Chapter 311

Hunters POV:

I made my way out of what would be my room for a couple of days with Havard following me and I looked down from the balcony at the

entrance hall and the various doors and hallways connected to it. I admit, I couldn't help but wonder where they all lead and I was

actually, looking forward to seeing what they all held but for now, I was more curious about the island itself. I was brought out of my

thoughts by the sound of what seemed to be a cat hissing mixed with the all too familiar growl of Havard who I noticed, wasn't by my side

and instead had wondered into a nearby room. I immediately ran to the room not wanting Havard to begin fighting with one of my dad's

animals but the moment I made it to the door I was greeted by the sight of some sort of spotted cat with multiple tails and a horn. Behind

this cat were two toddlers on a carpet who were playing with wooden toys and standing behind them was a woman who was cradling a third baby who was babbling. I took a moment to examine the woman and saw she was wearing a white dress of some kind with light blue lining, had long black hair and eyes that seemed more slit in a way. She looked up at me and smiled before walking next to the cat and gently petting its back, making it calm down before I did the same to Havard and once, he stopped growling, I said.

"Sorry about Havard, he got away from me while I wasn't looking." The woman just smiled gently at me.

"It's alright, your friend must have caught the scent of Zhang Yong and gotten curious." She gently adjusted the little one in her arms. "You must be Hunter and Havard." I nodded.

"That's us but I'm afraid I can't say I know who you or the little ones are." The woman bowed to me.

"My name is Blanca, first wife of Hiccup and this little one is your baby half-brother Ajmal, the blood son of Hiccup and Hadasa." She

gestured to the baby in her arms who I now saw was wrapped up in green blankets and had skin that was a light tan in color with a bit of

black hair on his head before I felt tugs on my pants and saw the two toddlers tugging on them, making Blanca giggle. "Those two are

your baby sister who seems to know you're their older brother and want some attention." I gulped since I never had any experience with

babies other than seeing mothers take them around in strollers around town. "Don't worry, just sit down so you're on their level and let

them see you." I nodded and slowly sat down right before they began climbing onto me before I gently lifted a brown haired one in a red

tunic up to my face only for her to grab my nose while the black-haired one bounced up and down on my lap.

"Her name is Zephyr, the daughter of Hiccup and Astrid." I nodded before I remembered something dad told me about Blanca, so I gently pulled Zephyr off my nose and examined Blanca. "Is something wrong?" I shook my head.

"Sorry, it's just that dad told me you were something called a snake guardian, so I was kinda expecting you to look different like maybe have a tail, snake eyes or scales." Blanca smiled at me before placing Ajmal in a crib as she said.

"I am a snake guardian" I gasped while Havard quickly jumped in front of me growling as her hair turned light blue, white scales began to come out of her skin as it turned pale and a long tail with a blade that looked to be made of bone came from under her dress. "but I prefer to be in human form when I'm out or playing with the little ones to avoid scaring people or accidentally hurting them." I stared at her for a few moments before she turned back to her, as she put it, human form and walked up to me. "I know this must be a lot for you to take in, but I am sure that given time, you will not even notice these things." I nodded.

"Yeah, but it's still going to take a while." I took my two baby half-sisters off me and stood up. "I think I'll go and explore the island a bit now."

She nodded before me and Havard left the room and the second, we were out, we made our way straight to the entrance and out the front door, needing to get some fresh air and some alone time to process what I just saw. As soon as the front door closed, I sat down on the stairs and grabbed my head while looking at my lap trying to understand and accept that one of my new stepmothers could grow scales and a tail. I admit dad did warn me that she could do it and that she could also turn into a giant snake but just hearing about it was nothing compared to actually seeing it. He did offer to show me one of his illusions of her transforming, but I was too stupid and turned him down, wanting to know more about the other island inhabitants and the different people and creatures that lived on it. I just stared at my lap while running my hands through my hair trying to get it all through my head before a voice asked me.

"Are you okay?" I looked up and saw a young man with brown hair, wearing black armor with what looked like a short staff strapped to his back and a knife on his belt. "You look like you've had a real scare." I nodded.

"Yeah, I just saw one of my new stepmoms grow scales and a tail so yeah, I'm a little freaked out despite my dad warning me." The guy raised an eyebrow before snapping his fingers.

"Oh, you must be talking about mama Blanca." I just nodded before he held out a hand. "You must be Hunter." I nodded as I took his hand. "I'm Brant and I guess I'm one of your adopted brothers." He shook my hand as I tried to remember what dad told me about him before I snapped my fingers.

"Oh yeah, dad told me you're pretty good with a spear." Brant just smiled and released my hand.

"Pretty good?" He then took the staff of his back before it grew in size and released blades at the end and then spun it around a bit with ease until he threw it up. "Or very good?" He then held his hand out and caught it without looking, but before I could reply, a voice from behind asked.

"Showing off with your spear again Brant?" I looked passed Brant and saw a guy with blond hair that looked almost white, wearing a ice blue jacket, dark blue pants, silver bracelets, dark blue boots that looked to have frost growing on the sides and I saw had a sword sheathed on his back with the handle sticking out of his shoulder.

"Just showing our new brother that dad understated my skills with the spear a bit." The guy walked up as he rolled his eyes.

"In other words, showing off." He then turned to me. "You must be Hunter." I nodded before he gave a small smile and held out his hand. "The names Egil, third adopted child and second adopted son." I nodded before I remembered what my dad told me about Egil.

"It's nice to meet you, dad told me a lot about the both of you." He just nodded. "I don't suppose our adoptive sister is around." They each raised an eyebrow before Brant asked.

"You mean Chara?" I nodded. "She's somewhere on the island training her ninja skills but don't worry." He shrugged. "Don't bother trying to find her though, she's the type of girl who finds you." Egil nodded before adding.

"And it'll be at least ten minutes before you even realize she's there." He shrugged. "Then again, what do you expect from a girl who's training under ninja master's and whose preferred weapon is stealth." A voice from our side then said.

"Actually, that's my preferred battle tactic while my preferred weapon is kunai." We all turned towards the voice and let out a short scream in fright as we jumped back at the sight of a girl dressed in black with thigh high boots, a black tunic and skirt, elbow length fingerless gloves, a belt with some kind of feathered buckle on the side and a hood with mask covering her head and face.

"Chara, how long have you been watching us?"

"Long enough to know that this guy here is Hunter and both he and his wolf are the islands newest residents." She took off her hood and mask to show me her face and let her blond hair that was tied back in a braid flow free. "The names Chara, blood sister of Brant and the first adopted daughter of Hiccup." I nodded and shook her hand. "I know who you are from listening in on your talk with these to." Before I could reply, Havard barked gaining our attention. "Who's you're friend though?" I smiled and petted Havard.

"Well, this is Havard, my wolf, hunting partner and best friend." Havard leaned into my touch as Brant said.

"You know, as much as I love the view from these stairs, I don't think it's a good place to have a chat so why don't we all take our new brother and his partner on a tour of the island since it'll give them a chance to learn about their new home and a chance for us to get to know them." I watched as my two other adopted siblings nodded but I was a little uneasy about it since I'd always preferred to just explore with Havard.

"Thanks for the offer but if you guys don't mind, I'd prefer it if it was just me and Havard." Egil replied.

"I can understand that I like my alone time as well but, in this case, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go off alone with just your wolf." I looked at him but before I could reply, Chara said.

"I'm with Egil on this." She turned to me. "Hunter, from what dads told us you are skilled as a hunter, but this island isn't like the hunting grounds you're used to since there are animals who may be tamed but won't take kindly to a stranger entering their territory and won't hesitate to kill you." A voice from behind us said.

"You should listen to your new siblings Hunter; they know this island as well as your father." We all turned to see a woman with blond hair and blue eyes that seemed cat like, walking up to us as she said. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Hiccups second wife Astrid." I nodded.

"Nice to meet you." I then remembered what my dad told me about her. "Are you the one who has the acrobatic abilities of a cat." She smiled and jumped right over us to the door while spinning until she landed on her feet in front of the door as if it were nothing.

"That's me and as a resident of this island, I know how dangerous it can be, especially to those who don't know the animals and the people who call it home." I nodded.

"Okay but are the environments really that dangerous." Everyone simply replied.

"YES!" I was surprised but nodded before I allowed my new siblings to lead me and Havard away.

Nightfall

I collapsed onto the bed, stomach down wearing just a pair of pants and a shirt as Havard jumped on the bed next to me and gently nudged my face with his nose making me sigh and roll over onto my back. I patted my wolf on the head as he looked at me from above before I scratched the side of his neck and said.

"I'm fine pal, just a bit of a long day you know?" I sat up and sighed before he put his head on my lap allowing me to stroke it since he knows it calms me. "It's just a lot to take in and not just the fact that I've spent the day getting to know the kids my father who might I add, met for the first time of my life only a few days ago, adopted but also finding out he has multiple wives and lives on an island with animals and environments I've never even heard of." I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face. "If that's not crazy enough, my father has people who leave their bodies and become wolves while they sleep, the son of Fenrir, magic wielding snake people with one being his wife and more." I groaned and looked down at my wolf. "Speaking of his wives, one can turn into a giant python, one who has the acrobatic skills of a jungle cat, one can control plants and one literally is a fox with nine tails who can turn human."

I shook my head remembering how I met my dad's two remaining wives after my step siblings took me on a tour of the island which led to us running into them. First there was Hadasa who was tending to the crop garden where she was helping the vegetables grow and although she was kind and greeted me warmly, it was hard to pay attention to her words since she had skin that looked tan and wearing an outfit that showed a lot of skin. What caught my attention though was how the plants around her seemed to be following her movement which caught my attention since I was a hunter, and I needed to be able to read the movements of plants from time to time to track my prey. Then there was Chiaki who like the others greeted me warmly when we met her at what I was told was the tea gazebo where she was sitting down and enjoying some hot drink, they called tea while enjoying the gentle breeze which carried the scents of the tea leaf bushes. She invited us all to join her and I didn't see the harm in it since I did find the smell relaxing and we'd just finished walking out of a desert which I was told was an Egyptian one but what the difference between it and the Arabian desert was, I do not know.

We all sat together and drank the tea she offered while we all talked, getting to know each other a bit which I was grateful for since it gave me the chance to really get to know everyone without the distraction of my surroundings and I admit, the tea was nice as was the atmosphere. When we did leave, we continued with the tour which included a jungle trip where I was told to avoid touching the colorful frogs, which confused me at first until they explained how the frogs have poison covering their skin and when I asked why they were on the island, they explained that dad just wanted to complete the jungle a bit more. I don't think I'd be spending a lot of time in that jungle though since besides the frogs, I learnt that the fish in the river were also deadly and had teeth that were said to be used for arrow tips and knives.

This wasn't the only place I'd be avoiding spending time in since there was also what my sibling called the arctic section which was a part of the island that was literally nothing but ice and snow that was so cold, I nearly froze after taking three steps into it. Another place was the labyrinth in the mountain which was the home of two the islands residents Daedalus and Icarus who I'm told, were offered a place on the island since the gods' thought Daedalus was too smart to be left alone. After learning that he was the one who designed the labyrinth, I agreed with them since it took me and my adoptive siblings three hours to find our way out and that was only after a giant spider named Arachne came looking for us and used her web to mark the trail to the exit. As for the reason she came looking for us, turns out she was also my stepsister's weaving teacher who had come looking for her since she was late for her lesson.

To end our crazy day Havard and I were brought back to the house and given a full tour of the massive building before we were given a dinner of exotic fruits, bread, fish and meat all turned into dishes which I could not deny were delicious. Following this, I was taken to the bath house where I was allowed to soak in a hot bath that was so big I could swim in it with Havard doing so when he hopped into the bath with me. After that, everyone was allowed to just do their own thing until bed with dad going to his private study for some alone time, Chara going to the training room for some light target practice, Brant going for a walk in the garden, Egil going to the library to read, the mothers going to tuck the babies in and Chiaki going to prepare the bedroom. As for me, I'd just had a long day and wanted to just collapse and get some sleep so I could just take in all that happened today which really was a lot and chances are, I'd be sleeping in tomorrow. With this in minds I gently pushed Havard's head off my lap and climbed onto the bed fully and said.

"Let's get some sleep pal."

He barked before laying at the foot of the bed while I climbed in and looked at the marble ceiling which was big difference to the wooden one, I was used to. I looked around the room for the first time and had to say it was truly different to the type of room that I was used to sleeping in since I was used to a simple wooden room with a wooden bed, rough blanket with some holes, pillow full of hay and a small table against the wall. It wasn't much but it was something I was grateful for since it was a room my mom gave up when I was old enough to have my own while she slept downstairs in a chair since we couldn't afford another bed. This room on the other hand had a large bed that was so soft I thought I was laying on a cloud with blankets that were just as soft and warm, walls made of marble that didn't creak like wood, a table on either side of the bed with one holding a lit candle and the other holding a goblet next to a jug of water with a bowl of fruit, against the left wall, opposite to my bed was a wardrobe, the back wall had a large window facing out into the garden with a desk against wall beneath it and a large space in the middle of the room with a carpet that had an intricate pattern and I was told came from some place called Arabia. I sighed and threw my head back onto the cloud like pillow and stared at the ceiling while letting myself drift off knowing that tomorrow was the day a new life began for me and Havard.

3 weeks later

It's been three weeks since Havard and I were brought to the island and in that time a lot has happened with both me and Havard and those who we now know to be our family. We were allowed to have the first week to ourselves in order to give us a chance to explore and get familiar with our new home which included the village of New Berk and its people which included my grandparents who were surprisingly warm to me. My grandfather was strict though since he claimed that as the first-born blood child of my father, I'd have to take up the reigns of being the chief when my father retires and when he travels to some distant land to take on some sort of evil to save the world. I knew this was something that might happen often from all the things I saw in the room which he called his trophy room which is where he kept souvenirs from his adventures.

After that first week, my father decided I needed to begin training to fight at close range properly after asking me to demonstrate my weapon skills. After witnessing my skills with the twin axes I had, he admitted I had potential, but in addition to my axes being way overused and too small for my hands he claimed my movements lacked discipline, control and were a bit sloppy while my stance was unbalanced and sloppy. Then to help prove his point, he had me go up against Egil who had the least amount of training among my adoptive siblings and my dad's point was proven when Egil easily disarmed me before pushing me to the ground as if it were nothing. As for my skills with my bow, my father nodded in approval after seeing how well I handled it but wasn't too impressed with my bow itself and I couldn't blame him since like my axes, it was old and needed work. He offered to place my weapons in the silver dragon forge where the weapons he makes are infused with magic, in order to allow it to get enhanced like the dagger Brant got from his blood father which he now uses as a knife and a machete.

I was hesitant at first sine I had no idea when or if I'd get it back, but dad just patted me on the shoulder and told me that I've used them for a long time and when it comes time for me to enter the golden dragon armory, they would remember and call out to me when I'm ready. This confused me until he claimed that all weapons gain a soul of their own as time goes by with their wielder and since I have had them for so long, my soul and theirs were connected and would find each other when the time was right. After that I handed my weapons over and he took them away while claiming that I wasn't allowed to see them until I'd earned the chance to go into the golden dragon armory or I might be tempted to go straight to them when I was in the armory instead of taking the weapon that chose me. I understood this, but I was not happy about it and used that to drive my determination to earn my chance to enter the golden dragon armory which is when my training begun.

The first week wasn't anything special or tough since it was just being taught proper stances to make me a tougher opponent to overpower and meditation to help balance my mind and body, so I'd be able to better think in tough situations. The second week however, things got tough with me being given practice axes and began training in dual wielding under a ninja master named Water who was an expert at dual wielding since he used to hook ended swords made of water. He was a strict teacher demonstrating various moves and then having me mimic them but if I got a single movement wrong, he'd strike me with the pole of his weapon, not hard enough to leave a mark or lasting injury but hard enough to hurt before he'd correct my stance, and we'd try again. When I wasn't training under him, I was training under my dad who was a lot easier to understand since he was able to talk and was a little gentler with his disciplining. Along with all that, I'd been set up to study foreign languages and customs with my adopted siblings under the tutelage of my stepmothers which was cool but tough to learn. Between study time and days off, Havard and I would explore the island and New Berk, mainly with my adopted siblings but there were times when we were on our own which was fine since I enjoy my alone time. Still though, my new life just didn't feel right to me, and I don't know why since people were nice to me, I had a great home, made friends with my siblings and a lot of the island's inhabitants and so much more.

Now though, I was sitting under a tree in the forest with Havards head in my lap as I gently stroked it while just trying to think about what was wrong with me. It was then Havard raised his head as a shadow landed on me and I looked up to find Water looking down at me, making me sigh in annoyance before I said.

"Listen, I know it's time to train but do you think you can give me a few more minutes to myself just to think since I'm trying to figure out why I'm having such a tough time accepting how good my life is." For a few moments he just seemed to stare at me before sitting down across from me cross-legged and gestured for me to talk and knowing that asking him to leave would just be a waste of time, I took a breath and began. "I honestly just don't get it, my life is great now with a nice home, new family, new tribe who care about me, an amazing new island to call home and despite how tough the training is I know it's going to help me be both a better warrior and hunter." I looked down. "And then there's my new family." I looked back up at Water who just stared at me before gesturing me to speak. "First there's my new siblings, now don't get me wrong, they're all great and I've always wondered what it'd be like to have siblings both older and youner, and I have to admit, it's nice to have them since they watch my back when things get crazy in that training mirror dad has us use to practice our teamwork and my baby siblings are adorable." I took a breath. "Then there's my new mothers who I admit are great and they made it clear when I first met them that they'd try to be good mothers to me, but they'd never try to replace my real mother which I appreciate since if they did then that'd just be wrong." I gave Havard a few more strokes. "And finally, there's my dad, with the word dad still feeling strange whenever it comes out of my mouth since up until a few weeks ago, the only thing I knew about him is he was a bounty hunter who came to the island to drop off some crooks, got drunk with my mom, spent one night with her and left." I looked down at Havard. "Besides that, the only things I did know about him were that he was a great warrior, had been known to go after some of the most dangerous bounties and was a nice guy in the village." I looked back up at Water. "Now all of a sudden he's in my life with a whole new family and coming out of nowhere to protect me from my bullies and their parents who encouraged the torment me and my mother suffered and goes so far as to threaten them if they ever come near me again." I threw my back against the tree. "In the eighteen years I've been around, it's the first time anyone's gone so far to protect me, and it feels weird but in a good way like how my entire life feels now."

I looked up at Water who tilted his head to the side as if asking me to explain but I looked away not knowing how to express how I felt about all this. I felt a hand placed on my shoulder and looked up at Water and he gave me a hand gesture to speak before placing a finger against my heart and then at my mouth. From this I understood he was telling me that I should speak from my heart and that he would listen, so I sighed and said.

"I'm just so used to being looked at with disdain, treated like dirt, having nobody but my mom and Havard as family, living in a dusty old hut that was ready to fall apart and just being on my own with the only excitement I get being when I catch something on my hunts since it meant I wouldn't be going hungry that night." I shrugged. "I guess I'm just not used to being surrounded by so many kind people, having a father, living in luxury, no chance of going hungry and being in a place where there's so much going on that it's hard to be bored." I shook my head. "It's just so hard to believe that I'm struggling to accept that it's all true and not some cruel trick." My eyes widened and I looked up at Water. "That's the problem, isn't it?" I gestured to myself. "I'm feeling this way because I'm refusing to believe that all this is really happening, and I just need to just accept that all this is real and it's what my life is going to be now, so I need to get used to it." I stood up, unintentionally throwing Havard off my lap. "Now that I've said it out loud, it makes sense, and I think I finally understand what's been bothering me all this time." I smiled and ran a hand through my hair. "All I need to do is accept that this isn't a trick, it's just the beginning of my new life with a loving family, protective siblings, a hero for a father, multiple caring mothers, adorable younger siblings, training to be a better warrior and living on an island filled with magical creatures and people." I looked at Water. "You know for someone who doesn't say a lot you say a lot." He just nodded and pulled out his hook swords. "You're right, now that I've gotten that weight off my shoulders it's time for some training." I pulled out my training axes which had blunt edges. "Thanks for listening to me rant." He just nodded as I smiled. "Now let's go." With that said we took off.

6 weeks later

It's been six weeks since I vented to Water and since then, my training has come a long way with my skills improving rapidly now that I'd vented my feelings about how I feel about my new life and me learning to accept its not some dream I'm having but all real. When I told my dad about this, he sat me down and told me that he understood how he felt since he felt the same at times whenever he'd think back to his childhood and promised that if he ever needed to vent, his door was always open. Anyway, even though my training had come a long way compared to when I first started and had massively improved method wise compared to my own self training, I still had a long way to go before I was on the same level as either Water or my dad. Still though, my dad told me that he was truly proud of how far I've come which brings us to now with the two of us standing in front of the golden dragon armory. My dad smiled at me and placed a hand on my shoulder as he said.

"It's really a proud day for me when one of my kids is going to be receiving a weapon from the golden dragon armory." I smiled at him as he placed his other hand on my free shoulder and turned me to face him and shook me. "It shows how hard you've worked and how far you've come." He then took his hands off my shoulders and placed one on my back before gently pushing me towards the entrance to the armory. "Now go claim your reward son."

I smiled at him and nodded before walking through the door only to be blinded by a bright light for a few seconds and when it faded, I found myself in a room that seemed to be endless with countless pillars going up to the ceiling and multiple pedestals holding different armor and weapons. I walked around the place checking out each of the items and had to say not a single one of them was less than breathtakingly impressive in either craftsmanship or the power they seemed to shake with. I walked over to a sword that caught my eye and reached out for it, but my hands were blocked by some sort of glass wall that shimmered with power and came up from the edges of the pedestals. I remembered what my dad told me about how the weapon needed to choose me so it meant this sword wasn't meant for me but there was bound to be a weapon that would accept me as its wielder. For a few minutes I walked around the seemingly endless room, examining the various weapons, armor and other forms of equipment before a shining light which seemed to call to me caught my attention. I walked up to the pedestal and saw two axes sitting on it with a chain connecting them at the base of their handles, but I didn't examine them for much longer since it felt as if they were pulling my hands towards them. When my hands took hold of the handles, it was amazing since it felt like a bond was reformed between me and the axes and I knew then that these were my old axes which I'd given my father and like he said, they remembered me. With them in hand I walked out of the armory since now that I had my axes back, I was ready to train and learn what they could do with the magic they now had.

Nightfall

I was in what was my room and sitting down at the desk with my now linked axes in front of me and for the first time since I got them, was able to take in their full details. They were set of normal one faced Viking axes with smooth wooden handles and red leather wraps for the grips and a hole at the bottom for the long silver chains that had a link connecting to them. What really caught my eye though were the blades themselves with the outer edges looking to be made of silver while the insides were a dark crimson red and on them, drawn in pure silver was a Viking style drawing of a wolfs head with some sort of mist coming out of the mouth. This drawing was on both axes, and I guessed it had to do with Havard since he was the closest thing I've had to family for a while, so I had kept a lock of his fur on the handle beneath the leather wrappings I used for handles to keep him close. As I stared at the blades, I couldn't help but remember all their abilities which I was able to try out shortly after I left the armory, and I was not the least disappointed in any of the abilities.

For starters, the chains can wrap around my wrist on their own which would allow me to swing the blades around at enemies with the chains being able to extend to seven feet away from me and if I throw the axes, a simple yank and they'd immediately return to my hand. As for the blades themselves, they could be blunt and have enough force to send a grown man flying with a single blow or so sharp that they could cut through gronkle iron like a hot knife through butter. I'd already spent my entire day training to properly wield them under the watchful eyes of Water who was my dual wielding teacher, Earth who was good with chain weapons, my dad and Chara both of whom had experience using chain weapons. Although I still had a long way to go before, I was on any of their levels of skill, I like to think that it was a good first day of training with my new axes and I was looking forward to seeing how well I could fight with them.

AN: And another chapter is completed, giving us a little insight into Hunter and how he feels about his new life, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it and will enjoy the new character in the future. Please remember to review and have a nice day.