Roughly a month later, things started pacing up. It was roughly a week away from the dragon raid. It was also the late stage of their planning, meaning that everyone was practicing their skills for combat.
It would be unfortunate for them to fail due to lack of practice. They had been planning them together for quite some time. Everyone wanted to ensure their success in the war.
For Charcoal, however, his month was incredibly frustrating.
"Dad, I'm serious!" The young Night Fury exclaimed. Charcoal was at the depths of Furious' chamber.
Specifically, the large indoor mushroom garden area. The place looked like a replica of Hidden World's mushroom forest. There were rocky pillars around the cavern, which had many different glowing mushrooms.
Furious was there in his smaller form. The greater alpha dragon was tending the garden; carefully slashing away stray mushrooms with his claws. There was a large yellow glowing mushroom behind his left ear. He looked rather pleased with himself. "Hrr..."
Charcoal was internally seething. "Could you at least listen to me?"
"You need to calm down, Charcoal." Furious lectured as he shaved a non-glowing mushroom from the pillar. "Dragons aren't going to listen."
"Well, they're not going to listen coming from my mouth." The young dragon retorted.
"You've been roaring about it for the past weeks." The greater alpha dragon pointed out, glancing at him. "If you came back with actual evidence, they might believe you."
Ever since they found that ship, Charcoal had been ringing the alarm about the latest human weapons. He had been describing metal tube firing iron balls called cannon, propelled by explosive substance called gunpowder.
The young dragon had also contacted Merciless' ambassador about it, but given their incredulous look, they probably did not believe him. It was frustrating that none of them believed him, considering they were extensively used by Europeans for the past few hundred years!
It did not help that the weapons were all destroyed in the explosion. What remained were gunpowder, which some dragons managed to carry off before everything burned to the ground. The iron balls were also recovered, but dragons simply assumed that they were meant for oversized bolas.
The gunpowder alone was not enough as evidence. They only saw them as an annoyance. The papers were all written in French, meaning that only Charcoal could read them. It was dismissed as gibberish when he tried to use them as evidence.
Only his dragons knew because they were there when it happened. They were lucky that nobody died when the ship exploded.
However, without the actual weapons, nobody believed him. That sacrifice was done for nothing.
"You don't believe me." Charcoal was exasperated. "I told you everything five times over, and you still don't believe me."
"Just because you said them five times doesn't mean I'll believe you, Charcoal." Furious responded as he searched for a peculiar mushroom. "If you want me to believe you, bring us this... cannon contraption."
"I would, but accident happened, and the ship was destroyed." The younger dragon slumped his wings. "We barely salvaged what we could find."
"Then find another ship with cannons." The greater alpha dragon suggested. "It's your problem to solve."
Who knew Furious liked gardening. Charcoal never thought a wartime greater alpha having a human hobby. It even came with his own personality; Furious was laidback and relaxed while gardening. While it was refreshing compared to his usual stern, no-nonsense attitude, it made things frustrating for Charcoal.
Mainly because Furious remained stubborn.
"There's no smuggler ship carrying cannons into the region anymore." Charcoal admitted. It was something that his dragons had been looking for as well. Most humans needed to cross Barbaric Archipelago if they wanted to reach Greater Archipelago. He knew they did not miss any since none of those weapons were sighted anywhere.
"Then that's problem solved." Furious commented as he plucked a large yellow glowing mushroom from the pillar. "No need to stress over something that hasn't happened yet."
"It is about to happen!" The young dragon whined.
The greater alpha dragon turned around. "About." He emphasized. "To happen. We will deal with them when they come."
"But dad-"
"Hush." Furious shushed the younger dragon. "Come closer."
Charcoal rolled his eyes, before approaching the greater alpha dragon. Furious hummed as he inspected the dragon before him.
The younger dragon looked tired, which was expected, considering what he had been doing for the past month. Furious moved to slip the yellow giant glowing mushroom right behind his son's ears.
"... there." The greater alpha dragon was happy. "You look just like me when I was young!"
The young dragon simply stared at Furious. It was eerie to see him so different while at the garden. "Dad-"
"I hear you. You don't need to say them again." Furious interrupted as he began walking to another section of the mushroom garden. "Follow me. I want to show you something."
The two Night Furies walked down the mushroom forest. The old dragon squeezed through a cave path. Charcoal ducked his head as he followed. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see." Furious hummed, before exiting the path. "Here we are."
Charcoal exited from the end of the tunnel. Looking around, he noticed that the room was dimly lit with dark blue crystals at the ceiling. It was not a very large room. At the end of it, however, he widened his eyes as he saw the wall.
There was a mural carved on the cavern wall. The drawing depicted two adult Night Furies sitting side by side, and a small one at the middle. One of the adult dragons was visually female, having a mushroom drawn around her ears. Charcoal recognised the dragons - it was him and his family.
"I didn't know you have drawing of us." Charcoal commented as he inspected the mural. "When was this here?"
"It was here after your mother died. After you were gone." Furious admitted. He moved to stand next to the mural. "I don't want to forget those that made my life worth living. So, I carved them with my claws to remind myself."
The young dragon inspected the mural. They certainly looked younger - Charcoal barely made it out of hatchling age when he moved to serve Merciless.
His memories of his mother were rather vague, mainly due to passage of time. It was both surprising and comforting to be reminded of what she looked like before.
That did push his thoughts away, as he remembered what his life was like before her death. Charcoal remembered the time when Furious was much softer and relaxed. His mother was the kindest dragon they ever knew. She always knew how to comfort and brighten their day.
There was that thought of what if - had his mother survived, would the Dragon Rebellion have gone differently?
Perhaps Furious would retire later and passed the title to someone else, instead of holding them for so long. They might even migrate to Hidden World and lived happily ever after.
Charcoal might have met Toothless much earlier if that was the case.
The young dragon snapped out of his thought when Furious spoke. "She always liked the yellow mushroom." He whispered, staring at the mural. "She said it reminded her of our home back in Hidden World. Before I became greater alpha, before we became mates together, she helped me overcame a lot of things."
Charcoal never really learned about the past of his parents. "Is that how you met her?"
"We met back in Hidden World, exactly a century ago from this day." Furious replied as he glanced. "It's also our mating anniversary."
That was when Charcoal realised what he had been disturbing before. "... I'm sorry." He lowered his head. "I didn't realise-"
"No. I never told you." The greater alpha dragon interrupted. There was a short silence. "... I had too much in mind before you left."
Charcoal did not know what to say. However, he was rather curious. "How did you meet my mother?"
Furious softened his expression. He looked back at the mural. "It was years ago when I met her. At the time, I had just migrated to Hidden World after some... incidents involving humans." He began the tale. "I found a potential nest that I thought was empty. When I entered, I saw her struggling to shed her old scales."
The young dragon raised his brows. "You entered her nest while she was in discomfort?"
"I had just entered the Hidden World and wanted to move there. I didn't know the rules of how the place worked at the time." Furious admitted as he stared at him. "I just moved in to get away from the surface world. It was the first nest I found in weeks."
"Okay. What happened next?"
"She tried to attack me." The greater alpha dragon continued his tale. "But she failed because she was in too much discomfort. I couldn't really leave her, considering I did retaliate. I felt guilty. So, I went to help her shed her scales..."
"Krr..."
"Hold still."
A younger Furious was busy clawing shedding scales from a green-eyed female Night Fury. It was the last section that needed to be cleared up. Soft blue lights from crystals overhead illuminated the cave nest, which in turn allowed him to see. However, considering how much she struggled, it was getting difficult.
The male dragon finally pulled the last shedding scale. "There! Done!"
"Kraa!" Furious was suddenly pinned down by the female Night Fury. He was on his back with her claws on his neck. "What the fuck are you doing?!" She roared. "Do you have a death wish?"
The male dragon winced at that. "Sorry." He apologised. "I thought you need help!"
"Just because I was busy doesn't mean I need help!" The female Night Fury snarled. "Do you have wee bit of common sense? Did you come from the surface?"
"... yes?" Furious weakly answered.
That caught her off guard. "Oh." The dragoness realised, before renewing her anger. "Had I been other dragons, you'll be gutted for lunch. Why did you enter my nest?"
"... I was looking for one?" The male dragon winced at that. "I thought this nest is unoccupied. There's no scent outside."
"Is that how surface dragon does it? Pissing off at their front home?" The female Night Fury was incredulous. She realised the dragon under her was rather new and na ve. "We don't stink up our nest here. That's how dragons know who and what you are. You don't want dragons to know that!"
"What's the problem with that?"
The female Night Fury finally let go of him. "That's how you get killed by rival dragons." She snapped back. "Ever been invaded by a flock of Deathgrippers? They murdered a Light Fury family for lunch just yesterday not far from here. I had wee bit of luck avoiding them."
Furious slowly got up from the ground. "I'm sorry for entering your nest." He profusely apologised. "I- I'll be going then."
"You won't find any empty nest for the next 500 kilometres. They've all been filled by huge migration flock last month. Trust me, I checked." The female Night Fury spoke up, making him pause. "You can't sleep in the open, either. Rival dragons."
The male dragon winced at that. It was a hard lesson he learned when he arrived at Hidden World. He was lucky he slept with one eye open. It meant that his sleeping schedule was rather complicated to manage. At the same time, it did save him from becoming Speed Stinger breakfast.
The Hidden World was far more dangerous than he thought.
Furious exhaled his breath. He turned around to face the female Night Fury. "What am I supposed to do?"
"You can always go back to the surface."
"I can't." The male dragon shook his head. He could not return there.
The dragoness let out a groan. "Don't tell me you're a rogue..."
"No, I'm not a rogue." Furious defended himself. "I just... don't want to go back."
"Hrr..." The female Night Fury pondered for some time. She leaned closer to check on his appearance. Her green eyes looked up and down for any sign of deception. "Mind telling me why?"
"It's... personal reasons." The male dragon was hesitant. Seeing her suspicion, he decided to clarify. "Family problems."
That made her nod in understanding. "Fair enough." The dragoness decided. "Tell you what? Unless you want to travel 500 kilometres further from here, you can live here as my nestmate."
"W- What?" Furious spluttered at that. He was suspicious of that offer. "What do you want in return?"
The female Night Fury sat on her hindlegs. "You don't look like a coward. I need wee help defending the nest." She admitted. "And I need someone to tell me tales from the surface."
"Tales from the surface?"
"Aye! Tales from the surface!" The dragoness exclaimed. She was excited at the prospect. "I want to know more about the green plants and blue sky."
That confused Furious. "It's... they are normal things at the surface."
"Mushrooms and crystals are normal things here." The female Night Fury retorted. "And I'm not the one who pissed on their nest entrance. You tell me how things work up there, and I'll tell you how to live down here."
It sounded like a particularly bizarre exchange. Furious thought the female dragon must be fascinated by surface dwellers. Considering he had been in constant danger since entering the Hidden World, he did not have much choice. "Okay. I'll be your nestmate."
"Good! Pick a corner to sleep. Mine is over there." The dragoness was happy. She had a surface dragon as her nestmate. "By the way, what's your name?"
The male dragon relaxed his wings. "Furious." He answered. "My name is Furious."
"Nice to meet you, Furious." The female dragon greeted back. "My name is Delia. Just Delia."
"... we helped each other since then. We fish together; tend the nest together - she was like a storm; fierce, kind and a bit impulsive." Furious continued telling the tale. He was rather fond of those memories. "We fell in love and began our courtship to know more about ourselves. It was then she helped me overcame my fear of the surface."
Charcoal almost choked at that. "You were afraid of the surface?"
"What happened before left painful scars that doesn't fully heal. That was why I migrated." The greater alpha dragon whispered as he stared back at the mural. "... but she liked the surface, despite all the dangers. She liked the blue sky, the ocean, the trees and the fishes. She helped me with my trauma."
There was a long pause. Charcoal did not know what to think. It was unexpected for him to listen his father talking about his mother. However, it helped him understand more about them. Charcoal refrained himself from speaking; he did not want to ruin the moment his father had.
Furious exhaled his breath. "... we moved to the surface because she wanted our hatchling to experience them. She wanted them used to everything with the surface world." He sounded bitter. "I wanted my family to be safe. I slew a Red Death and became the greater alpha of this region. I thought I could protect them better if I was in position of power."
The father dragon lowered his head. There was shame in his expression. "... I was wrong." He admitted. "So wrong."
Charcoal stayed silent as his father grieved. The young dragon did not want to see his father grieving like that; it made him uncomfortable seeing his father so vulnerable. Charcoal moved to comfort his father - he sat under him and leaned back, pressing his head under his chin.
"Hrr..." Furious let out a purr, before resting his head. He wrapped his forelegs around him. "... thank you, Charcoal."
The young dragon was silent. He allowed himself to support his father. Furious was hugging him from behind, as if afraid of losing him the moment he let go. The mushroom on his ear fell, dropping right in front of the mural. It was ignored as the two dragons comforted each other. Furious needed a hug for a very long time.
Furious let go after some time. Charcoal moved away and turned to face his father. The older dragon looked conflicted, as if realising something terribly important. The younger dragon wondered what he remembered. He assumed they had spent too long at the private garden.
"I..." The greater alpha dragon hesitated. "I have to go."
Furious did not wait for Charcoal to respond. He simply dashed and crawled through the exit tunnel.
Charcoal exhaled his breath. There were moments when he imagined the end of the war. Furious could finally relax - considering what happened, he would most likely retire and migrate to Hidden World once more. Charcoal would be there eventually, considering Toothless had planned to return there at some point.
'If only humans could restrain themselves.' Charcoal thought as he thought about his duties. He moved to wear the glowing mushroom once more. 'The world could be much safer and peaceful.'
"Hrr..."
Meanwhile, Toothless was relaxing in her nest. The dragoness had been practicing her flight with the air group since morning, which left her exhausted for the day. Despite that, she felt satisfied. It was not often that she could practice with dragons that could keep up with her. It allowed her to improve her own flight.
'I'm getting stronger and faster than before.' Toothless thought as she inspected her wings. 'No Light Fury can catch me now... after I return to Hidden World, that is.'
It surprised her just how far she managed to improve just under two months. The dragoness never imagined to be able to break sound barrier on even altitude - such thing was usually done during a dive. That spoke volume to the importance of training.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice. "Toothless, I'm home."
The dragoness sat up on her hindlegs. Charcoal entered moments later, looking rather exhausted. There was a yellow mushroom around his ear. "Hey..." She trailed off. "Were you from Hidden World just now?"
The male dragon blinked at that, before realising the mushroom. "Oh, this?" He pushed the mushroom off from his ear, dropping them to the ground. "My father has a private mushroom garden. It's meant to replicate the mushroom forest in Hidden World."
Toothless nodded in understanding. "Okay..." She paused, mentally sensing something through her telepathy. "That's not all, is it?"
"My father..." Charcoal was not sure how to tell the tale. "... I just learned more about him. About my late mother."
The dragoness was curious. Charcoal rarely talked about his family. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"There's not really anything to talk about. It's not something that can be described with words." The male dragon answered the question. "I now know that my mother was born and raised in Hidden World."
Toothless found that was surprising. "What made her move to the surface?"
"She wanted to raise me as a surface dragon." Charcoal answered. He sounded somewhat bitter. "She liked the surface - mainly the nature. She wanted me to get used to it."
The dragoness softened her expression. "... well... there's nothing like the surface back in Hidden World." She admitted, relating to that interest. "It felt so liberating to be able to fly as fast and high as you can. Back in my home, there's not enough space."
Charcoal was interested. "Is Hidden World really that small?"
"Oh, no. There's nothing small about Hidden World. Even the mushrooms, sometimes." Toothless humorously answered. She was relaxed when speaking about her place of birth. "There's just not enough room to fly really, really fast. At the surface, you can keep flying fast and high, and you'll go around the world. In Hidden World, you have to turn, or you'll hit a wall."
Charcoal wondered how it looked like. He imagined a massive cavern that dragons could fly around in. "That's..." He hesitated. "How do you deal with that?"
"I wasn't born and raised at the surface. I'm used to it." Toothless pointed out as she went to grab the yellow giant glowing mushroom. "My nest at Hidden World is close to Caldera. Whenever I felt like I missed the surface, I just go out and fly outside close around Caldera. It's much safer that way."
The male dragon nodded in understanding. "It is technically in your father's territory."
"... you could say that." Toothless hesitantly responded, before putting on the yellow giant glowing mushroom behind her ear. After that, she straightened herself. "What do you think? How do I look?"
There was a pause. Charcoal blinked as he stared at her. The glowing mushroom made her ten times more beautiful than ever. It was hard not to admit that. "... Beautiful."
The dragoness seemed to blush. "Thank you."
They stared at each other for some time. Acidic green eyes met forest green ones. It reminded them why they were attracted to each other. After some time, Charcoal approached the dragoness, before pulling her into a hug. He wrapped his wings around her, before resting his head on her neck.
"Hrr..." Toothless purred as she leaned onto him. It felt nice to be comforted like that. However, she remembered something. "... I think it's time for your mana lesson."
Charcoal whined at the interrupted. "Can we do it later?"
"No. We're close to the schedule." The dragoness pushed him away. She sat on the ground. "I noticed you're having trouble with understanding Mana Mutation."
The male dragon pondered his response. "You told me that it could happen to both Mana and Mana Circuit." Charcoal explained the problem. "Since our circuits are connected to every aspect of our body, does that mean our body mutates too?"
"Yes." Toothless confirmed.
That confused Charcoal. "So, it causes cancer."
"Ah, well, no. That's not how it works." Toothless understood the confusion. "When mutation happens, they're usually small and adaptive. It's like your Psychic-Force spells; it's easier for you to use them because your circuits mutated; it adapts."
"So, dragons wouldn't be able to use Psychic-Force spells, even if they know." The male dragon was deep in thought. "Unless they went through what I did."
"Yes. That's what your father did when he made you meditate." The dragoness was happy that Charcoal understood. "Mana Circuits are connected to your limbs and organs, including your brain. Meditation hints mental use: the longer you focus, the better. When you did your first Psionic Claw, the circuits in your paw mutate and adapted."
Charcoal slowly nodded. He understood the premise. "So, when I did it the first time, my circuit just... mutates."
"Yes. Minor mutation." Toothless smiled as she nodded. "The more you use them, the more circuit mutates. It spreads the more you use them."
"But there are mutations that's a lot faster." The male dragon pointed out. "I remember you telling me that."
"Those are major mutation. It's rare to happen, but when it happens, they are usually harmful." The dragoness warned. "Medical professionals call them Pervasive Mutation Disorder. It's triggered by certain kinds of trauma. When it happens to one circuit, they usually spread fast."
Charcoal was concerned. "How do they treat them?"
"Treatment usually involves isolating affected circuits to prevent their spread, and then burn them with raw mana." Toothless gave her answer. She shuddered at that thought. "Very painful. You won't be able to channel Mana through them anymore, but you'll live for another day."
"Mana Circuit don't regenerate?"
"They don't. Once they were burned, they're usually lost forever." Toothless confirmed. She was deep in thought. "You can try to reverse the mutation, but it risks killing the patient through Mana Exhaustion. It's usually considered last resort."
The male dragon was curious. "What happens if all the circuits were affected?"
The dragoness was about to answer when Charcoal felt summon from Furious. "Hold on." The male dragon stood from the ground. "Furious summon."
"Harr..." Toothless was annoyed at the interruption. "Are you going to disappear for several days again?"
"Yes. Furious needs me to deliver something." The male dragon grunted his voice. "As if my schedule isn't full enough already, I am also his messenger dragon."
"Well, stay safe." The dragoness expressed her concern. "Don't push yourself too much."
"Thanks. I won't."
The village of Berk was gearing for war.
Considering everyone was busy making weapons of war, that was obvious for Hiccup. Over a month and a half since the visit from Lava-Louts, the young boy had been sketching and designing all sorts of weapons. His latest project had been rather ambitious - modernising Roman-era weapons to help soldiers operate them.
It was why Hiccup had been holed at the forge for quite some time. Gobber had been busy making siege weapons - mainly catapults, since the young boy was not strong enough to carry his weights.
As such, he had time to design and make his projects a reality. It would also be something he use as well.
"Hiccup?"
The young boy was at the garage section of the forge. It was made of stone, and there were plenty of tools around the place.
There was a massive table at the centre, which had many different tools and components. Hiccup had been busy assembling something there when someone called his name.
Looking up from his work, Hiccup greeted back. "Hey, Gobber."
The burly man moved to open a large wooden double door, which was at the far end of the room. "Catapults are done." He spoke up as he opened the door, revealing the bright street outside. Everyone was busy moving things. "Need to clean up the forge. What are ye working on?"
"A bow." Hiccup answered as he clicked something in place. The young boy had just finished its assembly. "... what do you think?"
Gobber moved to inspect the weapon at the table. It looked like a full-size bow, but something was wildly different.
The first thing to note was its material; the bow was made of metal instead of wood. The limb was large and hollow, with springs and metal wheels inside, separating the limbs into four parts, including the riser. The bowstring was connected to components inside the limb.
"Uh..." The blacksmith was unsure. It looked rather complex. "How does this work?"
"The bowstrings are longer than it looks. It's connected to the wheels inside." Hiccup explained as he manipulated the string. "It makes the pull much lighter with no change to arrow speed."
Gobber stroked his beard. "So, like a pulley."
"Yes." Hiccup nodded.
Looking at the blueprint on the table, the blacksmith thought that was a good concept. "What about the arrows?" Gobber questioned, looking around the table. "Did ye made some?"
The young boy grabbed something right next to him. It was a box of arrows. He put them onto the table. "Here."
Inspecting the arrows, Gobber noted that they were different as well. They looked almost Roman in design; the shaft was rather thick, with white feather fletching at the rear.
The arrowhead looked expensive; they were solid metal broadheads, which was difficult to cast. The blacksmith wondered how he made them so quickly, considering there were fifty arrows in the box.
"... Let's give 'em a swing, then." Gobber decided as he stared at the boy. "Can you carry them?"
"Yes." Hiccup grabbed the bow at its grip. He pushed something from within and the metal bow collapsed into shorter size. "I'll get the targets."
"Wait." The blacksmith stopped him. "Do that again."
The young boy flicked the collapsed bow, and it sprung back to full size. There was a click when he did that. "It can collapse for carrying." Hiccup explained its mechanic, before folding the metal bow. "Full size bow is strong, but carrying is hard. Bracing after carrying is too long. A collapsible bow fixed this."
Gobber thought there was potential in that. "Go on, lad. Grab the paint." He responded as he hoisted the wooden box full of arrows. "I'll take these to the range."
"Okay!"
Few hours later, Hiccup and Gobber were at an open field near the forest. They had just finished setting up targets for practice, which were simply painted wooden logs spread across the field. Somewhat further from that were large, scattered rocks.
There was a half wooden log table at the edge of the field. The young boy was busy filling his belt quiver with arrows there.
There was also a catapult close to the table. It was put there for those that wished to practice crewing them. Gobber was inspecting them for damage, since Vikings had been using them to train for the upcoming war. There was none so far, thankfully.
After filling his quiver, Hiccup adjusted it in his belt. "Done." He declared, before grabbing the collapsed metal bow at the table. He flicked the bow and it sprung up to its full size. "I'm ready."
Before they could say anything, the two heard someone arriving from the forest. It was Stoick the Vast, along with some other Vikings. The chief approached the blacksmith. "Gobber, we need your help."
"That can wait." Gobber dismissed him, before focusing on Hiccup. "Go on, lad. Shoot the targets."
Hiccup grabbed an arrow and prepared himself. Some Vikings raised their brows when they saw the bow; it was metallic, and it was larger than Hiccup. The young boy aimed his bow at the nearest wooden log, pulled the bowstring, and let go.
THUNK!
The arrow hit the tree log, but they could not see the arrow. Hiccup, Gobber and other Vikings went to check, only to find that the arrow had pierced through the target. The young boy searched the arrow, before finding it embedded deep on the ground.
"Oh." Hiccup pulled the arrow, which looked surprisingly intact. "The tension is too strong."
Stoick was getting impatient. "Gobber-"
"Wait." One of the Viking stopped them. It was a rather built Viking male with short beard and long brown hair. They recognised him as Kevlar, one of the village hunters. "Hiccup, how did you pull that bow?"
"What?"
"The bowstring." Kevlar clarified himself. "Your arrow went through the target. How strong did you pull them?"
"Not very. It's easy to pull."
"Can I check your bow?" The hunter requested.
"Yes." Hiccup nodded, before showing his bow. His two hands held onto the limbs. "Here."
Kevlar hummed as he inspected the strange metal bow. It was sophisticated than the usual bow he used to operate. He pulled the bow a bit to check the tension, only to raise his brows further when he felt large difference in pull and release force. "There's much more force when you release them."
"Yeah." The young boy eagerly nodded. "I made it."
That stunned the Viking. "You made this?"
"I did."
Stoick decided to intervene. "Kevlar? What's wrong?"
The hunter did not answer. He moved to grab and inspect the arrow. It looked like a standard Roman design, intended to penetrate armour. Considering that it had gone through a tree log fully intact, the quality spoke for itself.
"Stoick." Kevlar finally responded. "I didn't know your kid's a bowyer."
"He's not." The chief answered, confused. "We don't have a bowyer."
Hiccup was curious. "Bowyer?"
"People that know how to make bows." Stoick answered, before focusing back onto the hunter. "He's never trained to make bows and arrows."
Kevlar showed him the arrow. "But he made this."
The chief moved to inspect the arrow. There was some silence around the clearing. Stoick widened his eyes a bit. Hiccup felt anxious at their scrutiny; it made him felt like he did something wrong. His father seemed to recognise something.
"It's Roman design." Stoick realised.
"Roman design shatters on anything thicker than a metal chest plate." The hunter responded. "This thing went through an ironwood log and came out unscathed."
That surprised the Vikings. Ironwood tree was known for its toughness. They were mainly used for shipbuilding. It was also used for target practice, mostly because they did not want to replace them every time someone practiced with it, and there were abundant of trees to go around.
To have them easily penetrated was quite an achievement.
"Hiccup." Stoick turned his attention. "Did anyone taught you how to make your bow and arrows?"
"I taught myself to make them." Hiccup answered the question. He was confused by that line of questioning. "I read books about Roman weapons. I want to make something new from that. I know how to use bow, so I make a bow."
"The kid's a natural, Stoick." Kevlar commented, glancing at the chief. "He learned all that without someone teaching him."
Stoick turned his attention to the hunter. "I am not bringing Hiccup."
"That's not what I meant. I'm suggesting you get him a bowyer and an arrowsmith to formally train him." Kevlar clarified his intention. "The boy knows what he's doing. It would be a waste not to bring someone in."
"Hmm..." The chief stroked his beard. That made sense. Hiccup had plenty of free time, even after spending most of them by reading. He was too young for chief training, meaning that he was not really doing anything. It would not hurt to give him things to do, mostly to keep him occupied.
The next problem would be finding a willing bowyer and arrowsmith. The Hooligans imports their bows and arrows, mostly because not many Vikings use them. Their allies had them, but they all had apprentices. That left bringing foreigners to the island.
"Stoick?" Gobber started, getting their attention. "What ye mean by bringing Hiccup?"
"We're heading to sail to Lava-Lout Island soon. We heard that they have new weapons imported from the north." Stoick explained the situation. "We need you to come because we are not going to dock. We will watch them from afar using spyglass."
"Wouldn't that be dangerous?"
"That's why we'll arrive at their festival." The chief explained the plan. "We'll be checking them as guests."
"Hmm..." Gobber stroked his beard. That sounded risky, especially if they discovered them. "Alright."
Stoick nodded, before turning to face Hiccup. "We'll be bringing you a teacher on our way back." He finally decided. "Don't go out from the island."
"Okay, dad."
The Vikings finally departed, leaving Hiccup alone there. The chief pondered the solution on how to bring a willing bowyer and arrowsmith to teach Hiccup their craft, preferably without getting him off the island. He did not trust them to run off and kidnap him.
He could not risk the Lava-Louts getting his hands on him.
"Stoick." Gobber spoke, getting his attention. "Didn't Bog-Burglar, Berserker and Meathead bowyers have apprentices already?"
"I know." Stoick mumbled. "Searching for one will take a while."
Kevlar decided to speak. "I know one that made mine. The same one that made my teacher's bow." He gave his suggestion. "I do have to warn that he had some... quirks you need to deal with."
"Can he be trusted?"
"Err... He knows your father." The hunter admitted, surprising them. "I think you've met him before. He's currently in the mainland."
The chief frowned as he tried to remember. There were not that many people who really knew his father, especially those who moved to the mainland. He did not know any bowyer or arrowsmith that knew his father.
Unless it was part of the family.
"Oh..." Stoick felt dread in his stomach. "The Black Scale."
"Yes." The hunter nodded.
Other Vikings were confused. "The Black Scale?" Gobber questioned. "Who's that?"
"Distant great uncle." The chief answered. He did not look pleased. "Dragon hunter in self-exile. He took off against my family's wishes to hunt an unknown dragon."
"Blood traitor?" Another Viking suggested.
"No. Just a determined Viking." Stoick grunted his voice. "He was the village blacksmith before. We were too young to know him before he left. He promised to return after hunting this dragon."
"That's almost ten decades, was it?" Gobber wondered. "Something must've happened then."
"Maybe." The chief shrugged. He focused down on the forest path. "After we finished our expedition, we need to travel to mainland. Do you know how to find him, Kevlar?"
"Aye."
"Good. It shouldn't take long then."
It was roughly a week until the dragon raid. Everyone was rushing to integrate their plans together. As expected, the planning room at Dragon Island was chaotic, since dragons were roaring at each other.
"Your group are meant to help us from the air!" A Deadly Nadder roared at the opposing Monstrous Nightmare. "You need to fly closer to the ground!"
"We can't help because there is ballista everywhere!" The Monstrous Nightmare roared back. "Do you want us to get shot? We refuse to fly lower."
Around the corner, some dragons were glaring at each other. Other groups, such as the boulder and scouting group, stood between them to prevent actual physical conflict. Mengu, the old titan wing Changewing, along with Henry the young Woolly Howl, were trying to negotiate the plans between them. However, they would not listen without Charcoal being present.
"Please, calm down! There's no need to roar." Henry exclaimed, glancing at the two offending groups. "We still have a week to think about the raid opening."
"We don't want to get shot at the start of the raid." Ronald retorted. He looked rather agitated. "If they wiped our group, there won't be anyone watching outside while they went digging into their cave network!"
"We can't enter the village because they would be pelting arrows at us." Agatha the Deadly Nadder, one of the strike group leaders, retaliated. She was annoyed at the situation. "You need to do something about it first."
"That shouldn't be a problem because we'll be burning down the forest." Mengu the titan wing Changewing grunted his voice. "It'll blind them enough for Snow Wraiths to pick them off."
That confused them. Henry decided to ask. "Isn't that for later to cover their escape?"
"I never agreed to it anyway, because we're meant to kill everyone inside." Mengu explained his reasoning. "Burning down the forest should create enough smoke for strike groups to enter. They'll be facing swords and axes instead of arrows."
Harald the Dramillion was outraged. "But that'll leave most of us blinded! We only have few Snow Wraiths with us!"
"They can use the tunnels." Ronald the younger Dramillion suggested.
"They are meant for our surprise escape, not entrance into their compound!" Hartman the Monstrous Nightmare - one of the strike group leaders - denied that idea. "The humans will close them immediately when they realised why it was there, or worse."
"KRAAA!"
Everyone looked up to see Charcoal flying down, along with Toothless. He landed right in the middle between everyone, while the dragoness landed elsewhere. "Alright, everyone!" The Night Fury general roared. "I'm here. Now what is this all about?!"
Henry the Woolly Howl was the first one to answer. "General, we can't agree on how to start the raid."
Charcoal moved to approach the island diorama. "Okay, what are the problems?"
The group leaders moved closer. Henry was the one that answered. "We discovered that there was going to be a festival at the time of the raid." He explained. "There's a significant increase in security because of this. There's also a lot more ships that needs to be destroyed. We concluded that the start of the raid is the most important, so we want to change the plan."
"What are the ideas that everyone come up with?"
"The strike group originally suggested that the air group need to take out humans crewing the ballistae, since they are the biggest threat. But to do that, the air group needs to fly at low altitude, making them targets." The Woolly Howl summarised the situation. "The air group first suggested them to sneak in and take out the ballistae. Both groups don't want to do that."
"Because both plans have high risk with little reward." Charcoal agreed with both sentiments. He looked deep in thought as he stared at the diorama. "... perhaps getting any dragons in to start is not a good idea."
That confused them. Ronald the Dramillion was the one to ask. "What do you mean, sir?"
"This is a problem that humans had already solved. You don't start an attack on fortress with a charge." The male Night Fury answered the question. "You want to attack them from far distance."
"None of our fire can reach that far."
"We can use human weapons."
"How are we going to do that?" Agatha the Deadly Nadder was incredulous. "We're not humans. We barely knew how they operated their catapults."
"We don't need to know much to use them. We just need to know enough make them work." Charcoal responded, before moving to look at something at the corner. "And besides, we already have some easy ones with us."
Dragons looked at where he was staring. It was a large pile of bags that they salvaged from the certain ship, which contained gunpowder. It did not take them long to realise what he had suggested. Some cursed under their breath for not coming up with that sooner.
Arrows and ballista had effective range that covered most dragon's fire range. However, dropping things from above was not limited to such thing. They could drop explosive barrels from great height, destroying things from safe distance. It sounded like a good idea.
Harald the Dramillion went to inspect the pile. He mentally counted them. "... it's only enough for ten ballista nests." He determined, looking back at the group. "They have much more than that."
"We could try making more." Henry the Woolly Howl suggested. "We know the recipe."
"We don't have many dragons or Gronckles to dig out the stuff we need." Ronald the Dramillion argued. "We're just a week away from the raid. We don't have the time."
"Ow! Excuse me!"
"Careful!"
Everyone turned their attention to the newcomer. Toothless the Night Fury dragoness had just arrived from the crowd. "We got it!"
Charcoal was confused. "Got what?"
It was then Edvard the Shovelhelm arrived with small pile of large, spiky chocolate-coloured hard-shell berries on his arms. "Bomberry!" He exclaimed, before dropping them onto the floor.
Dragons immediately put distance from the berries, expecting them to explode. Having knowledge of what they did, Charcoal stared at Edvard with confused expression. "Why did you bring those here?"
Toothless stepped closer. "Bomberry explodes when you move them too much in a hot place. You need to put them in water before doing anything with it." She was determined. "The seed inside are the ones that made them explode."
"And it was the shell that triggered the explosion. It starts to burn when hit, which detonates the seeds." Edvard took over the explanation. He grabbed one of the berries and cracked open the hard shell, revealing red nuts inside. "When you put them in water to disarm the shell, you also killed the seeds inside. The seeds become even more explosive when dried."
Dragons watched as the Shovelhelm gulped down the red seeds from the bomberry. Charcoal pondered for some time, wondering how they did not discover that much sooner. He should have seen that coming when he found Edvard eating them the first time. It could be used as a weapon.
"We can dry the seeds and crush them into powder." Toothless added to the explanation. "It can even be stronger than gunpowder that humans made. It would be a- a bomb!"
"Then we have the substitute for gunpowder." The male Night Fury declared, getting their attention. "We have one week to make as much bombs as we can. They will be the main arsenal for air dragons to attack from high distance."
Mengu the titan wing Changewing decided to ask. "General, we only have one week left until the raid." He expressed his concern. "Do we have the time to make and test them?"
Harald took a step forward. "We must lend the time. The idea of causing explosion from great height has too much benefit to ignore." The Dramillion was determined. "As part of the air group, we will make this happen."
Henry the Woolly Howl also took a step forward. "My group will help." He declared. "We have the knowledge to make gunpowder. We will help in experimentation."
Dragons began to murmur with agreement. Charcoal was happy that they were willing to work for a solution together. "The rest of you will be disarming and gathering bomberries from around the Dragon Island." The male Night Fury gave his orders. "Edvard will be leading the harvest."
"I will do my best!" Edvard the Shovelhelm exclaimed.
"Medics will be at the ready in case of accident." The male Night Fury continued speaking. "That means me and my partner. Remember to follow Edvard's instructions."
That did encourage the dragons. They were curious about their discovery on bomberries, along with its potential for their very own weapon of war. Charcoal was happy to know that dragons wanted to make that attempt.
"That will be all for the topic." Charcoal decided, looking around the crowd of dragons. "Remember, we only have a week left before the raid. I want everyone to do your best as fast as you can. We only have one shot, and we will not fail this assignment!"
The dragon army looked determined. "Yes, general!"