Heather pov:
I brushed my hair back over my shoulder, my axe at the ready if a hunter emerged. As I entered below decks a muffled clanging came from one of the cages and I looked in and to my shock I saw a blonde short haired woman with blue eyes trying desperately to get the cell door unlocked to no avail.
The woman stared defiantly at me as I came into view. I realized that four other Vikings were in a cell next to her and were also trying to get out. Windshear rounded the corner and the woman backed away nervously. "Windshear, single spine shot." I commanded. Windshear whirled around shooting a dart into the lock and breaking it apart.
I calmly walked up to the lock and removed the barb, before using it to unlock the other cell door. "Thank you. I can see you are a friend of Dragons, not like those Hunters who want only to make a profit. My name is Mala, and these four are my remaining guards. Throk, will you show our friend here what you managed to steal from a Hunter's ship?"
One of the guards stepped forward and held out a tube with a dragon head covered in runes and gold. "I don't know if it will help you, but we have no need for it." I took the object hesitantly.
"Where were you captured?" I asked curious. "We were on a trade boat to another Island to make a treaty with them and these Hunters captured us and our boat." I winced as I realized that there HAD been a normal Viking boat in amongst those that we sank yesterday. "Yeah, um, we kinda sank it yesterday... sorry." Mala nodded in understanding. "We will get a new one, don't worry."
"Heather? Everything ok?" Astrid's voice floated down and the thud of a dragon landing on the deck of the ship. "I've found five prisoners that the Hunters imprisoned. "I'll go tell Hiccup, he's on the other boat, seeing if anything can be salvaged." Astrid launched off the deck and Stormfly squawked.
"You really need a navy." Mala shook her head. Throk and the other guards were busy rummaging through the different Hunters quarters. "A Navy?" I echoed. "Why would we need a navy?" "To combat the Dragon Hunters if they ever attack your base." Mala answered simply.
There was another thud and Hiccup appeared at the top of the ladder. "Well hello there. You must be the prisoners Heather rescued." Hiccup climbed off Toothless and walked over to us. "This is Mala," I said gesturing to the blonde short-haired woman in front of me. "And this is Throk and her remaining bodyguards."
Throk and the three remaining bodyguards stood to attention, bags of plundered goods on the gently swaying, well worn floor. Hiccup smiled warmly. "Pleased to meet you Mala and Throk. We will accommodate you in our village tonight."
Hiccup and I walked up onto deck and into the lukewarm early morning sun just peeking over the horizon. Hiccup latched a rope onto Toothless and Astrid onto Stormfly. I grabbed another hemp fiber rope and twisted it around the main mast, before launching into the air to join Astrid and Hiccup in towing the Hunter warship to the beach.
Sunset that evening...
Hiccup pov:
I finished eating and put my plate aside to be cleaned tomorrow. The firelight of the central brazier on the new clubhouse was illuminating shadows on either side of the walls. Astrid lifted a blonde strand of hair and shyly met my eyes from where she was sitting next to me. "Are you okay to plan with our guests on how to get them back home? Me and Astrid just need to go and have a talk." I said suddenly to Heather. Heather waved us off, a gleam of something undecipherable in her eye. "Go. We'll be fine."
Astrid got up and I held my hand out to her. She blinked at me wearily. "Come on." I whispered. I found the perfect place to have a talk." Astrid yawned and I lead her along a narrow trail, ferns and foliage brushing against us with the dew of the night lending us energy. I stooped to cup my hands in a shallow stream, water silently slapping the few rocks of stepping stones. "How much further?" Astrid asked. "I'm already tired-" Astrid stopped short when she saw the moonlit clearing surrounding a gushing waterfall and lake.
Pine trees provided a looming, yet comforting presence, all the while the warble of Terrible Terrors as they lit torches. A small triangular wooden shelter stood off to one side. "It's-" Astrid paused as if looking for the right words. "Beautiful, I think the word you're looking for is beautiful." I said putting an arm around her shoulder, before leading her to the cabin.
"So much has happened since we left. I mean, we only left a week ago. Now we have Heather, the Wingmaidens, and the Guardians of the Wing." Astrid relaxed around the brazier, taking in all of the colourful sketches and drawings of inventions I was working on. "Is that what Mala and Throk are?" I asked curious. "Yeah, I asked them what clan they belong to, and Mala is their leader. They have a dragon that keeps the volcano they live on from completely engulfing their village." I handed Astrid a cup of hot yaks milk which she accepted, sipping it and keeping her hands warm by holding it.
Seeming to make up her mind, Astrid set her cup down on the table hesitantly. "Hiccup... what do you want to do once we finish building Dragons Edge?" I stared at her. "Well..." I scratched the back of my head thinking. "We'll solve the dragon problems at Berk, we know the nest is somewhere at Helheim's gate, so we go in and defeat the Dragon Queen." Now Astrid was staring at me. "The book of dragons." I explained sitting forward. Astrid nodded and took another sip of her now slightly lukewarm yaks milk. Astrid scrunched up her face and set it down on the table again.
A comfortable silence stretched between us and I soon realized that Astrid was asleep. I yawned myself and went to the corner of the room and spread out a wolf skin, before picking Astrid up in my arms and placing her gently on the wolf skin, covering her with another wolf skin. I laid her axe, Banamaor*, down next to her. I stoked the fire for one last time before going and laying down next to horizontally to her, the gentle lapping of water lulling me to sleep.
*Executioner, killer, slayer
I woke up to someone murmuring and I blinked the sleep from my eyes. Heathers forest green eyes sparkled mischievously. "Have a good sleep?" She asked innocently. I rubbed my eyes before realizing I was still next to Astrid and she had one hand around me.
My eyes widened and I quickly tried to defend myself. "WAIT! NO! THIS is NOT what it seems!" I protested. Heather crossed her arms. "Sure, sure. Leave me to do all the work and provide for our guests-" I cut her off by sweeping her legs from underneath, before tossing a wolf skin over her head and trapping her. "HEY! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Heather yelled, her voice muffled.
Astrid woke up with a start at the sound of yelling. "What's going on?" she asked releasing her hold on me and blearily rubbing her eyes. I rolled my eyes. "You had an arm around me and Heather was complaining about having to do all the work-" "THAT is NOT TRUE Hiccup, and you know it." Astrid laughed and threw a wolf skin over the both of us and I was instantly smothered in wolf hair, before a hard lump jumped on me. We tussled through the wolf skin, before I got out and attacked Astrid from behind. Astrid squealed as I pushed her into the wolf skins and Heather tackled me, into the wolf skins, with both girls holding me down. "You are so dead." Heather whispered sweetly into my ear. "OK! I surrender!" I said nervously, "I didn't really want to hurt either of you, honest!"
Heather turned to Astrid. "It's nice to have a man grovel at the feet of women for once." Heather commented before they both suddenly fell to the floor, felled by my tackle.
"WHAT is GOING ON HERE?!!" Mala's shocked voice echoed through the small wooden cabin. I glanced guiltily at Astrid and Heather. "Well, you see Heather made a false accusation and-" I started but wat cut off. "I most certainly did not!" Heather broke in indignantly. "And it got out of hand." Mala finished holding up a hand. "I've heard it all before, now I was just coming to let you know that we're leaving and taking the map and treaty Heather gave us. I have no doubt that some of my Guardians of the Wing will want to live here in relative safety from volcanoes." Mala winked and closed the door.
"Well, I suppose we should continue building more houses for our new residents then, eh?" Astrid said. I nodded ruefully and packed the wolf skins in one corner, before following Astrid and Heather back along the twisty green track, through the pine forests and oak woods and across the streams back to Dragons Edge.
I gave my signature whistle and seven Timberjacks came, breaking through the clouds. I pointed to the piles of neatly stacked logs and one lifted a log into place, before a Gronckle tail bashed it into the ground, the earth shaking. "That one's not going anywhere for a LONG time." Astrid commented. "Yeah. I especially want it to be strong, as this is going to be the armoury and forge." I stated while directing the work. "A little to the left." I said and gestured and the earth thudded once again.
"And to think a week ago this was just a small campsite. Now we've only got the store tents left." Heather said coming up behind us on Windshear. "Astrid, come with me, I want to check the north perimeter." Astrid nodded and climbed onto Stormfly. "We'll be back by mid-afternoon. We'll go for a swim in the lake." I smiled and waved them off. "Alright, bet."
A/N: I really hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, now that exams are over I should be able to write more.
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