The forge was active for days.
Hiccup worked day and night on the gifts. He even slept at the forge. The place was filled with various contraptions, such as open wooden box filled with water and metal, mortar and pestle, various cylinder tubes filled with fluids and powders, and some others.
In addition to contraptions, there were different kinds of rocks at the corner. Those were ores of different minerals, as well as different shaped and coloured crystals. Those were materials Hiccup used to create the gifts.
Four out of six gifts were ready. The two were still in the works. The gift for Dagur the Deranged was ready; two explosive things called Blast Stick, which consisted of red closed thick paper cylinder filled with gunpowder, with fuse on the top. One for demonstration and another for safekeeping.
The axe for Big-Boobied Bertha was ready, and the warhammer for Mogadon the Meathead had just finished. The decorative glass sculpture for Oswald the Agreeable was done as well. He even had the time to sneak in his bow redesign, which was probably the quickest one of them all.
The sword for Camicazi was difficult to make, mainly because it was a draconic weapon. Such weapon would take a while to forge, but it would all be worth it. Draconic weapons were superior to conventional weapons. Hiccup could see the symbolism.
The sword would be his fourth draconic weapon, with his bow being the first.
It was one of the so-called forgotten arts Alexander taught him. Dragonsmith. The idea of forging weapons from draconic materials were mostly forbidden - for good reasons.
Those who own such weapon would be hunted by dragons for eternity. No one wanted to risk their lives having such weapons, including those around them.
The other less common reason was madness. It was said those who were not careful could be possessed by the very creature forged within. Whispers of massacred villages were still talked to this day. Alexander forbade him from using dead dragon materials, in case they would come back to haunt them.
Instead, Hiccup used alternative materials, such as shed dragon scales, dragon bone fossils and assortments of crystals.
They were much difficult to gather and forge when compared to the original method. However, it was much safer than what ancient dragonsmith used.
Back then, he had to practice months before he made something barely acceptable, at least by Alexander's standard. It felt like relearning how to forge.
However, all that effort would soon prove its worth. His friends would be the judge of that. The gift was almost done. Hiccup could not wait to present them.
The third and fourth draconic equipment was the spear and shield. They were meant for Thuggory. Just like the sword, they were not yet finished. There was a problem with the casting process.
Hiccup did not have any cast for spearhead or shield. It was to be expected. Vikings rarely use spears, and their shield was mostly made of wood. That left him having to improvise.
He used broadsword cast for the spearhead, which made them look like a glaive. The shield was Roman in design, which made them heavy and large.
Hiccup was sure the shield was large enough for someone to hide behind. Despite all these setbacks, he was confident that they would be finished on time.
In another note, he also left an extra blast stick for another Berserker heir; in case she ever came along. Heather was someone that Hiccup had known back when he was very young.
He had met Camicazi and Thuggory before, but the younger Berserker heir was never to be seen again after he went past 5-year-old. Hiccup wondered why he never thought to ask.
Suddenly, the back door went open, revealing Gobber standing there. "Hiccup!"
The boy whirled around. "Gobber!"
"The folks are here!" The blacksmith called out. "Are ye ready?"
"O- Of course!" Hiccup quickly replied. That was a lie. He was not ready. "I'll have them noted and wrapped up! I just need to get the wrapping done."
"Get to it then." Gobber grunted, before heading out from the forge. He closed the door behind him.
Hiccup scrambled to get them done. The boy rushed to the table and grabbed several pieces of clean clothes. He moved to another table, where the gifts were, and began packaging them.
When that was done, Hiccup grabbed some paper, wrote some notes and clipped them together with the gifts. The notes had names on who they were for, and descriptions on what they were.
When he finished wrapping them, Hiccup rushed to the furnace. The boy checked the large bucket of water, which had the spearhead submerged inside.
The shield was finished, and the spear was next. The metal was cooling down. After that, he needed to give them a finish and assemble the spear.
The boy looked at the anvil next to the furnace. the sword blade was there. He had been tempering them for days. It simply needed to cool down as well. He would have to sharpen and give them a finish after that. He was satisfied at what he had done so far. The sword blade was still shimmering with heat.
Given that the two was almost done, he expected them to be done today. He might make it in time.
Suddenly, the back door flew open. "Gobber, I..." Hiccup stopped upon seeing Snotlout and others walking into the forge. "What are you doing here? You're not allowed to-"
The burly boy moved and punched the lanky boy. Hiccup gasped as he felt pain in the stomach. Tuffnut and Ruffnut moved in towards him, holding ropes and clothes. The pair of twins began tying him up, as Hiccup struggled on their grasp.
"'lout, hold him down, will ya?" Ruffnut called out. Snotlout moved to hold Hiccup down.
After some time, they finally subdued the boy. Hiccup had his feet and hands tied together. His mouth was gagged, preventing him from speaking. The boy had tears in his eyes. He could not believe that the others had barged in and treated him like that.
"Okay, he's done." Tuffnut called out.
Snotlout began looking around the forge. "Where's the stuff?"
The others started looking around as well. Astrid caught something on the table. It was the wrapped gifts Hiccup had made. "There."
Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut rushed to the table. The five kids went to check the gifts. "There's only four of them!"
"We'll share on the gift?" Tuffnut suggested, looking at Ruffnut.
"No problem with that."
"Let's go." Astrid called them as she grabbed one of the gifts. "They should be at the Great Hall."
The others moved to grab the rest of the gifts. Hiccup could only let out muffled cry as he watched them took his belongings. As the others went out from the place, Snotlout paused for a moment, before sending a kick down on his stomach.
"Mmf!" Hiccup grunted, tears pouring down from his eyes.
"Useless!" Snotlout jeered.
"Mmf, hmff..." the lanky boy cried out.
Snotlout proceed to kick the subdued boy once more. Astrid, Ruffnut and Fishlegs had gone out from the forge. Tuffnut looked back from the doorway. "Snotlout, come on!"
The burly boy looked at him, before looking back down to the boy underneath him. Snotlout let out a smirk, before heading out from the forge, following the others. They closed the door behind them, leaving the restrained, crying boy alone inside.
It was afternoon that day. Stoick was standing near the stairs that connected the harbour and the village. It was the loading dock. The man was waiting with Gobber and Spitelout on his side. There were other Vikings there as well, waiting for the three tribes to climb up the stairs.
The chief watched as several people walked up from the stairs. He waited for the guests to reach the top. Once everyone was there, the man smiled and spread his arms. "Welcome to Berk!"
There were crowds of people at the harbour entrance. Six Vikings were at the front; the chiefs and heirs. The others behind them were their ship crews. They looked tired from their weeks of trip to Berk.
A large woman stepped forward. This was the chiefess of Bog-Burglar tribe; Big-Boobied Bertha. The woman was as large as Stoick the Vast, and as the name implied, had a very large breast. It was said that she had killed someone with it.
The chiefess wore a long tunic outfit, leather armour with chainmail underneath, Viking helmet and brown boots. She had a pair of large, braided hair, which rested on her shoulders.
"Greetings!" Bertha boomed her voice. The woman was broadly grinning. "It's good to see you again!"
"Good to see you too, Bertha." Stoick grumbled a bit, before looking at the rest of the chiefs. "Mogadon. Oswald."
"Stoick." Mogadon slightly nodded. Mogadon the Meathead was a large Viking, wearing thick tunic with a leather cape behind him. He had a belt wrapped around his waist. The man had wooden prosthetics on his left leg, and black eyepatch on his right eye. He looked pleased to see them.
"Hello, Stoick." Oswald softly spoke. He was a burly man, wearing green tunics and leather outfit, brown boots and Viking helmet.
Oswald was a head shorter than Stoick, but that did not mean he was small. Rather, the man was wider than him. He had grey hair and beard, which showed his old age. His calm, soft expression made others smile.
Stoick nodded at the greetings. He looked at the heirs. "So, these are your kids?"
"Yes!" Bertha sharply nodded as she pushed her daughter forward. "My daughter wanted to come! She's here for pendant exchange!"
Camicazi was a small girl with wild, tangled blonde hair and blue eyes. The 13-year-old girl was wearing red rolled up tunic and leather clothes, black pants and brown boots. She also wore hoop earrings, necklace and bracelets.
Her appearance looked like a ferocious, wilder version of Astrid. The girl looked bored as she looked around the place.
"Thuggory is here for pendant exchange too." Mogadon added as he placed his hand on his son's shoulder.
Thuggory was a large burly boy. The 13-year-old boy was wearing a sleeveless pale-yellow tunic, pants and brown boots. His outfit showcased his physique.
In addition to that, he wore a Viking helmet. He had a short black hair and brown eyes, which seemed to radiate arrogance. The boy smirked as he looked around.
"Mine as well." Oswald spoke, gesturing to his son.
Dagur was a thin boy, wearing leather dress and bracelet wrappings around his arms and legs. The 13-year-old boy had a short sword on his back. He had green eyes and red short hair.
Unlike others, the boy was scowling. He seemed more interested on weapons that the Berkian Vikings had on their back.
"Good." Stoick nodded. He gestured to the village path, allowing them in. "Let us gather at the Great Hall. We eat while signing our treaty."
The guest Vikings began walking to the Great Hall. Thuggory and Camicazi stayed close together. The two heirs looked around, as if looking for someone. After some time, Camicazi leaned close to Thuggory. "Can you ask where Hiccup is?"
The burly boy nodded. Like other Bog-Burglars, Camicazi did not like men, with some exceptions. As a result, she refused to interact with certain men. Thuggory looked at the Berkian chief and called out. "Chief Stoick, where is Hiccup?"
"Hiccup is preparing something." Stoick answered, glancing at the heir. "He will join us later."
The Great Hall had been redecorated for the gathering. There were food stands around the place, serving Vikings there, from guests to their own. Stoick, Bertha, Oswald and Mogadon were busy talking amongst themselves.
The four chiefs had signed the peace treaty earlier. It did not take too long for them, since it was the same treaty as before. It was simply routine for them.
"... at the Thing again." Mogadon muttered. The four chiefs were speaking with low voice to prevent others from overhearing them. "They're trying to salvage the island, but nothing was left."
"What about their allies?" Stoick questioned. "Wealth? Vikings?"
"They have nothing left here. Their chief is dead." Mogadon firmly spoke. "They still have some islands at Greater Archipelago. We don't really know who their new chief is, but they said it's the heir."
Stoick grimaced. That sounded like bad news. "Would they go to war?"
"I don't think so. They lost everything here." Oswald commented, thinking. "I did hear that some of the elders survived. They weren't at the island when the volcano erupted."
"Aye. That's lucky for them."
"What about you, Stoick?" Oswald asked, making the others focus at the Berkian chief. "You haven't been at the Thing for a while now."
"Still troubled with it?" Bertha questioned, curious.
Stoick grimaced. "Aye. I still remember that day." He admitted, reminiscing his time back then. "Dragons coming in, following that madman. Three of ye were lucky not coming to the Thing years ago."
"Speaking of the Thing..." Mogadon muttered as he stroked his beard. "The Visithugs moved to another island recently. The Hysterics drove them off. Their chief came to the Thing asking for help."
"Hmm..." The Berkian chief frowned as he turned to look at Bertha. "You're still at war with them?"
"They surrendered." Bertha grumbled. She did not look pleased. "We have Hysterics to worry about now. We're not sure if they're sane enough for us to ask for peace treaty."
"... we will talk more about this later." Stoick decided as he looked at the three chiefs. "Let us move to the gift giving."
The chiefs moved to face the crowds. The Berkian chief cleared his throat, before speaking. "Vikings!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face the chief. Stoick began the announcement. "It's time for giving gifts. In celebration of our 20th annual peace treaty, we will exchange gifts."
The heirs moved to stand next to their parents. After everyone was set, Stoick looked at one of his Vikings. "Spitelout?"
Several Berkian Vikings walked forward, carrying three large wooden boxes. They placed them in front of the chiefs. The Vikings opened the boxes, revealing gold coins and other valuable goods inside. It was mostly full of gold coins.
"These are our gifts for you." Stoick explained to the three chiefs. "From everyone in our village, to your tribe, respectively."
"We have our gifts at the ship." Oswald spoke to them. "Let's not tire the Vikings. We'll exchange them at the harbour."
"Not a bad idea." Mogadon grumbled.
"That's how we do it in the Thing!" Bertha laughed, amused by the suggestion.
Stoick grumbled. He could have had the boxes delivered to their ships later. The man looked around and noticed that Hiccup was still nowhere to be found. He decided it was not important, for now. "Anyone wants to give their personal gifts?"
"We do!"
Astrid, Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Fishlegs came forward. Most of them were holding wrappings of different things.
Astrid stood in front of Big-Boobied Bertha; Snotlout in front of Dagur, Tuffnut and Ruffnut in front of Mogadon; and Fishlegs in front of Oswald the Agreeable. Each of them offered the gifts to them, in which they gratefully accepted.
"Thank you." Oswald softly spoke as he accepted the gift from Fishlegs. "What is this?"
"I- It's a glass sculpture." Fishlegs timidly spoke as he watched the man unwrapped the gift. "I- I made it myself!"
Oswald gasped as he held the glass sculpture. The glass was clean and clear, with reflective, colourful sprinkle metal to give them colour. However, the most remarkable thing was the sculpture.
It was the sculpture of Oswald on his battle outfit, holding a shield and sword in fighting stance. There was a large Skrill looming behind him in possessive pose, snarling to the front. The dragon looked to be protecting and fighting alongside him.
For something that was roughly half square metres big, it was durable, detailed and intricate. It looked like the artist had put a lot of work on carving out the details, down to the dragon scales and Oswald's outfit.
"It's... beautiful." Oswald breathed out. He looked down at the white stone base of the sculpture. There was a black engraving on it, written in Norse. "There is peace even in the storm. The Berserker Skrill."
It was then Oswald noticed that the others had stopped to look at him. The man smiled, before raising the sculpture above his head. "The Berserker Skrill!" He shouted.
The Vikings gasped at the beauty of the glass sculpture. The Berserkers puffed up with pride, as they stared at the beauty in front of them. Dagur seemed awed as well, but he was a bit put off by the sculpture.
After some time, the other chiefs opened their gifts. Bertha opened the gift to reveal an axe. The axe was heavy, but it was balanced right enough that it was perfect for swinging. It was a simple axe with curved, dark brown wooden handle with steel nub covering the bottom.
Interesting enough, the axe head did not look like metal to her. It looked like something stronger than that. There was the Bog-Burglar symbol engraved on either side of the axe head, right in the middle of it.
Bertha weighted the axe, before nodded approvingly. She looked at Astrid. "This is a good axe."
"Thanks!" Astrid chirped.
Mogadon unwrapped the gift, revealing a warhammer. The hammer head had its edges bevelled. Like Bertha's new gifted axe, the hammer head had the Meathead symbol engraved on either side. It had metallic blue colour; a type of metal that he did not recognise. The handle was made of wood, with steel nub covering the bottom.
The Meathead chief weighted the warhammer. The man frowned; it was heavier than expected. "What sort of metal is this?"
"They're uh..." Tuffnut quickly thought of something. "They're iron steel!"
Mogadon stared at the twins for some time. It did not look like iron, but he assumed it was a trade secret. The man shrugged his shoulders. "Alright. Thanks, lad, lass."
The twins gave themselves a high-five, happy at the success. "Yes!"
Camicazi, who was standing next to Bertha, narrowed her eyes. 'That's not iron steel.' She thought as she stared at the warhammer. The girl looked at the axe that her mother was boasting. '... That's not iron steel, either.'
"Aww." Thuggory whined as he looked at the gifts. "We don't get any of those."
Dagur opened his gift. He stared at two blast sticks in front of him with confusion. "What is this?"
"It's uh..." Snotlout pulled out a paper from his pocket. He had taken off the paper from the gift before giving it to him. "Blast stick. You lit the rope on fire and throw them to blow them up."
The Berserker heir frowned. He held one of the blast sticks on his hand. It was a red cylinder object with thin rope on the top. Deciding to give them a try, he moved to lit up the fuse on the nearby candle. It instantly sparked with flame, as the fuse started to burn. "Ooh..." he whispered.
The others watched as Dagur threw the blast stick to an empty food stand. It rolled underneath the table as the fuse finally ran out. It stopped at the corner of the wall, right under the table.
BOOM!
The blast stick exploded, destroying the food stand. Everyone covered themselves as rocks and splinters went flying everywhere. It made a large gaping hole on the wall, revealing the corridor behind it. Stone rubbles went all over the place. Thankfully, nobody was injured.
They could see Vikings through the hole. They were shocked to see them, including the Berkian children. Oswald moved to snap at his son. "Dagur!" He snapped. "Don't use them inside the building!"
"Fine." Dagur pouted. He wrapped the last blast stick and pocketed it.
"Stoick." Bertha gaped, outraged. "I didn't know you have something like that!"
"First, unknown metal. Now, an exploding stick." Megadon muttered. He was amused by the outrage. "Personal gifts are usually symbolic. What are you playing, Stoick?"
"I know none of these gifts." Stoick rumbled, curious to see the gifts. He was internally nervous, however. He was unaware of those gifts.
"This... blast stick is something we've never seen before." Oswald placed the glass sculpture on a nearby table. After that, the man turned to face Snotlout. "Where did you find it?"
"And also." Megadon softly added as he inspected the warhammer he was holding. "What kind of metal is this? This is not iron. Where did you get them?"
The children were nervous. They had stolen those gifts for them, and they did not know what or where they came from. They could not say anything, fearing being exposed they had stolen them from Hiccup. They would be punished if they confessed that they had stolen from him.
"I uh..." Snotlout was nervous.
"I- It's from a far land!" Astrid quickly interrupted, pushing Snotlout aside to get their attention. "From a land far, far, far away. We got them from the Northern Market!"
"Y- Yeah!" Snotlout quickly nodded.
"And which seller should we talk to?" Bertha questioned.
"Uh..." Astrid quickly thought of an excuse. "We don't know the name! We- ah, bought them when they're on sale! They said it's good. That's it."
"Hmm." Megadon stroked his beard. "... eh, whatever. Better not look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say."
"I, for one, wish to know what my axe made of." Bertha boasted, holding her new axe up high. "This is very high quality! And that blast stick thing... I'd love to have one."
Camicazi narrowed her eyes. He looked at Snotlout with disgust. 'Stuttering boy.' She internally sneered. 'He probably didn't want to tell.'
"We will now give our gifts!" Bertha boomed, getting their attention. "A crate full of things at my ship. We shall go to your harbour to get them!"
"Wait." Dagur stopped them. He pulled out something from his pocket and offered it to Snotlout. "Here. My pendant."
Dagur's pendant was made of iron with Berserker insignia on it. There was his name engraved at the bottom. Snotlout was confused to see the pendant but accepted it anyway. "Uh, thanks."
Dagur and Snotlout stared at each other. There was a long pause. The Berserker heir seemed to be waiting for him to do something. After some time, he impatiently asked. "Well? Your pendant?"
Snotlout panicked. "M- My pendant? What pendant?"
The Berserker heir frowned. "Whatever. Let's just move on." He dismissed the burly boy.
Vikings began walking out from the Great Hall. They would be going to the harbour to get the Berserker, Meatheads and Bog-Burglar gift crates. The guest Vikings moved to grab the gifted boxes and went out from the place. The chiefs also carried their gifts, heading to stow them at their own ships.
Camicazi and Thuggory stared at each other, before heading out from the Great Hall. They would be wandering around Berk instead of following the others, since they did not get any personal gift from anyone.
While the two heirs were walking, Thuggory decided to speak. "I want one of those blast sticks."
The Bog-Burglar rolled her eyes. "Boys."
Later that day, Camicazi and Thuggory were walking around the village. The place was relatively empty, mostly because everyone was at the Great Hall. The two were just wandering by themselves.
The Meathead heir looked disappointed, mostly because he did not get any personal gifts from anyone. The Bog-Burglar heir looked thoughtful. Something did not make sense for her.
"Maan." Thuggory groaned. "I thought they give me something nice today."
"They didn't give us anything." Camicazi muttered, frowning. "Yet, Dagur got something."
"I don't like getting... getting... uh..." The Meathead heir muttered, thinking. After some time, he looked at Camicazi. "What's the word again when everyone gets something, but you don't?"
"Singled out."
"Yeah!" Thuggory smiled, pleased with himself. "Singled out. I don't like getting singled out like that."
"It's strange that they didn't really... expect anything out of it." Camicazi muttered. "Did you see that snotty boy? He doesn't even know about the pendant."
"Dagur doesn't care." Thuggory commented. "At least, he doesn't look like cared."
"Traditionally, it's a great insult for someone not to give their own pendant after getting one." The petite girl continued speaking. "I wonder what they're thinking when that... one-sided pendant exchange happened."
As the two went past the forge, they heard some noise coming out of it. Camicazi stopped the burly boy. "Wait. Did you hear that?"
They fell silent, trying to hear the sound. After some time, Thuggory decided to speak. "I don't hear anything."
The petite girl went to the forge. She opened the window and looked inside. There, she saw Hiccup on the ground. He was gagged and bound with ropes and cloth. "Hiccup!"
"Mmf!" Hiccup cried out. His eyes were in tears.
Camicazi quickly went around to the back. Thuggory followed her. They entered the forge through the back door and quickly reached for the Berkian heir. "What the Hel happened to you?"
The Bog-Burglar heir let go of the gag. Hiccup breathed in, before speaking. "Cami! Thuggory!"
The burly boy moved to help Camicazi untie the smaller boy. "Hiccup, are you okay?"
After being untied, the Berkian heir slowly sat on the ground. "I- I'm okay." He muttered, looking down at the floor. "Thanks for the help."
"Why are you tied here like this?" The petite girl asked, curious. She felt pity for the boy.
"I-" Hiccup gulped. He wiped the tears from his eyes, before looking at the two. "I was robbed! I made my gifts for everyone, and they took them!"
Camicazi narrowed her eyes. Thuggory was confused. "Who?"
"Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut." The Berkian heir listed as he stood from the ground. "Please tell me the gift giving are still happening."
Camicazi and Thuggory looked at each other, before looking back at Hiccup. "Uh... look, Hic." The Bog-Burglar heir hesitantly explained. "They came to the Great Hall and gave the gifts themselves."
The scrawny boy stared at them with horror. Thuggory added in. "Dagur made a hole at the Great Hall with one of those... umm..."
"Blast stick." Hiccup softly spoke as tears began to build once more.
"Yeah!" The burly boy nodded, looking pleased with himself. "They said they got them from a trader in Northern Market."
The scrawny boy let out a shuddering breath. "I should've known." He whispered as he looked away from them. Hiccup looked at the rest of the unfinished gifts. "They always took my stuff and call it their own."
Camicazi and Thuggory watched as Hiccup moved to finish the rest of the gift. The scrawny boy grabbed the unfinished sword, before moving to the grinder to sharpen it. "I guess I'll finish the rest." He whispered, not looking at the two. "Just don't put your hands to machines here if you don't want to lose them."
While Hiccup was working, Camicazi and Thuggory explored the forge. The Meathead heir was fascinated to see the things around them. He looked down to a familiar looking warhammer head, which looked rough around the edges. "Hey, that looks familiar." He noticed. "Is that for me?"
"Huh?" Hiccup glanced for a bit. "No. That's a leftover. I have something else for you."
"Wow... It's like my dad." Thuggory whispered as he stared at the metallic blue hammer head. "What is it made of?"
"Tungsten and osmium."
Thuggory was confused. "Never heard of it."
"They're recently discovered metals in Europe." Hiccup shrugged as he inspected the sword he was working on. "I had to import them. They are very expensive. They can only be mined. You can't get them anywhere else."
The Meathead heir was curious. "I have never heard of them."
"I'm not surprised. Meridian of Misery is really isolated from the world." Hiccup remarked as he finished making the sword. The boy grabbed the holster and holstered the sword. "Everyone had moved on to use gunpowder instead of sword and axe."
"Gunpowder." Thuggory repeated, realising what he meant. "Musket and cannon?"
"Yeah." Hiccup nodded. "The blast stick is a gunpowder weapon."
"They are not good against dragons." The Meathead heir informed. "Their scales are too thick for musket. Cannon is too expensive. Dragons can destroy in seconds."
"I know." The Hairy Hooligan heir nodded once more. "Mainlanders use blast sticks for mining too. It is useful to break rocks in mines."
Meanwhile, Camicazi was looking at the blueprints on the table. She looked amazed as she looked at the drawings and measurements. "You... made all the gifts." She whispered.
"I did." Hiccup answered with sad tone. He approached her with the holstered sword on his hand. "I worked hard on them. Your sword is the hardest one to make, since there's a lot of process to do. Here you go."
Camicazi slowly accepted the gift. She noticed that it felt extremely light. The female unsheathed her sword, revealing the weapon.
The blade was broadsword, with straight metal guard and cloth wrapped handle. The middle of the metal guard had Bog-Burglar insignia on it. However, the most interesting part was the blade.
The metal blade was gleaming yellow, which was plausible considering its blueish white colour. She could feel the spark from the blade.
Despite its appearance, the sword was rightfully balanced. There was barely any weight than most sword she ever used before. It was nothing she had ever seen before.
"It's..." Camicazi muttered as she inspected the sword. "... beautiful."
Hiccup smiled at her. "Thanks."
"It's so light..." The woman swung the sword around, testing them. "Really balanced, too. What did you use to make them?"
"Only if you promise not to tell anyone." The scrawny boy asked. "Viking promise."
Camicazi rolled her eyes. "Fine." She agreed. "I Viking promise not to tell anyone about how this sword was made."
The Berkian heir leaned forward. "This weapon is..." He lowered his voice to whisper. "Draconic."
She quickly inspected the broadsword. Other than the blade, everything else looked unassuming. When she inspected them closer, she realised some parts were composed of bones, dull iron-like crystals and smooth leather-like dragon scales.
There was no denying it. The sword was draconic.
The Bog-Burglar heiress knew what draconic weapon was. She had heard of the legends; the long-forgotten technique of dragonsmith. They were forgotten for good reason.
There was no short of fiction works about their strength. It was said to be incredibly powerful; they could do things normal weapons could not. There were also tales of cursed draconic weapons, and only those with strong willpower could use them.
Camicazi was amazed by this. "Is it cursed?"
"No, no, no." Hiccup quickly corrected. "It's not cursed. I figured out how to make them safe."
"Whoa..." The female whispered, before holstering the sword into its sheath. Camicazi noted that the sheath looked unassuming, but just like the broadsword, there were some dull crystals and leather-like dragon scales on them. "How did you make them safe?"
"I used shed dragon scales, fossils and crystals to make them." The scrawny boy explained. He was enthusiastic to explain. "The blade has natural fire; you can use them to boil water. It can even sharpen itself inside its sheath."
"That's..." Camicazi was at loss of words. "Did you do this to the hammer and axe?"
"No." Hiccup shook his head. "Just you, and Thuggory."
"... why?"
"Because you made us feel special." The Berkian heir answered. He looked somewhat sheepish. "I know you don't like men, but you made us exceptions. I thought I can return the favour by making you feel special."
The girl raised her brows. "And Thuggory?"
"He is our friend." Hiccup answered. "Very special friend."
The Bog-Burglar heiress softened her expression. "You know what? I'll take it." She strapped the sheathed sword onto her belt. She crossed her arms, smirking. "Visit our island next, will you? I'll show you a real Bog-Burglar hospitality."
"Are those blast sticks?"
Hiccup and Camicazi turned around. Thuggory was pointing at a crate full of red cylinders. "It's just the tubes." The scrawny boy responded. "You need the gunpowder and fuse to make a blast stick."
"Fuse?"
"That's what they call them." Hiccup shrugged as he moved to grab something under the table. It was a ready blast stick. "It is lit with fire. When the fire reached the tube, it will explode."
The boy offered it to Thuggory. "Here. You can keep this."
The Meathead heir received the blast stick with awe. "Thank you."
Hiccup moved to finish the spear. While he was working, Camicazi was smirking as she stared at him. "So, not only you're a dragonsmith, you're also an alchemist."
Hiccup paused, before replying. "I guess." He shrugged, before admitting. "I like learning and experimenting new things. It's fun for me."
Thuggory slowly nodded. Suddenly, he realised something. "Those coxcombs lied to us!" He exclaimed. "They stole from you and gave them as their own!"
"Basically." Hiccup absentmindedly replied.
"I'm going to tell the others." Thuggory started as he made move to walk out from the place.
"Wait, wait, Thuggory!" Camicazi called out, stopping him. "Think for a second! What sort of evidence do we have for it?"
"Umm..." Thuggory thought for some time. "We can use those papers. They have the plans to make them."
"Yeah, but it's not irrefutable truth. They can bluff their way there." Camicazi explained to them. "You've seen the others just buy their excuse. And besides, we can't really accuse them of theft. We're guests here!"
"There should be something that we can do." Thuggory reasoned. He did not like the fact that he could not do anything about it. "It's Hiccup! He's the heir. Those Vikings stole from him. Are we going to just let them do that?"
"Unfortunately." The Bog-Burglar grumbled as she crossed her arms. "Look, I don't like it, but we don't have other option. How can we prove that they steal from him other than-" She gestured to the blueprint papers. "-this?"
"We can always have Hiccup tell them instead." Thuggory suggested.
"Dad would never believe me." Hiccup suddenly spoke, getting their attention. The boy was holding the finished spear. "I don't know why, but he never does. Even if he did, he didn't care. And if he did care, they'd ambush me. Anyway, here you go."
"Thanks." Thuggory nodded as he grabbed the spear. Inspecting the weapon, he noticed that the spearhead was the shape of short broadsword. There was a Meathead crest at its metallic guard section.
The metal parts were silvery blue in colour, but the shaft seemed to be made of wood. The weight balance was deceptively different, however, implying there was metal within the shaft.
While the burly boy was inspecting the spear, Hiccup had gone to grab the shield from the shed. It was rather heavy, but he was able to carry them. "And this..." The scrawny boy placed the shield in front of them. "Is your shield."
The shield was larger than typical Viking shield. It looked almost Roman in design; being mostly rectangle in shape, and almost rounded at the bottom.
It looked like mostly made of metal with dark paint; the front side was reddish, and the rear side had some sort of layer around the grip. The front side had a Meathead crest, which was casted onto the shield.
Thuggory was awed by the design. It was simple and not overly complex, but the shield looked incredibly tough. It was bigger than him. He moved to wear them on his arm, feeling the weight. It was heavy, but not as heavy as he expected.
"Whoa..." The burly man whispered as he moved the shield around. He could cover his whole body behind it. "It looks great! I like it!"
"Thanks."
Camicazi softened her expression. Hiccup was one of the Vikings that earned her respect. The boy was smart, and she respected him for enduring the shenanigans that often happened at the Isle of Berk.
When they were younger, Hiccup helped her when she had broken her ankle. It was during the time when Hooligans and Meatheads visited Bog-Burglar Island for treaty signing. They later met Thuggory, who helped them reach the village healer.
The three of them had been friends and somewhat close ever since. Hiccup and Thuggory were one of the male Vikings that she was comfortable to be around with. It was refreshing to see a male that did not treat her worse simply because she was a woman.
'Come to think of it.' Camicazi thought, pondering. 'I think that was the reason why Bog-Burglars, Meatheads and Hairy Hooligans are allied to begin with. We're kind of progressive sorts.'
The burly boy placed the spear onto the shield's grip, before holstering them onto his back. It felt like perfect fit. Moving around, his mobility was fine. Remembering something, Thuggory rummaged through his back pocket. "I got something for both of you."
Hiccup and Camicazi waited as he pulled out a book and a small box from his back pocket. Thuggory went to give them the items. "This is what I got."
Hiccup accepted the book and Camicazi accepted the small box. The lanky boy read the title. "Building Muscle by Baron the Meathead."
"It's a copy of my ancestor's book." Thuggory explained to him. "They say that book made the Meatheads big."
Hiccup smiled at the gift. He liked books, and the content seemed useful. "Thank you."
"A full set of lockpicking kit?" The Bog-Burglar heir gasped as she opened the small box. "They're made of iron! Thanks, Thuggory!"
"You're welcome."
Hiccup and Camicazi pocketed the gifts. The Bog-Burglar heir smiled as she pulled out a book and a large gold coin. "Here you go. That's a gold coin, by the way."
Thuggory and Hiccup accepted the gift. The Meathead heir inspected the coin. It had the Meathead insignia on it. There was a hole at the corner, meaning it was meant to be a necklace. "Wow..."
"I made them when I was learning how to make tribe seals." Camicazi explained to him. "What do you think?"
"It's... fine." Thuggory shrugged. "Most of the shapes are there. That's fine for me."
"Burglary Burglar by Big Bog Burglar." Hiccup read the title. The boy blinked. "Is that your ancestor, Cami?"
"Yup." The petite girl nodded, smirking. "It's a copy of our book! Before Bog-Burglar came to be, there was a woman named Big Bog Burglar. She's so good at burglary, she made Bog-Burglar in the middle of burglary." She paused, before continuing. "But then they found the tribe. Everyone moved to Meridian of Misery, and here we are!"
"Okay." Hiccup shrugged as he pocketed the book. "I guess that makes sense."
"Now time for the best part." Camicazi vaguely hinted. She was smirking as she reached for something in her pocket. "Are you ready?"
Hiccup thought for a moment, before realising what it was all about. "Wait! I almost forgot!"
The scrawny boy took off running into his room at the back. Seconds later, he came back out holding his pendants. There were three of them. Hiccup's pendant was made of gold with Hairy Hooligan tribe insignia on it. There was his name under it as well; 'Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.'
Camicazi and Thuggory pulled their own pendants. Camicazi's pendant was made of silver, with Bog-Burglar tribe insignia and her name at the bottom. Thuggory had his pendant made of polished wood, and like the others, had Meathead tribe insignia and his name at the bottom.
Interesting enough, Camicazi and Thuggory only carried two each.
"Alright." Hiccup started as he offered them his pendant. "Here we go."
Camicazi, Thuggory and Hiccup began trading their pendants. They gave one each of their own, signalling three-way friendship and promise.
After that was done, the three of them were smiling at each other. They had done their part in the Viking tradition. It felt nice that they had done something good together.
"Wait." The scrawny boy started. He had noticed something during the trade. "You're only carrying two?"
"We..." Camicazi did not know how to explain this one. "... don't really trade with Dagur."
"Why not?"
"That deranged boy is unstable." The Bog-Burglar heir bluntly explained. "He's too much into violence. I don't like him."
"I don't like him too." Thuggory grumbled. "He killed my pet sheep."
Hiccup winced. He remembered that time when Dagur made him play throwing knife. He became the Viking to stand between the targets, in which Dagur had to avoid hitting him. It was painful for him.
"Unless he changed attitude, I'm not giving my pendant to him." Camicazi crossed her arms.
"You don't give out pendants to male heirs, anyway." Hiccup pointed out. "Except us."
"Well, you're different." Camicazi admitted. "But that's beside the point. That deranged boy wronged us. You're the only one with three pendants, so I assume he haven't done anything to you."
The Berkian heir looked embarrassed. "He used to throw knives at me." He mumbled as he pocketed the pendants.
"See?" Camicazi gestured, somewhat exasperated. Then, she softened her expression. "Hiccup, you need to stand up for yourself. It doesn't matter if you're... small and thin like this, but you can't let others throw you around like that."
"That's why I give you that book." Thuggory added. He was smiling at the boy. "You know how to use it more than me. Be strong; be big! Fight back!"
"That's why I gave you that book too." The girl nodded, smiling at Hiccup. "I've heard from other Vikings that those people steal from you. You can steal your stuff back if you know how. That's why I give you that book."
Hiccup could only stare at the two heirs with awe. He let out a soft smile, feeling touched at their encouragement. "Thanks Cami, Thuggory."
"That's what friends are for." Camicazi grinned. The girl grabbed both Hiccup and Thuggory by their arms. She began pulling them towards the back door exit. "Come on! Let's eat at the Great Hall. My mom brought mainland meat for everyone to try."