The Dragon Master

Chapter 13 - Peace Plan

"You crazy girl!" Mildew shouted angrily, banging the table very hard, making a loud noise around the room. His eyes became wild and his breathing was uncontrolled. "Speaking to older man like that, where are the manners of today's children!?"

"I will be polite and respectful if you do the same, old man!" Astrid exclaimed angrily. Nothing seems to stop this argument.

"Do you feel very special right now?! Being the heir to Berk makes you forget yourself, doesn't it?!" Mildew exclaimed emotionally, his pulse slightly tight his forehead was popping up due to his outburst of emotion. "You're basically just a woman tasked with giving birth, dammit!"

The atmosphere became silent for a few moments. Several people in the room took a breath in surprise after hearing Mildew's words. Mildew breathed for a moment after those words, his face becoming a little stiff after realizing what he had said. Astrid Hofferson's face was completely unpredictable. Before Astrid could respond, there was a burst of anger from the others.

"YOU FUCKING OLD OLD MAN! HOW DARE YOU HUMILIATE A WOMAN LIKE THAT!!" Phlegma shouted very loudly, making the other's ears hurt. "YOU ARE SPEAKING VERY IMPOLITE AND VERY UNREASONABLE!"

"This has nothing to do with you!" Mildew replied angrily. "Just shut up and-"

"ENOUGH!" Stoick shouted thunderously, as he plunged his ax hard into the stone table. His scream shocked everyone in the room. His eyes twitched angrily, aiming at Mildew. "I'm not holding a meeting to argue nonsense, I'm here to tell you that we will make peace with dragons and form an alliance with Dragon Utopia. And you Mildew, shut your mouth or I'll slash your throat!"

Mildew was clearly afraid of Stoick's threat. His mouth opened slightly as if he was going to reply to Stoick's words with a sneer, but decided not to so that his head wouldn't separate from his body. The council members, including Astrid, were silent when their tribal leader spoke.

"But are you really sure?" Spitelout asked careful not to anger Stoick. He was the first to speak after a moment of silence. "If we do that, we will be tarnishing Viking traditions."

"Tradition is indeed important and sacred to us, but what's the point of continuing to maintain it if the world has changed," said Stoick, he had regained his calm after his previous anger. Some of the council breathed a sigh of relief, where previously they had been holding their breath in tension. "Johann once told me that there are many tribes and nations out there that are open to making peace with dragons, and many of them are allied with Dragon Utopia for some reason. It's meaningless if we continue to think of dragons as enemies, that just makes us a primitive tribe."

"But what about the disappearance of the Meathead and Bog-Burglar tribes? In fact, we haven't heard from the Berserker and Outcast tribes for a long time," asked one of the councilors. "I think their disappearance is due to-"

"The Dragon Utopia Nation attacked them?" Stoick guessed, cutting the council member off. The person could only nod silently. Stoick then slightly lifted himself from the chair with both hands, then repositioned himself in his seat comfortably. "I thought so too, but, as Astrid said, we can't say that. Unless you have proof. Is there any?"

"N-nothing, chief," said the council a little nervously. He realized he had said the wrong and inappropriate thing to say.

"If we continue to antagonize dragons, we ourselves will be at a disadvantage," Stoick said as he stood up, displaying his large, muscular body. "However, if we make peace with the dragons and form an alliance with Dragon Utopia, we might have a bright future for our generations to come, so be open to new things!"

The council of Berk, whispering with the others over Stoick's idea. Spitelout sat quietly with his arms crossed, thinking to himself. Mildew was silent with a sour face, indifferent. Phlegma continued to stare at Mildew fiercely, still very angry with Mildew's words that demeaned women. Astrid herself was just silent and didn't need to think about her tribe leader's ideas, because she herself had decided to make peace with the dragons and make an alliance with Dragon Utopia, in fact she herself was already tied to the dragons, without anyone knowing, except Karalyn.