Boom! Boom! Boom!
Cackle!
A thunderous dance could be witnessed throughout the doomed skies. The biting gales followed the rumbling waves of the ocean.
A small ship could be seen floating through the battle of heaven and earth. It's captain and only crew worked like an oiled cog. With a feathered foot, the man steered and moved water, his face weathered yet his actions unwavering.
"I swear if there isn't an island when I get out of this storm." The man muttered, "I'm going to drag you all back out of hell and make you sail this ship."
-
On a merrier place, the sun viewed a cliff side village up from above. It watched as the people went along their day as it occasionally disappeared among the clouds.
A woman, walked slowly along the paths of the village. Her stature was tall but slender, her blonde hair was braided as it fell freely under her helmet. The mail that she wore rattled as she looked around seeking anyone who required her assistance.
"Ah, Valkyr!" A short woman called out to her. "Just the woman I was looking for."
"Mrs. Ack," Valkyr greeted, "What can I help you with today?"
"Oh, it's my yak again. He got into the storage again and is eating all our vegetables!" She lamented.
"Oh, your husband really has to stop leaving the doors open." Valkyr chuckled at the situation. "Don't worry, I'll get him out in no time."
"Thank you dear." Mrs. Ack happily clapped.
Valkyr walked into the storage house and saw the body of the giant yak. It happily chewed into the barrel of cabbages unaware of the person behind it.
Valkyr casually walked up to the yak, and as if per routine dragged the giant beast out of the doors. The yak mooed in protest as it tried to fight the warrior.
"Don't come back again." She kicked the yak on the behind leaving it staggering to Mrs. Ack.
"Thank you! I'll send some milk over to your house later." Mrs. Ack smiled.
"No problem, it's my duty." Valkyr said waving goodbye to her.
As the head of the Berk guard, it was her responsibility to help and protect the people in the village, she was always happy to help those in need.
Today's final stop before her break was the docks, wanting to be free from patrol she walked quickly. Around this time, Bucket and Mulch should be back from their fishing trip. They're good fishermen so they'll probably need some help unloading fish.
As she made her way to the ramps she say that the duo were indeed finished fishing for the day. However, it seemed that they brought along another ship. She stood waiting for the two ships to dock, both ships were practically filled with ships and the duo happily talked to the stranger.
"Valkyr!" Bucket was the first to take notice of her. "Haha, we've got a good catch today! Thank Thor your here!"
"I can see that." She crossed her arms looking at the stranger. "Who might be the fellow you brought along."
"Don't worry too much," Mulch had finished tying the ship to the post. "He used his last special bait to help us get fish. We can give you a lot more fish today."
"Hello," The man greeted her, "My name's Mal, I believe this might be the place that I was looking for."
Valkyr furrowed her brows after hearing the man's words.
-
I looked towards the female Viking that was looking at me with scrutiny. Her blue eyes looked at me deeply through the slits of her helmet. I couldn't blame her for being too cautious, I don't think any sane soul would sail to this place without any good reason.
"These gentlemen have informed me that this place was called Berk? Occupied by the Hooligan tribe correct?" I asked.
"Why do you want to know?" She straightened her posture to look more imposing. If it was anyone else it would've worked, after all she's quite taller than I am.
Not wanting to argue I took out a scroll from my small bag. "This is a decree issued by my family. It involves an agreement with them and the first chief of the Hooligan tribe. I am here to carry out the decree. I'm sure if you bring it to your chief he could verify it."
She took the scroll and opened it, she muttered as she read it before inspecting my figure again. Her eyes quickly looked me up and down, I could see a spark of amusement in them. "They sent you?" She finally said, "How come they didn't send anyone else?"
"Well, it's not that they didn't want to send anyone else. It's just I'm the only one left to carry it out." I explained.
Realizing the meaning of my words she was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"It's okay," I dismissed, "They've been gone for a long time anyway. I've got no use on brooding over it. So is it okay to see the chief?"
"Hmm," She nodded, "Follow me." Turning to the two fishermen, Bucket and Mulch, she apologized to them. "Sorry you two, I can't help you unload today."
"Oh, don't worry about it." Mulch said.
"You have more important things to settle, plus Mal helped us with the wish. Naturally we won't hold him up just because of a few fish." Bucket added, "And you my friend, we'll have some fish for you when you come back!" He laughed.
"Thank you, it was great to know the two of you." I shook their hands. I followed the warrior as she led me into the village. "These houses look quite new." I noticed the mint condition of the homes.
"Yeah, it's because of the pests. We can't really do much every time they come over." She explained.
"Pests?"
"Dragons," She said matter-off-factly.
"Well," I paused in surprise, "We don't really get that kind of problem that often."
"Right," She took another glance at me, "You're from the south correct? Judging from your skin you've come quite far to get to Berk."
"It was a long journey." I sighed, "It's been roughly a year since I had departed my hometown."
"You're tougher than you look," She complimented. "I'm surprise you haven't been carried off by one while sailing here."
"I've not seen a single dragon on the oceans. Maybe I just got lucky." I assumed.
Baduuuum!
Suddenly the sounds of a horn cut through the air. Clamoring could be heard into the streets as people exited their homes in full armor and with weapons on hand.
"Speak of the devils," She exclaimed, "Find a place to hide, the beasts are raiding us."
Before I could say anything I was left behind as she sprinted away to join in with the others. Not knowing what to do, I found a small bench to sit on and waited for them to finish. Looking up I saw a flock of flying beasts descend upon the village. They came in different shapes and colors, compared to the pests I had to deal with back home, these creatures seemed quite homely. Balls and beams of flames could be seen fly everywhere, causing most of the homes to catch fire.
Squawk! Squawk!
I heard a strange call just behind one of the buildings. A giant blue head popped out the sides of the buildings. A dragon with a beak and spikes coming out of it's body was hoping around sniffing the houses. Turning around to my direction it looked at me curiously. Sensing that it had no intentions of attacking me I gave it a wave. Seeing my gesture the beast waddled to me sniffing my hand.
"Well, this is interesting." I said, I scratched the nose of it and it happily received it.
"Rahh!" I suddenly heard a yell, the dragon reacted quickly erecting the spikes on it's tail blocking an axe that was thrown towards it. The beast took a step back and I saw the female warrior charging towards our direction. "Are you okay!" She called out.
"I'm all good." I waved at her. Seeing that I wasn't injured she charged towards the dragon again. The two engaged in battle, she dodged multiple tail spikes that was launched from the dragon's tail. Seeing that it was about to be beating, the dragon threw another set of spikes before flying away quickly.
"Damn," She cursed. "I let one get away again."
The two of us watched as the rest of the dragons flew away, a few had some sheep on their talons but the majority made it out with nothing.
"Well that was unexpected," I said.
"Why didn't you hide?" She asked, "If I hadn't come earlier who knows where it might've carried you off."
"Believe me, I had it under control." I shrugged. "I will say, you're quite good at fighting."
"You have to do this much to live here." She picked up her axe. "You'll definitely need some training if you want to fulfill that decree, don't worry I'll train you personally."
"I'll look forward to it," I accepted. "Though I think we should start with proper introductions first before that. I didn't quite catch your name." I mentioned.
"Oh, sorry where are my manners." She smacked her helmet in embarrassment. "I'm Valkyr of house Hofferson."
"Mal," I reintroduced, "Nice to meet you Valkyr."
"Likewise," She nodded, "Now, where were we? Right, the chief is at the square right now."