Chapter Text
Hiccup was not having a good day so far. First the twins blew up a good portion of the arena before breaking out into an argument, before Riley whisked them away, then Hiccup had to dissuade Astrid from cleaving Snotlout in half for his flirting, and then upon returning home, the boy was greeted by not only his father, but also Andrew and Alex. The trio were looking at a slip of paper at the table. Hiccup and a following Toothless looked at the adults with uncertainty. It was at this point that Stoick looked up and saw his son standing at the door.
“Welcome back, son.” Stoick greeted warmly before looking back to Andrew. The younger of the two captains was looking at the paper with a scowl on his face.
“What do ye have in mind?” Stoick asked nervously. Andrew dropped his head in defeat and set the paper down on the table. “Well, it’s not like you can just hide away a bunch of dragons. They’re bound to find out eventually.”
“But there’s a good chance that they won’t be happy about it.” Stoick protested. It was then that Alex stepped in.
“With all due respect Stoick, I would argue that hiding it would only worsen the situation. Look it’s either you tell them you made peace with the dragons, and they may or may not be upset about it, maybe even threaten war with you, OR, we try and hide the dragons, they eventually find out either during or after the visit, and then they’ll REALLY be angry because you basically lied to them, and then they’ll DEFINITELY threaten war with you.”
“We wouldn’t be lying!” Stoick said defensively. “We just… forget to mention it.”
“A lie of omission is still a lie, Stoick.” Alex scolded. “They need to know. If they feel that you aren’t being completely honest with them, they aren’t gonna have much confidence in your tribe as a capable ally. I’m sorry, Stoick, but this needs to be done, sooner rather than later.”
Stoick groaned at that. Indeed this was a tedious situation, the bane of every viking chief’s job.
“What’s happening?” Hiccup asked worriedly. “Why are we talking about hiding the dragons?”
Stoick sighed in aggravation. “Ah, we’re about to be paid a visit by one of our allies. We’re debating whether or not we should hide the dragons away until the ally tribe is gone. We don’t know if they’ll be okay with us working with dragons. They might declare war on us if they find out.”
“Well, it was bound to happen eventually.” Hiccup said offhandedly. A moment of silence followed, before the burning question came forward. “Which tribe?”
Internally Hiccup was already chanting ‘Please not Berserkers, please not Berserkers, please not Berserkers, please not Berserkers, please not Berserkers!”
“Oh don’t worry, son. It’s the Berserkers.”
‘sh*t.’
“Aaaand just like that, I’m taking a short vacation! Come on Toothless, we’re going to Kamura!”
Hiccup wasted no time in sprinting to his room, Toothless following close behind, albeit with confusion written on his face. Stoick and Alex looked to each other in surprise, while Andrew merely stared after his student in concern.
Together the three men ascended the stairs to Hiccup’s room, where Hiccup was hurriedly packing a bag with basic essentials, such as clothes, books, and his Kamura Charge Blade.
“Hiccup?” Stoick asked worriedly. His son paid him no mind, instead only working faster.
“What are ye doin?”
“Running.” Hiccup said frantically. Andrew frowned at this. His student was afraid. But why?
“Running? Hiccup, the Berserkers are our allies. We’re not dealing with Outcasts, y’know.”
“No, but I’m going to be stuck with Dagur. I can think of so many things I’d rather be doing. I’d rather deal with Alvin than Dagur. Hell, give me the Red Death again, I’d rather fight that than deal with Dagur!”
This statement took all the wind from Stoick’s sails.
“Oh, come now son! I’m sure he isn’t that bad.”
“I completely disagree!” Hiccup replied sharply. “If you saw the things that lunatic tried to do to me, you would’ve gone to war with the Berserkers a long time ago.”
Stoick was stunned into silence at this. The man could feel a cold pit in his stomach as he registered Hiccup’s words. Looking to his two companions, he was greeted by two easily connected expressions: Alex was disturbed, if his deepening frown was any indication. Andrew looked like he might break something. His face was twisted into a scowl as he crossed his arms tightly.
Stoick stepped forward and placed his hands on Hiccup’s shoulders, at which point Hiccup froze entirely, a look of fear on his face.
“Hiccup.” Stoick said gently. “What happened? What did Dagur do to you?”
Hiccup looked down slightly, tears already brimming at the corners of his eyes. “W-where do I start?” His voice was quiet, small, meek. It was completely different from the boy’s usual sarcasm.
“Wherever you wish.” Stoick said softly. His son shuddered slightly.
“Well, he tried drowning me for one.”
“What?” Alex’s voice came out in a feint whisper. Andrew remained silent, a stupefied look on the man’s face.
“When was this?” Stoick asked worriedly. He didn’t like the response.
“Over the course of the last few visits. And that’s just one of the things he did. He once tied me to a tree and used me for target practice, with those damned knives of his. Then, there was the bear…” By this point Hiccup was completely in tears.
“The bear?” Stoick parroted, before a memory surfaced. “THAT bear? Hiccup, what happened that day!?” Stoick recalled a time when Dagur came back claiming to have lost Hiccup, then the poor boy came screaming out of the woods with a particularly large Black Bear chasing after him. Stoick was able to kill the bear with ease, saving his son, but the boy wouldn’t go outside for an entire month.
“I’m severely lost.” Alex said quietly. Andrew still didn’t say anything. He had closed his eyes and simply took a deep breath, staying as calm as possible.
“Hiccup,” Stoick prodded, “What happened that day?”
“D-Dagur wanted to show me something in the woods that he found, a-and I went with. He told me to go inside this cave, which I nowadays know was a bear’s den. It- it woke up, and when I asked Dagur for help, he just ran away. He just left me! HE JUST LEFT ME THERE!!!” The boy was having trouble standing up as he clung to Stoick’s front.
Stoick was at a loss for words. He had no response. How could he respond? His son was basically left for dead! Seeing his son in such despair was too much for the man as he quickly held the boy tightly, rubbing his back comfortingly. Toothless warbled sadly as Hiccup continued sobbing uncontrollably.
A banging sound prompted Stoick and Alex to look towards Hiccup’s bedroom door, which swung haphazardly against the wall as Andrew descended the steps.
Andrew threw the front door open with an enraged grunt, just as Gobber and Spitelout were approaching the chief’s home.
“Uh oh.” Gobber said cautiously. “Andrew’s on the warpath again.” He said, elbowing Spitelout.
Spitelout sighed in resignation. The young captain was a man to be feared, just as much as Stoick was. The last time Spitelout witnessed the man’s rage was when he was defending Hiccup against the whole village, right before he and Stoick went to Helheim’s Gate with Alex.
“Everythin’ alright Andrew?” Gobber asked.
“No, everything is not alright, Gobber.” Andrew said hoarsely. He brought his hands up to his eyes and wiped away the tears pooling. It was an unexpected sight for the smithy and second in command.
“Hey, now!” Gobber said in worry. “What’s wrong with ye, captain? Why the waterworks?”
“Gobber, how badly do you guys need this alliance with the Berserker Tribe?”
“What?” Gobber asked in surprise. “I mean, they’re one of our best allies, boasting one of the biggest armadas in the Barbaric Archipelago! I’d say they’re pretty important to keep around. Why do you ask?”
“Because I am so… incredibly close to killing this Dagur kid and plunging your tribe into war.”
Spitelout and Gobber stared with their jaws effectively dropped, completely startled by the man’s declaration.
“Can we talk this over first?” Spitelout asked in a panic. “I don’t know if we wanna pick a fight with the Berserkers. Gobber’s not exaggeratin’ about their armada.”
“And I doubt that Hiccup was exaggerating about all the things that Dagur had been doing to him.” Andrew countered angrily.
Ah, Gobber realized. That’s what the captain was upset about.
“Hiccup was willing to tell you about his experiences with Oswald’s boy.”
“You knew?” Andrew said accusingly. Gobber put his hand and hook attachment up defensively.
“Now hold on, Captain! Let me plead my case before ye try to Blood Eagle me. Hiccup did tell me about the Berserker Heir’s transgressions, but he swore me to secrecy so that it wouldn’t get back to his father.”
“It’s only because Hiccup told you to do that, that I’m not more mad at you.”
Gobber sighed at the sound of Stoick’s voice as the man approached.
“He told you as well then?” Gobber inquired defeatedly. Stoick only grumbled a bit before facing Andrew.
“It’s settled then Captain. We’re keeping the dragons, in full view of Chief Oswald and Dagur. I want Toothless and Valka’s dragon flock guarding my boy the entire time, and as an added fail safe…”
Stoick stepped forward and placed a hand on Andrew’s shoulder.
“… You will be there for my son while I’m discussing the treaty with Chief Oswald. Don’t let him out of your sight, and keep a close eye on Dagur if they are close to each other. If you want, you can bring every hunter on the island if need be. Just don’t let that boy get close enough to my son for him to do anything.”
Andrew looked to the man quietly, and with tears rolling down his face, and an angry scowl, Andrew finally nodded and stood straight at attention.
“Yes, sir.” The words came out in a choked growl.
“So when is Oswald slated to arrive?” Spitelout asked worriedly.
“Tomorrow.” Stoick said flatly. “I fully intend to have words about his son’s behavior, and if Dagur tries anything tomorrow, I fully intend to rip that blasted treaty up and throw it in the closest fire source. To hell with the armada, we have DRAGONS dammit!”
“Does Hiccup know of this arrangement?” Gobber asked gently. Stoick shook his head. “Not yet. I’m gonna go let him know now. Andrew, I want you up bright and early, and by my son’s side the entire duration of the Berserkers’ stay.”
Andrew nodded stiffly, before turning on his heel and marching off, several vikings stepping out of the irate man’s way as he went. One of those vikings happened to be Snotlout, who had come to ask his father Spitelout about something.
“Ah, Snotlout, just the person I was looking for.” Spitelout said happily. Snotlout immediately heard alarm bells.
“I haven’t done anything, check with the Twins!”
“Good to know but that’s not what I’m asking you for. I have a job for you tomorrow.” Spitelout lead his son away with an arm around the buff teen’s shoulder. Stoick and Gobber watched after them before talking among themselves.
“For what it’s worth, Stoick, I wanted to tell ye, but Hiccup swore me to secrecy. He didn’t want you to be upset.” Stoick glared at Gobber a bit.
“Not telling me that my son was being tortured by another heir has upset me a lot more than if you had told me. A lie of omission is still a lie, Gobber!” Stoick froze in realization as Alex’s words rang true in his head…
“Hiding it would only worsen the situation. Look it’s either you tell them you made peace with the dragons, and they may or may not be upset about it, maybe even threaten war with you, OR, we try and hide the dragons, they eventually find out either during or after the visit, and then they’ll REALLY be angry because you basically lied to them, and then they’ll DEFINITELY threaten war with you.”
Stoick exhaled sadly at Alex’s words before patting Gobber on the shoulder. “Just try and keep me in the loop from now on. I can’t help my son if I don’t know what’s hurting him.” And with that he walked back into his house, leaving a remorseful Gobber, who sighed and hobbled back to his forge.
Stoick returned to his house and ascended the steps to his son’s room. Inside, he could hear Alex trying to placate his despondent son.
“Alex, could you give us a moment please?”
“Of course, Stoick.” Alex said sadly as he stood up and left. Hiccup, who was currently enveloped by Toothless, had quieted down a bit, sniffling instead of the defeated sobbing he previously displayed.
“Hiccup, I have a plan in mind. If you still want to leave for the day then I understand, but just hear me out first, okay?”
Hiccup wiped his eyes and nose before nodding. “What is it?” He asked hoarsely.
“As is how things usually go with peace treaty renewals, you’ll unfortunately be tasked with showing the other tribe’s heir around the village, but this time around I’ve organized for some help. Andrew will be with you the entire time, as will Toothless and your mother’s dragons. You’ll be well-protected while I’m speaking with Oswald. Are you okay with this or do you wanna leave still? I’m certain the lasses at the Guild Hall can grant you a quest off of Berk for the day if need be. We can use the excuse that you didn’t know they were coming.”
Hiccup looked down in thought, his brow furrowed, before sighing. “If… If things get to be too much then I’ll just go anyway, but for the sake of the treaty, I’ll tough it out and try to put up with Dagur. I think that having at least the dragons there will discourage Dagur from trying anything.”
Stoick hummed in response before patting Hiccup on the shoulder in comfort.
“I understand. Thank you Hiccup. You’re being very brave right now, and I’m very proud of you.” Stoick hugged Hiccup closely, and Hiccup slowly reciprocated the hug, his thin arms finding their way around Stoick’s waist. They stayed like that for a bit, before Stoick backed up and said his goodbyes, leaving the house to do his tasks for the day.
In another part of the village, Spitelout was instructing his son on tomorrow, more importantly what h wanted Snotlout to do.
“Boy-o, I want you to keep watch over your cousin tomorrow. That Dagur kid is coming by tomorrow for the treaty renewal, and Stoick and Andrew are worried that the little psycho might try something.
“Does this have to do with the bear?” Snotlout asked bluntly.
“The what?”
“The bear. The one that attacked Hiccup when he was little.” Snotlout repeated. Suddenly it clicked for Spitelout, as he recalled the sight of a much younger and much more tiny Hiccup, running out of the woods towards his father, with a black bear hot on his heels.
“Snotlout, refresh my memory for me, what exactly happened that day?”
“I had nothing to do with it.”
“Good to know, I never accused ye of such, now what happened?”
“All I know for certain is that Dagur lead Hiccup into the woods, came running back without him, said “I lost Hiccup” and then Hiccup came back with a giant bear.”
Spitelout stared blankly for a bit before groaning.
“Somehow that sounds exactly like something Dagur would do. Alright, back to the task at hand. I want you and the other teens to watch your cousin. Keep an eye on him when he’s showin’ Dagur around. And step in if Dagur starts up his usual sh*te. Got it?”
Snotlout nodded quickly. “Yes sir.” He said to Spitelout.
The Jorgenson Family Head nodded happily and patted his son on the shoulder. “Good, now run along, go tell the others about what you must do. And good luck.” Snotlout nodded once again and ran off, allowing for a satisfied Spitelout to walk away. Snotlout ran through the village until he found Astrid. The blonde girl was sharpening her trusty axe with a whetstone.
“Astrid.” He called.
“Not now Snotlout,” Astrid responded. “I don’t have time for your flirting.”
“Good to know, but this is kinda important. My dad has a job for me and I’m supposed to ask you and the others for help.” Astrid nearly dropped her whetstone at that. Snotlout, asking for help? Was the sky falling!?”
“… I’m listening…”
“You should get a kick outta this. We’re going to be shadowing Hiccup tomorrow. Essentially we’re his bodyguards.” Astrid looked at Snotlout strangely. “Bodyguards? What, is there a plan to assassinate him or something? Oswald wouldn’t do that.”
“You can’t really tell with Dagur, and since Hiccup’s gonna be showing him around tomorrow, and since Dagur doesn’t have the best track record for how he treated Hiccup in the past…”
“Kind of like you?”
“Hey!” Snotlout cried indignantly. “I beat on him, sure! But I ain’t no murderer! Dagur tried to drown him, and then he tried to feed him to a bear!”
“Pardon?”
Snotlout and Astrid whipped around to see Cuyler Hofferson, Astrid’s father, standing there with his arms crossed.
“Dad?” Astrid said in surprise. The man ran a hand through his blonde beard as if in deep thought before addressing Snotlout. “Is what you say true?”
Snotlout opened his mouth to speak but hesitated, before he simply nodded. “I mean I’ve seen both, there’s probably more that I didn’t see, but I know what I saw, and it wasn’t good!”
Cuyler stared hard at the Jorgenson boy as if looking for the lie, before humming in thought.
“Astrid, be ready tomorrow.”
“Uh, dad?” She said curiously.
“You’ve been given a quest to protect the heir of our tribe. It would be foolish to decline.”
Astrid’s eyes widened, before she smiled. “Right!”
Snotlout nodded after a while. “Okay, cool! One down, several more to go! Thanks Astrid!” The buff teen ran off to look for the next part of their group. It was Fishlegs. The husky teen had his nose buried in a book.
“Fishlegs!” Snotlout’s shout scared Fishlegs into throwing the book over his head.
“Yes!?” He shouted in fear. Impressively, Fishlegs was able to catch the falling book.
“I’m rallying the troops, we’re shadowing Hiccup tomorrow.”
“Shadowing?” Fishlegs parroted. “What for?”
“Hiccup’s stuck with Dagur tomorrow. We’re gonna keep watch.”
Fishlegs’s brow raised in surprise, before he nodded in understanding. “Alright I’m in!”
“Good!” Snotlout said. “Now for the two knuckleheads…” Snotlout ran off again, while Fishlegs simply marched off while continuing to read his book. Unseen by both boys, Emika was stood on a nearby roof, where she had been eavesdropping.
Intrigued by what she had heard, Emika jumped down from the roof and walked off towards the Haddock home. Along the way she spotted her father. Andrew was still scowling a bit. Fearing for her brother, Emika quickened her pace.
Stoick sighed as he sat in his chair, Sharpshot and Mosscrawler laying on the table nearby. Suddenly, Mosscrawler sat up at the sound of someone knocking on the door.
Stoick got up to open the door, and was surprised to see Emika standing there.
“Emika?”
“Hello sir.” She said. “I’m here to check on Hiccup. I’m worried about him.” The girl looked very worried, and Stoick couldn’t really fault her for it. Sighing, he stood to the side to allow the girl in.
“He’s upstairs lass. Good luck.” Emika nodded and ran up the steps, but not before placing her Kinsect on the table. Sharpshot and Mosscrawler observed the large, moth-like creature curiously as it fluttered its wings idly.
Emika ascended the steps, stopping just short of the door which was cracked open just a tad. Peaking through the crack, Emika was saddened to see Hiccup sitting on his bed, looking completely downtrodden. He was leaned forward with his head in his hands, Toothless drape across the bed around him licking the side of his face. Upon Emika stepping through the door, Toothless ceased his licking and warbled a greeting to Emika.
“Hiccup?” Emika called. The boy froze up slightly before slowly looking up. His eyes were reddened and the area around his eyes was glossy.
“Emika?” He said in surprise, wiping his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
Emika sat on the bed next to her friend and brother in all but blood. “I heard Snotlout talking about shadowing you tomorrow, something about not trusting some guy named Dagur.” Emika frowned as she watched Hiccup look down at the name, fear in his eyes.
“Alright spill. Who is this Dagur person? Why are you so scared of him?”
Hiccup was taken aback at Emika’s forceful tone, as the girl was usually rather shy. So to see her look so upset was nothing short of jarring.
Hiccup sighed in defeat as he told Emika about Dagur and his past experiences with the older teen…
Andrew looked through the below-deck storage on his ship “Oodaka” as he mulled over his various armor sets. He wasn’t taking any chances with this “Dagur” character. Various armor sets were put up on stands, and organized according to the level of the monster that they were created from. From the Great Jaggi armor all they way up to a second locked chamber full of Elder Dragon armor, it was a hell of a sight.
“Hey, captain! You down here?”
Andrew looked towards the ladder leading back up to the top deck, where he saw Austin descending, followed closely by Cuyler Hofferson.
“Hoo boy.” Austin said looking at all the assorted armor stands. “If you’re having trouble choosing an armor set, then God only knows what you’re planning.”
Ignoring Austin for a moment, Andrew quickly asked Cuyler about the object of his disdain. “Mr Hofferson, what can you tell me about Dagur?”
Not surprised at all by the captain’s question, Cuyler ran a hand through his beard and began listing off what he knew.
“The boy is crafty, cunning. Last I had seen him, he had a mean streak and one hell of a chip on his shoulder, almost to where it was like he didn’t know his own strength. He values power and likes to rule through fear. He was a handful even for Oswald, his father.”
“Like a power hungry version of Riley then.” Andrew muttered bitterly. “Well, let’s start by taking away that sense of superiority for starters.” Andrew fished a key from under a loose board, stuck it into the lock on the back chamber, and threw the door open. Austin and Cuyler crept forward and were thoroughly impressed by the selection of armor sets. Or, at least Cuyler was impressed. Austin looked thoroughly frustrated.
“Andrew, you piss me off sometimes.” Austin said in annoyance.
“Why?” Andrew asked bluntly, almost challenging the buff hunter. Austin was undeterred though as he through up his arms to point at the selection of armor sets.
“You have an entire f*cking showroom dedicated to armors made from ELDER DRAGONS and you refuse to wear them!” Cuyler gasped at this revelation but didn’t say much else, instead looking around to marvel at the suits.
Andrew frowned. “I cannot allow myself to stagnate, Austin. Certain situations call for certain Armors and Weapons. This is common knowledge in our field of work. Just because I wear a suit of armor carved from Elder Dragon hide, doesn’t make me invincible, nor does it grant me an automatic victory during a hunt. There have been plenty of times where I’m better off wearing an armor set made from something more commonplace than Elder Dragons. It’s only because I’m dealing with a human target that I’m even considering this.”
“Andrew, we’re not going to war with these guys.” Austin said placatingly.
“Maybe not, but I wanna get a point or two across when he gets here.”
Andrew zeroed in on one particular armor set: Rebellion Armor. The Silver sheen had an almost invisible violet hue to it, the whole armor set lined with small, sharp black spines. It was an armor set, created from the carcass of a Dalamadur. A massive, earth-rending serpent whose body was so long, it could wrap around mountains. It was one of the biggest Elder Dragons Andrew had ever faced, and he was lucky to have only ever needed to fight two of them in his life.
“This will suffice.” Andrew said as he took the armor pieces off the stand and placed them in a crate. Upon closing the crate, Andrew walked out of the room with the crate under one arm and locked the door behind him. “Alright, let’s go. And Cuyler, tell none of what you saw.”
Cuyler nodded silently, before he and Austin followed after the irate captain.
“So why the Rebellion Armor?” Austin asked curiously. Andre set the box down and began searching through a box of longswords.
“This Dagur kid is gonna want to show off the power of his tribe, probably to please his father. What he and Oswald need to realize is that there are three things that are going to be the Norm from now on: Number one: The Hairy Hooligan Tribe has managed to establish and will continue to maintain peace with the Dragons. Number two: The Hairy Hooligan Tribe has established connections and an alliance with the Hunter’s Guild, a party who they recently attacked when we first attempted to establish contact upon your arrival in our world. And number three…”
Andrew fished out a longsword of his choosing, the “Molten Volga”, whose handle, guard, and scabbard were crafted from the burning body of The Lavasioth, and whose blade was crafted from the bone of an Akantor’s giant talons. This would do, Andrew thought as he slung the weapon across his back.
“… Open season on the Heir of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe is officially closed, forever. And if I have to take off a couple fingers to reinforce that declaration, then let it be so.”
Emika hugged Hiccup goodbye and stepped out of the room, descending the steps until she was met by Stoick.
“Emika?” The chief noticed tears on the girl’s face. “Are you okay, lass?”
Emika looked up at the man blankly, before glaring down at her feet and wiping her eyes.
She threw her arm outwards.
“Wisp!” She exclaimed. Her Kinsect suddenly shot forward, attaching itself to her outstretched arm.
Caressing the Kinsect while trying to steady her emotions, she finally looked to Stoick. “I gotta go. I need to prepare for tomorrow. Thank you for allowing me to visit, chief.” And with that, the girl marched out of the Haddock home, leaving a stunned Stoick in her wake.
“That girl.” Stoick mumbled while shaking his head. “Even though Andrew adopted her, she acts just like him. I just hope that she doesn’t end up killing Dagur.”
The next morning, Stoick was up bright and early and waiting at the barracks with Hiccup and Toothless. Snotlout and the others had also arrived, with the inclusion of Heather.
“What are you all doing here?” Hiccup asked. To his surprise it was Snotlout who stepped forward.
“Yeah, my dad basically asked for me to keep an eye on you and Dagur today, as well as Astrid and the others.” Astrid stepped forward now, her hands on her hips.
“So when is the little maniac slated to arrive?” She asked flatly. Before Stoick could answer however, the door to the barracks swung open, revealing an armored figure.
“Woah,” Tuffnut said in awe. “Who is that?”
The figure was dressed in silver armor, which was covered in several thin, black spines all over. The armor had sort of violet sheen to it, and the helmet completely obscured the person’s face.
“Who are you?” Stoick asked cautiously.
The armored figure raised his hands to his helmet and pulled it upwards and away form the person’s head, revealing…
“Andrew?”
Indeed, it was Andrew. The young captain was dressed in an armor set that none of the vikings had ever seen before. He smiled warmly at Hiccup before tucking the helmet under his arm.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve worn this.” Andrew said nostalgically. “It honestly feels like I’m right back in Val Habar’s Guild Hall.”
“So why the change in uniform?” Stoick asked.
“So I can leave a deep enough impression on the little psycho’s mind. I’m sure he got plenty of good first impressions from the Guild Knights back when we first established contact, but today I intend to reinforce that opinion of us.”
“What brought this on?”
“If this alliance is going to work then you need to establish some ground rules, Stoick:”
“Number one: The Hairy Hooligan Tribe has managed to establish and will continue to maintain peace with the Dragons.”
“Number two: The Hairy Hooligan Tribe has established connections and an alliance with the Hunter’s Guild, a party who they recently attacked when we first attempted to establish contact upon your arrival in our world.”
“And number three: Any attempts on the life of a member of our village, especially the village heir, are to be seen as an act of war. Open season on Hiccup Haddock is officially done!”
It was at this point that Andrew swung his Longsword “Molten Volga” and drove it scabbard-first into the ground.
“I’ll tell you more about the armor when Dagur appears. This will be the only time you will ever hear me boast about my achievements as a hunter. In reality I take no pleasure in my victories, it’s just work or defending my loved ones. I won’t be mincing my words either, nor will I be embellishing them. All that I say later is true.”
Okay, THAT caught Stoick’s attention. What the hell was the story behind this armor set!? What was it made off? No, scratch that! WHAT MONSTER did Andrew slay to make it!?
Andrew felt a tapping on his shoulder from behind, and quickly stood aside, allowing for Emika to step forward. Gone was her usual cloak and mask, and in its place she wore an armor that looked as if it was made from butterflies. It even boasted a pair of large wings that jutted from Emika’s back.
“Well look at you, Emika.” Andrew said proudly. “You got out your Rhopessa Armor. You’re pulling out all the stops, huh?”
Emika looked up at her father before looking at Hiccup.
“For my brother, anything.”
Hiccup blushed at Emika’s declaration, while Astrid looked at the feral girl’s armor strangely.
“With all due respect, that armor doesn’t look all that strong.”
“Yeah” Ruffnut said in agreement. “It’s a bit too girly for my taste.”
Emika shrugged. “It’s light and durable. The Neopteron parts that went into creating it are often used in much stronger armors sets than this. It’s flexible and allows me to dodge effectively, and it even withstands electric attacks from monsters that employ such.”
“Wait, really?” Ruffnut said in surprise.
“Yep! I used this armor the day I was slated to hunt a Zinogre. It came in mighty handy in staving off the paralyzing effect of Zinogre’s lightning attacks.”
“On second thought, can I get an armor set like that?” Ruffnut asked excitedly. She didn’t know what a “Zinogre” was, but if it was capable of using lighting, and Emika’s armor defended against that lightning, then she wanted in.
Emika sighed and smiled, shrugging her shoulders. “I’ll see what I can do. Keep in mind there’s always other armors if you still feel that this one’s too girly.”
“Thanks, Emika.” Ruffnut said happily. Emika then looked to Andrew and Stoick.
“So then, what’s the plan?” she asked. Andrew hummed in thought before looking at Hiccup.
“Hiccup, I want you and the others to go to the arena.”
“Huh?”
“Emika, go with him. You will be my stand-in until I arrive, at which point the both of us will be guarding Hiccup. I already discussed things with Riley, Douglas and Kuu. The three of them will also be present at the arena. Hiccup, I want you to start up one of your classes regarding the dragons. You’ll be in the presence of some of the best hunters on the island. Additionally, I’ve been caught up to speed on the fact that Oswald’s previous treaty was written in dragon’s blood. So, I’ve organized for a way to get them to choose something else to write their damned treaty. I fully intend to bring Dagur with us on a hunt, and a proper one at that.”
It was at this point that Austin came up to the group.
“The gals at the Guild Hall have a few quests in store. Bulldrome, Arzuros, Velocidrome, and a Blangonga.”
Stoick raised an eyebrow at the last name. “That last one sounds kinda, uh, goofy.”
“It’s not.” Austin and Andrew said at the same time. Andrew looked at Austin with a knowing glint in his eyes as Austin sulked a bit. He then turned to explain his reasoning to Stoick.
“The Blangonga is a Fanged Beast. It’s a giant monkey that lives on mountaintops. They’re extremely aggressive, attacking anything that looks remotely weak enough for it to land an easy meal.”
“Oh great.” Hiccup lamented. “I can’t wait to fight that. The thing will be all over me.”
“Which is why we’re probably not doing that one.” Stoick said firmly. Andrew nodded in agreement at this.
“Stoick.” Gobber said as he hobbled over. “They’re here. Coming into port as we speak.”
“Get moving.” Andrew said sharply, prompting Emika to drag Hiccup away towards the arena. Toothless ran after them, as did the other teens.
‘Time to leave a lasting first impression.” Andrew said as he placed his helmet back on. Stoick sighed and walked towards the port, flanked by Gobber on the left side, and then Andrew on the right. Austin followed quickly, praying to every god in existence that this wouldn’t end in a war.
Stoick and Andrew stood at the docks patiently, waiting for Oswald the Agreeable to appear. Stoick felt a pit of dread well up when only his son appeared.
“Odin help us.” He mumbled.
“What are you muttering about?” Andrew asked quietly.
“Oswald’s nowhere to be found. He always comes to these treaty renewals, unless…”
“You suspect he’s dead?”
Stoick nodded at Andrew’s guess, and the captain found himself becoming frustrated with how things were going so far.
‘Terrific. Without his father to wrangle him in, this Dagur brat is more likely to cause trouble.’
A Berserker Viking stepped down from the main ship, glancing uneasily at some passing dragons overhead as he began to announce the arrival of their chief.
“Presenting the high Chief of the Berserker Tribe, the cracker of skulls, slayer of beasts, the great and fearsome…”
“Oswald the Agreeable?” Gobber asked hopefully. His hopes were immediately shattered as Dagur dropped down from the ship. He sat in a crouched position for a moment, before slowly standing up, with a hand on his belt, where several throwing knives hung from.
“… Dagur the Deranged!”
The teenage boy known as Dagur seemed to eagerly look around as if searching for someone, his hand never leaving his belt, up until he looked rather disappointed as the person he sought was not present.
“He’s looking for Hiccup.” Andrew muttered bitterly under his breath. Even with the helmet Stoick still heard the man, as his face darkened upon the realization that one of those knives would’ve been sailing right for his son’s body. Back when Hiccup and Dagur were little, Stoick and Oswald wrote the knife-throwing off as Dagur’s unique way of saying hello. But now? Stoick couldn’t help but wonder how many times he ignored his son’s pleas. How many times his boy asked for help.
Shaking his head of the dark thoughts, Stoick stepped forward and asked the most important of questions right now:
“Dagur, where's your father?”
Dagur smirked, as he crossed his arms in an act of superiority.
“My father has been… retired. He lost his taste for blood. I, on the other hand, am starving. So, it looks like you haven’t even attempted to hide them Stoick.”
“Hide what exactly?” Stoick asked coyly.
Dagur looked at the Hairy Hooligan Chief with a wild smile before pointing at Stoick’s own dragon, Thornado.
“The dragons of course. Rumors on the wind and sea tell me that your tribe has allied themselves with what was supposed to be our mortal enemy.”
Stoick huffed in defiance and stood up to his full height. “Not anymore” He said sharply.
“The dragons were just as much victims as we were, Dagur. With the true mastermind behind the raids dead and gone, the dragons have returned to their original nature, a more peaceful one as you can clearly see. The dragons are a part of our tribe, Dagur. There will be no bloodshed on my island, is that clear?”
Dagur gave an impressed whistle. “Hohoh man, the nerve! You do realize I’m here to sign a treaty renewal right? Wouldn’t such vitriol and harsh words work against getting me to sign that treaty?”
Stoick didn’t falter, instead stepping forward until he was mere feet from the deranged boy.
“After the things I have witnessed, the people I’ve met, and the monster’s I’ve seen, I can say right now that your words hold no weight whatsoever. You don’t scare me, Dagur. In fact I think I’m more angry with you than anything else.”
Dagur looked taken aback at this. “Angry?” He parroted. “Whatever for?”
“For tormenting my son. Even now your hand rested upon those knives as you searched for him amongst the crowd. Any more attempts like that, or like back then, and you can consider our peace treaty null. You may have an impressive armada, that much I will admit, but the dragons are not the only ones living here.”
It was at this point that Dagur saw several people dressed in various armors step forward. At the front of the group was a man dressed in silvery armor while carrying a long, almost magma-coated sword.
Dagur recognized them almost instantly. These were Guild Hunters. Mainlanders.
“I’m honestly shocked at you, Stoick.” Dagur said in a disappointed tone. “You’ve allied yourself with not just dragons, but mainlanders to boot. What’s next, Romans?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll kick their asses too.” It was Daniel who said this from within the crowd, prompting laughter from the other hunters.
“We’ve seen plenty of battles, kid.” Gregory added, followed closely by Simon, Damian, and Barry respectively:
“You know nothing of the beasts that walk this world, brat.”
“Don’t get co*cky just because you got more boats than us, boy.”
“Even if you were to best us in battle, the Hunter’s Guild would simply send more, stronger men and women to face you. And that’s if you somehow best us.”
Barry’s final words were the coldest that his friends had ever heard him be. The man was bombastic and prideful, like a knight from a storybook. So to hear him be so serious was jarring for the others. Regardless, he was right. Berk would not fall, especially not to the likes of the Berserker Tribe.
Dagur stared at the crowd in shock, before he zeroed in on the armored figure walking down the docks. The man was observed to be standing with Stoick upon docking their ship, and Dagur was immediately intrigued upon seeing him. But the fact that this was another mainlander put a bitter feeling in his heart.
The armored figure stopped just next to Stoick, and Dagur could actually feel the glare of the man’s eyes, which were obscured within that helmet he wore.
“And who are you supposed to be, mainlander?” Dagur asked sharply, as if challenging the man.
The armored figure stood silently, though his head turned downwards a bit as if just realizing the boy was there.
“I am Captain Andrew, a Guild Hunter, Master Rank 732. I have felled many great beasts, several of which would be better described as forces of nature. The armor I wear has been carved from the Great Serpent Dalamadur, an Elder Dragon whose body was long enough to constrict mountaintops.”
Stoick looked at the man strangely. This was out of character for Andrew. But the chief knew why he was doing it. He had to make a display of power, to hopefully get Dagur to see why breaking the peace treaty would be a terrible idea.
Dagur looked rather excited at the notion of such a creature. “And where would one find such a creature, Captain Andrew?”
Undeterred, Andrew pushed forward. “Within the mainland, in a mountainous region called the Speartip Crags. The Dalamadur is a terrifying beast. Its breath burns hotter than the sun, and it can warp the very surface of the world and level mountains with a single twitch. Only the best are called upon to slay such a monster.”
“Only the best? Is that an insult I hear?” Andrew leaned forward very quickly, causing Dagur to flinch!
‘He’s got him!’ Stoick thought victoriously.
“Yes it was, now what are you going to do about it? You don’t scare me, brat. You only cause me more and more irritation the longer I have to listen to your wretched bravado and fear mongering. You’re no better than the Romans who your father waged war against. You don’t scare me, your armada doesn’t scare me. You wanna know what scares me? The Gods. And you are not one of them. You’re just an entitled brat who came into power do to dubious circ*mstances, but most importantly, I view thee as a potential threat to my student’s life and well-being.”
“Your student?” Dagur couldn’t for the life of him figure out what the man meant by that. So Andrew decided to help him.
“Tell me Dagur, how do things normally go when one village heir attacks another?”
“Then the tribes usually go to war. Why?” As soon as the why left his mouth, it clicked in Dagur’s mind who the captain was referring to. “Hold on, Hiccup the Useless is your student!?”
“IS THERE A f*ckING PROBLEM WITH THAT!?” Andrew stomped forward and got right in Dagur’s face as his voice carried across the docks. Stoick had at first been angered by the usage of Hiccup’s old nickname, but all the wind was taken right out of his sails when Andrew roared out that question.
“Listen well, Dagur the Deranged. You stand before Andrew the Fierce, one of the most dangerous Monster Hunters that the Guild has ever procured! I have some of the best records for some of the fastest hunts, and I could kill you, and your crew in mere seconds. Your armada would fall in but a few hours! If this treaty is going to happen, we need to set some f*cking ground rules. Number one, the Hunters are off-limits! Number two, the Dragons, are off-limits! And number three…” Andrew slowly gripped Dagur’s shoulder and leaned in right next to the boy’s left ear, where he whispered, “Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, is Off. Limits.”
Andrew stepped away to his previous position.
“What’ll it be, Dagur? Make your decision now. I’m not wasting time with an hour-long meeting when seconds matter on the battlefield, and since you took such issue with the dragons I figured this should be an easy choice for one such as you.”
“Hold it, Captain!”
Andrew turned to look at Stoick, who was stood only ten feet away with Gobber and Spitelout on either side. Cuyler stood some distance behind them with Austin and Alex.
“That is not your call to make. Your words hold plenty of reason but we are not on a battlefield yet, and I would prefer it stay that way. I will agree with you on one thing though…” He turned to glare at Dagur. “
Dagur looked between the two in bewilderment, before sighing in disappointment. “Killjoys.” He muttered. “I agree to your terms.” Stoick nodded in satisfaction.
“Good, let’s go make it a reality. We’ve got a feast planned for afterwards as well.”
Andrew clicked his tongue in annoyance before stalking off, several in the crowd at the end of the docks parting quickly to allow him passage. Austin, Simon, and a few others followed after him, with Simon looking over his shoulder to glare at Dagur.
“Touchy, touchy.” Dagur said cheekily, only for Stoick to glare at him too.
“You’ve been here for all of five minutes and you pissed off one of the most dangerous people on Berk. Didn’t your father teach you anything about choosing your battles wisely?”
“He often taught me to rule with incredible power and fear. I’d say it’s working pretty good.”
“Maybe on your tribe.” Stoick said offhandedly. “We Hairy Hooligans don’t falter in the face of such people. If you saw the things we had to see at Helheim’s Gate that day, you’d agree wholeheartedly.”
“Yeah, about that, rumors from afar have told me that there were two giant dragons Helheim’s Gate.”
“Aye, though I wouldn’t exactly call the second one a dragon. It was more in the nature of a God incarnate. The beast even had the very word in his name: Godzilla.” Dagur raised his brow at the name, immediately intrigued by the creature.
“Godzilla? What kind of name is that?”
“You would have to ask one of the hunters about that. As a matter of fact, Alex! What does that name mean? Could you tell Dagur here more about our savior from that day?”
Alex, who was stood nearby with a book, huffed in annoyance before answering.
“The name Godzilla is directly translated from Gojira, the name of a great sea dragon, which is derived from the dialect of a village who lived on Odo Island, a faraway island that served as the birthplace of Godzilla. The people of Odo Island worshiped Gojira as their god, making offerings to him whenever the fishing wasn’t favorable.”
Dagur was completely hooked on the story.
“What can this ‘Godzilla’ guy do?”
“He’s virtually immortal. He was mutated by a poisonous weapon created by the Precursors, our ancestors. Cursed with immortality, he harbors an intense hatred for all of humanity, and he’s only one of over a thousand great giants that walk the world we live in. Be that as it may, he is unequivocally, the King of Monsters.” Dagur was hooked in deep as he listened to Alex ramble. He always did like learning about the Gods and mythical creatures.
Their conversation lead them all the way to the arena, where Dagur was met with an impressive sight. Hiccup was sat in the middle of a whole flock of dragons of varying species. There was a Nadder, a Terror, a Zippleback, a Nightmare, a Gronckle, a Changewing, and then a dragon that he didn’t recognize. It was dressed in pitch-black scales and had acid-green eyes.
The other teens were there too, and with their own dragons it seemed. Astrid Hofferson had a Nadder, Snotlout had a Nightmare, Fishlegs had a Gronckle, and the Thorston Twins had a Zippleback. But there were three new teens there as well, both girls. The first did not have a dragon, but she seemed oddly familiar to Dagur. The second girl was dressed like a fairy tale character, decked out in butterfly wings and holding a staff made of bone. She held a giant bug on her arm, and a massive red dragon that Dagur didn’t recognize, stood next to her quietly.
The third and final girl looked like a taller version of Astrid if he was honest. Her dragon was also unknown to the deranged teen. All three of these unknown dragons only excited Dagur more.
“Hiccup, brother!” Dagur called loudly. Hiccup tried his best not to flinch as Toothless and the other dragons all took defensive positions around their human.
“Hello, Dagur.” He said warily, standing up and walking towards the teen, Toothless and Phantom flanking on either side. This was a common sight for the residents of Berk to see the two dragons following, but for Dagur it looked nothing short of powerful. The meek little Hiccup, flanked by one of the most elusive dragons in history, and then a new, unknown dragon.
“You’ve certainly been busy, brother. Rumors on the wind say that you’ve become some sort of Dragon Conqueror.”
To his surprise, Hiccup actually glared at Dagur. “Don’t call me that.” He said bitterly as the two dragons growled. But they stopped as Hiccup raised his hands to pet them gently.
“I don’t conquer the dragons, I befriend them. I trust them with my life, and they trust me with theirs.”
“Clearly.” Dagur said with mild intrigue as he watched the two dragons closely. The unknown one with black scales was especially affectionate with the Hairy Hooligan Heir.
“Any chance you can hook me up with a dragon?” Hiccup looked at the older teen with an unreadable expression.
“Uh, no. I can’t ‘hook you up’ with a dragon. It doesn’t work that way.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“A dragon must choose its rider.” The answer was so simple-sounding, but to Dagur it sounded completely foreign, mythical even.
“And how do I get a dragon to choose me?” He asked eagerly. Hiccup frowned a bit at the excitable teen.
“It just has to happen. You can of course help the process by just living around them. Work with them, show them that you are a friend and an ally, rather than a potential threat.”
Dagur looked at Hiccup with a look of what Hiccup hoped was admiration and not blood-lust.
“This is incredible!” Dagur said excitedly as he crouched down to look the black dragon in the eyes up close, ignoring the warning growls that emanated from it.
“So then, what is this one supposed to be?”
Hiccup debated whether or not to tell Dagur. Could he trust Dagur not to do something crazy or stupid? Not really. But Alex’s words yesterday rang true for the boy. Omission was still technically lying, and Hiccup knew Dagur well enough that lying would only work against the peace treaty.
“Well, Dagur, I guess introductions are in order.” Hiccup walked up next to Toothless and wrapped an arm around the dragon’s neck affectionately.
“This is Toothless. He’s a Night Fury.”
Dagur looked on with wide eyes and an open mouth. THIS was the legendary Night Fury!?
“Why… Why Toothless? Seems kind of underwhelming for the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself.” Toothless did no favors with denying this as he showed his teeth in warning at Dagur. But to the Berserker Chief’s surprise, a simple action like scratching behind the dragon’s ear flaps seemed to calm the menacing creature, his eyes closed in delight. Hiccup kept his eyes locked on Toothless. He felt that if he turned to look at Dagur, his fear and anxiety would skyrocket.
“It’s got a few reasons behind it. The first is the fact that he has retractable teeth. It’s a neat little detail that makes him even more unique. But the other reason goes a little deeper than that.”
“Oh?”
“See, the idea of a toothless dragon seems rather silly. Not dangerous. Dragons rely on their teeth and claws to inflict damage just as much as they rely on their fire. A toothless dragon cannot harm you through biting. So the fact that he is unarmed of his own volition by retracting his teeth, means that he trusts me enough to not be on guard whenever I’m with him. He trusts me with his life, as I do him with mine. Make no mistake though. Toothless is still a Night Fury. He’s one of the more powerful species of dragons around here. Even the Monstrous Nightmare will avoid conflict with him.”
Dagur looked on at the smaller teen with a weirdly starstruck expression. He was completely in awe at Hiccup’s reasoning and storytelling. Was this really the same little weakling he used to torment?
“Hiccup.” Both Hiccup and Dagur looked up towards an approaching Emika. The girl kept her eyes locked on Hiccup, so as not to glare at Dagur and possibly provoke him. She had heard stories of Dagur from both Hiccup and Stoick, and she didn’t want to hold any form of conversation with the deranged teen that might result in a battle.
“Yes Emika?”
“Dad wants you and Dagur at the Guild Hall. A quest just came in.” It was then that Ratha dropped down from the sky, allowing Emika to climb aboard and take to the sky.
“What dragon is that?” Dagur asked excitedly.
“A Rathalos.” Hiccup answered calmly. “The King of the Skies. They’re found outside of the archipelago. That dome of light, the one that transported the archipelago out of our world and into this one, it basically dropped us into a world where the animals make our own dragons look harmless by comparison. The Rathalos is a good example of this. They rule the skies with an iron-fist, and I haven’t any doubts that if the Night Fury wasn’t so fast, the Rathalos would probably be able to best them too.”
“How is that girl able to train one then?” Dagur asked excitedly. The Night Fury was a tempting candidate for him to train, but this Rathalos creature sounded downright ferocious.
Hiccup ran a hand through his hair nervously. “Y-you kinda need to work with them constantly, or at least that’s how Andrew explained it to me. You gotta hatch one from an egg, which is probably hard to get a hold of to start with, then when it hatches you gotta raise it all the way to adulthood, which takes a couple years, and the entire time you gotta keep them from going rogue and burning your house to the ground. It’s all very… stressful. I think I’ll stick to our own dragons.”
Dagur didn’t look all that deterred though, as he got right in Hiccup’s face with a wide smile. “I relish the challenge!” He shouted happily, startling the smaller teen as well as Toothless and the other dragons.
“Good to know.” Hiccup said numbly, before they continued their trek to the Guild Hall. Up above, Emika, Astrid, Snotlout, and the others all floated in the skies above, spread out so that it didn’t look suspicious. Down on the ground, Riley was trailing behind silently, his nose buried in a book as he discreetly stole glances at the duo. Upon watching them enter the Guild Hall, the teens all landed and went inside, and Riley soon followed, stashing his book away and marching in.
Inside the Guild Hall, several vikings and hunters conversed about various things. Upcoming quests they were about to take, stories of past experiences, and even stories about the Precursors. Dagur caught whispers of a story being told about the King of Monsters, the same one that allegedly killed the Red Death. It was Daniel, the foul-mouthed Gunner from earlier at the docks.
“That old bastard has plenty of wins under his belt, each one more insane than the last. Giant bugs, mechanical monsters that were built by the Precursors, giant monsters that fell from the stars, a flying turtle, the list goes on and on. Godzilla has been knocking heads together for as long as people have been around.”
One of the vikings, Ack, raised a hand in questioning. “Daniel, did you make that last one up? What turtle can fly? There’s no way such a beast is real!”
“Oh, he’s real alright. Or at least he was back then. We’ve discovered cave paintings depicting Godzilla fighting with such a creature thousands of years ago. Apparently the fight ended in a draw, as the cave paintings went on to depict the two monsters working together to fight a Great Evil. Clearly they won, but I have to wonder what happened to that turtle…”
“Really?” Ack asked in wonder. Daniel nodded. “Oh yeah, there’s been some real weird monsters back then. There was once a beast made entirely out of filth and slime, who apparently corroded any metal they touched. Then there was a magic statue that came to life to rain down hell upon a corrupt kingdom in the Far East.”
“Could ya tell us about the monsters that fell from the stars?” Phlegma asked as she leaned forward in her seat.
“Which one do you wanna hear about? The Usurper? The Cyclops? The Deceiver? The Child of the Stars?”
“The Usurper, please.” Another viking, Gust, said excitedly. Daniel smirked before looking over at Hiccup and Dagur. “Ah! Hiccup! Come on over! You and Dagur are just in time for a history lesson about my ancestors.”
Hiccup shrugged and sat down, becoming uncomfortable as Dagur sat right next to him. Toothless trotted up and sat right behind Hiccup protectively.
“Right then, the Usurper. The Usurper was said to have come down in a giant boulder that fell from the stars. After crashing to the ground, boulder grew in size, attracting anything metal to its body, before bursting open and spewing white fire from within. This great flame began to take shape, before solidifying into a magnificent dragon.”
By this point several other vikings and even some out of the loop hunters had joined in the history lesson. Even Stoick, who was busy organizing a quest with Andrew and the Guest Maidens, was listening closely.
“The dragon was clad in golden scales that shined even at night, and had three heads, and two tails. The dragon spewed golden lightning from its three mouths, which torched entire cities in a matter of minutes. The first time he was defeated, it was through the combined efforts of Godzilla and two other monsters who would go on to become some of his closest allies.”
“The first was a giant moth, called Mothra and she worshiped as a Goddess of Peace. The other was a giant, bird-like reptile called Rodan, whose massive wings could raze an entire kingdom with just a flap. In the beginning, Godzilla and Rodan fought viciously for supremacy, but Mothra was able to get them to agree to work together, and together they were able to best the Usurper in combat, and then chase him off of Midgard entirely. Well, at least until he came back several more times. Every now and again, he would come back and battle Godzilla for supremacy, trying to take his throne, his crown, his title as King of the Monsters.”
“Did the Usurper have a name?” Ack asked in awe. Daniel moved to answer, but was interrupted by someone else answering just a few feet away.
“Ghidorah.”
The vikings and hunters all turned to look at Andrew, who stood behind them with a frown on his face.
“Ghidorah was one of the most dangerous creatures on Earth, causing the deaths of billions of people around the world. To this day we don’t know when he’ll reappear, or if he’s even alive. It’s believed that he died in combat at the end of the Precursors’ rule, but we’ve never been able to find a body.”
“Do you think he’s just hiding?” Phlegma asked. Andrew looked down in contemplation.
“Perhaps. Or it could be that he’s sleeping somewhere. Maybe he was trapped within one of the fallen kingdoms, waiting to be freed once again. We can never know for sure. Me personally, I’d prefer if we left it alone.” Andrew gave a passing glance across all in the crowd.
“There’s no need to start Ragnarok early, y’know. I’d argue that the longer he stays gone, the better.”
A collective agreement was sounded from all present. Indeed, such a creature was nothing short of Ragnarok incarnate.
“Alright, who else should I cover?” Daniel asked. Phlegma put a hand up and immediately asked for one. “How about the Deceiver? It’s gotta be Loki, no?”
Daniel snorted. “Nah, the title of “Deceiver” was given due in part to what the monster was built for. Y’see, the Precursors didn’t start building their mechanical monsters until they got some inspiration from an outside source. There came a point in time when my ancestors were visited by a civilization from the stars. Not Asgard mind you, but people from beyond Asgard. They build a weapon of mass destruction, designed to look like Godzilla. A giant fake Godzilla, comprised of near-indestructible metal and complex machines, covered from head to toe in ranged weapons. Imagine if you will, a Bowgun shell like this one…” Daniel fished a Normal Shot level 3 shell from his pocket.
“Now imagine this little shell, blown up to the size of one of your ships, packed with enough explosive to completely erase this village, and there’s just so, SO many of them. The Deceiver fired these giant shells from his fingers, his toes, his knees, his shoulders, his back, and then he had other weapons on top of that. He could shoot fire from his nose, he could shoot lightning from his eyes and chest, he had the ability to fly, the Deceiver was a complete war-crime, in every meaning of the term.”
The vikings and hunters were all leaned forward, but none more so than Dagur. The idea of a monster made of metal was so… impossible! It should have been impossible! He wanted to see that! He wanted to try and mentally comprehend such a creature!
“How was it defeated?” He asked quietly.
“The Mechanical Godzilla, or “Mechagodzilla” as my ancestors called it, was defeated by the combined efforts of Godzilla, a second monster called King Caesar, and a small group of humans, who waged their own battle against Mechagodzilla’s creators within their own castle. Godzilla took quite a beating, but quickly employed a strange new power that had never been seen before. He began pouring magnetic energy from his body, which for those of you who don’t know, magnets are a special group of metals that attract other peaces of metal as if from magic. Given the metallic form of Mechagodzilla, he was quickly pulled down from the sky towards Godzilla, who upon getting his hands on him, proceeded to twist and rip Mechagodzilla’s head off, killing him.”
“And your ancestors went on to make more of these things?” Hiccup asked worriedly.
“Yeah, but they never held up all that well against the real thing.” Daniel said dejectedly. “I would’ve loved to see them in action.”
Andrew walked over and tapped Hiccup on the shoulder. This also in turn grabbed Dagur’s attention.
“We’re ready, we just need a quest to be chosen. I figured I leave that honor to you.”
Hiccup nodded reluctantly and stood up, walking over to the quest board and looking at the quests. Bulldrome, Arzuros, that damned Blangonga that Andrew warned him about… hold on, Arzuros… The wheels in Hiccup’s brain began turning as he thought back to his experiences with Dagur.
“Oh look, Dagur.” Hiccup said in mock intrigue before glaring at the older teen. “A Bear Hunt.”
There was no humor in his voice as he held up the quest slip for Dagur to see, before marching over to Carrie’s desk and setting the slip down. Behind him, Dagur looked on at the teen with a hint of surprise at Hiccup’s bitter attitude, before smiling deviously. ‘Still resenting that day.’ He thought. ‘Let’s see what he has planned. It’s about time he grew a spine.’
“Another Arzuros, Hiccup?” Carrie asked in surprise. Hiccup shrugged.
“Thought I’d just do something I’m familiar with. That Blangonga sounds like a handful.”
Jackie nodded in agreement. “Oh they’re some of the worst hunts, sweetie.” Sarah snorted as she turned a page in her book, but made no comments beyond that.
Carrie nodded and stamped the quest slip before handing it back to Hiccup. Walking back to the entrance, Hiccup was flanked by Andrew, Stoick, Toothless, and Emika, with Dagur following behind.
“I must remain here to keep the village from falling into disarray.” Stoick said as they reached the docks again. “Captain Andrew, you are in charge of the hunting party. Dagur, it is greatly recommended that you listen to him. He’s an expert with the beasts of this world, and as a Chief I greatly value his input.” Dagur nodded, albeit reluctantly.
Boarding the Oodaka, Dagur was shocked to see many Palicos milling about.
“Captain.” One of them said as he approached. He had yellow eyes, and had black and white fur in a bi-color, Mask-and-Cloak pattern. The top half of his head was coated in black fur, giving the appearance of a mask, and the black fur extended down the Palico’s back like a cape. The Palico wore a belt and scabbard for his blade.
“Herman.” Andrew greeted. “Are we ready to depart?” The now identified Herman nodded with a grunt.
“At your leisure, Captain Andrew.” He said firmly, his eyes flicking over towards Hiccup and Dagur for just a moment before he walked away.
“Am I on something right now?” Dagur asked in confusion. “Why are there a bunch of talking cats walking around?”
“They’re called Lynians.” Andrew answered. “An advanced group of Felines who have developed qualities synonymous with civilized species. You will do well to treat them with respect, as you would your tribe.”
“Duly noted.” Dagur said with a hint of mirth as he watched after the one called Herman.
“So how do you guys do things? You don’t look that strong to me.”
Herman smiled a toothy smile and laid a paw upon his scabbard. “We are just as strong as the hunters we serve. We are capable of many things, we are athletic, and we are capable of laying out our prey in a matter of minutes.”
“That’s quite enough, Herman.” Riker said as he approached, dressed in his Nargacuga Armor. “Boasting like this is never a good look. It’s much more beneficial to lull the enemy into thinking they have a fighting chance.” Andrew sighed while the two Palicos bickered, patting Hiccup on the shoulder.
“Let’s set sail before I have to throw those two overboard.” Another approaching Palico, Nugget, huffed in annoyance. “I’ll help you.” She sand bitterly.
Emika and the other teens had joined the crew as well, accompanied by their dragons. Ignis sat upon his usual spot on the mast, enjoying the sun’s rays.
The journey to the Misty Peaks was a long one by boat, and so the teens and dragon hunkered down for the night while the crew sailed. Andrew stood at the helm, while Riker and Herman shared the crow’s nest to watch for approaching danger. Throughout the ship, The teens, their dragons, and Valka’s dragons sat quietly as they lounged above deck, and Phantom sat above the crow’s nest in silence, staying vigilant for any possible threats.
“It’s certainly been a busy day for how little has actually happened.” Dagur said as he sat on his cot. He wasn’t used to how soft the cushion was, and proceeded to remove the mattress entirely and place it on the floor.
Hiccup watched this with annoyance, before scooting over on his own cot, allowing for Toothless to climb up with him.
“A bit of advice, Dagur.” Hiccup said calmly. “This Arzuros is no normal bear. The last one towered over my dad, and it was big enough to grapple with Toothless, while holding him by the head. This upcoming Arzuros could be smaller, or it could be bigger. Never underestimate this thing.” And with that, Hiccup drew one of Toothless’s wings over him. Toothless followed by curling his tail around the boy and tucking his own head under the wing, before both turned in for the night. Dagur watched this in stunned silence, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Laying down, he couldn’t find sleep, much to his growing frustrations, which only doubled as he meticulously went over every little thing he had learned today. Berk had a peace treaty with dragons, as well as the Hunter’s Guild.
There were apparently GIANT monsters roaming about, the captain above deck having slain one in his past. There were smaller monsters that still were strong enough that Hiccup felt the need to WARN him about what they were walking into, and then the boy proceeded to fall asleep in the wings of the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself. Nothing made sense to Dagur!
Dagur sat up abruptly, before silently getting up from his cot and walking up to the main deck. Astrid and the others were back below deck, with the exception of Emika, who was sat towards the front of the ship staring up at the moon. Once he had found a spot at the railing, Dagur let his mind wander as his eyes scanned the waves with trepidation. In the past he liked to imagine great sea dragons breaching the surface, but now? The idea that such colossal creatures could be hiding beneath the waves terrified him. He hated that feeling…
“Can’t sleep?” Dagur whirled around to see Captain Andrew approaching. The man had removed his helmet, and Dagur could finally get a look at the man’s face. Under the light of the moon, the man’s face looked ghostly. His eyes bore dark rings underneath them, akin to someone who was not getting enough sleep. His brown hair was wild and unkempt, a feature that, if he had met the man sooner, Dagur would know that was NOT his usual look.
Dagur grunted and crossed his arms. “Too much on my mind.” He said, stealing nervous glances at the waves. Andrew had a glint in his eyes as he analyzed the maddening teen.
“You’re afraid.” He said bluntly. Dagur whipped around and threw a knife at the man, directly for his heart. To his complete shock though, Andrew caught it, before letting it fall from his hand to the boards below.
“That doesn’t sound like a denial to me, Dagur.”
Dagur snarled and glared at the man. “So what if I am!?” He yelled. “How can I not be afraid? I’ve just been told that there’s giant things walking around, and that apparently, you fought and killed one! Hell, you probably killed more and you just haven’t said so. Well!? HAVE YOU!?”
Andrew frowned slightly. “And if I have?” Dagur stood completely still, his face devoid of emotion.
“How? How are you…?” He couldn’t find the words. “How? How can you be so… CALM about that? Why? Why aren’t you boasting about your triumphs? Why did Stoick look so taken by your story!? I know he wasn’t privy to that story! Unless you’re lying!”
“Never.” Andrew said sharply, so much so that it actually stunned Dagur enough for him to voice his reasons.
“I never embellish nor do I downplay my accomplishments. I simply don’t wish to talk about them. There are times as a hunter, where the mere experiences we partake, leave such a lasting impression on us, that to talk about it would only hurt us more. The Dalamadur is real, and I have slain one. Actually I’ve slain two. The second one was far more violent though. There are plenty of other giants I have slain: Ceadeus, I’ve slain two of those. Akantor and Ukanlos? One of Each. Jhen Mohran and Dah’ren Mohran? Two of the first, one of the second. The Dire Miralis? Just the one. And I never want to hunt it again. The Arch-demon of the Abyss, Gaismagorm. Only one, and I hope that stays that way. There are some monsters that you just never wanna see again. And the worst part? They are so desperately close to being re-classified as Kaiju with how big some of them are. The Kaiju are simply too much, and the only thing we can do is stay out of their way.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Dagur asked, challenging the man.
“… Yes.” Andrew answered with a hint of finality in his voice.
“These monsters that I have slain, I try to view them in a different light than as what others might view them as. I maintain a level of respect for all of them. And I view almost all of them with fear.”
“Wait.” Dagur said in surprise. “You mean you-”
“Yes, Dagur. Just like you, I am very afraid of the things that walk this planet. I go into every hunt, every battle, thinking it might be my last. I go into each hunt preparing for the worst. I… I go into the hunting grounds, ready to die. It’s a very taxing job.”
With that, Andrew walked away, his hands crossed behind him as he ascended the steps leading to the helm. Dagur watched in stunned silence, unable to come up with anything to say. This man… He just claimed to fight some of the biggest creatures in existence, and yet he also claimed to be afraid. These things were so contradictory for Dagur! He would have to see this Arzuros for himself before he made any further decisions.
He returned to his cot below deck, and quickly went to sleep.
The next morning, Dagur, Hiccup, and the other teens were awoken by the Oodaka lurching to the side, followed immediately by panicked roars and yells above deck. Toothless unwrapped himself from Hiccup and allowed the boy to sit up and reattach his prosthetic, before donning his Chainmail Armor and grabbing his weapon.
“What’s happening?” Dagur said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“I don’t know.” Hiccup said hurriedly as he ran up to the main deck, Toothless close behind him. Dagur quickly donned his clothes and ran after the scrawny teen.
Upon reaching the main deck, the Palicos were racing around carrying boxes of Ballista ammo and occasionally a cannon ball as Andrew yanked the helm and spun it furiously, his eyes never leaving the sea to his left side. And at sea where he stared, a Kaiju. From the foamed surface it rose, its massive claws jutted from the water long before its head appeared.
“What the hell is that!?” Dagur cried as he looked at the massive creature. It looked like a lobster, clad in a bright red carapace, with long antennae, beady black eyes, and two massive claws. The left claw was an abnormally large thing, appearing as big as the monster’s body. The right claw was very long and narrow, clearly meant for spearing the monster’s victims. The whole body appeared to be lined with spikes. This thing was undoubtedly made for battle.
“KEEP YOUR WEAPONS TRAINED ON EBIRAH!!!” Andrew roared. “WE NEED TO GET AS FAR AWAY FROM HERE AS POSSIBLE!”
Ebirah? So that was this thing’s name. Dagur was certain that there was some significance to the name, but that would have to wait. Astrid and the others all ran above deck to see what was happening, just as Ebirah reared back and let out a deafening screech, before nosediving beneath the waves in a forward charge.
“Maintain course!” Andrew ordered to the Palicos managing the sails. “We need to get out of his territory as quickly as possible!”
“TARGET APPROACHING RAPIDLY!” The one-eyed orange Palico, Willy, yelled from his position on the crow’s nest. True to his word, Ebirah was rushing towards the Oodaka, but was intercepted by an assailant from below. The giant lobster was slammed in the side by an unseen force beneath the waves.
“What’s happened!?” Andrew asked frantically as he scanned the waves. There was clearly a brawl happening down there, as the sea foamed violently from the thrashing of two massive creatures. Eventually, Ebirah surfaced, but only to retreat as he tore through the water, propelling himself with his massive tail.
“It looks like we got help!” Riker said from the crow’s nest.
“Help? From who exactly?” Andrew asked as he leaned over the railing, just as their savior rose from the water. The captain recoiled at the sight of a massive form suddenly looming over the ship. A pair of narrow, yellow eyes stared back at the captain with curiosity. The creature was reptilian in appearance, with a long, narrow snout like a crocodile, and a large sail on top of its head. The creature’s head, neck, and presumably whole body was all clad in vibrant red scales.
“Thor almighty…” Dagur said quietly, suddenly unable to move. Hiccup and Toothless watched in silence, not sure what to make of this newcomer. Emika seemed rather excited by the creature, and quickly ran forward to greet them.
“What is she doing?” Astrid asked in a hushed whisper. Heather and Fishlegs looked to each other worriedly, but otherwise shrugged.
The massive kaiju turned its sights onto Emika, leaning forward a bit, just close enough the Emika was able to place her hands upon the kaiju’s snout. After a while, it exhaled, blowing Emika’s hair back, before backing away from the ship, disappearing beneath the waves. Andrew watched after the kaiju with trepidation as it seemed to leave in the direction Ebirah went, clearly wishing to continue the fight from before.
Andrew leaned against the railing and fell to his knees, suddenly feeling rather tired.
“Andrew!?” Hiccup exclaimed as he raced to the captain’s side.
“I’m alright.” Andrew assured the teen before standing up, albeit shakily. “Let’s stay on our current course. We should reach the Misty Peaks tonight.” Hiccup nodded after a while, allowing Andrew to walk back to the helm. Hiccup watched the man for a bit before staring out at the ocean. That kaiju clearly saw them, and yet it wasn’t looking for a fight. At least, not with them.
“What exactly were those things?” Dagur asked, the fear having worn off and being replaced with excitement. “Were those Kaiju?” The boys had gone back below deck, the excitement having passed.
“I can only assume.” Hiccup said. “Truth be told, I had yet to see one myself. I didn’t even get to see Godzilla.” Dagur frowned at that. Wasn’t Hiccup at Helheim’s Gate at the time?
“Hold on, I thought you…”
“I was unconscious. Toothless and I had been shot down by the Red Death, and I was sent plummeting. If it weren’t for Toothless catching me, I wouldn’t be here right now. Although, I didn’t get out of it totally unscathed.” Hiccup gestured to his prosthetic leg as he said this.
“Was this from the fall?” Dagur said as he took in the intricate design of the leg. There were moving parts locked together in complex ways. Definitely something of Hiccup’s design, Dagur thought as he thought back to all the schematics Hiccup had shown him when they were little. Back then he couldn’t care less, but now Dagur viewed the boy’s intelligence as something new altogether.
“No it wasn’t.” Hiccup answered. “Toothless couldn’t reach me in time with his claws, so he… resorted to more unconventional means of catching me: with his teeth.” Toothless warbled sadly as he licked Hiccup’s face in apology. “Hey, it’s alright, bud. I already forgave you.” Hiccup pet the black dragon behind the ears, eliciting purrs from the large reptile. Dagur watched this all in silence, trying to comprehend what Hiccup had said. Hiccup said that Toothless robbed him of his leg, but it was to save his life. Well, when it’s either your leg or your life entirely, he supposed the answer wasn’t that difficult. Their conversations continued into the night, before they went to sleep.
With the morning having come, the Oodaka had reached the Misty Peaks. Hiccup took in the sights with excitement in his eyes. “We’re back.” Hiccup said happily. “I missed this place.”
Andrew climbed down from the gangplank and began instructing the teens on what they were to be doing. “Alright listen up. We are going to be heading to the camp site further inland. I won’t ask that you leave your dragons behind, but you need to keep them from causing problems while we’re here. These hunting grounds are not to be destroyed or vandalized. Is that clear?” At the chorus of “Yes Sirs”, Andrew nodded and marched off to the camp site, followed by the teens and their dragons. Halfway through the journey, they were greeted by the two Guardian Knights from before.
“Oh, lord help us.” One of them said at the sight of the teens and their dragons. “Captain Andrew, is this gonna be a recurring sight with you?”
“At ease, gentlemen. They are merely reinforcements. I don’t intend on letting them join the fighting unless the situation calls for it. Rest assured, there shouldn’t be any issues.”
“If you’re sure.” The other Guardian Knight stepped forward now, a look of urgency on his face. “Captain, we managed to corral the Arzuros into the hunting grounds, but something’s off. We found foot prints that match the Arzuros, but they are far larger than the initial. We fear that something more powerful might be lurking nearby.”
Andrew frowned at that, as that usually meant one of two possibilities: An “Alpha” influenced by the serpents Ibushi or Narwa, or…
“A Redhelm.” The Guardian Knight nodded slowly, occasionally stealing glances at the surrounding trees, as if expecting the aforementioned monster to appear. This was not lost on Andrew.
“Gentlemen, I want you two to retreat to my ship, the Oodaka. I’ll send one of the riders to get you once we’re done here.”
“I’m sorry Captain.” One of them said while shaking his head. “We cannot abandon our current objective. We need to make sure that the Arzuros doesn’t get near any of the nearby settlements.”
“Like I said, I can send for you via one of the riders, but right now, if a Redhelm is in the Misty Peaks, your safety is critical. Please gentlemen, get to safety.” The Guardian Knights looked to each other, before nodding. “Very well. We shall go and wait. Thank you for your generosity.”
“Any time. And if your superiors give you any flack, send them my way. I’ll set them straight.”
“Duly noted. Thanks again, Captain.”
As the Guardian Knights retreated towards the beach, Andrew signaled for the others to keep moving.
“Alright, change of plans. Everyone move your asses! Get to the camp site as soon as possible!”
Hiccup, Emika, Astrid, and Fishlegs wasted no time as they all began running ahead of Andrew, Hiccup leading the way towards the camp site. Dagur and the rest of the group followed after Andrew curiously.
“What’s a Redhelm?” Dagur asked as they began running with the man.
“A Redhelm is a Deviant of the Arzuros. Deviants are a group of individuals who have survived many hunts, and therefor have a much higher level of experience and power than is normal for their species. The Redhelm Arzuros is one of the most dangerous Fanged Beasts in the world.”
Dagur’s jaw dropped at the man’s words. Hiccup’s warning was already bad enough, and that was for an apparently NORMAL Arzuros. But this “Redhelm Arzuros” thing sounded like it could wipe the floor with a normal Arzuros. What the hell had he gotten himself into?
Andrew threw his bag down at the campsite and began strategizing on how the quest was to be done.
“I want Astrid, Heather, and the Twins patrolling the northern part of the hunting grounds. If you see either of the Arzuros, do not engage. Just mark where it is on the map and come grab us. Snotlout and Fishlegs, same deal, but for the southern part. If you see something that looks way larger than it should be, DO. NOT. ENGAGE!” Andrew pointed at the Twins angrily as he yelled this, leaving no room for any misinterpretations. Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked at the man with wide eyes before nodding frantically. Andrew then handed off maps to all of the teens and sent them away, flying into the sky on their dragons.
“Hiccup, Dagur, Emika. The three of you are gonna hunt the Arzuros. The Normal one. I will be on the battlefield as well, though I’ll only join in if you are in trouble. You won’t learn much if I just up and hunt the monster for you, but rest assured, I’ll be right there to help if you are in any danger.”
Hiccup smirked at his teacher.
“Only a few steps above Gobber, huh?”
Andrew smiled knowingly at his student. “There’s nothing wrong with learning on the job,” He said. “But it’s highly counterproductive if you just sit on the sidelines. You gotta have a safety net in place to catch the students if they fall. How can the students learn if they’re dead after all?”
Hiccup nodded at this, while Emika and Dagur waited patiently, although the latter was trying to strike up conversation with the former.
“Soooo… what’s your relationship with my dear brother?” Dagur asked. Emika fixed the teen with a strange look. “Brother? Are you actually related?” Dagur shook his head. “Brother can mean brother in arms, or someone who is more than just a friend.”
“Duly noted. Regardless, he’s technically my brother in a way.” Dagur’s face darkened as he glared at the girl. “What do you mean by that?” He asked suspiciously. Emika smirked at the boy and crossed her arms.
“Hiccup was almost adopted by my dad. When Andrew first came to Berk, he wasn’t happy with how he saw Hiccup being treated. He told me that it was only after he screamed at Stoick that things started to change for the better. I am a bit saddened that it’s not official, but it’s not like it hasn’t technically happened. And now, I only want my brother to succeed.”
“So do I.” Dagur said, albeit challenging.
“Alright, relax.” Hiccup said as he put his hands up. “I can be both of your brothers, as long as you promise not to kill each other.” Emika and Dagur looked to each other, and Hiccup swore he could’ve seen lightning clashing between them, before they both said “Fine.”
Sighing in annoyance, Hiccup walked off, with Toothless in tow. Andrew watched this interaction quietly, with a mirthful grin.
“Alright then, Let’s get moving.”
Up in the skies above, Astrid and Heather flew on the back of Stormfly. “Do you think they’ll be alright?” Heather asked.
“I can only hope so.” Astrid answered. “Andrew’s down there, as well as Emika. They’ll keep Dagur from trying anything.” Heather nodded at this, before looking down in thought.
‘It’s weird.’ Heather thought. ‘I’ve only met him yesterday, but Dagur seems so… familiar.’
“Hey Snotlout!” Fishlegs yelled.
“What?”
“Down there!” Fishlegs pointed towards the ground below. There in the zone, a large, blue and cream colored beast lumbered forward. Snotlout looked down at his map and took in the features drawn there, looking up form it to take in the surrounding area. “That big ruined building in the center. This must be it!” He marked the map at Zone 4.
“Zone 4! Go tell them!” Snotlout exclaimed. Fishlegs nodded and raced off on Meatlug, while Snotlout and Hookfang circled the zone silently. “That doesn’t look too bad.” Snotlout said after a while. Hookfang snorted at his rider, chastising the boy for his co*ckiness.
“Oh hush. I’m not crazy enough to try and fight it. At least, not without some more help.”
The sound of roars nearby signaled the others having arrived.
Toothless and Ratha touched down in Zone 4 quickly, with Hiccup and Dagur leaping from the Night Fury’s back, while Emika and Andrew dropped down from Ratha.
“There’s the target!” Andrew said. “Engage!”
Hiccup and Emika ran forward with their weapons drawn, Hiccup using his Kamura Charge Blade, while Emika used her Insect Glaive “Stalwart”. Dagur followed the duo with his broadsword, growing more nervous the closer they got to the Arzuros. Upon getting within ten feet of the monster, Dagur felt a pit of dread well up within him, and then the damn thing stood up.
“You gotta be kidding me.” Dagur said in horror. This was the biggest bear he had ever seen!
The Arzuros raised its forelimbs over its head and roared, before lunging forward. Dagur let his instincts kick in as he launched himself to the left, narrowly missing Dagur and Emika by several feet. Hiccup leapt the opposite way, rolling across the ground and holding his shield up defensively, while Emika vaulted over the charging Arzuros with her Insect Glaive. The Arzuros came to a stop, before turning its sights on Hiccup. Lunging forward again, it got up on its hind legs and began swinging its forelimbs in an attempt to nail the teen. Hiccup held up his shield, blocking the hits and getting pushed back in the process.
Seizing the opportunity, Dagur ran forward and slashed at the Arzuros’s back, only to find that the Arzuros didn’t seem to care. Or at least, it didn’t care about the gash in its back, but rather the person who made it. The Arzuros whipped around with its claws, catching Dagur across the face and sending him rolling across the dirt. Dagur leapt up to his feet just in time to dodge another lunge by the Arzuros.
Dagur made a move to dodge again, but caught his foot in a tree root. The Arzuros landed over-top of him, its massive clawed paws pinning the teen to the ground. Just before it could could lay its teeth upon the boy, it was sent staggering away from a blow to the head.
With a resounding yell, Hiccup sprinted forward and slammed his shield into the side of the Arzuros’s face, stunning it briefly and forcing it to back off.
“Hiccup?” Dagur said, a bit rattled. Hiccup paid him no mind, instead switching his Charge Blade to its Axe Mode. Dagur watched with widened eyes as Hiccup’s weapon transformed before his eyes, and Hiccup proceeded to swing it around and nail the Arzuros in the head again, and again. Each time, he spun on his prosthetic leg and let the weapon’s weight guide him through momentum. Then, Hiccup reader back with the weapon over his shoulder, and pressed several buttons on the handle that Dagur hadn’t before seen. Amazingly, the Charge Blade literally spun to life, as the shield turned axe head began to rapidly spin and spark with bright yellow energy.
With another yell, Hiccup lunged forward and swung the charge blade over his head, slamming it into the Arzuros’s back, digging it into the beast’s fur and causing blood to spray out as the massive bear cried out in pain.
It was at this point that Emika swooped in, leaping over the Arzuros and peppering it with slashes from the bladed end of the glaive, while her Kinsect flew around the Arzuros while conducting its own attack, ramming into the beast’s body and slashing at it with its blade-like claws.
Emika landed in a crouch before lunging again, spinning clockwise on her heel and swinging the Insect Glaive outwards, slashing the Arzuros’s back again. Dagur took the opportunity to stand up and retrieve his sword, but instead of fighting he simply watched as the two teens fought their target. Hiccup would run in, swing the Charge Blade in axe mode, then detach the two halves and block a swing from the Arzuros’s forelimbs, backing up and allowing Emika to take charge, as the girl jumped overhead and swung her glaive into the Arzuros’s back.
The Arzuros got up on its hind legs and roared angrily, charging straight at Emika in a blind rage. It was then that Toothless and Ratha engaged. Toothless fired off several plasma blasts at the Arzuros, staggering it and causing the beast to trip and fall. Then, Ratha swooped down and hooked his claws into the beast’s back, lifting it up and slamming it back into the ground. The Arzuros tried to shake the young Rathalos off, eventually swinging its whole body around and causing Ratha’s legs to twist, forcing him to let go and retreat. Toothless continued his barrage, with one of the blasts blowing away some carapace from the Arzuros’s left forelimb.
From afar, Andrew watched with pride as his student and daughter fought tooth and nail with the Arzuros, before the sound of wing beats drew his attention. It was Ruffnut and Tuffnut.
“I thought I told you to keep watch for the Redhelm.” Andrew chastised. Andrew noticed that the two twins looked rather worried, and their dragon especially looked rattled. Barf & Belch were looking every which way as they appeared to look for whatever spooked them.
“Yeah, uh…” Tuffnut began, followed by his sister going “We found it.”
“What?” Andrew exclaimed, just as Astrid and Heather touched down on Stormfly. The Shield Maiden and her friend raced towards Andrew, looks of terror on their faces.
“We found the Redhelm. It’s heading this way right now!”
Andrew cursed at this. “Damn! Back in the air, now! We gotta go!” He raced forward to go join the hunt. This needed to end at once, but before he could reach the brawl, a massive snapping sound rang out behind him. Whipping around, Andrew had but a few seconds to dodge as a massive tree came down right next to him. There, standing at where the tree came up from the ground, was the Redhelm. Clad in black and red fur, it looked like an Arzuros from hell. Standing up on its hind legs, the Redhelm Arzuros reared back and let loose an earth-shattering roar, loud enough to actually stun Toothless and the first Arzuros. Recovering quickly, Dagur and Hiccup looked upon the titanic bear in awe and horror.
“What. The f*ck.” Dagur said breathlessly. “Is that? Is that the Redhelm?”
Dagur felt a tug on his arm, and turned to see Emika standing between Dagur and Hiccup. “WE NEED TO GO!!!” She screamed. The two boys wasted no time in following her as she lead them to Toothless and Ratha. She all but shoved Hiccup and Dagur towards Toothless before running to Ratha.
“Dad, come on!!!” She called.
Andrew stared upon the Redhelm in a daze, regaining his composure enough to dodge at the last moment, as the first Arzuros ran past him, right at the Redhelm.
‘Stupid.’ Andrew thought fearfully as it lunged towards the Redhelm. The Redhelm reared a clawed paw back and swiped the Arzuros across the face, toppling it briefly. Not one to stay down, the smaller Arzuros stood up to its full height, trying to match the Redhelm, and failing spectacularly.
It was then that Dagur, Hiccup, and the other teens all realized just how much bigger this thing was. It should’ve been impossible. The first Arzuros was already too big for a bear, at an estimated 11 feet tall. But this!? At least 25 feet in height! It was more than twice the first one’s height and weight.
The Redhelm stared down upon the smaller Arzuros for a brief moment, before it lunged at the foolish creature. Taking the Arzuros in its jaws, it proceeded to thrash and swing the smaller Arzuros like a terrier shaking a rodent, the cries of the helpless beast sounding off throughout the forest.
Andrew watched for a while longer, before he felt someone yank on his arm. Turning his head he saw Emika there, frantically dragging him towards Ratha. Looking over his shoulder towards the Redhelm, he stole one final glance at the beast as it proceeded to tear away the left forelimb of the smaller Arzuros while it screamed. Forcing himself to look away, Andrew ran with his daughter, and quickly climbed aboard Ratha, before they took to the sky with the others.
Back on the Oodaka, Salem and the other Palicos stood at attention and watched the treeline, paws on the hilts of their weapons as they prepped for a possible fight.
“No doubt about it.” Salem said firmly. “That’s a Redhelm we heard.”
“Should we go in?” Butters asked worriedly. “The Captain is still in there, as well as his daughter and her friends.”
“Look there!” Fester said pointing towards the sky. It was the dragons. As soon as Toothless touched down, Mosscrawler and the rest of Valka’s dragons crowded the boy, checking him over for injuries.
“I-I’m alright guys. Just a little shaken up.” Hiccup said in an attempt to calm the worried dragons.
Andrew leapt from Ratha’s back and began ordering for the ship to depart.
“Begin preparations to disembark! We need to leave, now!” The two Guardian Knights raced forward to question the captain on his erratic behavior.
“Captain Andrew! What’s happened?”
“The target is dead. This mission is considered successful!”
“Perfect! Let’s go down and collect the carcass!” Andrew shook his head with a snarl. “We’re not going back in there. Not with all that we have right now! We’re ill-equipped!”
“But captain,” One of them said. “How can we confirm the Arzuros has been hunted if we don’t—”
“THE REDHELM KILLED IT!!!”
Silence reigned across the whole ship. The Guardian Knights looked at the captain in shock, before one of them placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Well alright.” He said, a bit nervously.
“Look” Andrew began. “I will drop you guys off at the nearest port of your choosing, but I am NOT letting you go back in those hunting grounds. I’m sorry, but it is too dangerous!”
The two Guardian Knights looked at each other before sighing in defeat.
“I’m sorry.” The left one said. “We have to protect the nearby settlements. Surely you understand that. We need to get to Yukumo Village. From there we shall alert the Guild Knights. We appreciate your concern, captain, we really do. But… We have to do this.”
The two Guardian Knights stepped past the captain, walking down the gangplank. Andrew watched after them helplessly, silently pleading that they’d change their mind, but to no avail.
Tearing his eyes away from the treeline as the two knights walked into it, out of his sight, Andrew cried out in rage and walked to the helm of the ship. “Prepare to depart. We’re going.” His voice held it previous volume, but the tone was completely different from before. Andrew sounded defeated, as if he just watched someone die. The Palicos and the teens all silently worked at their current tasks while Andrew took control of the helm, steering away from the Misty Peaks. He never looked back towards the shoreline, not trusting himself to not turn back around.
Back below deck, Hiccup and Dagur were setting their weapons down, and Hiccup was sat looking down at his leg stump, checking to make sure that his previous fight didn’t aggravate the injury.
“Thanks.” Dagur said, startling Hiccup. “What?” The scrawny teen said dumbly.
“For… For saving me back there. I don’t think I would’ve gotten free if you hadn’t interfered.”
Hiccup nodded after a while. “Yeah, well uh… Y-you’re welcome.”
“To be honest I thought you’d just leave me there.” Dagur said, causing Hiccup to tense up. The boy frowned, before shaking his head. “No. No, I wouldn’t do that. I’m better than to leave someone behind.”
Dagur winced at the very obvious jab, referring to when they were little.
“Yeah, I probably deserved that.” Dagur muttered. “I know it probably doesn’t mean anything by now, but I’m…” Dagur sighed in defeat. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for leaving you with the bear, I’m sorry about throwing knives at you, I’m sorry for trying to drown you, there’s probably other stuff I can’t remember so I’m sorry for all of that too.”
Hiccup looked at Dagur with quiet surprise. Of all the things Hiccup expected, this wasn’t one of those things. Dagur was apologizing to him! Was Ragnarok coming!?
Hiccup only found enough energy to nod in acknowledgment to the teen after he stopped talking, before re-attaching his prosthetic leg.
“Uh… Apology accepted.” Hiccup said quietly. “Let’s go see if the others need help.” Dagur nodded and followed the smaller teen back up to the main deck.
Stoick watched as the Oodaka came to a stop at the docks. No sooner had the gangplank come down that Andrew was bolting down the docks, completely passing Stoick without a word. Stoick watched the man in surprise before addressing his son, who was approaching with Dagur and Emika flanking him.
“How was the hunt?” He asked. Hiccup looked rather nervous. “Not good.” He said. Suspiciously, Dagur was looking off at the ocean nervously.
“What happened?” Stoick asked firmly. Dagur could feel the question aimed at him as well, and answered.
“Well, we fought the Arzuros. And then a bigger, stronger Arzuros showed up, and proceeded to rip the first one apart right in front of us. The Captain ordered us to retreat. He seemed pretty scared of it, and I can’t even blame him for it.”
Stoick frowned at that, before looking over his shoulder at the direction Andrew ran in. “Hiccup, I’ll meet you back at the house. Dagur, we’ll be having a feast tonight, if you’re up to it.” Dagur nodded at this.
“Alright. Also, I’d like to sign that treaty as well. Sooner rather than later.”
“Oh? What brought this on?”
To the man’s surprise, Dagur shuddered. “After the things I saw yesterday, it would be in everyone’s best interest to work together from now on. I’d rather have friends to rely on if something ever attacks my tribe.”
The fact that Dagur used the word something rather than someone was not lost on Stoick. Whatever Dagur had seen, it must’ve been bad.
“Very well. We’ll have the peace treaty ready in an hour. In the meantime, I must speak with the captain.” And with that, Stoick marched off, looking high and low for Andrew.
His search lead him all the way to the barracks, where he was stood outside dressed in a different armor set than before. It looked to be made of metal, but unlike the previous armors like Alloy and Chainmail and Ingot, this armor was an ornate black and gold, complete with a flowing red cape. Andrew carried a horned helmet under his arm as he seemed to argue with Alex.
“Andrew, you have no idea what you’d be walking into.” The man tried to reason. Andrew only shook his head in disagreement. “I know exactly what I’m walking into. You’re not gonna sway me on this, now move.” It was at this point that Stoick noticed that Andrew had forgone his Longsword for a Charge Blade. It was another Blackguard, like the one he gifted Hiccup. This one was far sharper though, and well-used, if the various scrapes across the shield were any indication.
“Andrew, I cannot let you go alone.”
“Then come with me.”
“I lack the capabilities to face such a creature! That’s why I never took part in Deviant Hunts.”
“Then get out of the way.”
Stoick was completely gobsmacked at the tone Andrew said this in. Even Alex looked taken aback.
“I agreed to let go of the Deviljho, and I’m still feeling like it was wrong. Now there are two people out there, with a Deviant, and I’m not just gonna stand here, with my THUMB UP MY ASS, WHEN I COULD BE HELPING!!! SO I ASK YOU, CAPTAIN ALEX, EITHER YOU JOIN IN ON THE HUNT, OR YOU GET THE f*ck OUT OF MY WAY!!!”
Alex was stunned into silence, finding only enough strength to step out of the man’s way. Andrew nodded stiffly before marching past, giving Stoick only but a glare as he went, challenging the man to stop him. Stoick watched after him for a time, before turning around to check on Alex.
“Are you alright, Alex?”
Alex chuckled slightly, shaking his head and dusting off his hands.
“Yeah, I’m alright. I guess I just pushed a little too hard.”
“What even were you arguing about?” Stoick asked worriedly. At the sound of a Rathalos’s roar, Stoick turned to see Ignis racing away from Berk with Andrew on his back.
“Andrew’s going back to the Misty Peaks. He’s going to hunt a Deviant monster.”
“What is a Deviant Monster?” Stoick asked in concern. Alex sighed before diving into a basic explanation.
“A Deviant is one of the strongest iterations of a monster there is. Second only to Elder Dragons. They’re stronger, faster, smarter, and have survived many hunts by humans. They are the best of the best, and the Guild sends out only the best to deal with them. I often took on the stance of a researcher when hunting them, letting Andrew do most of the fighting, shameful as that is. I’m a thinker, more than a fighter.”
“Ah, I see.” Stoick said before asking the burning question. “So what Deviant is he hunting?”
Alex smiled sadly at the viking chief. “A Deviant of the Arzuros, sir. The Redhelm Arzuros.”
Andrew stared at the horizon angrily, his eyes full of anger and fear.
“First the Elder Dragon, then a Savage Deviljho, and now a damn Redhelm.”
Andrew shook his head angrily.
“I’m done just letting sh*t slide. That Deviljho is still at large. I won’t let another one get away.”
