CHAPTER 64: Directive of the Leader
Astrid had asked for everyone except Valka and Zephyr with Nuffink to leave the hut, so she could personally talk to Hiccup and get a sense of what he was really feeling right now. Eret and Gobber were more than happy to have obliged with her request given the sensitivity of the situation at hand, and what was at stake. The hut was quiet, brief and subtle gusts of wind hitting the edges of the hut from the outside, creaky wood every so often sneaking its way into the ears of everyone.
"I'm fine, Astrid, I'm just fine," Hiccup assured her.
"Come on Hiccup, be honest. Something's on your mind."
Valka grabbed the other wooden chair and sat herself opposite Astrid. Zephyr and Nuffink were both stood besides Valka as they looked at their dad before curiously studying the giant map laid out in front of everyone on the table.
Hiccup shrugged. He didn't want to concede something was in his head, but he couldn't hold it back. He shrugged and let off the biggest sigh imaginable.
"You're right. Something's just...this is all scary stuff."
"Nobody said it wasn't going to be scary...you know...leading your tribe back into conflict when we thought we were well past that point," Astrid said, "it's understandable, Hiccup."
"I'm hesitant, Astrid."
"What?"
"I'm...I feel like a phoney, I'm hesitant to actually get to the fighting in the war. Last night I had a dream where we were back in that very same atmosphere...you know, when we were all on our dragons, you mum with Cloudjumper," Hiccup said, pointing at her, "and we're all fighting his guys whilst the two Bewilderbeasts fight it out."
Astrid and Valka were listening. But Zephyr and Nuffink were listening even closer - they weren't even alive during the battle Hiccup was talking about, and for them to be hearing about it caused them to shift their focus entirely on their dad.
"The gloomy feeling of defeat hanging over our heads...the sight of hundreds of vikings battling it out, slamming metal weapons into their faces, fists being sent into each other's chins, and then the ultimate close call when we all think he won when his challenger ended...you know."
Hiccup let off another sigh. This war had a very underwhelming start, with no fighting actually occurring yet. Hiccup was having flashbacks to the horrifying sights during the battle between him and Drago, and subsequently his challenger and Valka's Bewilderbeast. Those sights hadn't abandoned Hiccup all these years later. They were like a trauma.
And that was why he'd shown heaps of hesitancy even after rallying up the tribe after declaring war on Alfa Yurlin. To go through those sights, that gloomy feeling of a close-call defeat, potentially to an even bigger scale considering the barbaric ruthlessness of the enemies they were now fighting, was something Hiccup felt utterly afraid of having to repeat.
"I know son," Valka said, putting her hand onto Hiccup's arm on the table, "trust me, they've not left my head either. I know exactly where you're coming from Hiccup, considering the tragedy that unfolded that day."
"And this is what I mean, mum," Hiccup said, "I've declared war and we are going to put an end to Yurlin's reign of terror over this archipelago, but...I just haven't had the guts to actually call the shots yet. I only sent 20 guys to Berserker Island because of my hesitancy and my...apprehension. I haven't even considered sailing across the seas back to the hidden world's entrance because I fear the journey itself...what if one of us gets shot on the way there? we're at war, and I'm at a crossroads. I neither want to see those same sights again, and I don't want to realistically put any of us in a situation where a tragedy like losing my dad could be repeated."
Valka stood up from her chair, prompting Hiccup to do the same, before the two of them embraced each other for a tight hug. Valka, in her motherly instincts, knew her son at heart wasn't someone to naturally declare war on another tribe - it just wasn't in his nature. She fully understood the situation at hand, and no matter what, she'd always support Hiccup.
"I know son," she whispered, as Hiccup's face was buried into her shoulder, "there's no need to be ashamed of feeling this way."
"You know mum, I feel so naive in thinking this way that part of me actually has this hesitancy in the ever so hopeless view that we could still negotiate some sort of settlement to end the war."
Hiccup wasn't crying, but he was on the brink. He needed as many assurances as he could get at this moment in time. Valka gently took Hiccup from the hug and held onto both his shoulders, looking at her son face-to-face. His eyes were shiny as if they were about to burst with tears.
"When I look at you, Hiccup, I see Stoick."
"You do?" Hiccup asked.
"Absolutely. The beard, your eyes...everything, you look like him. You look like your dad. And do you know something, Hiccup? even though we're vikings, it's perfectly okay to have your feelings come out. Don't for a minute think that because you're Chieftan you have to maintain some sort of masculine figurehead. Getting your thoughts out like this will only help you in the long run."
"I suppose, mum...but what do I do? how do I counter these thoughts? how do I stop having these dreams about being back in those horrific days?"
"Don't think about what's next, son - think about what's at the end of the line. Trust me, you'll be surprised to hear this but your father and I used to have this exact same conversation. You know what he did? he looked ahead to the outcome every time, and simply saw everything between the beginning and the end as a small heap of boulders to jump over. See the bigger picture. What do you think will be the outcome of all of this, the most likely outcome?"
Hiccup stopped for a moment to actually consider his answer to the question. There were two specific things that stuck out to him.
"The protection of the viking world, maintaining the freedoms and the history behind the archipelago...and..." Hiccup seemed to hesitate, "you know what? I may sound even sillier for saying this - the return of the dragons."
"There's nothing silly about that, Hiccup!" Astrid said, standing up off her chair.
"You've got two kids who adore you, son. You've got Astrid, who loves you. You've got friends who respect you. Eret's said something along these words to you before, but you've clearly without realizing looked to the outcomes in the past when doing things. Making peace with the dragons? don't tell me for a moment you didn't seek to unite dragons and vikings together to defeat a common enemy in that queen."
Hiccup nodded. What seemed to relax his stress was the surprising revelation that his father used to have these exact same conversations with his mum. He had such a high and mighty mannerism and leadership credentials that it was impossible to see him as anything other than that.
"My point is, son - don't look to the middle, look to the end. And when we get to the end, we'll reap the rewards. When we try to navigate through a big hedge, we may sting ourselves into some nettles, but the only thing in our heads is making it to the other side of that hedge. Those small stings from those nettles are just that - small stings."
"And you know what, dad?" Zephyr said, her voice unexpectedly popping up into this rather sensitive discussion, "when we had our Snoggletog show, at the end of it I saw Toothless - that was an outcome you made for me and Nuff, I bet you you've already forgotten that you had a big fall in that costume you had on, as you told me!"
Hiccup looked to Zephyr and Nuffink as the two of them joined Valka side-by-side. Hearing his daughter assure him like that had prompted him to simply lean down to his knees and open his arms up to them for a fatherly embrace. The two of them ran into Hiccup like bullets and he automatically closed his arms around them.
"I love you guys..." he whispered, his eyes shut as he tightly hugged his son and daughter, whom he loved beyond anything else in this world.
It seemed like Valka's words of assurance, alongside Astrid's, had turned Hiccup's corner.
"I won't let them terrorize you," he whispered to Zephyr and Nuffink, 'them' referring to the Ancients.
After a minute, Hiccup gently opened his arms and stood back up to his feet, feeling fully energized.
"I don't know where I'd be without you guys, honestly."
Valka and Astrid both nodded.
"Thank you, honestly, for sticking with me through all of this. I know...I know I've been hesitant to carry this war out in the way it should be given who we're dealing with, but I'm honestly not going to hold back what needs to be done. I love you, mum. I love you, Astrid."
Hiccup and Astrid approached each other and embraced one another as Valka looked on proudly. Her son was energized and renewed. That was, as a mother, the best possible thing she could've ever seen. Nothing other than Hiccup's happiness was her happiness, and she was going to support him no matter what.
"Say Astrid," said Hiccup, as the two of them maintained an embrace, "what do you say we explore that idea?"
"What idea, Hiccup?"
"The one where we sail to the hidden world to try and get the dragons back?"
Valka smiled even more greatly.
"That's the Hiccup I raised and know," she said, proudly and from a mother's true heart.
The outbreak of war was a delight to the Warlords, as they prepared to hold up their side of the bargain in the pact with their unusual allies in the Ancients. Drago Bludvist, having received word that the invasion of Caldera Cay, the joint invasion, was a remarkable success, was smiley in a way he'd never been in his life. Because it meant one more step closer to accessing Hiccup for revenge.
He wasn't at all under the mindset of perceived 'unvikings' like the Ancients were, and it wouldn't have made sense for him to have been anyways considering, under the ideology of the Ancients, he was the master unviking anyways.
"Affirmed, Drago - our two forces crushed the hopeless island like a bug. They succumbed to their inevitable fate in thanks to our strong willed pact!" said an Ancient viking, who'd been sent by the Ancient council to hand over a couple of pages of directives, all strictly from within the ranks of the Ancient Tribe.
"I very much hope our weapons will come in great handiness, as I seek to smoke out Hiccup Haddock!" roared Drago, his gigantic width massively dwarfing the lone Ancient viking in front of him.
They were on the base island that the Warlords resided on, having been on there for a long time rearming up. The directive of papers being handed over to Drago were only issued to him. They contained vital clues as to how the Ancients themselves intended to wage the war.
"For the benefit of what we feel is right, as you'll read in the directive, allow us to take the lead. We will then open up the opportunity for you guys to do what you need to do with Hiccup Haddock, who for some reason has made the hopeless error in treating us, our sovereign Ancient Tribe, as the enemy."
Drago briefly studied the directive - a load of notes scribbled onto a scrubby, soaked paper with writing that was still readable regardless of the state of the paper. The directive was given in its thousands to as much of the individual Ancient soldiers, and only one copy was provided to Drago. Below was the information it contained. It was actually written well before the invasion of Caldera Cay, which was something worth keeping in mind given the contents of the directive.
The Leader's Directive
Vikings, of young and old, read this directive carefully. I write to you all in many copies of this directive which will be issued to you all rapidly as soon as possible.
1. Operations within the Defenders of the Wing island.
It is important to leave the responsibility for opening hostilities unmistakably to the Hairy Hooligans and their colluding tribes. We anticipate, following our operation on the Caldera Cay, such declarations to come our way. Any minor violations of our lands, be it the ones we have liberated thus far already, as a result of the outside tribe's opening of hostilities, to which we must ensure they hold the responsibility for initiating, will be dealt with, for the time being, with swift minor counters.
The actions of these tribes must be meticulously observed. Their frontiers will not be crossed by land and sea at ANY point - for now - without my explicit orders. Such orders are reserved to me.
2. Operations in the event of declarations
Should the Hooligans and Berserkers in particular open hostilities against the Ancient Tribe, it will be the sole duty of our troops operating beyond Caldera Cay, while bolstering the operation of liberation on Caldera Cay, to ensure the success of the liberation. If met with Berkians and Berserkers during the operation, following declarations of hostilities, then you will be duty bound to condemn these vikings to the exact same fate as those residing on Caldera Cay.
Ideologically, these two tribes are closer to us. However, for the time being, we must give them the impression that we seek not to violate their frontiers. In particular, planning for how to counteract the rather inescapable fact of the Hooligans' unusually high height on their island will be swiftly initiated. These plans are to remain secretive, only distributed to all but non-troop Ancients and respective partners.
In particular, the frontier of New Berk is one that, for the time being, will be left alone, as such planning for an operation against them takes shape. Inevitably, the frontier will be challenged. The opening of hostilities, in the event they should open them, will make this planning an inevitable outcome.
3. Operations beyond hostilities
Touched on above, if the outside tribes, in our efforts to leave the responsibility of outbreak of war to them, maintain their stances, two vital operations must be considered. As mentioned above, the Hooligans' island poses a unique challenge of a frontier to cross. Catapults and flying gear will undergo construction. Taking steps to secure the New Berk front will prevent them outflanking us. Such an invasion won't come under a question of 'may', but rather, 'must' and 'when'.
Equally, Outcast and Berserker island respectively, must be dealt with before any frontier crossing with the Berkians' own island. As stated, these operations will become inevitable in the event of opening up of hostilities, but under no circumstances without my explicit order will these islands be crossed upon.
Fundamentally, attacks on 'New Berk', the Berserker Island, the Outcasts, are to be prepared. Ancient boats will be ordered to sink any boats carrying these vikings, especially fishing boats, and with this being a potential route of attack, preparations to starve the Berkians in particular, due to the height of their island, out of the war must be prepared.
Inconclusive results with insufficient forces are to be avoided in all circumstances.
That was the directive, personally issued by Alfa Yurlin himself. Any doubt that he was going to stop simply at Caldera Cay was firmly dead in the water now that war had broken out - a war that he started by initiating such an invasion.