Chapter 316

Hiccups POV:

Two weeks have passed since the dreadfall celebration and since then, winter has arrived and with it comes cold days in during snowstorms and blizzards. In my case though, it came with extra work since I had to help gather and deliver more firewood, food, blankets, melt the snow that's blocking the doors of the huts and covering the paths, checking up on the people to make sure they hadn't frozen and more. It was because of this; I spent a lot more time in the village wearing my winter wolf armor and riding in my sleigh being pulled by Hubbard since it was easier to carry multiple supplies and also kept Miyuki at my side when it came time to patrol the village. He'd already helped save two people who'd left their huts to request more supplies but got caught in a snowstorm or blizzard, resulting in them being buried or near freezing and it was because of this that I had him posted in the village for now with some of my cold loving dragons hovering above to help those in need.

It was also because of the cold weather, the automatons on the bridge to my island had been kept busy as well as there'd been at three attempts a day by Vikings wanting to enjoy a bit of warmth in my Arabian desert. I would have to make it clear to them that my island was not a place to just enjoy a little warmth and then sent them off with some alpaca fur blankets and coats to keep them at bay and from freezing to death. On the days without the snowstorms and blizzards, I'd be up in the air on Toothless, leading my wives and some stoker class dragons, melting the snow covering the paths and deicing the docks and waters surrounding the island. Once the chores were done, my father had me accompany him on winter chief duties which included checking supplies, checking on our people, checking the livestock, delivering supplies, breaking up fights, occasionally digging up Vikings and more. Fortunately thanks to Hubbard and my sleigh, supplies didn't take too long or delivering people to their homes and occasionally tracking down those who got stuck in the blizzards.

My adopted kids and Hunter had also been a big help during these times, especially Egil since the ice filled landscape was perfect for him since he could travel through the snow-covered paths using his skates easily. They each played a role helping to keep the people from surviving the snow filled days with Egil speeding through the village and alerting people when a blizzard or snowstorm was coming so they could get to their houses in time. Chara on the other hand would keep an eye on the people who'd been suffering from cabin fever and go a little crazy when they got out and try to pick a fight which she ended with a few nerve strikes. Brant oversaw the barn where the animals were kept since there were times when the animals would try to charge out after being cooped up for so long which is when he'd catch them and drive them back in. Finally, there's Hunter who acted as a guard at our food stores since there boars that tried to break in due to there not being a lot of food around in the forest and when they did, he'd either drive them off or kill them for meat.

Besides this, I'd been keeping up with my bounty hunting since during the winter times, the seas were crawling with pirates who had ships that were designed for the winter waters so they could attack any ships that were damaged in the rough waters. I'd used it as an opportunity to also train the kids a little more with them mainly going to take the crews of the ships themselves before I'd use my ship to pull the ship and crew in. They would normally take the entire ship in less than ten minutes before we took them in for the reward money and then head home for the day or find another pirate ship to take down. When we got home though, I'd show them their battle and discuss how they could improve, what they could've done, how I could better train them and other such things which I would then use in their training. When I wasn't spending time with my older kids though, I was in the nursery with the little ones who were growing bigger each day and were growing more curious about the world around them which made it more important to keep an eye on them since there's no telling what they could end up doing.

Chiaki's pregnancy had begun showing even though it was just a little bump right now, but it showed she was with child, and I could not wait to welcome another child into the family and the first one born from Chiaki. I admit, I missed being able to cradle a baby in my arms since my other blood children could only be carried in my arms with their heads on my shoulder since they'd grown so big. Still though, I couldn't wait to see them grow up, play with their siblings, run around the island, receive their own magic weapons, take down bandits and monsters, train their own dragons and more. I already begun having some of the older kids start training terrors to help them when the time came for them to begin their own dragon rider training alongside Brant.

Brant had trained a red terror he'd named Heph which was short for Hephaestus who he'd trained to help in the forge keeping the flames lit and to fetch him the tools and materials he needed. Chara had trained a dark purple female who she'd named Spectra since she kept disappearing and reappearing quietly wherever Chara ordered or drop one of Chara's jewel bombs. Egil had trained a light blue male he'd named chiller who like him, preferred for things to be a bit cooler rather than hot and he'd trained him to help him find and bring things for him. Hunter trained an orange male he'd named Hotshot since he was a big-time trick flyer who rarely just flew straight but also had a strong fire breath that he'd trained him to light torches and his huts firepit. These days it was rare to see the kids without their terrors on their shoulders or in the same room as them showing how well they'd bonded with and trained their dragons.

This brings us to now, with me in the coliseum alongside Toothless as we watched the kids go through various forms of dragon training in their own ways. Chara, Egil and Hunter training their terrors in hand signals while Brant was on Twilight flying through some obstacles while Heph was being sent to hit targets to shut some obstacles down after Brant gave him a signal. I nodded in approval at how far the kids were coming with their dragons and knew that it would soon be time for them to join their eldest brother in finding their own riding dragons. I smiled at how well they were all performing before I leaned against Toothless and said.

"You know something bud, the pride you feel in your kids when you see how far they've come makes all the challenges of fatherhood worth it." He crooned as he watched Twilight fly through some obstacles. "Hey, I know you love Twilight as if she were your own, but you ever think of having your own blood hatchlings with those females you're spend so much time with?" He went wide eyed and turned to me before looking away and giving a dragon like grumble, but I just patted him on the side. "Don't worry Toothless, these things all happen in their own time." I then turned back to the kids and began to examine their training techniques for flaws until the sound of someone saying.

"Daddy." Caught my attention and turned to see Xiu and Zephyr waddling towards me with Chiaki behind them smiling as she said.

"I figured we'd drop by and see how the training's going." I smiled as I kneeled down.

"For that, I'm grateful since I can never turn down the chance to see my little girls." Xiu and Zephyr made it to me. "And there are my little Valkyries in the making." They just giggled as I picked them up before Toothless walked up, making them squeal in delight and reach out to him while I chuckled. "Aw come on Toothless, don't be like that when they adore you." He just puffed and turned away, making the girls whimper sadly before Xiu reached out and said.

"Toofwess." Toothless huffed and leaned over making them giggle as they patted his nose which was cute until Zephyr reached into his nostril making him sniff and pull back as the girls giggled before I walked up to his side and placed them on the ground, allowing them to walk up and pat his scales.

"Now isn't that adorable?" Toothless just huffed until a croon caught our attention and we turned to see Brant and Twilight standing a few feet away, smiling at her adoptive father who just huffed while Brant patted her side.

"Come on Twi, you shouldn't tease your dad since the two will be wanting to cuddle you next." She just growled before Brant turned to me. "Dad, would it be alright for us to take a break since the terrors are getting a little tired." His point was proven when Heph flew over and slumped on his shoulder before I could reply Chiaki placed a hand on my shoulder.

"That may be wise as lunch will be ready soon." I nodded.

"Yeah, lunch sounds good, and the terrors could use a break." It was easy to tell the terrors were reaching their limits and let out a loud whistle gaining their trainers attention. "Alright everyone, call your terrors back and take a break for lunch." They all nodded and signaled their terrors back while I turned to Xiu and Zephyr who were trying to climb Toothless and walked over. "All right girls, time to leave Toothless alone for a bit and get some food in those tummies." I picked up Xiu while Chiaki took Zephyr and gave Xiu a little tickle on her tummy, making her giggle before I turned to Toothless. "Why don't you grab Twilight and head back to the flock bud, the bewilderbeasts will be gathering fish for the dragons soon." He growled in joy before I gestured to him that he was free to go and both he and Twilight took off with the terrors following them while me and my family left the coliseum.

10 minutes later

We were all sat down at the dining room table, enjoying a lunch of bread, roast chicken, sliced fruit and water with the babies being fed by their respective blood mother. I smiled as I enjoyed the juices of a mango slice, I just chewed on before I looked at my family with a great deal of pride, especially when my eyes wondered over to Hunter. It had only been a few weeks since he came to live with us, but he's already adapted to it so well taking on the training and being a team with his siblings while also being a great warrior in fights. Now don't get me wrong, I was also proud of my adopted kids with Brant proving to have the makings of a great leader and warrior with how well he used his spear and dagger. Chara on the other hand may only be ten years old but she's more deadly than most of the warriors on Berk, even if she didn't have any of her magic enhanced equipment and would be able to act as the perfect spy when she's older but I still worried about her. Then there's Egil, my cold emotionless son who had proven time and time again that he may seem to remain neutral most of the time, was always feeling something and would be good when it came to difficult situations since he can keep a cool head. All in all, I was happy with how my adopted and recently discovered blood son were growing up and was looking forward to seeing how far they'd go in the world. I looked at my younger children who I fathered and felt pride in seeing them while remembering how when I was young and still a village runt, people would tell me that no woman would ever have a child with me and now I had four blood children.

Now my eldest son was following in my footsteps with his own nightfury while his siblings both blood and adopted would be picking their own riding dragons. To be honest, I think Hunter already has his own mount in the form of Havard but I'm not sure if he counts since, he's a wolf even though he's not a dragon despite his back being covered in flames. Still though, they'd each come a long way in their training of their terrors, and I was already making plans for a training exercise for them using the terrors and some bandits once they'd figured out ways to use their terrors in battle. I already had some thoughts on how they could do so, but it would still take a lot of training before they're prepared to do so, and it would also take time to find the bandits for the kids to take on since the only kind I allow them to deal with are low bounty groups who are pretty weak. Sadly, with it being winter, the stronger bandits have all moved in and driven most of the weaker groups out since they wanted the seas to themselves, and we'd already used most of the weaker groups for training. I figure it means they'd have to do the majority of their training in my training mirror until the thaw when they could get some real-world experience again. I shook my head knowing that for now, I needed to forget about the training for now and just enjoy my meal since I was meeting with my dad afterwards to help with the winter issues.

9 days later

It's been nine days since the kids training session with their terrors and since then they've been working on how to use them in combat situations and using my training mirror to run drills. I admit, the way they used their terrors to their advantage was impressive since in addition to using them to attack, they'd been training them to drop items like bombs, steal weapons, knock things over to distract foes, set small fires to things to act as distractions and burning through ropes that were holding things. We hadn't been able to use any of these in actual combat though since in addition to weaker bandit groups being unavailable, I had to help out with delivering supplies since everyone in the village had been snowed in due to a massive blizzard keeping the people trapped in their huts for five days. Because of this they used up the majority of their food and almost all of their wood supplies which needed to be refilled in order for them to survive the remainder of the winter. My dad was also using it as an opportunity to keep up my chief training since winter was a time where the people needed their chief more than ever with the shortage of food and people being driven crazy from being trapped inside for days on end.

Now though the blizzards had finally ended, and people could get back to work outside with dragon riders using their dragons to clear the paths, people checking up on each other, tending to the animals in the barn and chopping up more firewood. The kids on the other hand were all having a good time playing in the snow after being trapped inside for so long which is something I ordered my kids to join in since they'd been so focused on their training, I felt that they'd earned a break to just be young. My wives and I on the other hand were busy with their responsibilities with my wives tending to the babies while I was with my dad handling the village problems and helping prepare for the next blizzards that are bound to come while dealing with the problems the last one brought.

Presently, I was dealing with one of said problems brought on by the blizzard in the form of calming a married couple who had been forced to spend all their time together trapped in their hut with nothing to do but talk to each other which opened old wounds. Now after an hour of intense talking I was able to get the both of them to stop yelling at each other and in the wife's case, stop wielding a frying pan like a mace, the two had finally calmed down and settled things. To be on the safe side though, I left them some games which would help keep them busy during the long blizzards and hopefully ensure no more kitchenware would be used as a weapon. I walked out the hut and saw Toothless waiting for me in the snow before he sat up when he spotted me and growled making me smile as I walked up and said.

"Don't worry bud, the husband forgot one of the most important rules about married life." He tilted his head. "Never bring up a time when you used to think your wife wasn't as attractive or bring up old girlfriends." Toothless growled and nodded knowing how right that was before I mounted him. "Now come on, we've got to get fresh firewood to some of Berks farmers and restock the barn before preparing for the traders who are coming to open stalls at the bazaar tomorrow." He growled and looked down. "Yeah, I know bud, those guys can get annoying with their attempts to buy you, the other dragons, my animals and of course, practically shoving their daughters down both my throat and my sons while also shoving their own sons down Chara's." We took off into the sky. "Honestly, how many times am I going to have to turn them down before they understand that I'm not interested, and I do not intend to arrange a marriage for any of my kids?" He growled and shook his head. "I know, let's focus on our current jobs and deal with these guys when we encounter the problem." With this in mind we took off.

Nightfall

Night had fallen over New Berk, and I was once again in bed with my wives and enjoying the silence of the room with the only sound being the sound of our breathing. As I lay there, I went over my mental list of things that I needed to do tomorrow before the traders came from Arabia including setting up guards for both the bazaar and the bridge, preparing the stands, getting the rooms in the houses ready, preparing the stables for the camels and more. I let out a breath knowing tomorrow was going to be a busy day for me and I would have a lot of headaches to deal with in the form of the numerous traders who were going to be coming. I already received a message from Aamin and Amira who had warned me that they knew some of the traders who had chosen to come to my bazaar. They were well known as some of the best traders with some of the finest goods and best connections with some of the most powerful people including the royalty and able to get anyone anything they desired.

Sadly, it was because of this that they'd gotten arrogant and began believing they could do anything and were better than everyone else, so they began treating other traders as if they were worthless. Along with this there had also been rumors of them doing business with bandits and paying them to either deal with their business rivals or the bandits would have them help in their schemes in various ways but without proof, they couldn't be arrested. It was because of this, I'd upped security a little since I didn't want to risk anything happening at the bazaar, especially if it would endanger my people and my family. With this in mind, I allowed myself to drift into the sweet realm of sleep, knowing I'd need all the rest I could get for the challenges of tomorrow. They'd also warned me that

2 days later

It's been two days since the traders began arriving from Arabia and one day since the bazaar opened and to say it had been a massive headache would be an understatement since the traders, I was warned about arrived as well. With these guys they always had to have the best of everything to conduct their business so I had to give them the best stalls so some had to give up their spots, the best houses since they refused to share one house with anyone else so a lot of traders had to camp out in tents, the best stables for their camels with the best food which left some camels going hungry for a bit and so many more headaches. Still though, I saw some of the items they were offering, and I could not deny that they were some of the finest items I'd seen at any bazaar I'd been to with a large variety. Sadly, this stuff also wasn't cheap, and people had to make some high end offers to get even one of the items they had and when it came to me and my family, it was even worse since they knew what we had to offer. They've tried to convince me to sell them a dragon at least six times each and in the hour that they'd arrived and when I wasn't around, they'd go after my family making it impossibl e to enjoy the bazaar.

Now, I was taking in the bazaar with Hunter at my side since I wanted to spend some one-on-one time with my eldest blood son since I missed so much of his childhood while Havard was enjoying a hunt with the pack. Resting on his shoulders though, was Hotshot who was just lounging on my sons' shoulders while watching the people go by and examining the stalls. Still though, I was a little nervous since I wouldn't put it past some of the traders to try and get to me through my son and while I did have faith in Hunters skills, he still had a long way before he was on the same level of his adopted siblings which is why I told him to keep his axes on him in case some of the traders didn't understand what no meant. We walked away from one of the stalls with me holding a bag of sugared dates and offered one to Brant as I said.

"Whenever the bazaar comes to town, I always pick a bag of sugared dates as a treat for myself." Brant took one and tossed it into his mouth before nodding and letting out a quiet moan.

"I see why, they're pretty tasty." I nodded.

"So, what do you think of the bazaar?" He looked around.

"It's a lot different to the regular market I grew up with and definitely different to the trading ships that would visit the island." I nodded as I chewed another date in my mouth before swallowing.

"I know how you feel since I feel the same way every time, I travel to a land which has an entirely new culture I've never seen before." I looked around. "Still though, it always ends up being worth it since their culture often has a lot to offer."

"Like all the building designs on New Berk or stuff around the island." I nodded.

"I admit, the things I learn have played a big role in what's made New Berk the village it is and my island what it is but I always do my best to throw in my own little Hiccup flare into it." He looked up at me.

"Like how I add my own flare to the hunting traps I use?" I nodded.

"Come to think of it, you've never show me the traps you've made." He shrugged.

"Since I came to the island, I haven't been really able to use them with the animals roaming the island being your pets and tamed animals who protect the island and to be honest, not a lot to hunt in the forests of New Berk other than the fish in the waters and some rabbits." I shrugged.

"True, I've been meaning to capture a couple of boar litters to release into the forests to begin a boar population since people have begun complaining about the need to sail to another island to hunt them or buy boar meat from the traders but I've always been so busy helping your grandfather with the chiefly duties and training your siblings while also trying to just be a good father and husband." He shrugged.

"Well I can't tell you how you're doing as a husband to your wives, I can tell you that I think you're doing a good job as a father if how my adopted brothers and sister look up to you and although I haven't spent even a year with you, I can already tell you're doing your best to be a good dad and I appreciate that." I smiled and patted his back.

"Thanks son, I'm always trying to be the father I never had as a kid."

"No offense dad but grandpa seems like a good guy." I nodded.

"He is but when I was younger, I was a runt and treated as badly as you were back in your old village since I couldn't wield a weapon and despite how I was able to help in the forge, nobody was kind to me." I shook my head. "I tried inventing things that could help with the dragon raids, but they always backfired and caused more damage which I later learned was because the twins would sabotage my inventions." I sighed and looked down. "My dad used to scold me in front of everyone for the damages and never once stood up for me when I was being bullied and mostly punished me instead of them." He just stared at me, but I shrugged. "Hey, it made it easier to not look back at first when I left with Toothless." I shrugged. "As one of the ancient masters who trained me once said though, you're past is history that you must learn from so that you may use the pains to strengthen your body and soul for the challenges you may face in the future." Hunter nodded. "Now come on, there's a lot to see at the bazaar." He nodded. "Anything in specific you want to see?" He looked around.

"Well, I am a little curious about the performers." I smiled at him.

"Then let's go see who's performing what."

5 minutes later

We were standing in the middle of the crowd at the front and enjoying the show being performed by a sword eater and a fire eater who were doing their acts for a crowd of Vikings to draw them to the stalls behind them. The sword eater removed the blade from his mouth and the fire breather let out one last breath of flames before turning to the crowd and bowing as everyone applauded. I placed a hand on Hunters shoulder and turned to him and asked.

"So, what did you think?" Hunter smiled.

"It was interesting, but it doesn't exactly compare to the things I've seen on your island." Before I could reply, a voice from besides us said.

"If half the things I am told about the island than I have no doubt about that." We turned and saw an elderly man with a short white beard, wearing light yellow robes with a matching turban that had an orange sun stone in the center, a gold ring on each finger and a gold medallion that had a ruby the size of my eye in the center with smaller rubies surrounding it and knowing a wealthy merchant when I saw one, I asked.

"And you are?"

"I am Ibrahim, merchant of many fine products from all across the world." He gestured around him with his hands before he looked at us. "This is what brought me here, to this amazing bazaar you host as it presented me a wonderful opportunity for me to not only get my hands on some of the unique items your people trade and a chance to meet you." He gestured to me making me raise an eyebrow. "The famous hero of Arabia who rides a soaring mount as black as night, possesses a scorpion wagon that carries his tent upon its back, sails a ship through the clouds above and has saved our lands from various threats, saved countless lives and brought in countless bandits who plagued the deserts, all while asking for nothing in return." I sighed, knowing he was a fan.

"Yeah, that's me but I mostly just hunt bandits since it's a good way to keep up my training while also helping save the guards of cities a bit of trouble of needing to hunt these bandits down themselves." He nodded.

"Still, it is truly an impressive thing you've done as many of those bandits have been avoiding the guards for years and anyone who has gone after them has perished or been taken captive." I shrugged.

"It's not that hard to take them down since I mostly stay hidden and pick them off one by one and have Toothless watch my back from above." He nodded.

"I was actually hoping to discuss some things with you." I sighed, knowing this would happen.

"If you're going to make me an offer to buy Toothless than let me save you some time and just tell you now, the answer is no and always will be, no matter what you offer." He just smiled.

"That's what they all say before I work my magic on them." Both Hunter and I rolled our eyes.

"Alright, what do you offer but remember that Toothless is not for sale." He smiled before placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Just think about this, I can offer you some of the finest items Arabia has to offer." He walked over next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Just imagine what I'm offering you." He gestured to the bazaar. "I can help you start a business of your own which will make this seem like a small trading camp." He pointed to some of the Arabian dancers. "Women of incredible beauty with numerous talents besides dancing, they're also quite smart and skilled in various things such as cooking, flower arranging and so much more." He then gestured to someone charming a cobra. "Beasts of any kind that you desire as I am sure that I have many that you have yet to add to your collection." He then gestured to some guard. "Perhaps you would prefer some men to act as guards for your family and I have some of the finest warriors in my services who I would be happy to converse with and convince to serve you from now on." He then looked at Hunter. "Or maybe it is a bride or husband for your children that may interest you." I saw Hunter freeze up at this and look at me with a little fear and I couldn't blame him since it was his future we were talking about. "I have many daughters each of great beauty and good minds who would make excellent additions to your family and wonderful wives to your sons, and I also have a son who has a good mind for business, is an expert with the scimitar, very strong and would make a fine husband for your daughter and son-in-law." I stared at him before I sighed as I shook my head and looked down. "Having a hard time deciding if it's a good choice because I believe securing the future of your children is well worth it." I looked at him.

"That's not it, what I am having a hard time deciding is what would make you think that I would accept any of these deals, especially the offer concerning my children's love lives." I could tell he was shocked by what I just said. "I want them to find the ones they want to share their lives with and decide who they will be on their own, but right now they're too young to even think about things like marriage." He nodded. "As for your other offers, I don't open business' for the money or items, I open the bazaar since it helps make my people happy and brings new things for my people, the beasts I have are creatures that were gifted to me as gifts or orphaned so I brought them back to take care of them, the guards you offered aren't needed since I make sure they're well protected and can take care of themselves." I took a breath. "As for your offer of women, my wives would skin me alive if I even considered it since we don't really need servants since we can take care of ourselves." I took a breath. "So, it's like I said, there's nothing you can offer me that I'd accept in trade for Toothless." He nodded.

"Then perhaps you'd be willing to part with one or two of your other dragons since I have been told you have numerous nests which the dragons you have call home." He looked at Hunter or to be clearer, he was looking at Hotshot on his shoulder. "I'm sure you have many of the same species with one or two of them could be spared." I shook my head.

"The answer is no, none of the dragons in the nests are for sale and there is no offer you can make that I will accept." He sighed.

"I understand Hiccup but rest assured, I will be back as I have many clients who wish to possess their own dragons, and I always deliver." I didn't like the way he said that as he walked away and once, he'd disappeared into the crowds, Hunter turned to me.

"Why do I get the feeling he's planning something that's going to be trouble in the future?" I patted his back.

"You get that from me son, it's like an early warning when something bad's going to happen and although it's not always right, it's best to listen to that feeling since it's more than often right." He nodded.

"You going to keep an eye on him?" I nodded.

"I already have one of my jewelwig's getting ready to hop onto him." Hunter nodded before I shook my head. "Let's ignore him for now and enjoy the bazaar." Hunter smiled at me.

"Sounds good to me." We then continued to enjoy a walk through the bazaar.

11 days later

It's been eleven days since my day at the bazaar with Hunter which was good since I feel that it really helped me bond with my boy and let me find out about Ibrahim. I sent word back to Arabia to get a bit more information on him and I was not surprised to discover that he was one of the finest traders in Arabia with many connections, including connections to royals who had been a headache for me in the past. These were the same royals who had bothered me at every opportunity to try and buy Toothless from me, making various claims about why they wanted him, how he'd be treated and of course countless offers of treasures, land, women and more. I'm guessing their desire to own a dragon is what drove him to try and convince me to sell some of the dragons that call my island home so he could supply them to the royals or worse. In that time, not a day went by without him trying to make new offers for the dragons and going so far as to bring some of his products to tempt me which included dancing girls which wasn't so bad. My wives were present and wanted to make it clear to him that they were not going to let me accept the offer and to ensure I wasn't tempted, they pulled me into a hard kiss and when nightfall came, they prepared my favorite meal and joined me in the bath to show off their bodies. They did know they had nothing to worry about since the only women who could charm me with their beauty was them and I had no intention of hiring servants of any kind since my automatons took care of all the house chores while my dragons, animals and I did the rest to keep the island running smoothly.

Now the final day of the bazaar had come, and the traders were now packing up their wares and preparing to go back to Arabia when morning comes. As for my family, my youngest were in bed sleeping peacefully, my eldest son and adopted kids were in their rooms doing their own nightly rituals before bed, my wives were doing the same around the building and as for me, I was up in the sky on Toothless. The reason we were up in the sky wasn't for our regular evening flight around the island before bed but because both Hunter and my suspicions concerning Ibrahim had been proven correct yesterday when the jewelwig I had on him caught something that meant trouble. He'd met with the traders who he worked with and told them that I wasn't selling so it was time to go to their backup plan before one of them left to inform their workers about it. I didn't know what their full plan was at the time, but I knew it had something to do with them capturing dragons since it's what he'd been after the whole time he'd been here.

Presently, he and the men were by the arch leading back to Arabia as if they were waiting for something and this was proven when multiple camels being led by men and pulling large, covered wagons behind them, but it was easy to tell they were cages. Ibrahim walked up to one of the men and asked them.

"Are the men ready with the poisons?" The man nodded. "This poison will only knock them out correct since my buyers won't pay as much for dead beasts?" The man nodded once more. "And what of the cages, are they strong enough to hold the beasts?" The man nodded and answered.

"Don't worry Ibrahim, the cages we've prepared were made to hold even the strongest beasts while the poisons could knock out an entire herd of elephants so we should have no trouble holding the beasts or knocking them out long enough to get them back to Arabia." Ibrahim nodded.

"Just remember, we need to have this done before morning or Hiccup may catch onto what we're doing and there's no telling what he'll do." Every one of the men nodded. "Now hurry up and prepare the cages while the rest of you go and see if you can find where he keeps the dragons at night so we can take them back to Arabia." They nodded and uncovered the wagons to reveal the cages and weapons in poison filled pots beneath which I took as a good time to begin the attack, so I patted Toothless' head.

"Don't worry bud, I've let Mirage know to be ready and since it's not often she gets to have any fun, let's just watch the show for now." Toothless let out a growl and huff. "Come on Toothless, give Mirage a chance to shine and we can always go bounty hunting in Arabia when we go to drop off Ibrahim and his men for their crimes." Toothless let out a huff and nodded before I made the jewelwig, I had on Mirage alert her that it was time to attack and got ready for the show.

Nobodies POV:

Ibrahim's men began approaching the wagon which held their weapons but before they could do anything, the sand began to shift beneath their feet. Before they could react two giant scorpion tales burst from the ground beneath the wagon holding their weapons, throwing them everywhere and causing the camels to flee in fear while the men all backed up and watched the stingers in shock. The stingers then began to charge at a nearby group who immediately tried to flee, only for the stingers to go down and swing at them, throwing the men across the sand and knocking them unconscious while the stingers sunk back down into the ground. The men once again felt the ground begin to shift beneath their feet and immediately made a break for the arch, hoping to escape back to their homeland, but as soon as they were ten feet away from it, Mirage burst from the ground in all her glory.

As the camels fled in fear, the remaining men took one look at her and screamed in terror while fleeing in fear while some of the braver ones grabbed the scattered weapons and charged at her. Mirage didn't pay much attention to those who were fleeing and instead kept her attention on the ones who were coming at her with weapons held high. They never lasted long though as Mirage would use her giant claws to either swat them aside or grab them before throwing them away while her tails would extend to either swat them away or stab them with her small yet powerful stingers, leaving the men to fall to the ground, frozen. Those that were at the back of the charge saw what happened to their allies, but it was already too late, Mystic had spotted them and dove beneath the sands before giving chase.

With the speed she could travel and shoot out her stingers and claws, the men were all knocked out or paralyzed in less than five minutes leaving only Ibrahim behind who Hiccup had ordered Mirage to leave to him. The trader had used his men fleeing as a distraction and began running for the arch, hoping to escape back to his homeland before Mirage spotted him which was not easy since when she threw the wagons over one landed on his leg, bruising it and making it hard to walk. It was as he reached the arch he was stopped by a voice from on top of the arch asked.

"Going somewhere Ibrahim?" Ibrahim looked up and saw Hiccup and Toothless glaring down at him making him fall back in shock as the two jumped down from their place. "I believe I told you that my dragons were not for sale and trying to steal them from my island while I'm in bed is also not a wise decision." Ibrahim crawled back in fear.

"Hiccup, I can explain if you just give me the chance." Hiccup shook his head.

"No need, I'll get all the answers I need from you the same way I get them from bandits I capture." Hiccups shadow extended beneath Ibrahim. "But I'll save that for the morning since my wives are probably wondering where I am right now, so I'll just keep you and your men in my shadow for now." Tendrils burst from Hiccups shadow, wrapping around Ibrahim limbs and gagging him as he struggled while they pulled him into Hiccups shadow until he was completely pulled in. "We'll deal with him later, for now let's round up his men." Toothless growled and nodded as Hiccup released his shadow wolves and sent them to find the men and pull them into his shadow to join their employer.

15 minutes later

All the men were captured and in Berks dungeon with their leader, the camels had been rounded up and put in a pen while their wagons and weapons had been put into storage until Hiccup could decide what to do with them in the morning. The men along with their leader Ibrahim though would remain in New Berks dungeons for the night and taken back to Arabia tomorrow, although the guards weren't too happy about being given so much work so late at night. Now though he was done and making his way up to his bedroom for a goodnight sleep while Toothless was preparing to do the same in his stables. Hiccup entered the room and found his wives sitting on the bed, waiting for him but before he could say anything, Astrid asked.

"Have Ibrahim and his men been taken care of?" I nodded and began to undress.

"Yeah, they're all cooling their heels in Berks dungeons until morning when I can interrogate them for information before I send word to my allies in Arabia and get an idea on what we can do with them." Hiccup shrugged as he placed his equipment on the stand, he'd made for it in the corner of the room leaving him in nothing but a shirt and pants. "Chances are we'll be requested to drop them off and explain to a couple of nobles and possibly some royals about what happened." He took off his shirt as Hadasa said.

"Well, we might be able to turn it into a friendly trip since it would give the kids a chance to see their aunts and uncles while also giving Hunter a chance to meet them and take in a new land." Hiccup nodded and poured himself a goblet of water.

"That is true since the last time I wrote them, I did tell them about Hunter, and they have been wanting to meet him." The girls nodded as Blanca said.

"They do consider us family, so I can understand why they wish to meet Hunter." Hunter sipped his drink.

"True, but I'm worried about how things will go when the nobles find out about him." The girls all looked down as Hiccup took a breath as Chiaki said.

"They'll no doubt try to get to you and the dragons through him like they've tried to do through Brant, Chara and Egil, but since he's blood, they'll most likely target him more." Hiccup sat down on the bed and ran a hand through his hair.

"He hasn't been with us for even a year, and I don't want him to have to suffer that kind of thing so soon." The girls nodded before Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup.

"We understand your concern Hiccup, but you can't protect him from this forever since as your son and the future chief of Berk, he's going to need to learn how to deal with these kinds of situations." Hiccup wasn't convinced but the more he thought about it, the more he agreed with it and let out a sigh and smiled.

"Why is it that whenever it comes to a tough decision, you girls always have the answer that I need to hear?" They just giggled before Hiccup climbed into bed. "Let's get some sleep since tomorrow is going to be one busy day." They all nodded before taking their positions and drifting off into the void that was sleep.

AN: And another chapter is up and with it I can try to get back into my normal writing groove but with the end of the year coming, things are pretty crazy so I hardly get to write and with a recent death in the family, things have been busy. Anyway, this fic is not dead, it's alive and I just took some time off to simply get a better idea of everyone's ages, nothing more and nothing less so please review again as I miss reading them. Have a nice day.