CHAPTER 44: Disunity
Hiccup was buzzing. He'd adverted a major crisis, he struck a deal with Yurlin himself, in which he'd guaranteed Hiccup protection from the Warlords on the archipelago, and a promise that he had no more territorial demands to make. What made him even more positive about the outcome of the conference was the way Yurlin conducted himself.
He was pragmatic, polite, humorous and just overall a jolly individual. A contrast to the draconian, archaic brutal leadership and power he held over the Ancient Tribe. And with those qualities came an outcome which was better not just for Hiccup and his tribe, but all the others across the tribe. There would be no war, and Hiccup was grateful for that more than anything. Yurlin's mannerisms during the conference only made Hiccup believe that this was truly an averted disaster.
It was rocky at first when Yurlin decided to up the stakes in their first ever meeting by insisting the Wingmaidens remain put for his troops to 're-educate' them, but all of that was gone when the negotiations between all the Chieftans began at the conference. In its place was a man who smiled, was polite, respectful, made heaps of jokes, and just came across as a Chieftan to the complete contrast of a subjugating dictator, which helped Hiccup feel like this was a true conclusion.
Would Hiccup have wanted some stuff done differently? such as the Ancients' militarization of Old Berk? definitely. In an ideal world that wouldn't have been an occurrence at all, but Hiccup looked to the long term. Old Berk was an island they no longer lived on, it was just an abandoned heap of land. What mattered more than anything was that peace had now been solidified.
Yurlin could have Dragon Island with a peaceful transition, in which he'd promised that he'd allow the Wingmaidens a full week to evacuate before sending his troops there. After which there'd be no more territorial demands from Yurlin. He'd then become the archipelago's sole guard against the resurgent Warlords headed by Drago Bludvist, brimming with revenge for being defeated by Hiccup all that time ago.
But that wasn't to say that everyone was celebratory about the outcome of the conference. The Wingmaidens were extremely angry and felt betrayed by Hiccup, so much so they didn't even speak a single word to any of the other vikings on the boat back to their respective islands. Atali locked herself away and couldn't stand even being near Hiccup. She had no intention of even saying goodbye to Hiccup when it came to their arrival back at Wingmaiden island to be dropped off. She hated his guts. She felt like she'd been handed to the wolves for the sake of his own personal benefit.
Some in the Hairy Hooligans were incredibly skeptical. News of the conference outcome reached New Berk even before Hiccup and the Berkians accompanying him returned home, and although some were relieved, many others were incredibly wary. The fact the Ancients had militarized Old Berk was the nail in the coffin for them. Alongside the annexation of the Northern Markets, all of these actions taken by Yurlin, ESPECIALLY the militarization of their old island of seven generations, was too much for them to ignore.
It was a matter of pride to them, their old island, and no peace treaty with a tribe who'd taken that pride and stabbed it in the face would ever make them forgive or forget that.
Some of them felt Alfa Yurlin to be duplicitous, a liar, and a monster hidden within plain sight with his fake personalities and such. His book that he wrote, 'The Solution', by this point had become a well recognized bit of biography, and some Hooligans fully knew what it entailed. That in itself was enough to make them not believe Yurlin when he'd promised no more territorial demands, and he was merely 'seeking peace'.
Eret was a prime example of the above. But, as he promised Hiccup, he wouldn't ever speak up about it ever again for the sake of Hiccup's own mental well-being. Despite that, he had his own opinion on the matter, not surprisingly.
He thought this conference was the biggest capitulation to a tyrant, a viking he considered as bad, if not worse, than Drago & Grimmel themselves. Yurlin had been allowed to take MORE land without a single crossbow being fired, he had all the others tribes cowering to his demands, ESPECIALLY the Hooligans, because they wanted at all costs to avoid the horrors of what they went through in their battles with Drago and Grimmel. No matter how much he worried and how much he was secretly fearing the worst to come because of the appeasement going on, he still didn't intend to speak up about it, like he promised Hiccup, for the sake of his mental wellbeing.
At Atali's request, the boat was heading towards Wingmaiden island. She and her vikings just wanted to get back and completely cut themselves off from the other tribes in terms of contact and relationships. She was so disgusted and filled with contempt towards Hiccup and the others that she and her lot sat at the exact opposite end of the boat, right at the edge, looking out to the seas.
"Do you think...we ought to try and talk to her?" Dagur asked Hiccup, as the boat gently rowed back and forth.
"I think we should. I never wanted this to happen...but what choice did we have? out of it, we got a guarantee of peace...but I'll go and talk to her right now, just to make up amends."
"Aye, that's a good move I reckon, Hiccup. As much as we secured a pledge, we have to make sure that we're all united on this. Odin knows my father would've ensured that to be the case...and of course, your dad too, being the respectable Chieftan he was."
Hiccup nodded - he absolutely agreed that his dad would've wanted all the tribes to be united in their thinking on an issue that determined war or peace, no matter what issue it was. As would Oswald the Agreeable, the father of Dagur.
Ancient Island was no longer in view as the journey on the boat continued. They were all tired, and a couple of vikings from every tribe had joined their respective Chieftans for the conference, and the boat was set to firstly return to Wingmaiden Island before making its way to New Berk, for Hiccup to make the announcement to the whole of the Berkians and the other Chieftans who were going back with him to his island.
Hiccup gently hopped up the steps, the wooden steps which only had a small collection of seawater on them. His prostethic leg briefly slipped, but he caught his balance and fully made his way up the steps. It felt like he'd arrived into a vicinity of the boat that had as much energy as a post-apocalyptic wasteland. None of the Wingmaidens acknowledged Hiccup, Atali especially, and they were all as still as statues.
Hiccup cautiously walked up to Atali as her back faced the rest of the boat, her face staring with a blank, yet strangely relaxed expression into the open seas as the scent of seaweed hit everyone's nose.
"Hey, uh...how do you feel?" Hiccup asked, placing his arms on the wooden bars of the boat, leaning forwards towards the open view ahead like Atali.
"Get away from me, Hiccup," she growled, in a whisper tone.
"Look...I know this wasn't easy, I know we basically sold you out...but you have to know-"
"I don't need to know...anything. After everything my tribe did for you...we defended Dagur's group of clowns against Krogan and Johann's vikings, we defended their island from them...and now you've just made me...just get away from me, Hiccup."
"Please just hear me out, Atali, the fact we've got such treasured history between our two tribes, and...in relation to dragons especially, makes this even harder for me to have done."
"Why did I even bother helping you and Dagur at that time defeat Johann and Krogan's forces to defend Berserker Island? we should've let them take his island."
"What?" Hiccup said, "Atali...come on...please just listen to me."
"I don't listen to cowards. I don't listen to spineless vikings, Hiccup. You've forced my tribe to give up what we considered our ritual of a routine, our special thing we had going on to recall our work with the Razorwhips and the memory of the dragons when they were still in this world. I said get away from me."
"I am not going to give up until I can explain myself, Atali, I'm honestly sorry-"
Atali whipped out a hidden spear, and gave Hiccup a rapid shove, causing him to struggle on his prosthetic leg with his balance. All of the Wingmaidens on the boat emerged from their statue-like positions and suddenly joined their Chieftess side by side, surrounding Hiccup like they were about to attack him.
"WOAH WOAH, HOLD UP THERE!" roared a couple of deep voices, as boots clashed against the wooden steps leading up to the upper section of the boat.
Dagur, Alvin, Heather, Mala and their respective vikings hopped up the steps to calm down the situation. Hiccup had nearly fell down to his back, Atali had seemingly pulled out a spear from nowhere just now. Dagur and Alvin got in between Hiccup and Atali and the standing Wingmaidens. Hiccup's chest had a hurting ache in it, like a fright, following Atali's rapid push.
"What's goin on here?!" Alvin said, his beefy figure acting as a barrier between Atali and all the others.
"I told HIM..." Atali pointed her spear at Hiccup, stunned as he looked at her, "to get away from me, as I don't talk to spineless vikings who capitulate to tyrants."
"Atali," Hiccup said, in his diplomatic tone, "please don't hate me...please just DON'T hate me, I need a chance to explain!"
"You've already explained through your actions, you selfish viking. We're all tempted to just jump off this boat and swim our way back to our island, it's only just there. You're a spineless viking, Hiccup."
"Give him a chance to explain, Atali, come on, we all need to be united in this," said Dagur, "this is a tough time for all of us."
"Because of me, your island was successfully defended from Krogan and Johann all that time ago, part of me wishes I hadn't bothered with the favour. Might have taught you a lesson."
"What did you just say?" Dagur asked, his tone turning completely dark and cold as he glared at Atali.
"GET BACK EVERYONE, GET BACK!" Heather yelled, noticing her brother's look towards Atali.
"Touched a nerve, have I?" Atali asked.
"Come on, I think we should just let them get off the boat, we're about to make arrival at their island," Heather said, "we don't need this escalating."
Mala patted Dagur on the back, encouraging her husband to walk away and back down to the lower section of the boat. The tall and rocky geographical pattern of Wingmaiden Island was closing in as it emerged closer and closer, as the boat sailed towards it. Hiccup himself didn't know where to turn or what to do, but Dagur and Heather had gently encouraged him to join them walking back down.
It broke Hiccup's heart that it'd come to this. He had no idea Atali would be this angered about it. It made him question, truly, if his father was around, what he'd have done in this situation. The biggest prevailing thing Hiccup wanted to do was to prevent a repeat of everything he went through with Drago and Grimmel, that's all he wanted.
But now, being flustered and unsure what to think as sweat broke down his face and beard from the physical clash he'd received from Atali (he didn't do anything back to her at all, he had no intent to do so nor did he want to), he was once again in that mindset where he not only missed his dad, but he missed...Toothless. When he returned to New Berk maybe he'd feel differently, for he had to break the news to his tribe about the peace deal that was struck.
But Atali's 'attack', if you could call it that even now, made him flustered to the point he couldn't think straight, and, with it, a wish that the dragons were still here.
He believed the deal he struck with Yurlin was the correct one because it wasn't as if they agreed to let him take a sovereign tribe's island, it was just Dragon Island which the Wingmaidens happened to build a small settlement on, but the extent to which Atali had reacted made him entirely flustered - he felt a bit guilty.