Chapter 57

Hiccups POV:

It's been three weeks since the Haddock family reunion and I am pleased to say that these three weeks have been nice and peaceful. I haven't had any problems since my relatives left along with the merchants and in that time, I've been able to do some things I've been meaning to do since I got back. I had finally able to sort all my Arabian treasures into their proper places and I have to say they made fine additions to my collection. I had also been able to move my flute and scimitar throwing knives into their proper places in the armory. Besides that, I had made some renovations like on the small island I had built some docks along with making a stone path way to the oasis that also circled it but gave enough room on either for the merchants to set up. I figured it would help make life a little easier for those who were there to do business by giving them a place to park their ships and traveling through the desert easier. I had also made some alterations to my training room by making a large indent in the wall and turning it into a built-in cupboard for my training mirror which I had been spending a lot of time practicing in since I wanted to improve my skills and fighting imaginary opponents can only get you so far. I had also been researching my crystal map table so I could plan out my next trip but I had a feeling it was going to be a while before I traveled again since I just wanted a little down time to relax and possibly look for more old ship wrecks to loot. I just hoped this peace wasn't the calm before the storm so I didn't have to worry about anything.

Presently I was just lying down on a kline by my pool just enjoying the sunlight along with the peace and quiet. I had recently been going over plans to explore an old ship graveyard which I am happy to say was eel free. Still I figured before I did any of that I should just enjoy a little me time. To be honest I rather missed doing stuff like that since I'm always on some journey to a new place to learn about some new culture. I admit if I found treasure from looting the sunken ships then I would collect them for my vault but what I was really hoping to find was more dragon eye lenses and I'd hopefully find them on one of the ships. I just hoped that if I didn't find them I'd at least find something else worth bringing back besides treasures. I sat up and stretched my arms knowing I wouldn't be able to get anything done if I just lounged around all day so I figured it best I get ready for the trip now and gather up my sea exploration team.

4 hours later

We had just docked in the center of the ship graveyard and I was preparing to get into my diving bell so we could begin checking out the undersea wreckages. On my team were my scauldrens, Zap and Ray, Coral, Toothless and Kal. I was looking down at the water ready to see what was down there but I hoped it would be something worth taking back with me. I took off my boating armor and got into my diving bell before I signaled Toothless to let it drop and I was on my way to the bottom of the ocean. I looked out the window as I sank and was glad to see no predators that would try and make a meal out of me but then again with my dragons I doubt they'd come near me. When we reached the bottom, I saw multiple old shipwrecks and I had to say if I was right than this place was going to be a literal gold mine. I smiled before putting my mask on and jumping into the water where my dragons and Kal were waiting for me.

3 hours later

I was back in the bell being pulled back onto my ship and I had to say this trip had both been very lucrative but at the same time disappointing. On one hand I found a ton of treasures for my vault but on the other hand I didn't find any new dragon eye lenses. All the treasures were now in my ships hold except for the ones I had with me on my diving bell or in my dragons' mouths. When we breached the surface, I had my dragons drop off the treasure they were carrying onto the deck so I could begin putting it in the storage hold. When I was done I was surprised that my ship was still floating with the amount of treasure in its hold now and I had to say when I got back to my island I had a whole lot of gold to sort through. It was as I went through the stuff I had collected I was glad I had enlarged my vault into rooms to sort all of my stuff. When I got back to the top deck I put my armor back on and had my scauldrens begin to pull the ship back home so we could unload the treasure and begin to sort it.

Half an hour later

I saw another ship in the distance and told my dragons to dive and for Toothless to head down into the storage hold in case they passed us and saw my dragons before trying to kill them. As we got closer to their ship I took notice of their flag that was a black one with a white Viking helmet and two swords crossed behind it. I had the feeling that this meant big trouble if the crew on board holding their weapons up and yelling in joy was any indication and it was too late to turn around without crashing the ships into each other. When we were right next to each other they tossed grappling hooks onto my ship and pulled our ships together before a big man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail and a small beard yelled.

"YOUR SHIP IS NOW THE PROPERTY OF CAPTAIN JOHN RAVEN SO SURRENDER NO AND WE'LL LET YOU LIVE TO TELL THE TALE!"I took out my sword and unfolded my shield before I yelled back.

"I DON'T GIVE UP SO EASILY SO SORRY BUT I'M NOT LETTING YOU HAVE MY SHIP WITHOUT A FIGHT!"

"SO BE IT!" He turned to the men on the ship. "MEN BEGIN BOARDING AND KILL ANYONE ON BOARD!"

They began to drop gangplanks and walking across onto my ship as I prepared for a fight. As one made his way to the end of the gangplank I ran up and sliced his leg making him fall down onto the deck paralyzed. I turned my attention to the men who just made it onto my deck and had begun charging at me. I charged towards them with my weapons ready as one swung his sword at me I ducked and hit him in the stomach with my shield before I used it with the momentum to fling him over my head into the guy who had just hopped on deck from the gangplank I was just in front of. I ducked under an axe before passing underneath the guy and kicking him in the back and head first into the mast. Another guy brought his sword down on me but I stepped out of the way before hitting him in the face with my shield knocking him out cold. Another man came at me but as he brought his sword down I swung my sword up to meet his and as expected his sword was snapped in two before I delivered a hard punch to the face knocking him back into his fellow crew member who while pushing him out of the way gave an opportunity to give him a cut leaving him paralyzed. As he fell to the floor I dodged another one's axe swing and delivered a quick uppercut knocking him back into the ships railing. I then jumped onto the boardwalk and used my shield to bash a man in the face sending him back into his friend before hopping back off and flipping the gangplank into the waters to make sure no more could use it to get across. I then turned around and ducked under the sword of another man before grabbing his arm and throwing him into the rail before taking his head and slamming it into the rails knocking him out cold. I turned around and asked.

"WHO'S NEXT?" I looked around and found every man I saw laying on the ground unconscious or paralyzed before I heard footsteps and turned to see the captain walking across the gangplank with his sword drawn.

"I believe that would be me." He smiled at me as I smiled back.

"You sure you want to go up against me since as you can see your crew stood no chance." He pointed his sword at me.

"I believe you will find me a far greater challenge than my men."

We then charged at each other with our swords at the ready before we met with our swords hitting each other causing the metallic clink. For a few seconds it was just us using our strength to try and claim the upper hand before I pushed our blades down towards the ground surprising the captain giving me the opportunity to hit him in the face with my shield. He stumbled back before rubbing his chin and smiling at me before he said.

"Impressive!"

"Thanks, but don't think that'll stop me from beating you." I charged at him and swung my sword at him but he blocked it.

"I have an offer for you my boy." He pushed me back.

"Does it involve your surrender?" He chuckled as we began to circle each other.

"Amusing but no for you see I'm in need of a new first mate and I'd say you fit the position." I swung my sword at him as he dodged.

"And why would I want to work for you?" He thrust his sword towards me but I stepped aside and tried to strike him but he ducked out of the way.

"I can promise you a lot of money and if that doesn't suit your desires then I can arrange to give you a woman of your taste who will do whatever you order her to." I blocked another swing with my sword.

"I've got more than enough gold for myself and if you're referring to giving me a slave that's been beaten so bad that her mind is broken than you can forget it since a broken girl is not my type." He smiled.

"Oh but you see my dear boy I've got a more effective way of turning the girls into what I need for my customers." Now this caught my interest as we circled each other.

"What do you mean by that." He smiled at me as we circled each other.

"As you can guess my dear boy I make my living as a slave trader and gain more merchandise by looting ships like yours." I could tell when he said merchandise he was referring to people. "You see once I retrieve some new merchandise I use my pet to give them a better understanding of their new place in life." I took a swing at him but he blocked it with his sword.

"Your pet?" He smiled.

"A species of dragon known as Changewings with the ability to hypnotize people." I was shocked at the thought of this man having a dragon. "I captured it a few months ago and have it chained up on the lower deck where I have my men chain up the prisoners to be turned into obedient slaves."

"So you use that dragon to turn good people into mindless slaves who don't fight back?"

"Exactly!" He chuckled. "Pretty smart ay?" I glared at him and charged at him.

"More like disgusting and I'm going to put an end to it if it kills me."

I swung my sword as hard as I could knocking the sword out of his hand before delivering a strong punch to the gut making him lean over in pain as I grabbed his head and slammed his face into my knee knocking him out cold. When he was out cold I cut him to leave him paralyzed while I got to work on doing the same with his crew. Once I was done I used every bit of rope and chains I had to tie every crewmember up and throw them back onto their ship. As soon as that was done I called Toothless up who was all to eager to make sure I was all right. He was happy to see me fine if his licks were any indication before I told him I needed him to guard the prisoners. He growled in understanding as I got my sword and shield ready in case there were any more crewmembers to deal with on the lower decks. I walked down to the lower deck to check for any hostages and the changewing.

When I reached the lower deck, I began looking around and found cells but they were all empty. Once I reached the back I made it to the back I found three doors with two on either side of the walls and one against the back wall. I decided to check out the room on the left side first and used my sword to push open the door in case of traps. I'm glad to say there were none and when I entered I didn't understand why since there was a tone of treasure in there. I decided I would go through the treasure another time since I still had to check the other rooms for any more trouble. I walked to the other door on the right wall and found it to be the food storage so nothing interesting but as I turned back outside I noticed a trapdoor on the floor. I didn't notice it before since there was no handle but a gap at the top to lift the door open and when I did I heard voices. I walked down the steps to find a large room full of woman who were on their knees, lined up next to each other with their hands tied behind their back and staring ahead. I looked at the end of the room and saw a changewing chained to the floor with a muzzle holding its mouth shut as it used its hypnotic gaze on the woman. I then noticed a man with a hook hand, strong chin and bald standing next to the changewing with his arms crossed and smiling as he said.

"My duty is to serve and obey!" Then the women repeated it and I realized he was turning them into slaves as he said. "I am nothing more than a loyal slave to the master that buys me!" As the women repeated I snuck up to him. "I am-" I cut him off saying.

"About to get a broken nose!" He turned to me only to meet my fist in the face slamming him into the wall unconscious as I turned to the changewing who was looking at me in fear and when I saw the scars I understood why. "Easy there big guy I'm here to help you but first set the women free." He growled before turning back to the woman and before I knew it they were all blinking and groaning as one asked.

"What happened?" I looked at all of them.

"Don't worry everything will be alright but for now I'm going to cut you all free and you're all going to need to wait up on the top deck." One asked.

"And why should we trust you?"

"Because I just took down the captain and crew who were intending to use a changewing to turn you all into mindless slaves."

She looked down in fear hearing the fate that she would've suffered as I walked around cutting them free before I sent them to the top deck. Once I had made sure they were all alright I walked out of the room promising the changewing I'd be back for it when everything else had been settled. He just growled and looked at me with sad eyes as I gently pet his head and said.

"Don't worry I'll do my best to be quick." He just crooned and turned to the chains holding him. "I'm sorry but I let you out now then the women might try to kill you as you escaped." He just looked down but I lifted his muzzle. "It's not forever pal just until I'm able to get the women home."

He just looked down as I gave him one more pat on the head and left to explore the last room. When I got to the last room I opened it and found myself in a bedroom that I believe was the captain's quarters. There was desk on the right side with a large book in the center surrounded by gold coins and jewels, next to it was a bookshelf holding a few books and small statues, a built in bed built into the back wall with the captains portrait hanging above it, on the wall opposite to the book case was a map of an island I recognized as one that was home to a large town known as Traders Paradise which was home to many traders who had set up many stores there. I had been meaning to visit there at some point but right now my focus was on the young girl who was lounging on the bed staring at me. She had long black hair with blue eyes that were almost blank. She was wearing a regular outfit that you would see on any normal Viking girl before she asked.

"Do you have the new clothes my master wishes me to wear for his pleasure?"

"Excuse me?"

"My master said he would send someone with clothes that were more appropriate for his new bedroom slave."

"Bedroom slave?"

"My duty is to serve an obey my master and tend to all his bedroom desires."

I felt sick to my stomach hearing this knowing that I might have been too late to save this girl before I remembered reading how to snap someone out of their hypnotized state if it hadn't been more than a day. I raised my fingers in front of her face and began to snap my fingers in front of her face and kept saying.

"Come on snap out of it!" She began to blink a few times before she closed her eyes for a few seconds and then opened them up and looked around.

"Where am I?" She turned to face me and crawled back onto the bed. "Who are you?" I put my hands up and slowly backed away.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." She snorted.

"Last guy who said that to me kidnapped me and locked me in a room with a changewing."

"Is that the last thing you remember?"

"Yeah it is before everything went black." I sighed before pulling out my sword making her lean up against the wall in fear.

"I'm not going to hurt you and to prove my point." I tossed my sword in front of her and she quickly grabbed it. "You now hold my weapon and can keep it to my back as I lead you to the top deck where the other prisoners are waiting." She just glared at me as I turned around and began walking out of the room before I heard her following behind me.

Three hours later

The island where the town of Traders Paradise could be found and also where all the women came from. Once the girl and I were able to get to the top deck I was able to find out where all these women came from and how they came to be captives on the ship. They were all members or guests of the town of Traders Paradise and were just enjoying a festival. Their kidnappers apparently posed as simple travelers before kidnapping the women under the cover of night after knocking the men out with some form of poison. When I explained to the plans their kidnappers had for them none of them were happy, especially the girl who I discovered was the chiefs' daughter and found out what the captain intended to do with her.

Presently the women were now all on my ship with me while their kidnappers were on their own ship being towed behind up as we made our way to the island. I knew the women would be happy to be back home safe and sound and I knew their families would be happy to have them back while I could use this opportunity to do some business in the market. When we got close I saw a large crowd of armed warriors waiting for us. I could tell they were not happy to see the ship I'm towing back again since the last time it was here it sailed off with some their women as captives. When we docked a man, who rivaled my father in size with a black beard and short hair walked to the front of the crowd with a sword in hand as he said.

"I am chief Trecker and if you've come to steal more of our women then you won't live to see tomorrow."

"I'm not here to take any of your women but to return the ones who were taken."

I stepped aside before the women who were on my ship ran down the gangplank to meet their friends and families. I smiled at the sight of Chief Trecker hugging his daughter in joy before he put her down and looked at me.

"I can't thank you enough for this lad but where are those no good pirates who stole my people?"

"You'll find them tied up on their own ship but don't expect any talking or movement from them."

"Why is that?"

"I used speed stinger venom to paralyze them so they should be unable to move for at least another four hours." He nodded.

"Can you dock the ship?"

"Sure and don't worry about searching for any escaped crew members since I searched the entire ship and dragged them all to the top deck." He nodded before his daughter asked.

"What about the dragon they were using?"

"I'll take care of it since I've got experience with its species and know what to do with it." She nodded before I got on board my own ship and began the process of bringing the pirates ship into dock.

Nightfall

Every crewmember of the pirates ship was now locked up and their ship had been looted completely and among the things found was a logbook of every tribe they had stolen from and where the people they sold could be found. Fortunately there were a few members from the tribes visiting the island to do trade. They would take the information back to their tribes to help get their people back and while this was happening Chief Trecker offered me the ship as a reward but I told him I had enough ships so he told me I could take whatever I wanted from it. I took the portrait of the captain along with his sword and the ships flag as trophies along with some books for my library. As an added bonus as a thank you for returning their wives and daughters the merchants allowed me to have whatever I wanted for free. By the end of the day my cargo had more than a few new books and a few barrels of food even though I still had plenty but it didn't hurt to be safe. The changewing was also in my storage hold with Toothless keeping an eye on him till we could get home and properly tend to his wounds most of which would leave scars sadly.

Now we were closing in on our island and I had to say I was glad since I now had a whole lot of treasure, books and a new arrival to unload. Once we were docked as expected my dragons and animals that were happy to see us back safely. I had opened the door to the storage before I lead our new guest to the dragon stables to tend to his wounds. It gave me ideas to build in a dragon infirmary in the stable but for now I would just have to settle with putting him in one of the free nests in the forest pen next to Angel who would keep him company until he was better. Once he was settled in I went and got some gels I made that were used to heal cuts and bruises and I admit they sting like a hornet but heals well. As I applied the gel to his wounds Angel comforted him as the gel stung his wounds making him struggle and wince in pain. When all the gel was applied to the wounds I walked up to the front of his head and said.

"You're going to need some rest and going to have some scars but other than that you should be fine with enough time." He just crooned as I patted his head. "Just rest for now and while I go get you something to eat Angel will keep you company." He crooned once more and lay his head down as I turned to Angel. "Watch over him girl!" She just nodded and curled up next to him while I went and got our new guest some fish.

One week later

I was enjoying a drink of water and a book in my desert gazebo going over the past week in which not much has happened since my encounter with the pirates. I had turned the guest room that was next to my trophy room into another trophy room for the pirate trophies since I had the feeling I was going to encounter more of them in the future. The portrait of the captain now hung on the wall wile underneath it on the wall was his sword and on a pedestal beneath a glass frame was his ships flag. I had a feeling I'd be getting a whole lot more trophies for this room since if word of what I collect spread then I'd be a major target for them. I had also built a room that was connected to the dragon stables and would serve as my new dragon infirmary. It was completely made of white marble with rectangular window windows at the top of the walls to let light in. There were also ten small pits for nests along with a built-in white marble shelf holding jars of gels, bandages and various other things I'd need to tend to injured dragons and where I was able to continue to tend the injured changewing. Speaking of my patient he was healing up nicely and had gotten pretty close to Angel to the point I'm pretty sure I'd be keeping an eye out for some baby changewings flying around. It's because of this that I bonded with him and gave him the name Phantom who when he was completely healed he'd join Angel in her duty's. Other than that, my dad found out about my little adventure when Trader Johan dropped by with messages from some tribes wanting to thank me for saving their women. At first, he was angry then proud but a downside was Johan also a few love letters from my new admirers who I rescued from the ship.

Other than that, nothing much has happened in the past few days and I was happy about this because tomorrow was the Thawfest games and I had been looking forward to them for a good long time. Every year Snotlout has beaten me and taken the greatest pleasure in rubbing it in everyone's faces and reminding me of what an embarrassment I was to my clan. This year was going to be different however since now I had the training, the strength and of course the confidence to beat him and finally shut him up. My dad was looking forward to it since Spitelout had been rubbing the Jorgenson victory's in his face for years and I'm including when they were contestants in the games. He was looking forward to seeing the Jorgenson's knocked down a few pegs and I had to say so was I. I looked around at the desert and knew I needed to do a bit more training if I was going to really beat the Jorgenson's. It was then Angel came flying in with Gobber in her claws and as soon as she dropped him off I closed my book and said.

"Hey Gobber, you ready to start training?"

"You know I am and remember I want you to put the Jorgenson's down hard."

"Gobber I understand my dad wanting me to do it but you to?" He sighed.

"Lad every year when they win I have to listen to your father complain about the Jorgenson's bragging and to be honest I am getting pretty darn tired of it so this year we're going to train harder than ever." He then looked around before turning back to me. "I don't suppose you have a better place to train on your island other than this desert because I'm pretty sure I'll have sweated through my shirt by the end of the day." I smiled at him.

"Sure, we can use my jungle since it has most of the things we need to train." He smiled.

"You got any sheep to carry since we need to practice sheep lugging."

"We can pick one up from my livestock house before we head in." He nodded before we headed out filling the rest of my day practicing my axe throwing at knotholes, pulling out steaks Gobber put in the ground, running on a log in the river and lugging a sheep up and down my temple but the funny thing was that when it came to the temple Gobber was the one who was out of breath from walking up the temple once.

Dragon kill ring next day

I was now standing next to the other teens in a line up waiting for Gobber to put the sheep over our shoulders for the sheep lug. I was not wearing armor today though since I didn't want anyone to say I used it to cheat somehow if I won so I was just in pants and leather boots and if the half-lidded eyes looking at me were any indication, the young girls liked this fact. Gobber put a sheep on my shoulders as Snotlout spat into his hands and rubbed it in his face while waiting for Mulch to hit Buckets bucket to signal us to run. As soon as the sound of metal being clanked together we were off with me taking an easy lead and making it to the end first with Mulch announcing my victory while Snotlout came in second. When he reached the end, he glared at me as I said.

"Gobber had lugging a sheep up and down the steps of my Mayan temple and keep in mind there are literally one hundred steps." He just glared at me and tossed his sheep to the side and walked away while some men set up for the logroll.

Ten minutes later

We were now all standing on a large log on stands which would allow it to roll when we began running and there were multiple sand bags beneath it for when we fell off. We all stood at the ready and waiting for the signal to start running and keep our balance. Mulch hit the bucket on Bucket's head signaling us to begin and we began running with Fishleggs immediately falling back and knocking Astrid off with him followed by the twins tripping making Ruffnut go flying odd and Tuffnut getting stuck to the log. It was just me and Snotlout on the log as we kept running with him glaring at me as I ran. When we were five minutes into it, people started getting bored and started throwing stuff at us to try knock one of us over but I just dodged them and when someone threw their helmet at me I caught it and threw it back. I ended up hitting the guy in the head and knocked him out cold making everyone stare at me and shocked Snotlout stared at me as he stopped which resulted in him being thrown off. This left me the winner as I stopped and allowed myself to be thrown off but unlike the others I landed on my feet as Mulch proclaimed me the winner as I went to get some water.

Ten minutes later

We were all lined up once more with a stacked set of barrels that had targets painted on the front as each of us held an axe for the axe toss which was the one chance for everyone to catch up in points. The reason for this is when someone has two points then should someone else win the axe toss then they will receive two points resulting in a tie breaker. I could tell Snotlout really wanted to win this one since his father was giving him the glare my father used to give me when he was angry or disappointed in me. I had to say if I won then Spitelout was not going to be happy but I hoped he'd go easy on Snotlout since I knew what it was like for your father to come down on you for things that weren't your fault. I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of Mulch hitting Bucket's bucket signaling us to begin. Astrid and Fishleggs axes hit each other in midair, Ruffnut's axe went flying past my father who caught it while Tuffnut's axe flew into a post after nearly taking a Viking man's head off. When it was Snotlouts turn he got a perfect bullseye as expected and when it was my turn I tossed the axe so hard that not only did I get a perfect bullseye but I split the barrel in two. There was silence after this for a few seconds before everyone burst out cheering as Mulch announced.

"Well I think it's safe to say that Hiccup won this round and with it has become the new champion of the Thawfest games."

Everyone cheered at this except Spitelout who was glaring down at his son as we all left so they could prepare for the medal ceremony. I leaned against the wall by the exit where I saw Spitelout waiting for Snotlout. While I waited for them to finish setting up for the medal ceremony I watched the other teens leave. It was when Snotlout left I heard Spitelout begin coming down on him. Now normally I wouldn't have cared but I had been on the receiving end of these types of talks from my father so I knew how it felt. I walked up towards them and when they noticed me Spitelout glared as he crossed his arms and said.

"Let me guess, you're here to gloat?" I kept a blank face.

"Actually, I came to give you some friendly advice." I then grabbed his shirt and pulled him down so I could look him in the eyes. "Shut up when it comes to scolding your son since all your doing is destroying his confidence and making him feel worthless and trust me when I say it doesn't help." I pushed him back into the wall. "Also stop running stop teaching him to run his mouth off before the games even begin by setting an example and keeping your own big mouth shut." He just stared at me as I walked away but as I was at the edge entrance I turned back to face him. "Oh, and Spitelout keep in mind that I have eyes everywhere and if I find out you're coming down on him for simply losing then the next day you will wake up very confused in the Mayan jungle covered meat which will attract all the predators."

They stared at me as I went to receive my medal. I walked up the stage as my dad gave his speech and proclaimed me the new Thawfest champion before he told me that I had done our clan proud and put the medal on me. After that they held a feast in my honor which lasted the rest of the day. When I got home I put the medal on my nightstand until could build a stand for it in the trophy room.

AN: Hey all I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and if you have a request for the next chapter let me know because I've hit a bit of a writers block on what to do next like whether Hiccup should travel some more or have some time on Berk and if so what to do on Berk. By the way do not recommend the dragon hunters, Typhoomerang, the lightfury or the hidden world because that comes much later.