth with a message attached which read 'In case you ever need to hide something incredibly valuable and a vault is not secure enough'. The other was instructions on how to make statues that are so life like that people will think they are real. I had seen some of his statues like this and I admit they were so lifelike that they had literally been chained to the ground.
4 days later
We had arrived back in Greece yesterday and were now in the process of finishing off the bulls relocation. I had picked a nice isolated area where full of grassy planes for the bull to graze and no human civilizations for hundreds of miles. I had the bull paralyzed with speed stinger venom before putting it into a portable cage I had in the my ships storage. Me and Toothless had left the ship which was docked on the island early in the morning just before sunrise so we wouldn't be spotted relocating the bull by air. Presently we were flying over the clear field with nothing to see but grass lands for miles and that was from the sky. I had Toothless land before I looked around the area and smiled before I said.
"I really think the bull is going to like it here. Plenty of space to run around and nobody to bother him." I then turned around to face the cage where the bull was beginning to recover from the poison since its head was beginning to shake around a bit. I opened up the cage and gently pulled the bull out of the cage before setting it down on the grass and turning to Toothless. "Well that solves the problem of the Cretan Bull for now." He just gave a growl and nodded before he picked up the cage and we were off again.
3 hours later
I was now walking down the streets of Athens once again to head to Aetes and inform him that the Cretan bull would no longer be a problem for the people of Crete. I entered the forge to see him lighting the forge for the first time today but stopped when he heard me walking in. He turned to face me and smiled before saying.
"I take it you killed the bull?" I shook my head.
"No. I didn't have the heart to kill it. It really is beautiful and besides it was said to have been a gift from Poseidon and the last thing I want is to anger a god."
"Good call my friend. By the way I feel it only right to warn you that while you were away word got around about putting that arrogant king in place after completing a challenge which was said to be impossible and your little fight with the Stymphalian birds. You're going to be swarmed as soon as people find out your back." I let out an annoyed sigh.
"I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever have a peaceful day here in Athens." Aetes just chuckled.
"That's the price you pay for being a hero and handsome man my friend. You become an idol to children, a role model for warriors and the ideal man to women. Now let's get to work." I just nodded before getting to work with Aetes.
AN:Hey guys I hope you enjoyed the chapter because there's still five more labours to go before Hiccup returns to Berk for a while. Also there's a poll that I would like answered and it will be closed after the next chapter is posted after which a new poll involving Hiccups island will be posted. Until then please review kindly. Thank you.
