You were lying by the fire place, drinking some cider you tried to distill. You'd simply gathered as many apples as you could, thrown them in an empty barrel. Still tasted better then the bitter ale the vikings preferred, even if it was of the lowest possible quality.
Astrid and Stormfly were asleep upstairs, tired from the days racing. Satan had flown off somewhere, uncomfortable around people and the tight areas around buildings. As a result you were on your own, enjoying the sun set through the window as the warmth of the fire touched your skin.
There was a knock on the door, one you hadn't expected. You cautiously rose and opened the door, before you was a boy with two separate coloured eyes.
"I came like you said." Rogannon told you from outside, you were surprised since you doubted he'd actually come. Though you suppose it didn't matter either way, there was no way he'd stay after he heard what it took to become a knight.
"Come in, take a seat." You told him and opened the door more for him to step in, the boy walked in through while looking around. He seemed a little disappointed, he clearly wasn't expecting what seemed like a perfectly normal house. "It's not my house, I've been staying with Astrid since I arrived." He nodded, clearly looking for the armour.
"So how do I join the legion?"
"Direct kid aren't you." You sat back down in your chair, sipping your cider some more. "Tell me Rogan..."
"Rogannon."
"Whatever. Do you know what a warrior is?" He nodded, sitting cross legged on the floor.
"It's someone who fights when he needs to, we had many warriors against the dragons."
"Very good, now do you know what a solider is?" The child shook his head. "A solider is someone who fights all year round, they fight whoever they are told to."
"That sounds stupid. Who farms his land when he's away fighting? How does he look after his family?"
"He doesn't have a farm, he's paid little gold coins for fighting. He then uses these gold coins to buy food, or clothes or weapons." It was difficult trying to explain currency to a village of people who have no need for it, rather berk was a community that had a barter system then a capitalist one. Instead of paying money for someone to work with you, you instead payed him in food or in whatever it was he wanted in return. Further more, berkians had no need of any kind of army. Instead they just got together to fight any threat they needed, the concept of going to conquer others lands and taking slaves was a foreign concept to them.
As it should be.
"What's the point?"
"To be the strongest, each solider works for a house, each house belongs to a legion, trying to destroy or assimilate the other in a complex game to become the strongest. Only the strong can survive, it's how things are in Ashfield are, how they always were. The same is not said about berk, you work together to survive. To join the black dragon legion, you have to be willing to train, to kill and eventually die in service to the legion. It will require years of servitude as well as training both mental and physical to even get the point where your considered an adult. You'll be expected to learn millennia of accumulated knowledge, you'll have to forge your own armour and swear oaths you'll have to follow until the day you die." There was no way the kid would elect to continue with this endeavour now, you know you'd have scared him off.
"I accept." He defiantly stood with his chin up, ready to face whatever came his way.
What?!
You were shocked, even a little aghast. You didn't think he'd actually accept! You were barely a knight yourself, there was no way you'd be able to train a youngster like this to full graduation.
"No matter what comes my way, I will never stop training. I will brave any storm, tackle any burden and overcome any obstacle in my path, I will never quit I swear it."
Fuck!
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You lay in bed with Astrid, pulling her closer against your body as you kissed her neck romantically. She gave a sweet sigh and turned around to face you, kissing your lips deeply and wrapping her arms around your neck.
"Mmmmm, good morning my knight." She mused and enjoying your warmth against her, just as you enjoyed her against you. You yawned, opening your mouth as wide as any dragon. "Charming."
"Aren't I?" You teased, sitting up groggily. You got up out of the bed and started to stretch, warming up your muscles. "I've found a potential recruit for the black dragon legion, it may be the fight Viking to become a knight in history."
Astrid rolled onto her side, looking at you as you stretched slowly. "This means a lot to you doesn't it? This legion?"
"Yeah it does, sorry but it just... it just does."
"It's a remainder of where you came from, as long as it's not hurting anyone what's wrong with it."
"Thanks Astrid, I love you."
"I love you too (Y/N)"
You spent the morning flying over berk on Satan, since he'd come back at dawn. You helped heard some sheep back into pens since you were nearby, but otherwise you simply enjoyed the breeze through your air. Today you'd neglected to take your armour , instead wanting to feel the wind against you. Satan also had his way, flying where ever he chose. He seemed to enjoy sitting on the highest points he could find and watching over the landscape.
Rogannon, or Rogan, was the source of your thoughts today. He's shown real dedication, but you weren't sure if he was ready. You started him on the same routine you undertook when you were weakened from washing ashore, go a little bit further everyday then the day before. He was currently running across berk, since you could see his outline bolting across the fields down below.
Today you'd start his sword training, but you'd have to test his natural reflexes first. Everyone had a preference when it came to swordsmanship, the one you used was a one handed grip around or 2 foot long in order for you to use your shield. The bigger two handed ones went to nearly four foot long, though such a weapon would deny the user any kind of shield. Most knights were heavy weights, since it was impossible to cut through the armour it was more of a way to break bone underneath. Of course there were an exception few who fought with speed and agility, people like the crimson banshee.
There were a few gaps in the armour for a knight, places where a solid block of metal would hinder the user. The elbow for example needed to be able to bend, so they needed to be made into two parts leaving the elbow exposed. Of course you could try and cover it up with an additional plate, but you'd never be able to cover everything.
There were swordsmen out there like the crimson banshee who could move flawlessly and hit these exposed weak points, though thankfully she was worlds away. Now you were the deadliest warrior for miles, it was a strange thought. You landed at the dragon academy, since that's where you arranged to meet young Rogan. You still couldn't believe the strange coincidence that your first apprentice had the same first name as your last name, though technically he should be a squire but having him polish your armour all day didn't quite seem like the best thing at the moment.
Satan landed on top of the academy since he couldn't get inside, so you simply slipped off and landed between the holes in the chain. Rogannon stood and approached, an ever eager skip in his step.
"Morning Rogan, I trust you slept well." You greeted, wiggling your feet to soothe the pain of jumping from a tall height.
"Aye, outlander. Are you going to start teaching me about armour soon?"
"No!" You told him for what seemed like the thousandth time since you agreed to train him. "No, today were going to start sword training, specifically tailoring one for you." You walked over to the side of the area which was aligned with weapons that had similar designs in Ashfield. One-handed swords, two-handed swords, maces, morning stars and flails. "I want you to try them all out on those practise dummies there, which ever feels more comfortable."
Rogannon approached the one handed first, making a few weak slashes at the dummy. You noticed he kept trying to grab it double handedly, lifting it over his head and bringing it down for maximum power. When using the larger broad sword you noticed he standing a little too close, but it was defiantly what he was naturally accustomed too.
The mace showed some promise, but he kept trying to stab at the target. He got one swing with the flail before you stopped him, seeing as he almost took his own head off. "Alright then Rogan, seems your more of a two handed type."
"What does that mean."
"It means your probably going to have to train with the larger broadswords, a common choice in Ashfield. Here, I'll show you."
You took the larger sword in your hands, placing your dominant foot back and keeping your hands at about waist level. "Hey Rogan, take a few steps back so I know your out of range." You told him, then suddenly moved your whole body right. You swung your sword in an upward arc to the right as your foot moves in the same direction, allowing your to get power behind it while avoiding leaving yourself open. You then spam around and put all your strength into a swing which cut the dummy clean in half. You were showing off for the kid, but in reality it would be ineffective against knights.
"Now you try." You told him, handing the long blade over. He copied your spinning attack, but underestimated the weight of the sword and threw himself over in the process. He dragged himself up quickly enough, he was angry at himself now and swung wildly over his shoulder and nearly tripped over himself.
You signed internally as you watched him get more and more vexed, causing him to make more and more mistakes. He had. One of the breeding knights had, none of the natural instincts your people possessed. Still, you had to start somewhere.
You were thankful to your father for pushing you so hard back then, William had never intended to, but he'd inadvertently given you everything you needed to raise a new generation of knights.
"Rogan, stop. You need to control your temper, as well as work on your balance. But fear not, that's why we train. Watch me." You did a few move moves slowly, exaggerating each step you made as well as pointing out everything you did at the same time. "Remember, the most important part is the footwork. Don't be afraid to really throw your weight behind it as long as you've got your feet planted, it's not a cutting weapon so don't think some quick slash will do anything."
You continued this way for about an hour, making sure to teach him the do's and don'ts of the basics. You had to remind him to calm down a bit every so often, but you'd make a swordsman of him yet.
"Thanks enough, you did well for your first time." You lied, he'd actually done pretty poorly. "Come back tomorrow and we'll do it again, I'll give you a lift home. Satan!"
As you landed next to his house a few minutes later, around a dozen of his friends came out to witness the outlander and his giant dragon. You noticed how they huddled around him in hushed tones, you smiled in amusement. You briefly wondered what they pictures, for some reason you imagined them thinking you knew magic.
Suddenly, the boys front door swung open. A large man burst out, he'd obviously been drinking rather heavily. The kids all took a step back from him, but he be-lined for Rogannon. He grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him up aggressively. "Where have you been boy!" He shouted in the boys face, you felt inclined to intervene.
"My apologies sir." You slide of the Demonic Nightmare, since it was possible that the wanna-be knight could have snuck out and the father was angry due to being worried sick. The drink might have been to calm his nervous, or possibly he'd already been drinking before hand. "Your son has been with me today, if there's been any problem then it's most likely my fault. No reason to punish the..."
"You stay out of this outlander!" He roared throwing Rogannon to the ground hardly, you frowned angrily with such behaviour. "This is no business of yours, get lost before I make you regret it."
"Easy man! Your clearly drunk, now I'd advise you to calm down and..." That's all you got before he swung his fist at you, it was sloppy. Reflex kicked in immediately, you took a step back with your dominant foot and your opposite arm lifting to deflect the incoming blow. At the same time your dominant arm pulled back, then exploded with force as you thundered your fist into the mans face.
He went into the ground three feet from where'd he'd been standing, he hit the ground hard. You were instantly on top of him, sending an equally hard punch into him. Every nerve of you body told him to destroy him, keep hitting him until his skull broke. You stopped yourself though, taking deep breaths to calm yourself.
You walked back to Satan who was looking rather amused, though the youngsters present seemed amazed.
"How did you do that?" Asked a girl.
"Years of practise, that and an itchy sword arm."
"Can you teach us that?"
"Raise your hands if you want to learn fighting?" You asked deciding to make it easier on ourself then deal with kids asking one by one. Seven addition kids raised their hands, causing to give a strange sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. "Alright then, welcome to the Black Dragon Legion."
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Authors note: Hi everyone, I'd like to give a huge shout out to @MELONE13 for the picture above. All credit goes to him for it and thank you for the people who read and vote for these stories, I never thought I'd reach part twelve of this thing and I'm not done yet! Next one will be another lemon, but after that we deal with more Legion stuff. Possibly even another legion whose not so friendly...