Hiccup wondered if the plans he thought was a good idea.
The original plan he thought was simple. They would be put back into prison, the Outcasts would be busy watching dragons fight each other, they could sneak out of the prison and steal a ship to get out of the Outcast Island.
That plan was easier said than done, but when most Vikings would be busy at the ring, they would not see that many Outcasts around. Stealth was his expertise, and he could lead Phlegma and Ack out into the ship without much problem.
It was somewhat unexpected when Alvin made him fight against dragons. Thankfully, Hiccup had planned on what to do for something like this. If he could not get out the easy way, he could do it the hard way.
The boy was currently inside the arena. The place was a large, round cage, with several dragon cells closed around it. The arena was partially underground, meaning that the walls were solid concrete. The roof was a massive cage and there were a lot of Vikings watching him.
It reminded him of the dragon arena at Berk.
He had been released from his cage and dropped down into the arena. There were some weapons around. The boy picked up a sword and firmly held it on his hand. It was a large standard sword, and he had no problem carrying them.
Alvin was sitting at the front side of the cage. He laughed. "Release the dragon!"
One of the metal doors flew open. It revealed a Hideous Zippleback. The dragon immediately came out and breathed gas everywhere. The whole arena was immediately filled with gas.
The crowds could barely see what was going on around the arena. Hiccup came close to the Zippleback. The dragon hissed as it spread more smokes around them, covering them entirely from the spectator view.
Hiccup could see through the smoke. The spark head came close to him. "… a human hatchling?" It questioned. The Zippleback was a female.
Deciding on what to do, Hiccup decided to try another trick. After all, if he could speak human tongue in his dragon form, what about doing the opposite?
With that in mind, he focused on speaking in dragon tongue. "… I need your help." Hiccup growled.
The head eyes went wide. The smoke head immediately approached and looked at him. "He speaks!" She exclaimed.
"Spread your smoke around us." Hiccup whispered. "I have a plan to get out of here."
The smoke head's eyes narrowed. "Why should we trust you?"
"Toothless wished for the safety of the dragons." The boy whispered back.
That relaxed the dragon. "I see." Says the smoke head. "What is your plan?"
"Spread the smoke out from the cage and spark them." Hiccup requested. "It will blow the cage."
"Wouldn't that kill you?"
The boy smirked. "Trust me."
Meanwhile, the crowd outside did not know what was happening. They were thrumming with excitement, as they anticipated something to happen. They could not see anything in the arena. They heard growl and hissing inside the smoke, meaning that the dragon might be looking for the boy.
Alvin were getting a bit concerned. He needed the boy alive. Hiccup was strong against them, but after seeing the boy going into the smoke, he wondered if Stoick ever equipped his son to fight against dragons.
Suddenly, the smoke head appeared and gassed the rooftop. Dark green flammable gas instantly surrounded the cage on top and leaked to the spectator area. The surrounding Outcasts went alert. They put themselves some distance between them and the smoke.
The smoke settled for a bit. It surrounded the arena, including the rooftop cage. Everyone wondered what was going on there.
Suddenly, the whole place exploded. The rooftop cage shattered into pieces as the whole place blew up in a fiery explosion. Shrapnel went flying all over the place, injuring the Vikings was unlucky enough to get hit by them.
Suddenly, the Zippleback flew out of the arena. Hiccup was sitting on her back, sword on his hand. They flew up into the sky high. While fleeing, Hiccup looked back and shouted. "Thanks for the dragon, Alvin!"
Realising what happened, Alvin growled. "Catch them!"
The Zippleback flew and landed at the hangar where they were previously caged. There was nobody around, mostly because everyone was inside the dragon arena when that happened. The hangar was left open, for some unknown reason.
There were some Vikings around the docks, but that was far from the hangar. The dragon arena was far from the hangar as well. They have a lot of times to do what they needed there.
Hiccup jumped off from the Zippleback. "Help the others. I'll guard the entrance." He ordered. "Tell them I'm friendly. I can only communicate with gestures from now on."
"Yes, human!" The gas head nodded. The Zippleback flew up into the air and entered the hangar. Smoke began building up around the place.
Hiccup waited and guarded the entrance. The whole street was still empty, but it would only a matter of time until the Vikings arrive. He could see the Vikings running down from the hill to the hangar. The hill was where the dragon arena was.
Suddenly, something massive detonated behind him. The whole hangar exploded in a fiery explosion. Hundreds of dragons instantly flew out of the burning hangar and circled around the area. As they do, they looked down to see the human that the Zippleback was talking about.
"Human!" One of them shouted.
"It's not a human!" A flying Deadly Nadder shouted. "It's Toothless the Dark Chaser!"
"Toothless? It's a human!"
"Toothless can turn human!" The Deadly Nadder insisted. "The Great King informed us!"
Hiccup then realised that the dragons recognised him in his human form. He did used his human form back then in the Dragon Sanctuary before. It looked like the dragons had been informed about that. Some of them, at least.
"I recognised him!" Another dragon shouted. "He really is Toothless!"
"Toothless! What do you want us to do?"
Hiccup noticed that the Vikings were getting closer. They were at the road, getting close towards him. The boy suddenly got an idea. What would be more ironic if he made the dragons attack the Outcasts in revenge for killing their brethren?
The boy raised his hand and pointed at the crowd of Vikings.
"What is he doing?"
"Toothless cannot speak like us when he is human! He told us to attack the enemy humans!"
"Let's go!"
"For the Great King and Green Death! CHAAAARGE!"
Dragons swooped down and started firing their flames at the incoming Outcasts. Fireballs, flame, acid and spikes flung towards the Vikings, instantly mowing them down in rapid succession. Realising what happened, the Outcasts scrambled around. They moved for their crossbows as they engaged against the dragons.
The dragons were angry. They had been trapped by the Outcasts for so long, that they wanted revenge. They flew around the place as they wrecked and burned everything to the ground.
Monstrous Nightmares burned down the buildings, Deadly Nadders engaging the Vikings, Hideous Zipplebacks smoking and blowing up crowds of humans, Gronckles firing fireballs – it was complete chaos and destruction. It was not isolated in the road as well. In other parts of the village, dragons were killing Outcasts and destroying the place.
Seeing the destruction that was caused, Hiccup nodded to himself. He jogged down to the road, going to look for Ack and Phlegma.
The Outcast tribe was never really a dragon fighting tribe.
The island did not really get that much dragon raid as other villages. Even if they do, they were usually not that many dragons attacking. This was mainly because the tribe never really have that much food stored in their disposal.
Dragon nests who raided them usually counted how much food they got from their raids. When they rarely get much food from them, they would simply look for a place that had more food. Because the Outcast Island have a lot of Vikings but not much food to spare, most dragons considered them not worth the risk. They would simply move on and search for another village to raid.
As a result, they did not face dragon raid as often. Because they rarely face dragon raids, they shifted their focus from fighting dragons to raiding villages. They became more equipped fighting humans, not dragons.
Because of this fact, the Outcasts were simply outmatched. They did not have the equipment to fight against angry dragons trying to kill them. While the Vikings do outnumber the dragons, the dragons have firepower and ability to fly.
In short, it was a bit of a slaughter.
"Protect the Dark Chaser!" A Monstrous Nightmare shouted. It was flying up in the sky, observing Hiccup. "He wished to remain hidden amongst the humans!"
"Flame Skin, burn that thing!" A Deadly Nadder shouted to another dragon. "Give Toothless path to safety!"
Hiccup heard the chatter in the sky. He ignored the dragons that was fighting the Outcasts. The Outcasts themselves were mostly busy dealing with the dragons, so he could easily go by without that much resistance. They were ignoring him, as they came to a mindset that all humans on the ground were friendly.
Vikings that tried to attack him were easily slain without that much trouble. Most of them were ignoring him, in which Hiccup ignored them in return.
The boy was running around the place, looking for something that look like a prison. He finally found one. It was a concrete building with large metal doors. Despite the smell of burning wood and charred dirt, he could sense the people inside.
Hiccup looked up. He saw a group of Gronckles flying around. The boy let out a loud whistle and waved his arms. The Gronckles came close to him. Once they do, Hiccup pointed at the metal doors.
Knowing that to do, the group of Gronckle dove down and fired fireballs towards the building simultaneously. They pulled away from the building once the fireballs hit the target. The walls exploded, turning the walls into rubbles, revealing a small prison area inside.
Hiccup saw Ack and Phlegma inside. He also saw several Outcasts. They were down and disoriented. Acting quickly, the boy shouted battle cry and went for the first Viking. He swung his sword and cut his head off, instantly killing him.
The other Viking realised this and moved to grab their axe. Hiccup went and kicked him in the chest, before ducked to dodge an axe swing from behind. He swung his sword behind him, making the other Viking backed off. Seeing that he had some time, the boy moved and stabbed the downed Viking in the chest.
Seeing that, the last Viking shouted an angry battle cry. Hiccup pulled the sword, ducked over the axe swing and slashed him across his chest. He moved behind him and slashed him across his back. When that was done, the Viking dropped to his knees, before collapsed onto the ground.
Ack and Phlegma approached the cage. "Hiccup!" The woman shouted.
"Ack, Phlegma!" Hiccup went to the cage. "Thank gods you're alright! Did you see where they kept the keys?"
"On the desk there!" Ack pointed at the desk.
Hiccup grabbed the key and threw it towards Ack. The man grabbed the key and unlocked the prison. He released himself along with Phlegma. The two grabbed one axe each from the dead Outcasts.
"Come on!" Hiccup insisted. "We need to get out of here!"
Hiccup, Ack and Phlegma went out of the building. Looking around, Ack and Phlegma gasped at the sheer destruction around the place. Dragons flying everywhere, destroying buildings and killing the Outcasts. It was worse than the time there was a dragon raid at Berk.
"Dragon raid!" Ack exclaimed.
"Ignore them!" Hiccup shouted. "We need to get to the docks, quickly!"
Hiccup, Ack and Phlegma were running for their lives. Outcast Vikings were running around like headless chicken, as they tried to get everything organised to fight against the dragons.
The three runaways had just reached the docks. The place was full of dragons and Vikings fighting each other. It was a complete chaos and there were some ships that had gone afloat to somewhere else.
Hiccup looked around. He spotted a ship docked not far from them. It was a large ship that looked ready to sail. There was no spikes or fancy decorations, unlike many other ships around it. The interesting part was that it looked empty.
"There!" Hiccup shouted, gaining their attention. Seeing the ship, they took off running towards them.
Unfortunately, several Outcasts noticed them running. "The prisoners! They're escaping!"
Vikings took off running towards them. Before they could do anything about it, Monstrous Nightmares swooped down and burned their enemies to ashes. Ack and Phlegma gaped and readied themselves for defence.
However, the Monstrous Nightmares ignored them and went flying elsewhere. That confused the two Berkians. However, they snapped out of it when they heard Hiccup shouting. "Over here!"
The two rushed towards the ship. After they entered, Hiccup ran to the back end of the ship. "I'll get the mooring rope!"
"I'll get the anchor." Ack shouted before rushing towards one of the ropes and began pulling them.
"I'll get the sail down!" Phlegma shouted, running towards the sail pole at the centre.
Reaching the back end of the ship, Hiccup pulled out his sword and cut the rope that tied the ship to the docks. Seconds later, the sail unfurled, revealing the sail with grey-coloured Outcast tribe symbol. Hiccup turned around to see Phlegma standing near the sail pole. She had unfurled the whole thing.
The sail were pushed by the wind and the ship immediately moved. However, before it went off the dock, it abruptly stopped. Hiccup, Ack and Phlegma stumbled. It was so sudden they were unprepared for it.
Hiccup looked down to the hull. There was another rope at the hull that was attached to the dock. He could not reach it from the deck. Seeing that would be easy to deal with, he jumped off the ship and landed at the dock.
"Hiccup!" Ack and Phlegma shouted. They rushed to the back of the ship.
"Defend the ship!" Hiccup shouted back. "I'll get rid of the other mooring rope!"
The two hesitantly nodded, before moving back into the ship to defend themselves. Hiccup ran towards the post that was holding the ship down. Reaching it, he raised his sword to chop off the rope.
Before he could do that, he suddenly had to move away as an axe were flung to his direction. He dodged it and it embedded itself onto the post. He looked at the offender. It was Alvin the Treacherous. There were blood on his body, meaning that he had been fighting the dragons for some time. On his hand was a sword.
"You." Alvin growled.
Hiccup smirked. "Me."
"I should've killed you when I had the chance!" The Outcast chief roared, before running towards Hiccup with his sword raised.
Monstrous Nightmares swooped in and fired their flame towards him. Gronckles appeared and fired their fireballs. Alvin dodged them and shouted a battle cry. He swung his sword towards one of the Monstrous Nightmares.
The dragon dodged and roared at him. "Come on, boys! Let's get him!"
Hiccup whistled, getting their attention. He made a dismissal gesture towards them. Seeing that gesture, the dragons flew away. "Good luck fighting him!"
"I'll support you from the sky, Toothless!" One of the Gronckle shouted as it circled around the place.
Hiccup came closer to Alvin. The Outcast chief readied his sword as they began circling each other. As they do, Alvin was pondering as to what just happened.
"You're not just ordinary boy." Alvin realised. "You controlled the dragons."
"You come to my village." Hiccup growled. "You came to kidnap me and my fellow Vikings. You're mine."
"You're so arrogant to face me, Hiccup!" The Outcast chief shouted. "No, not Hiccup. You're…" He paused. "… the Dragon Conqueror."
"Not the shoddiest title I've heard." Hiccup shrugged. "Then again, it's hard to come up with anything original these days."
Alvin roared and dashed towards him. Hiccup parried a sword before moving to dodge a kick. The boy ducked under a punch and swung his sword to his chest. The Outcast chief backed off, before moving to swing his sword once more.
Hiccup rolled out of the way. He dashed forward and clashed his sword against Alvin's sword. "You think you can beat me, boy?!" The Outcast chief roared.
"Yes." Hiccup simply spoke. Suddenly, Alvin was pushed back. The boy moved with extreme agility and swung his sword to decapacitate his head. The Outcast chief barely dodged it. It created a slash mark right on his cheek.
Alvin stumbled back. He was surprised at the strength that Hiccup suddenly had. He had just registered that he had been wounded again when he blocked a swing from Hiccup's sword. It chipped both of their swords as it clashed.
"Fireball, coming through!"
Hiccup immediately rolled out of the way. A fireball suddenly flew in and hit Alvin square in his chest. The man were flung back from where he was. When he finally stopped, the Outcast chief growled. He got up from the ground and turned to face Hiccup.
Hiccup noted that his chest had armour. There was a scorch mark there, but no flesh wound at all. Alvin growled as he moved to run away from the area. Seeing the chance, Hiccup threw his sword.
The Outcast chief barely raised his sword to block when his sword shattered into two. The sword Hiccup threw had pierced through the sword and bounced back. The sword were thrown away and clattered onto the ground far from them.
Alvin was terrified. That sword was aimed right for his head. Seeing the chance to run, he immediately took off into the alley, going out of sight.
Hiccup let out a relieved sigh. He ran towards the pole that was holding back the ship. He pulled Alvin's axe and used it to cut the rope. It immediately popped off. The boy holstered the axe to his back and took off running to the ship.
Hiccup managed to grab onto the rope before it flew away from the ground. He climbed up as he swung himself towards the ship. His feet hit the hull. Then, he began climbing up onto the deck. Unfortunately, he could not reach the deck, since there was nothing to grab there.
Suddenly, Ack came into view. He as looking down over the railing to him. Seeing Hiccup there, he held his hand out. "Come on!"
Hiccup grabbed his hand. The man pulled him up into the deck. After he was inside, the boy held his hand up high and shouted. "WOO! We made it!"
"Great job, Hiccup!" Ack cheered as well. "We made it out of the island!"
Hiccup looked around the deck. There was no dead body anywhere, which meant that no Outcasts had jumped onto the ship. He lowered his hand and breathed out a relieved sigh. The boy turned around to see the sight behind him.
They were sailing into the open ocean. The Outcasts and dragons were still fighting each other. The whole place was burning. Hiccup noted that more and more dragons were fleeing away. It seemed that they realised he had successfully escaped the island.
Hiccup kept watching. After some time, they were relatively far from the island. The dragons that had been fighting them were all running away. They had finished their job of burning down everything that they could see.
Hiccup turned around to look at the deck. Ack was standing next to him, smiling. Phlega was standing close to the sail pole.
"That went unexpectedly well." Hiccup complemented.
"How did you escape from Alvin?" Ack asked, curious.
"With a lot and lot of luck." Hiccup groaned as he walked down to the centre of the ship. "Trust me, you don't want to know."
"No matter. We all made it out, thanks to you, Hiccup." Ack praised. He approached and patted his shoulder. "You proved yourself to us today. You're a real Viking."
"Yeah!" Phlegma cheered. "It's all thanks to- ACK!" Her axe clattered to the deck.
Hiccup and Ack turned around, weapons ready. There, they see Mildew holding Phlegma from behind. He had a dagger held on her neck.
"Mildew?!" Ack shouted, surprised to see him there. "You traitor!"
Mildew cackled. "Well, nobody needs to know about that." He spoke in sing-song manner. "Now if you could turn the ship around, nobody would get hurt."
"You know I'm not going to do that." Hiccup spoke, taking a step forward.
Mildew tightened his grip. He pressed the dagger onto her neck. "Don't come any closer!" He shouted. "Or she will get it. I know you care. Turn the ship around."
Hiccup noticed something standing behind Mildew. "And why should I do that?" He questioned. "It's not like you're going to come out of this alive anyway."
The old man glared at him. "You're a real annoying kid, Hiccup."
"BOO!"
Mildew jumped and let go of Phlegma. The woman instantly ran away from him. The lanky old man turned around to face a very angry Deadly Nadder. "No! Stay back!" He shouted as he swung the dagger to him.
"Get that thing away from me!" The Deadly Nadder screeched as he flew up to the sky. Then, he flung his darts, making Mildew scurry down from the elevated deck.
"Help!" Mildew screamed. "Someone!"
However, Hiccup and Ack stayed in place. The Deadly Nadder flew and landed right in front of him. The dragon swung his tail, slamming him with his powerful tail. The lanky old man immediately flung to the side and hit the elevated deck's railing. He hit his head on the corner, making him fall unconscious.
The dragon growled at him. Hiccup ran between them and waved the dragon away. "Go away! Sho! Sho!"
The Deadly Nadder screeched. "Good luck, Toothless!" Then, he flew away.
The whole ship was silent. Ack was the first one to speak. "Well!" He chirped. "Glad to know the ship's not burning!"
Hiccup holstered the axe to his back. "Let's hope we don't run out of luck yet." He moved to check Mildew.
"… The spikes hit Mildew and that paralyzed him a bit." Hiccup commented as he moved to grab a rope. "That kick with the tail was the finishing blow. He's still alive, unfortunately. Ack, could you help me tie him up?"
"Sure thing." Ack spoke as he holstered his axe. He moved to help Hiccup tie Mildew up.
The next day, the ship were sailing at moderate pace towards Berk. Apparently it was not designed to go very fast, but it was fast enough for them to arrive to Berk tomorrow. The ship conveniently had supplies in them, meaning that they could last long enough to arrive there.
Mildew was on the deck, tightly hogtied from top to bottom with rope. His mouth was firmly closed with a thick cloth. The lanky man was positioned to lay down on the side. He was still unconscious.
Around the deck, Ack and Phlegma were busy looking at the sea. They stayed on the lookout in case there was a ship that would come and attack them. Thankfully, there was no ship anywhere around them.
Hiccup was leaning against the railing at the elevated deck. He was holding onto the compass that he had grabbed two days ago before the fight. He was inspecting them, looking if there was anything else done to it. It looked somewhat antiquated, mostly because it was extremely rare and unique to have a handheld compass like that.
The boy heard footsteps coming in. Looking back, he saw Phlegma walking up to him. Hiccup noted that Ack had gone into the lower deck to do something else.
"Hey." Hiccup greeted her.
Phlegma smiled. She leaned onto the railing and noticed the compass. "You found your father's old compass." She commented.
Hiccup blinked. "Oh." He spoke. "… I found it in the Outcast ship from before. I remember seeing it when I was younger. I… never really know where it went off to."
"It was your mother's gift to your father." Phlegma explained. "She found it hidden at Berk. We thought it was from the previous inhabitants before we came to Berk. We didn't think much of it."
Hiccup let out a sigh. "And the Outcasts desecrated it." He spoke as he closed the compass. He turned it around, showing the crude carving of the Outcast tribe symbol.
"You could always sand them with a knife." Phlegma suggested. "Get rid of that symbol before we get back to Berk."
"You're right." Hiccup nodded. He pulled out his knife and began scraping the Outcast symbol off the back of the compass.
As he did, Phlegma talked with him. "You did really well back there."
Hiccup did not respond. The woman continued speaking. "I saw you fight days before, and is that Alvin's axe?"
The boy nodded. "Yup." He responded, still looking at the compass he was scraping. "I had to deal with him again. Apparently he doesn't know when to give up. How did you know it was his axe?"
Phlegma looked hesitant. "About twenty years ago." She started. "Your father and Alvin were best friends."
Hiccup paused. He looked at her. "Really?"
"Yes." Phlegma nodded. "Alvin was from Berk."
"What happened?"
"They got into conflict with each other." The woman admitted. "There was a dragon raid, and they were arguing in the battle. Alvin disobeyed orders and got some Vikings killed."
"At the time, Stoick wasn't the chief yet." Phlegma told him. "I remember them avoiding each other for years. When he finally became the chief, Stoick had banished him from the island."
"Well, glad to know that drama kickstarted all of this." Hiccup shrugged. He looked at the compass to see the Outcast symbol gone. He pocketed the compass and holstered the dagger. "I'm off to eat. Tell me when Mildew decided to wake up."
Then, Hiccup moved into the lower deck, leaving Phlegma alone at the deck.
The next day, Hiccup woke up after hearing faint screaming.
The boy climbed up into the upper deck. There, he saw Mildew awake and struggling against his bindings. It was no use of course, as the ropes were holding him tightly. In front of him watching was Ack, who were glaring down to him.
Hiccup looked up. It was somewhat early in the morning. He approached and stood next to Ack. "Did he wake up just now?"
Ack looked at Hiccup, before looking back to Mildew. "Aye. He tried eating out that cloth." He chuckled. "That didn't work. Good attempt, tho."
Mildew screamed something muffled, before glaring at Hiccup. The boy smiled. "The tables had turned. How do you feel being tied up like that? Feels great, isn't it?"
Ack heartfully laughed. "He probably enjoyed it." He cheerfully spoke. "It reminds me of that time my wife told me to try rope play on the bed. Not my taste, but some Vikings enjoyed it."
Hiccup looked mortified. "Ack!" He yelped, scandalised. He knew things about sex, mostly from the dragon side, but that did not mean he would not be embarrassed when talking about it.
The man laughed. "Don't worry lad! Your dad'll be giving you the talk someday." He jovially spoke to him. "If only the village heard your tale of fighting the outcasts! OHOH! You'll have girl hounding you all the time!"
Hiccup nervously chuckled. "Well, I just want a quiet life there." He shrugged.
"Like working at the forge?"
"Like working at the forge." Hiccup nodded. "Sometimes I do soul searching at the forest, or practice and training, or learn new things in the wild. It's relaxing."
"And look where that get you." Ack sounded proud. "A proper Viking! You even fought Alvin and scarred him!"
"Speaking of Viking…" Hiccup started, looking around the deck. "… where's Phlegma?"
"She's asleep at the cabin." The man replied.
"Ah." Hiccup shrugged. They stayed silent for some time, staring down to Mildew, who were struggling on his bindings.
"You know." Hiccup started, getting Ack's attention. "When we escaped from the Outcast Island, there's one thing that I don't understand."
"What is it?" Ack questioned, curious.
"What is he doing here?" Hiccup asked, gesturing to Mildew. "He looked like he was already in the ship when we got here."
Ack stroke his beard. "Yeah, that is strange." He commented. "This was his ship, maybe?"
Hiccup scoffed. "With that big Outcast symbol up there at the sail?" He sounded incredulous. "We'd be lucky if they didn't sink us the moment they see us."
"Yeah, well, we do seem to have a lot of luck these days." Ack shrugged.
"Let's hope we don't run out of it just yet." Hiccup grunted. "Did you check the cabin for anything?"
"Not much there, unfortunately." Ack grumbled. He crossed his arms. "There was a map of Berk with some lines drawn. I think it was our patrol pattern."
"That should be enough as evidence for the village." Hiccup nodded.
"Right." Ack slowly nodded. "Evidence. We'll probably be questioned for all of this."
"Let's just be honest about it and hope for the best." The boy shrugged.
Later that evening, the ship arrived at Berk. Hiccup, Phlegma and Ack were standing at the front of the ship, staring towards the island that was getting closer and closer.
When they're somewhat close enough, they could see familiar Vikings at the docks and valley, weapons drawn. Hiccup looked at them and saw his father glaring at the ship. "Ack, my dad's there!"
"Where?" Ack looked around the crowds.
"Up there." Hiccup pointed at him.
"… oh, I see him." Ack nodded.
Hiccup leaned over the railing. He pressed his hand together around his mouth. "DAD!" He shouted. "DAD! IT'S ME!"
Seeing what he was doing, Ack shouted. "CHIEF! FRIENDLY! FRIENDLY!"
They saw the Vikings lowered their weapons a bit. Ack turned to look at Phlegma. "Move the ship to port. I'll roll the sail."
"Right." Phlegma nodded. She ran down to the back of the ship.
Ack ran to the sail pole and began pulling the ropes. The sail cloth slowly rolled up to the top. The ship slowed down as it began to move and slide sideways towards the dock. Upon reaching Berk, the ship hull bumped with the dock a bit.
Hiccup ran to the side. Looking down, he saw some Vikings dragging and raising a ramp to get onto the ship. Ack came next to him, holding onto a pile of rope. "Mooring rope!" He threw it down.
The rope fell and caught by the Vikings below. They pulled the ship closer with it, before attaching it to a pole at the docks. When that was done, the ramp slammed onto the deck and Vikings slowly walked up into the ship.
Hiccup and Ack backed off to give some space. Phlegma came and stood next to them. The Vikings there recognised them. "Ack?"
Ack looked happy. "My wife!" He cheered.
A short female Viking ran to him. "Ack!"
The two hugged each other. They both dropped their axes. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay."
The crowd of Vikings parted a bit. Stoick, Gobber and Spitelout came to the front. The chief looked around and his eyes fell onto his son. "Hiccup?"
"Dad!" Hiccup shouted. He rushed towards his father and hugged him.
Stoick immediately pulled him into a hug. "Oh, son. I thought I lost you." He whispered.
"It was all thanks to your son that we made it out of that blasted island." Phlegma spoke as she walked towards them. She looked at Stoick with proud expression. "Your son did well, chief. He fought tooth and nail against them and never gave up. He's a Viking through and through."
The chief looked down at Hiccup. The boy looked up to his father and smiled. "You told me to never give up. So, I came back here kicking and screaming."
Gobber laughed. "That was out of context!" He spoke. "Your father told you that years ago, so you don't give up working at the forge."
Stoick ruffled his son's hair. "I'm just glad that you're safe."
"Chief!" They heard someone shouted. "We found someone."
Everyone rushed to the lower side of the upper deck. There, they see Mildew still tied up there. Ack and Phlegma glared at him.
Stoick recognised him. "Mildew?"
"He's a traitor!" Ack spitefully spoke. "He's working with the Outcasts."
"He had been feeding the Outcasts information about us." Phlegma explained, glaring at Mildew. "He knew our patrol. They set up a trap to capture us."
"He was already in the ship when we escaped." Ack smirked. "We figured he might be useful alive here."
Stoick looked angry. Another Viking came to him holding something. "Chief, you have to look at this."
The chief grabbed it from his hand. It was the map of Berk with path drawn on them. His eyes widened. It looked familiar. That was the guard patrol route.
"We found it at the captain's cabin." The Viking next to him spoke. "There's more stuff in there as well."
The chief growled. "Get everyone to the Great Hall." He spoke. The large man grabbed the hogtied Mildew. "We'll deal with him today."
Later that day, the Great Hall had been transformed to something akin to a court room. The tables were moved to surround the centre in a half-circle pattern. There were two tables at the centre, and an elevated platform at the end of the hall.
The Vikings were all sitting on the spectator tables. Hiccup, Phlegma and Ack were sitting together at one table on the centre. The other table had Mildew sitting there. His restraints were gone, but his hands were tied. At the front, there was a large, empty chair. It was meant for the chief.
Suddenly, the door flew open, revealing Stoick and the others there. Stoick was holding a hammer. The chief moved to sit at the chieftain chair. The rest moved to sit at the spectator tables.
After everyone was set, Stoick started. "Let's start this trial. Ack?"
Ack stood up from the seat. "Aye, chief." He nodded. The man cleared his throat, before speaking. "Days ago, three of us went on a patrol along the shore at night. We found a ship inside a cave that we thought were one of ours. We climbed in to check, but then the Outcasts came and attacked us."
"Phlegma sounded the alarm, but it was a bit too late." Ack told the tale. "The ship sailed into the ocean. We were captured and brought into the Outcast Island. We were extremely lucky to made it out of there."
Stoick nodded. "How did you escape from the Outcast Island?"
"Hiccup helped us escape." Ack admitted.
Stoick looked surprised. "Hiccup?"
"Yes." The man nodded. He smiled. "He fought against the Outcasts and won the battle. He fought against Alvin and defeated him."
Stoick gestured to Ack, and the man sat back down. He pondered for some time, before looking at Hiccup. "Hiccup." He started. "Explain yourself."
Hiccup stood up from his seat. "What Ack had said is true." He answered. "I have nothing else to add."
"Tell me more about your fight with Alvin."
Hiccup pulled out the axe behind him and dropped it onto the table. The spectators gasped upon seeing the axe. They recognised it. It was Alvin's axe.
Stoick seemed to recognise it as well. "… how?"
"Alvin is not dead." Hiccup declared. "He fled the battle after I was done with him."
"How did you do it?" Stoick questioned.
"Training. Practice. It was all skill." Hiccup answered. "There's no other way. Phlegma taught me swordsmanship years ago. From there, I build from the foundation. She taught me that the only way for someone to master the sword is to never stop practicing. And so, I kept practicing."
The spectators whispered amongst themselves. Phlegma looked very proud of herself.
Stoick let out a sigh. He shook his head. He gestured to Hiccup, and the boy sat back down. After that, the chief spoke. "Phlegma?"
The Viking woman stood up. "What they said is true." She spoke. "I have nothing else to add."
"Tell me more about this."
Phlegma paused for a moment. "… Hiccup is an excellent swordfighter." She finally spoke. "In the face of all odds, he never surrendered. He kept on fighting and even tried to help us."
"He was not perfect, but everything he did was perfectly executed." The woman continued explaining. "He fared far better than both of us. He fought against Alvin himself and lived."
There were whispers around the crowds. Alvin the Treacherous were not someone to be crossed. He was the best Viking at Berk, and his prowess were legendary, even rivalling Stoick. The chief frowned. "What did Hiccup do?"
"He wounded Alvin and scarred his arm." Phlegma answered, shocking the spectators. She sounded proud when she said it. "There was not a scratch on him when we were thrown into the prison. 200 Outcasts died by his sword, and twenty more died by his bow when we arrived at the Outcast Island. When we leave, he might had killed more."
Everyone was shocked to hear the body count. Hiccup killed that many people in one battle? That was unbelievable! Stoick looked shocked as well. Not even their chief had that achievement.
"How did you know about this?"
"We saw Hiccup battling the Outcasts." Phlegma answered. "We saw him fought against Alvin. When we were imprisoned, we overheard Alvin talking to Mildew. The man was scared, chief. He called your son too dangerous to be kept around. They had to get a dragon cage to lock him up."
That stunned the village. Stoick was the first one to snap out of it. "Very well. We were going off the topic of this trial. I shall return them back in order."
Phlegma sat back down. Stoick looked at Mildew. "Mildew."
The man looked up. Stoick continued speaking. "You had been accused of associating with the Outcast. You endangered the village by giving our information to them. We have all the evidence. What do you have to say about yourself?"
Mildew scoffed. "We already know where this is going. You already know everything." He spoke aloud. "No point on dealing with this formality. Just exile me."
"Why did you kidnap them?" Stoick asked.
"Why?" Mildew repeated. "Did Hiccup not tell you that? Alvin wanted to capture Hiccup. Those two were just in the way."
"What does Alvin want from Hiccup?" Stoick gritted his teeth.
"He wanted you." Mildew confessed. "You have something that Alvin wanted. A treasure map to Hamish the First's stash of gold, hid by Hamish the Second, passed down from generation to generation. If only you were not much of a coward to find them, we would all be rich."
Whispers spread all over the place. Mildew smirked when she noted that the crowds looked at Stoick with suspicious looks. Seeing the opportunity, he decided to press on. "Tell me, Stoick." He emphasised. "Why are you hiding gold from us?"
Stoick frowned. He looked around the place, before pondering on what to say. After some time, he spoke. "Because we couldn't find them." He admitted. "It was not a map nor a message. It was a jumbled mess on a piece of paper that did not make any sense."
Stoick's eyes bored to Mildew. "It was a piece of paper passed from generation to generation." He spoke. "Not a treasure. The treasure was lost. There was no point on looking for them. It was passed down to me from my father as a tradition."
"This information was no secret to anyone." Stoick declared. "I had led the village on expedition to search for them before, but no avail. There would be no point for me to search for a lost treasure without any clue as to where they might be."
There was a pause. The villagers seemed to remember some expeditions that they had gone off to before. They seemed to realise that it was to look for the treasure that Mildew was talking about.
"Now." Stoick started, getting their attention. "I have decided."
"Mildew." Stoick spoke. "You will not be exiled." He paused. Everyone looked confused. "You will be executed."
"WHAT?!" Mildew shouted in shock. The spectators murmured among themselves.
"You had endangered our lives by giving the Outcasts information about us." Stoick darkly spoke. "Your traitorous actions had costed us a lot of lives. We do not know how long you had been doing this, but I will make sure it will never happen again."
"No!" Mildew screamed. He was afraid. "You can't do this!"
"Your execution will be tomorrow." Stoick told him. He looked at the Vikings standing around. "Move him back into the prison."
"No, no!" The lanky old man shouted. Vikings came and grabbed him. "Stoick, you can't do this! That's against the rules!" Mildew was dragged out from the Great Hall. "Chief! Don't do this! No!"
They exited the Great Hall. The door closed with a wham. Everyone let out a relieved sigh.
"That's all." Stoick declared. He stood from his chair. "Trial is over. Let's arrange this back so we can eat. We finally have something to celebrate!"
The Vikings roared. They cheered as they instantly began moving the table and chair around. Stoick came down from the platform and began talking with the other Vikings.
Hiccup smiled. He walked to the door and exited the Great Hall, leaving everyone busy inside.
Later that night, Hiccup came to the forge. He went into his room and began taking apart the armour that he was wearing. He popped off his armour, pulled out the chainmail armour underneath, and took off his weapons. When that was done, he dusted himself and sat onto the chair.
It was an eventful day for him. For some reason, his mind could not get rid of the images before. It was the time when he saw the dragons caged and killed at the Outcast Island. All the dragons most likely escaped when they blew up the place, but there was something in his heart that made him decide that he hated the culprit.
Hiccup paused. He remembered concluding that he despised humans.
He remembered that his dragon side hated human. They were an annoyance to him before the merge. Most humans that saw him would want to kill him simply because he was a Night Fury.
Most of the injuries that happened to dragons he helped were caused by humans. However, it should be noted that dragons also raid villages to feed themselves. It was an equilibrium, where dragons kill humans and humans kill dragons.
It was only fair that humans were only defending themselves from dragons. Dragons were also defending themselves from humans. They were both simply trying to survive living in the cold, hard place. It would not be fair to only blame the humans for what happened.
However, there was a certain prejudice inside his mind. For whatever reason, he could not get rid of it, no matter what sort of reasoning he mustered together. He acknowledged it. He reasoned that he used to be a human, allied with the humans, and friends with some humans.
For whatever reason, those reasoning did not get rid of his feeling of prejudice against humans. It merely lessened them. It was understandable. He had seen a merciless slaughter against dragons done by humans.
Hiccup decided that he despised the Outcasts and hated humans less.
Suddenly, Hiccup heard someone going into the forge. He sensed that it was his father. True to his senses, his father came into the room. "Hiccup?"
"Hey dad." Hiccup spoke, looking up to him.
"I uh-" Stoick started. "I want to check up on you. Just to make sure you're okay."
"I'm doing fine." Hiccup shrugged. "… maybe a bit jumpy, but that's something that I need to adjust since I'm safe back at Berk now."
Stoick smiled. "I'm glad you're safe back here."
They were both silent for some time. Then, Stoick remembered something. "Oh! I have something for you." He pulled out something from his back. It was a Viking helmet. "Here."
Hiccup picked it up. "… Thank you."
"Your mother would've wanted you to have it." Stoick spoke. "It's half of her breast plate."
Hiccup pulled his hand that roamed the top part, slightly disgusted. He looked at his father.
Stoick tapped his own Viking helmet. "Matching set." He explained. "Keeps her close, y'know."
"… thanks dad." Hiccup spoke as he placed the helmet onto the desk.
"I've talked with Ack and Phlegma in private." Stoick continued. "… you did the right thing. Fighting, I mean. You defended yourself and you've… proved to me that you can protect yourself."
After some time, Stoick spoke. "I'm sorry." He apologised. "I might not be the best father for you. I was uh… busy with chief duty. I-"
"I understand." Hiccup interrupted. His father was starting to rant. "I'm just here being me while you're being… you. You're my dad, so I kind of have to deal with it and accept you for who you are."
They stayed silent for some time. Then, Hiccup remembered. "Oh. I also found something."
Hiccup pulled a familiar compass. He showed it to his father, who quietly gasped. The boy smiled. "I found it inside the Outcast ship."
Stoick slowly picked up the compass. He opened it, seeing a familiar look inside. His eyes slowly glistened with tears. He closed and turned it around. There was some scraping there. His smile vanished and he looked up to Hiccup.
Seeing what he meant, Hiccup explained. "The Outcasts carved their symbol there. I uh… sanded it since I don't want to see it. Phlegma told me how important it was to you."
Stoick blinked. He gave him a sincere smile. "Thank you." He whispered.
They both were silent for some time. Then, Hiccup spoke. "I'm going to sleep."
"Ah, sorry I was just-"
"No, no. I was going to head back-"
"I remembered something that I uh-"
"Okay. Sorry." Hiccup stopped. He smiled at his father. "I'm too tired to walk back home. I'm sleeping at the forge tonight."
"I uh…" Stoick was hesitated. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"See you tomorrow, dad."
With that spoken, Stoick went out from the room, leaving Hiccup alone inside.
Later that night, Hiccup could not sleep. He could not stop thinking about the treasure that was being talked about.
The boy was walking down inside the Great Hall. There was nobody there but him. He was staring at the paintings of his ancestors on the wall.
The whole place was pitch black. Hiccup had no problem with it. His eyes could perfectly see his surroundings, even though there was no light at all inside the Great Hall. Nobody knew he was inside the Great Hall.
Hiccup thought about the treasure that was being talked about. Hamish the First was said to be the most successful chief of Berk. He was rich; extraordinarily so. He handed it over to his son, Hamish the Second, in which he hid the treasure.
He had created something that would lead to the treasure. Everyone apparently knew about it. However, nobody knew how to get it. It was only after his father revealed it to everyone that they had attempted to search for it, despite not finding anything at all.
'Well, that's just stupid.' Hiccup thought to no one in particular.
The boy moved to grab the painting of Hamish the Second. As he moved them, suddenly, a folded paper fell off from the painting. Curious, Hiccup picked up the paper. He unfolded it and read the content.
It took Hiccup a while to realise that it was the paper that his father talked about. He could see why his father thought it was gibberish. It was a map with a lot of unknown symbols written on it. They were not Norse. They look more like an unknown language. Hiccup did not know what language it was.
He analysed the strange map some more. He realised that there was some pattern on the text written there. The boy mentally compared them to Norse. He noticed the pattern between Norse and the unknown language. It was then Hiccup realised that it was not an unknown language.
It was substitution. The map was coded. That was why nobody could solve the clue. Hamish the Second had created a code that substituted the original Norse and wrote the code on the map. In order to understand the map, they need the dictionary that held the translation from Norse to code.
Hiccup was no stranger to coded texts. He had written cipher before; a combination of rune shift and substitution used to secure his writings. He used it on his journal, as he was afraid anyone could stumble upon them. They were not that sophisticated, and he kept the dictionary in his mind. It became a language that he only knows. Nobody would know about it, and he would take the secret to his grave.
However, it did not mean that it could not be cracked. Substitution cipher alone was easy to break. He could already make out the solution in his mind. He need some time and patience, as he might need to brute force his way through the cipher.
Hiccup decided that was the case. He folded the paper and pocketed it. Then, he walked out from the Great Hall.
He had a quest to do.