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Final Warrior 24: Thank you for your suggestions.
Lord Phoenex 10: Duly noted.
DJ Rodriguez: Yes, Stoick had been searching non stop for Hiccup. And to be fair, no one would ask Gothi about Hiccup's whereabouts.
And also, Stoick didn't KO'd Mildew, that was Gobber.
And yes, Ozaki is from Godzilla Final Wars.
LORD DESTRYUK: Good idea.
Sophia May: I'm not interested.
Naedine-Dak: Thank you for your compliment, but I'm not interested in your offer.
FrostZilla 2006: Wow, I didn't think I'd catch your attention. Thank you for your kind words and I will tell you this, that I am a fan of your work.
Now I don't want to give spoilers, but Hiccup and Astrid will meet again.
Now then, on with the story!
Chapter 16: Adjusting To A New Life, Japanese Style
It's been two weeks since Hiccup, Toothless, Sharpshot and Gojira arrived in Japan. And things have been going well, in all honesty. Yamane's lessons in Japanese along with teaching him customs were going splendid.
The way of the Japanese people was admittedly strange to Hiccup. In their culture, women were not warriors. They were expected to be housewives and take care of the household, nothing more.
The people here also ate food with what is called chopsticks. Strange, but Hiccup was adjusting to using them. For him, it was like holding two pencils in hand and using them to grab food.
These people also had a different definition of privacy. Most of the men would bathe together and wash each other's back. It was said to be a sign of respect, but Hiccup had a different word for it.
D.
And people were becoming less and less tense around his dragon companions every day. And no one panics when they see him and Toothless flying in the air.
Though there was one incident where he and Toothless were almost shot down by some warriors who didn't know the Shogun was housing an outsider who happened to be a dragon rider.
But needless to say, Gojira was not happy to hear about that.
Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt from that. Whether that be Hiccup and Toothless or the warriors that shot them down.
Hiccup also started to hang out with Princess Akane and her brother Ozaki often as well. Between Yamane's lessons, Ozaki also explained his status as a Samurai. The Prince spoke of the Samurai ways with respect and how they are loyal to a Lord and explained the Code of Bushido that the Samurai live by. Ozaki also explained that Samurai would be greatly dishonored if they failed their Lord along with the one way to restore an Samurai's honor was a ritual suicide they call Seppuku.
Hiccup supposed he understood that in some aspects. To a Viking, there was no greater honor than to die in battle. He didn't agree with it, but he chose to respect it.
After hearing his story of how he, Toothless and Gojira battled the Red Death, everyone who heard either looked at him with great respect or suspicion. Clearly, not everyone was believing that Hiccup had accomplished such a feat even with Toothless and Gojira.
"So, is it right to assume that the city here doesn't get dragon raids, based on how few houses are damaged?" Hiccup asked Akane in Japanese as they went for a walk in the street with Toothless.
"Hai. That would be correct," Akane replied. "There is a couple of sea dragons out in the harbor, but the city hasn't gotten a lot of dragon raids since they started compared to the small villages across the provinces. At least twice a month at most. Father suspects that we may be out of range, so to speak, of the dragons' territory and they don't like traveling too far from their borders."
Hiccup nodded in understanding. The princess looks at him curiously. "So, how do you plan to help us with our dragon problem?" she asked.
"Well, I'm thinking of it being similar to what I did with Toothless and Gojira." Hiccup replied. "Find the dragons' nest. And to find the nest, I'll need a dragon from around here. If there is some tyrant Queen at this nest like the Red Death. I'll study it and make plans accordingly."
Prince Ozaki formed a thoughtful expression. "Would a sea dragon be able to find the dragons nest?" he asked Hiccup.
Hiccup shrugged. "I can't say for sure." he replied. "Most Tidal class dragons I know of back in my homeland had wings. The dragon nest in this land could be anywhere. A cave in a mountain or a volcano and from what I've seen, most sea dragons here don't have wings." he furrows his brows. "Maybe if the dragon swam up a river they could find the nest."
"Could you be able to train the dragon like you did with Toothless and Sharpshot?" Princess Akane asked. "And. . . could you teach us?"
Hiccup blinked and looked to the Japanese girl in surprise and saw that her brother was thinking the same thing as her. "Really? You guys would be willing to learn?" he asked.
"Honestly, yeah." Ozaki said. "I mean, we'd have to talk to our father, but yeah. Other than fighting a dragon to defend our people, riding a dragon sounds like it would be fun and thrilling."
Hiccup looked to Akane who nodded her head with a soft smile. Hiccup looked at the two of them before smiling himself. "Okay then, I'm willing to teach you two under your father's permission." he said to the two siblings. "Just, uh, let me find a couple of dragons for you."
Akane seemed to be really excited about that, she bounced on her feet before hugging Hiccup tightly. "Thank you, Hiccup-san."
Hiccup looked to Ozaki who seemed to hold back his laughter. The exiled Viking hesitantly returned the hug.
And then later on, the Shogun would grant Hiccup permission to teach his children to ride dragons, under supervision of course. And Hiccup decided that a sea dragon from the bay would work.
"What I'm going to need is fish," Hiccup said to the Shogun and Aso during dinner. "Lots of fish."
"Very well, Norseman," the Shogun replied with thinking Hiccup's proposal over. "I'll order some fishermen to gather the fish for you."
The next day. . .
A pile of fish was then made on the beach outside the city while a trail of fish blood led to the specific shoreline.
"Now, one of the first steps to bonding with a dragon is trust," Hiccup said to the Prince and Princess as they stood close by. "The dragon must know that you do not wish to harm it and to be friends with them and the best way to do that is to offer them food, mainly fish and approach slowly without any weapons."
"Understood," Ozaki replied with a nod while Akane pulled out a notebook and wrote it down to remember.
Nodding, Hiccup turned to Sharpshot, Toothless and Gojira. "Okay, guys, remember, this is an attempt to be friends with the dragon, not make enemies with them." he said to the trio. "So let me try to become friends with the dragon before you guys think of attacking them."
Sharpshot nodded his head as did Toothless while Gojira let out a grumble of wariness. The Saurian had experience with the dragons of Japan. They weren't like the Night Fury or like that Red Death, but they were still dangerous if they wanted to be, especially to humans.
Hiccup, after all the months of bonding, understood what Gojira was emoting. "Goji, do I look like a guy that would give a dragon any reason to char-boil me on the spot?" he asked.
.
.
.
Gojira shook his head.
". . . Ignoring the hesitation, trust me, Gojira." Hiccup replied calmly. "I've got this."
No sooner than he said that, one of the fishermen exclaimed that there was movement in the harbor. Which meant only one thing.
A dragon was on the way.
"Okay, remember, no one provokes the dragon," Hiccup said in Japanese to the Samurai warriors that were nearby. Aso was among them. "I am attempting to befriend it first. Okay?"
"Hai." Aso and his warriors replied in unison.
Hiccup turned to the Prince and Princess. "It's best that you two don't come close until I say it's okay, got it?"
"Got it," Ozaki replied with a nod.
"Do be careful," Akane said in concern.
Hiccup blushed a little at the princess's concern and looked away briefly. Then he refocused on the bulging wave in the harbor that was following the thick trail of fish blood to the shore.
A whale-like moan was heard before the sea dragon's head rose out of the water and it made its way out of the water and towards the pile of fish. The sea dragon tilted her head slightly at the fish, looked left and right to see if this was some kind of trap before leaning down and began to eat mouthfuls of fish.
"Well, would you look at that," Hiccup muttered as he saw the dragon and recognized it. "A familiar face."
It was Manda.
"Okay, this makes it a little easier." He said before holding a hand out to Toothless, his palm facing upwards. "Bud, the big fish."
Toothless crooned as he placed a very big fish in Hiccup's hand. Hiccup's eyes widened as the fish proved to be heavier than he thought it would be.
Given that it was as big as him, that's no surprise.
Prince Ozaki and Princess Akane watched Hiccup stumble left and right with the large fish in his arms.
"You know, he's not really installing confidence, stumbling around like that," Ozaki said to his sister as they watch Hiccup stumble from the left to the right, their heads turning to watch his movements.
"Don't doubt him, Ozaki. He almost succeeded in befriending the dragon back in the mountains before it was called back by the others," Akane said defensively as they watched Hiccup stumble from the right and to the left. "How does that Blacksmith say it? . . . He's got this in the bag."
And then Hiccup's foot slipped and with a yelp, he ended up sliding down the small hill that led to the beach.
Hiccup stared up at the sky with wide eyes when he stopped sliding down the hill and sat up. He saw how close he was to the dragon.
Hiccup took a deep breath and approached the dragon. "Hiya," he said, raising his voice to be heard as the dragon was eating the last of the fish pile.
Manda turned her head to the sound of the human voice and saw a human. A human that she recognized. It was the young male that didn't try to attack her. She growled warily at the human.
"It's okay," Hiccup said soothingly. "I'm not going to hurt you." He holds the fish up to Manda. "Here, you want one more fish?"
Manda narrowed her eyes slightly as she lowered her head. She sniffed for any poison hidden in the fish but all she smelled was the fish smell and the human smell. So she decided to accept the fish and opened her jaws slightly.
Hiccup grinned a bit before tossing the big fish into Manda's mouth and the Japanese Sea Dragon quickly ate it.
"There, now how about this?" Hiccup asked as he held up a large bundle of Dragon Nip. The plant had a calming effect to most dragons Hiccup had encountered and he hoped it would now. But these dragons were different, for all Hiccup knew, the Dragon Nip could have no effect.
Hiccup gulped slightly as Manda lowered her head and took a few whiffs of the air surrounding the Dragon Nip. Her eyes widened before softening in a friendly manner and she coos at Hiccup.
"There you go, big girl," Hiccup said to her soothingly. He reached out his hand with his palm out to Manda. The Japanese Sea Dragon hesitated for a moment before she lowered her head and pressed her snout to Hiccup's hand and rumbled in contentment.
Hiccup smiled and glanced over his shoulder. Toothless, Gojira and Sharpshot relaxed at the sight while the Prince and Princess were looking at him in awe, their mouths hanging open. Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle at their faces as he gestured for them to come over.
"You've tamed the Manda," Ozaki said in wonder. "Sugoi."
"You just got to show them that you mean no harm," Hiccup said in Japanese, petting Manda. He turns to the two. "So, who wants to go first?"
Both siblings looked at one another, silently having a conversation before Akane stepped back and Ozaki stepped forward.
Manda growled lightly at the Prince, making Ozaki flinch.
"Hey, it's okay. He's not going to hurt you," Hiccup whispered to Manda. He slowly removed his hand from Manda's snout and brought Ozaki's hand down upon the dragon's snout.
Prince Ozaki held his breath as the dragon stared into his eyes. It seemed to be analyzing him, sizing him up. Then she relaxed and rumbled into Ozaki's hand. The Prince couldn't help but smile. It was amazing to actually touch a dragon. He never would've dreamed he would do something like this in his entire life.
The next day, Akane brought Hiccup to a blacksmith forge in town. Hiccup looked at the building before walking inside and both he and the Princess saw the blacksmith hard at work, his back to the two of them as he hammered a piece of metal. The black haired man was tall and muscular, probably not much compared to the Vikings Hiccup grew up with, but he was sure one of the most muscular he had seen in this land.
Hiccup would have opted to wait patiently for the blacksmith to finish his work, but Akane apparently did not. The princess reached to the left and picked up a piece of leather, rolled it up and then prepared to throw it at the blacksmith.
"Uh, Princess, I don't think-" Hiccup moved to protest.
"Relax, Hiccup, it won't hurt him. . . much." Akane said playfully before throwing the bundle of leather at the man's head.
The blacksmith grunted as the leather bounced off the back of his head. He stopped hammering and sighed heavily before turning around, putting his hammer down.
"Good morning, Princess," the man said to the girl, smiling in amusement. "Should have known you'd be the one to bring the new local celebrity."
"Good morning, Gordon-San." Akane said smiling back. She turns to the Viking dragon rider. "Hiccup, this is Douglas Gordon, one of the best blacksmiths and swordsmiths in the Province. Gordon-San, this is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. He's a Gaijin, like you."
"Hello sir," Hiccup said in Japanese, holding a hand out. "It's an honor to meet you."
"Please, the honor is all mine," Douglas Gordon replied, shaking hands with Hiccup. "It's not every day you meet a Dragon Rider."
Hiccup chuckled bashfully, rubbing the back of his head.
"So, how are things going around here?" Princess Akane asked Douglas.
"Busy," deadpanned Douglas. "I got a lot of work to do," he sighs heavily with a somber expression.
"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked.
"Oh nothing," Douglas said dismissively, still looking somber. "Things have just been slow without my apprentice."
Hiccup tilted his head. "What happened to your apprentice?"
Akane leaned to him and whispered, "His apprentice died a month ago, really sick."
"Oh," Hiccup said, turning to Douglas. "Oh man, I am so sorry, Gordon-San."
Douglas just sighed in response. "Thanks kid." he said gruffly.
Akane looked between them before saying, "Well, I got some errands I need to do back at home, I'll be back before sundown." With that she left.
The two stared at the door she left before Douglas spoke up to Hiccup, "I think she wants you to help me."
Hiccup nodded in agreement. "I couldn't agree more."
The two stood in place before Douglas nodded his head. "Well, might as well get to work." he declared. "You know how to make a sword?"
"Well, Vikings make a different kind of sword," Hiccup answered, glancing at the swords that were hanging from the walls.
"Well then, come, come." Douglas waved him over. "I'll teach you to make a sword, Japanese style."
"BONZAI!" Akane screams as she swings from a vine and lets go to splashes into the water at a beach. She emerges from the water, whipping her hair back.
"YEAH, BABY!" Hiccup hollers as he swings down next. He emerges next to Akane, spitting out water. The two teens laugh for a bit in joy before they look at one another and then blush ever so slightly.
Hiccup turned to the beach, "Come on, Ozaki! The water's great!"
"No thanks," said Ozaki with a chuckle as he sits on the beach in a meditative stance with his eyes closed.
A pair of high pitched screeches cut through the air before both Toothless and Sharpshot splash into the water, creating a little wave that splashes Hiccup and Akane.
"Toothless! Sharpshot!" both Hiccup and Akane said in scolding manners to the Night Fury that was swimming around like a seal and the Terrible Terror that was swimming around like a dog.
Just then the water began to vibrate and the sound of rapid heavy footfalls was heard.
Just then, Gojira jumped high into the air over Ozaki and then his shadow passed Hiccup, the Princess and the Night Fury-Terrible Terror duo with a mighty roar of unbridled joy.
SSKKRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOONNNNKK
SPLASH!
Both Hiccup and Akane frantically paddled as fast they could before they were swept into the wave.
"Hmm?" Ozaki opened his eyes and saw a near two hundred foot tall wall of water heading towards him.
The Prince's lip trembled as he whimpered in fear before holding his hands up in a prayer to the gods.
The next thing Ozaki knew, he was carried by the wave away from the shore and then he slowly lowered down on the road before the water retreated back to the beach, a few fish flopped around next to him.
Ozaki stared up at the sky with a deadpan expression, blinking his eyes as a farmer happened to pass by on a ox pulled wagon.
"Hey!" the old man called to him gruffly.
"Hai?" Ozaki replied, not moving from his spot.
"You're right in the middle of the road-!" the farmer said angrily, gesturing to the road.
"Hai?!" Ozaki stressed, still not moving from where he was.
The farmer stared down at him before he shrugged. "All right," with that, he urged his ox to keep on moving and the wagon passed by Ozaki.
". . . Guess that's enough fun for one day," Ozaki said in a monotone tone.
Gojira lifted his head out of the water with Toothless on his head and Sharpshot on the Night Fury's head. Giggling was heard and they saw Akane sitting on the top branch of a tree.
"WHOOO-HOOO!" Akane cheered.
And Hiccup? He was hanging upside down, his foot stuck between two tree limbs.
"Little help?"
A week later was when Hiccup decided to have Manda take him, Toothless and Gojira to where the Dragon Nest could be with Commander Aso. They had traveled an hour from the capitol before they came upon a mountain.
"Mount Jonen," Aso whispered to Hiccup from behind on Toothless' back.
"Well, at least you have a known location," Hiccup replied. They could probably see this mountain on a map back at the Palace. "Now I still need to see if there's a Queen in this nest."
Looking around, they saw other dragons approaching the mountain from different directions. No doubt, they had come from raiding other villages in other provinces.
"Alright, Gang," Hiccup said to both Toothless and Gojira. "We're going in."
Both dragon and Saurian growled in response before they grunted to Manda. Manda turned her head slightly and grunted back to them. She then increased her speed and dived into a tunnel in the mountainside.
"Hold on," Hiccup said to the Samurai before urging the Night Fury to follow the Japanese Sea Dragon.
Gojira let out a growl as he stepped into the tunnel as Toothless flew in above him. It wasn't long before they came up in a large chamber filled with fog at the bottom of the pit emitting an eerie red glow. It all looked very familiar.
"Definitely a Queen," Hiccup whispered to himself as he watched the dragons drop their catches into the pit. He leaned down to whisper to Toothless, "Alright, Bud. Fire a blast down the pit for me."
Toothless looked briefly nervous before readying himself and then firing a blast of plasma down into the red pit below them. Toothless then jumped to another platform so they wouldn't get spotted.
Something large was heard moving in the red fog before a large snake-like head with horns with a long neck covered in red scales rose out of the fog and roared.
The dragon looked around, its yellow eyes clearly looking around for the one responsible for firing at it, its tongue flicking out like a snake.
The dragon suddenly roared louder, causing Hiccup, Aso and Toothless to cover their ears in pain while Gojira growled from where he stood.
Hiccup looked back at the pit and froze in horror as he saw another head rise from the fog. Then more heads appeared, one by one until there was eight heads in total as they looked around the pit.
"Yamato no Orochi," Samurai Aso whispered in dread. "The Eight Headed Serpent."
". . . Da-da-da, we're dead." Hiccup declared.
Come on, Hiccup, think positive!
"Okay, I am POSITIVE we are DEAD!"