CHAPTER 41: Disagreement
"What?" asked Hiccup, as his face dropped.
"I cannot possibly tolerate the Wingmaidens who started this settlement leaving before they could face what they deserve. My troops will march onto that island, and those Wingmaidens who disgustingly set up shop near a sovereign tribe like mine, attacking innocent Ancients in the process, will be taken prisoner as we make our wrath onto the island. They must be re-educated for their own good, meaning they must not be allowed to evacuate, so they can be taken into our custody."
Hiccup couldn't understand why Yurlin had taken such a stakes-raising turn in what was already a tricky situation. Suddenly, the crisis had been turned up a notch.
"You're...not serious, are you?"
"Again, I apologize for this, Hiccup. But I cannot allow them to simply evacuate that island before our troops could get their hands on them. They should be punished for what they've done."
Hiccup was flustered.
"This is a matter of sovereignty and a matter of sending a strong message to the Warlords overseas, Hiccup."
"You can't do this? I understand the bit about sending a message to the Warlords...but at the cost of harming another tribe?"
"I can, Hiccup. I know you and the other tribes believe in the existence of Odin, so allow me to steal that god of yours when I say - nothing Odin would throw in my way would stop me from pursuing anything. I'll not be forced to back down on anything, nor will I be intimidated. I will do this, come high water or Odin himself."
Hiccup, in his flustered mind and state, had no idea which way to turn. Here he was facing an even bigger crisis now that Yurlin had raised the stakes, making the whole situation even more dangerous. He couldn't allow Yurlin to do whatever he planned to do to the Wingmaidens and allow war to break out.
"But...the peace, the peace we've had over these past ten years since Grimmel died, you want to preserve that, surely?" Hiccup asked.
"Precisely why I'm undertaking this action, Hiccup. The settlement question has to be solved in this way or, as far as I'm concerned, we may as well become slaves to the Warlords, something I am wholeheartedly determined to prevent."
Hiccup was panicking. Yurlin, in wanting to send a message to the Warlords, taking over even more land on the archipelago, was risking the outbreak of a war not between himself and the Warlords, but himself and the Wingmaidens, a tribe who had absolutely no affiliations or relevance to Drago Bludvist or the Warlords. The ideology of the Ancients and Yurlin meant that they saw things very differently.
Yurlin was the aggressor here, totally misguided in what he was aiming to do. Letting him cause harm to the Wingmaidens, not wanting them to evacuate so they could feel the wrath of his troops on Dragon Island was a red line he wasn't going to let happen, but the heated moment in time in the room meant Hiccup hadn't the courage to say that to Yurlin's face.
"Alright, uh, thanks for the meeting."
"You're going, already?" Yurlin asked.
"I'm sorry, but I'm having to return to my island knowing that at any moment we could see full-blown war on our home archipelago. We're clearly at a difference of opinion here, so I'm going back home. I'd have persuaded Atali to take her vikings off the island for you, quite easily, yet you want to do this?"
"With or without an agreement, we will be marching onto that island to teach them a lesson and to also liberate it from the vulnerability of being utilized by the Warlords."
Hiccup shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay, I appreciate the meeting. I appreciate the time. You're making this incredibly difficult for me, because now I have to go back to my home island convinced that a full scale war is about to break out on our home archipelago, the archipelago my father was born on. But nonetheless, I appreciate the time."
Yurlin was stunned. Hiccup's sudden exit from the meeting had caught the Ancient Chieftan by surprise. But before Hiccup left, he turned one more time to face Yurlin on the opposite side of the room, to plead.
"Please just be reasonable about this. Please don't do this to me, don't make me face this dilemma. Why do you have to threaten war and why do you have to have them stay put? think about the dark memories this archipelago faced at the height of Drago. Do you really want to relive that again for many vikings who just want a peaceful life?"
Yurlin was completely unmoved.
"My demand for their remaining on the island for our troops to re-educate them remains unchanged, Chief."
At that, Hiccup simply walked out of the door, closing it gently behind him. He'd just walked out of the room with the Chieftan of the Ancient Tribe inside it. No viking had ever done that to Yurlin since he came to power. For Hiccup, the prospect of war akin to the one he had with Drago was enough to make him drop whatever rituals were to be followed. Any Ancient viking who did that to Yurlin, walking out of the room with his presence inside, wouldn't have seen the day of light ever again.
The cult of personality around Yurlin within the Ancient Tribe, orchestrated by the council, meant that it was paramount to show respect. Hiccup could get away with it of course, but the abrupt ending of the meeting and the manner in which he'd simply walked out stunned Yurlin.
Once again guided by the entourage of Ancient vikings back to the docks, Hiccup was joined by his fellow Hooligans who'd initially joined him on the trip over here. He was to be sailed back home on the same boat he used to get here. His mood was downbeat, and the biggest thing on his mind right now was Zephyr and Nuffink. New Berk was a tall island with natural protection given its height, but the prospect of a war breaking out on the archipelago, which had the potential to involve not just two, but ALL the tribes of the archipelago, was a prospect Hiccup never thought he had to consider ever again.
"What's the plan, Hiccup?" asked one of the Hooligans walking besides him, as the entourage of Ancient vikings escorted them all back to the docks on Ancient Island.
"I don't know. I feel scared for my kids, and I'm angry. My dad would probably think I'm a fool, a letdown, he said it himself that day when he said I wasn't his son anymore."
Hiccup was deliberately saying all of this louder than a whisper, so the nearby Ancients could hear him. He was fed up and angry at Yurlin for turning the overseas crisis surrounding the Wingmaiden settlement that had implications for more or less everyone, into an even more dangerous crisis.
But he was also angry at Atali. Had she told him and the other Chieftans like Dagur, well before Yurlin started making claims like these, that her tribe had set up a village on Dragon Island, none of this would've been as dangerous as it now was.
"How pathetic, honestly, how crazy that we're facing the prospect of a full-blown war over an island that the dragons used to live on, and an island Atali's tribe had never historically ever lived on before, and that they'd only settled on just for some weird ritual. They just need to get out of there, the idea that we have to put on our fighting gear over a dispute that Atali could've avoided happening if she and her tribe hadn't felt the need to randomly set up on there years ago is ridiculous. That island has NEVER had a tribe on it historically, just the dragons and the nest when they were around. This isn't even a territory grab, it's an abandoned island with a few outside vikings living on it request."
The Hooligans around Hiccup didn't know how to respond, not least because the Ancient entourage was nearby in front as they guided them back to the docks. Hiccup was angry, to the point that he fully brought into the notion that the Wingmaidens had NO right to that island, and that it's never been their island, and so any harm given to them at the hands of the Ancient vikings would be their doing for not simply evacuating.
To Hiccup, Atali was treating Dragon Island like it'd always been their home island, but Dragon Island was nobody's home island but the dragons.
Hiccup and the Hooligans continued to be escorted through Ancient Island, passing by all of the divisive wooden signs with inflammatory phrases on them in regards to the 'undesirables' in the unvikings, in the view of the Ancient council. Hiccup hadn't felt right since seeing those signs, so much so that he hadn't bothered to look at them, any of them, as they passed through the village.
He physically had to hold back his tears. He himself was terrified of war breaking out, especially in a world without dragons. He managed to avoid breaking tears, but this was what felt like the hundredth time he'd thought about the dragons, missing them dearly. He didn't have Toothless' security and comforting anymore, the dragons were no longer in the world to have been able to, with their sheer presence, prevent any ambitions of this kind from taking hold.
"I want Toothless."
"Don't we all," said one of the Berkians in response as they neared the docks.
"I made the biggest mistake of my life in sending them away. They were safe, but now we're unsafe as a result of them being gone. I want my best bud back."
Once again, Hiccup had to try his hardest to prevent tears rolling down his cheeks like a waterfall, but it was an understatement to say it was hard. He wanted his father back too, because he felt secure and safe under his dad when he was Chieftan. But now, with Hiccup himself as Chieftan, facing a crisis as dangerous as this one, both without his dad and now Toothless, he felt even more emotional.
"I want...my best bud back. I don't want war on this archipelago, oh Toothless, please come back again for another visit and put a stop to this."
Hiccup spoke to himself just now, but he meant every word. He missed more than ever the hugs he got from Toothless, the warmth, the comfort, the safety, but most importantly the security. The dragons were like a stabilizer to the world, but without them nowadays it'd led to the likes of Alfa Yurlin. Hiccup didn't realize how wrong he was to have sent them away ten years ago.
As far as Yurlin, Hiccup's first impression of him wasn't quite Eret's 'snake' name, but to him, Yurlin looked just like any other viking he'd come across on the archipelago. He felt like Yurlin wouldn't have stood out in a crowd of vikings if he was placed within one. He didn't like him, either. He didn't consider Yurlin to be a 'snake' as such, but more so incredibly stubborn, so much so that Hiccup had found it difficult to deal with.
Suddenly, an envoy of Ancients marched up towards the massive group as they arrived at the wooden docks, the scent of seaweed roaming in the air as they neared the waving seas. They were carrying a note.
"Chief Hiccup?" addressed one of the vikings holding the note, "our leader has one final proposal for you."
Hiccup turned to the letter and looked at the two Ancients. He reached his hand out and slowly took the letter from their grasp. He opened it up and read the writing.
I had to write this as you were long gone from the area when I'd come to this conclusion. I'm ready to give way on what I'd proposed. In order to fully solve this crisis though, I believe it's going to take more than just us two. Therefore, with the acknowledgement that you have a partnership with the other tribes, I'd like to, on our behalf, invite them to my island alongside yourself for a conference of sorts.
We must be united in our desire to combat the Warlords, and I am ready to seek another solution on this archipelago in relation to the settlement question. I invite those of the Outcasts, the Berserkers, the Defenders of the Wing, the Wingmaidens, and all other tribes who may be relevant to this crisis at hand.
No unviking shall attend this conference. Not one. When you sail back home, allow one of my council members to sail back with you so we can arrange a return here, tonight. I'm ready to make compromises if needed for the greater good. I do not want us to diverge given we both share a burning hatred of the Warlords. You're a good man, Hiccup, to fall out and be disunited is a victory only for the unvikingism that the vermin Warlords breed.
- Alfa Yurlin.
Hiccup suddenly perked up and looked like he'd become ten years younger upon reading the letter. Maybe there was a way to avoid a bloody war breaking out after all. Having an all-Chieftan conference on Ancient Island was a great idea in Hiccup's mind, and potentially, with Atali coming along, it'd normalize relations and make the Ancients more in line with the values of the Berkians and all the other tribes Hiccup had established a relationship with.